eth/downloader: remove stale beacon headers as backfilling progresses

eth/downloader/beaconsync.go

@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ type beaconBackfiller struct {
 	syncMode   SyncMode      // Sync mode to use for backfilling the skeleton chains
 	success    func()        // Callback to run on successful sync cycle completion
 	filling    bool          // Flag whether the downloader is backfilling or not
+	filled     *types.Header // Last header filled by the last terminated sync loop
 	started    chan struct{} // Notification channel whether the downloader inited
 	lock       sync.Mutex    // Mutex protecting the sync lock
 }
@@ -48,16 +49,18 @@ func newBeaconBackfiller(dl *Downloader, success func()) backfiller {
 	}
 }
 
-// suspend cancels any background downloader threads.
-func (b *beaconBackfiller) suspend() {
+// suspend cancels any background downloader threads and returns the last header
+// that has been successfully backfilled.
+func (b *beaconBackfiller) suspend() *types.Header {
 	// If no filling is running, don't waste cycles
 	b.lock.Lock()
 	filling := b.filling
+	filled := b.filled
 	started := b.started
 	b.lock.Unlock()
 
 	if !filling {
-		return
+		return filled // Return the filled header on the previous sync completion
 	}
 	// A previous filling should be running, though it may happen that it hasn't
 	// yet started (being done on a new goroutine). Many concurrent beacon head
@@ -69,6 +72,10 @@ func (b *beaconBackfiller) suspend() {
 	// Now that we're sure the downloader successfully started up, we can cancel
 	// it safely without running the risk of data races.
 	b.downloader.Cancel()
+
+	// Sync cycle was just terminated, retrieve and return the last filled header.
+	// Can't use `filled` as that contains a stale value from before cancellation.
+	return b.downloader.blockchain.CurrentFastBlock().Header()
 }
 
 // resume starts the downloader threads for backfilling state and chain data.
@@ -81,6 +88,7 @@ func (b *beaconBackfiller) resume() {
 		return
 	}
 	b.filling = true
+	b.filled = nil
 	b.started = make(chan struct{})
 	mode := b.syncMode
 	b.lock.Unlock()
@@ -92,6 +100,7 @@ func (b *beaconBackfiller) resume() {
 		defer func() {
 			b.lock.Lock()
 			b.filling = false
+			b.filled = b.downloader.blockchain.CurrentFastBlock().Header()
 			b.lock.Unlock()
 		}()
 		// If the downloader fails, report an error as in beacon chain mode there

eth/downloader/skeleton.go

@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package downloader
 import (
 	"encoding/json"
 	"errors"
+	"fmt"
 	"math/rand"
 	"sort"
 	"time"
@@ -148,11 +149,15 @@ type backfiller interface {
 	// based on the skeleton chain as it might be invalid. The backfiller should
 	// gracefully handle multiple consecutive suspends without a resume, even
 	// on initial sartup.
-	suspend()
+	//
+	// The method should return the last block header that has been successfully
+	// backfilled, or nil if the backfiller was not resumed.
+	suspend() *types.Header
 
 	// resume requests the backfiller to start running fill or snap sync based on
 	// the skeleton chain as it has successfully been linked. Appending new heads
 	// to the end of the chain will not result in suspend/resume cycles.
+	// leaking too much sync logic out to the filler.
 	resume()
 }
 
@@ -358,8 +363,17 @@ func (s *skeleton) sync(head *types.Header) (*types.Header, error) {
 	if linked {
 		s.filler.resume()
 	}
-	defer s.filler.suspend()
-
+	defer func() {
+		if filled := s.filler.suspend(); filled != nil {
+			// If something was filled, try to delete stale sync helpers. If
+			// unsuccessful, warn the user, but not much else we can do (it's
+			// a programming error, just let users report an issue and don't
+			// choke in the meantime).
+			if err := s.cleanStales(filled); err != nil {
+				log.Error("Failed to clean stale beacon headers", "err", err)
+			}
+		}
+	}()
 	// Create a set of unique channels for this sync cycle. We need these to be
 	// ephemeral so a data race doesn't accidentally deliver something stale on
 	// a persistent channel across syncs (yup, this happened)
@@ -582,8 +596,16 @@ func (s *skeleton) processNewHead(head *types.Header, force bool) bool {
 
