RSync doesn't stop serving module, GUI unresponsive

[yds]

Hi. Running freenas 0.7. I'm doing a local rsync and running it causes the webgui to freeze. I tried restarting lighthttpd but that didn't solve the problem. Is there anyway to get the gui responsive again, short of rebooting (I know that works. But my rsync is backing up a full 3TB and I don't want to keep restarting the system.

[davidb]

I have two NAS4Free servers (9.0.0.1.249) that are connected over VPN to do an rsync task. server N4F1 is the source of the files, server N4F2 is copying the files. After initiating the the transfer from N4F2, and files are copying, the web GUI becomes unresponsive and times out when trying to load. I can still get to the SMB shares, and see that the files are copying, but no dice trying to view the webgui.

My next step was to try and disrupt the transfer, so I turned off rsync server on N4F1. "root: rsyncd service stopped" shows up in the syslog at this point. N4F2 is still unavailable, and checking the rsync folders, i can see the files are still being transferred. So i look in (N4F1) "status>process" and can see that rsync is still running there. Ok, i find this odd. So then i go into rsync settings and delete the module that holds the original files. Save and Apply settings. N4F2 webGUI is still unavailable, and again the files that were being transferred are still growing on N4F2.

I guess my inexperience with rsync may be a factor here, but is this behavior expected? (i assume the gui not being available is not expected). And is there a clean way to stop the sync that i am missing?

Thanks!

[davidb]

I should note also that this occurred when i ran the task manually from the webgui, instead of waiting for cron to run it.
This could explain why the GUI freezes?
Example: when formatting disks the GUI is waiting for output to display, and will continue to load and wait until the format is complete so the output is visible. This will be especially obvious with large file tranfers (like what i'm trying to accomplish) and the browser simply times out

Could this be fixed by backgrounding the rsync process when initiated from the GUI? Or add a note to in the GUI that N4F will wait for the process to complete before being accessible again?

Edit: Confirmed that the webGUI is accessible when rsync is started from cron instead of manually

Edit2: Looks like i am late to the party, just saw that daoyama fixed this in 9.1.0.1, revision # 282. Will test when i get a chance to update to latest

Nas4Free team, keep up the good work!

[davidb]

OK, updated a NAS to 9.1.0.1.306, set up an rsync and told it to "execute now".

Problem (?) still exists that it hangs the webgui until rsync is complete.

As asked in my first post, is there a way to gracefully stop an rsync?
Can this process maybe have checkbox to run in background when initiated manually?

[daoyama]

Please try 9.1.0.1.323 or later.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/nas4fre ... e-9.1.0.1/

[davidb]

Same thing with the .323 build; initiated via webgui, gui frozen until rsync complete


On a side note: Daoyama and the N4F team, You are doing an awesome job bringing NAS4Free to the masses! Thank you!

[daoyama]

Same thing with the .323 build; initiated via webgui, gui frozen until rsync complete

I say a little, the GUI should freeze untile the rsync completed because it uses foragrand.
But you can open new WebGUI of 323 by new tab or new browser.

[davidb]

daoyama,
I can confirm that this works as you said it would, but only if it is another browser.
I initiated the rsync via webGUI in Chrome, and was unable to open another connection with another tab or another window. Chrome knows there is an open session (cookies) and doesn't initiate a new login session. (i imagine the same would be true for any browser, wherever you initiate the rsync it is going to wait for a response from the server on the open connection)

It works in chrome incognito mode. Opened Internet Exploder and firefox and was able to connect to the webgui.

Not a problem, just informational if it ever comes up.

Thanks again for your hard work!

[juddyjacob]

Whats nice is that the cron jobs dont lock it up though!! Ive got into the habbit of just telling it to sync every minute, wait a min, then change it back....LOL

[icoleman.uk]

This has been a problem for a long time and is very frustrating. Any ideas when it will be fixed?

[al562]

Hello everyone,

This has been a problem since rsync was first included. The developers (all of them including Olivier) have tried to fix this many times but the WebGUI and lighttpd have their limitations. Some of you have posted workarounds here that do work. Here's 2 that I use:

1. Schedule the job to run 5 minutes from now and save it and then just let it do it's thing. After it's done, disable the job until I need it again.
2. Run manually in CLI/SHH.

Either way the job will run and I can keep doing what ever I need to do without interruption. I agree that it would be satisfying to push that button and have the GUI come right back, but I have learned that gratification postponed is not the same as gratification denied. So my recommendation is to use one of the workarounds posted here and continue to enjoy the many other benefits of NAS4Free.

No, I am not an optimist,
Al

[davidb]

I think that this is as fixed as it can get, as pointed out by Al.
It does work if you start an rsync and then log in from another browser, which is perfectly acceptable (to me).
I think the biggest issue is that when people first start messing with RSYNC, they have a lot of data in the folders they are trying to transfer, and the initial rsync is what takes the longest.
Since most people doing this (imho) are probably new to BSD and rsync, and are exploring the options laid out before them, it induces a little bit of panic when it doesn't respond or there is no "in progress" message etc.
I would still like to see a little warning somewhere near that button that explains this, it might help mitigate the flood of "RSYNC stops working!" posts (although there aren't too many at this point)

Al, thanks and keep up the good work!

[SKL111]

This is a problem I see, there needs to be an Rsync Kill button for the service enable disable options or something similar.
When I disable it, it should stop all rsync executables running and disable the cron jobs. Why does it not do this?

[al562]

Hi SKL111,

Well, the way I see it, it is unsafe to just stop all currently running jobs. Sometimes you may want to make changes or disable it, but allow a running job to finish, I know I have in the past.
It is easy enough to find a running process and kill it manually if desired with the WebGUI.

REgards,
Al