 	lastchain := s.progress.Subchains[0]
 	if lastchain.Tail >= number {
+		// If the chain is down to a single beacon header, and it is re-announced
+		// once more, ignore it instead of tearing down sync for a noop.
+		if lastchain.Head == lastchain.Tail {
+			if current := rawdb.ReadSkeletonHeader(s.db, number); current.Hash() == head.Hash() {
+				return false
+			}
+		}
+		// Not a noop / double head announce, abort with a reorg
 		if force {
-			log.Warn("Beacon chain reorged", "tail", lastchain.Tail, "newHead", number)
+			log.Warn("Beacon chain reorged", "tail", lastchain.Tail, "head", lastchain.Head, "newHead", number)
 		}
 		return true
 	}
@@ -943,12 +965,44 @@ func (s *skeleton) processResponse(res *headerResponse) (linked bool, merged boo
 		// If the beacon chain was linked to the local chain, completely swap out
 		// all internal progress and abort header synchronization.
 		if linked {
-			// Note, linking into the local chain should also mean that there are
-			// no leftover subchains, but just in case there's some junk due to
-			// strange conditions or bugs, clean up all internal state.
-			if len(s.progress.Subchains) > 1 {
-				log.Error("Cleaning up leftovers after beacon link")
-				s.progress.Subchains = s.progress.Subchains[:1]
+			// Linking into the local chain should also mean that there are no
+			// leftover subchains, but in the case of importing the blocks via
+			// the engine API, we will not push the subchains forward. This will
+			// lead to a gap between an old sync cycle and a future one.
+			if subchains := len(s.progress.Subchains); subchains > 1 {
+				switch {
+				// If there are only 2 subchains - the current one and an older
+				// one - and the old one consists of a single block, then it's
+				// the expected new sync cycle after some propagated blocks. Log
+				// it for debugging purposes, explicitly clean and don't escalate.
+				case subchains == 2 && s.progress.Subchains[1].Head == s.progress.Subchains[1].Tail:
+					log.Debug("Cleaning previous beacon sync state", "head", s.progress.Subchains[1].Head)
+					rawdb.DeleteSkeletonHeader(batch, s.progress.Subchains[1].Head)
+					s.progress.Subchains = s.progress.Subchains[:1]
+
+				// If we have more than one header or more than one leftover chain,
+				// the syncer's internal state is corrupted. Do try to fix it, but
+				// be very vocal about the fault.
+				default:
+					var context []interface{}
+
+					for i := range s.progress.Subchains[1:] {
+						context = append(context, fmt.Sprintf("stale_head_%d", i+1))
+						context = append(context, s.progress.Subchains[i+1].Head)
+						context = append(context, fmt.Sprintf("stale_tail_%d", i+1))
+						context = append(context, s.progress.Subchains[i+1].Tail)
+						context = append(context, fmt.Sprintf("stale_next_%d", i+1))
+						context = append(context, s.progress.Subchains[i+1].Next)
+					}
+					log.Error("Cleaning spurious beacon sync leftovers", context...)
+					s.progress.Subchains = s.progress.Subchains[:1]
+
+					// Note, here we didn't actually delete the headers at all,
+					// just the metadata. We could implement a cleanup mechanism,
+					// but further modifying corrupted state is kind of asking
+					// for it. Unless there's a good enough reason to risk it,
+					// better to live with the small database junk.
+				}
 			}
 			break
 		}
@@ -1023,6 +1077,74 @@ func (s *skeleton) processResponse(res *headerResponse) (linked bool, merged boo
 	return linked, merged
 }
 
+// cleanStales removes previously synced beacon headers that have become stale
+// due to the downloader backfilling past the tracked tail.
+func (s *skeleton) cleanStales(filled *types.Header) error {
+	number := filled.Number.Uint64()
+	log.Trace("Cleaning stale beacon headers", "filled", number, "hash", filled.Hash())
+
+	// If the filled header is below the linked subchain, something's
+	// corrupted internally. Report and error and refuse to do anything.
+	if number < s.progress.Subchains[0].Tail {
+		return fmt.Errorf("filled header below beacon header tail: %d < %d", number, s.progress.Subchains[0].Tail)
+	}
+	// Subchain seems trimmable, push the tail forward up to the last
+	// filled header and delete everything before it - if available. In
+	// case we filled past the head, recreate the subchain with a new
+	// head to keep it consistent with the data on disk.
+	var (
+		start = s.progress.Subchains[0].Tail // start deleting from the first known header
+		end   = number                       // delete until the requested threshold
+	)
+	s.progress.Subchains[0].Tail = number
+	s.progress.Subchains[0].Next = filled.ParentHash
+
+	if s.progress.Subchains[0].Head < number {
+		// If more headers were filled than available, push the entire
+		// subchain forward to keep tracking the node's block imports
+		end = s.progress.Subchains[0].Head + 1 // delete the entire original range, including the head
+		s.progress.Subchains[0].Head = number  // assign a new head (tail is already assigned to this)
+	}
+	// Execute the trimming and the potential rewiring of the progress
+	batch := s.db.NewBatch()
+
+	if end != number {
+		// The entire original skeleton chain was deleted and a new one
+		// defined. Make sure the new single-header chain gets pushed to
+		// disk to keep internal state consistent.
+		rawdb.WriteSkeletonHeader(batch, filled)
+	}
+	s.saveSyncStatus(batch)
+	for n := start; n < end; n++ {
+		// If the batch grew too big, flush it and continue with a new batch.
+		// The catch is that the sync metadata needs to reflect the actually
+		// flushed state, so temporarily change the subchain progress and
+		// revert after the flush.
+		if batch.ValueSize() >= ethdb.IdealBatchSize {
+			tmpTail := s.progress.Subchains[0].Tail
+			tmpNext := s.progress.Subchains[0].Next
+
+			s.progress.Subchains[0].Tail = n
+			s.progress.Subchains[0].Next = rawdb.ReadSkeletonHeader(s.db, n).ParentHash
+			s.saveSyncStatus(batch)
+
+			if err := batch.Write(); err != nil {
+				log.Crit("Failed to write beacon trim data", "err", err)
+			}
+			batch.Reset()
+
+			s.progress.Subchains[0].Tail = tmpTail
+			s.progress.Subchains[0].Next = tmpNext
+			s.saveSyncStatus(batch)
+		}
+		rawdb.DeleteSkeletonHeader(batch, n)
+	}
+	if err := batch.Write(); err != nil {
+		log.Crit("Failed to write beacon trim data", "err", err)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
 // Bounds retrieves the current head and tail tracked by the skeleton syncer.
 // This method is used by the backfiller, whose life cycle is controlled by the
 // skeleton syncer.

eth/downloader/skeleton_test.go

@@ -55,10 +55,11 @@ func newHookedBackfiller() backfiller {
 // based on the skeleton chain as it might be invalid. The backfiller should
 // gracefully handle multiple consecutive suspends without a resume, even
 // on initial sartup.
-func (hf *hookedBackfiller) suspend() {
+func (hf *hookedBackfiller) suspend() *types.Header {
 	if hf.suspendHook != nil {
 		hf.suspendHook()
 	}
+	return nil // we don't really care about header cleanups for now
 }
 
 // resume requests the backfiller to start running fill or snap sync based on
@@ -426,7 +427,6 @@ func TestSkeletonSyncExtend(t *testing.T) {
 			newstate: []*subchain{
 				{Head: 49, Tail: 49},
 			},
-			err: errReorgDenied,
 		},
 		// Initialize a sync and try to extend it with a sibling block.
 		{
@@ -489,7 +489,7 @@ func TestSkeletonSyncExtend(t *testing.T) {
 
 		<-wait
 		if err := skeleton.Sync(tt.extend, false); err != tt.err {
-			t.Errorf("extension failure mismatch: have %v, want %v", err, tt.err)
+			t.Errorf("test %d: extension failure mismatch: have %v, want %v", i, err, tt.err)
 		}
 		skeleton.Terminate()