Skip to content

Geo self-service framework

NOTE: This document is subject to change as we continue to implement and iterate on the framework. Follow the progress in the epic. If you need to replicate a new data type, reach out to the Geo team to discuss the options. You can contact them in #g_geo on Slack or mention @geo-team in the issue or merge request.

Geo provides an API to make it possible to easily replicate data types across Geo nodes. This API is presented as a Ruby Domain-Specific Language (DSL) and aims to make it possible to replicate data with minimal effort of the engineer who created a data type.

Nomenclature

Before digging into the API, developers need to know some Geo-specific naming conventions:

  • Model: A model is an Active Model, which is how it is known in the entire Rails codebase. It usually is tied to a database table. From Geo perspective, a model can have one or more resources.

  • Resource: A resource is a piece of data that belongs to a model and is produced by a GitLab feature. It is persisted using a storage mechanism. By default, a resource is not a Geo replicable.

  • Data type: Data type is how a resource is stored. Each resource should fit in one of the data types Geo supports:

    • Git repository
    • Blob
    • Database

    For more detail, see Data types.

  • Geo Replicable: A Replicable is a resource Geo wants to sync across Geo nodes. There is a limited set of supported data types of replicables. The effort required to implement replication of a resource that belongs to one of the known data types is minimal.

  • Geo Replicator: A Geo Replicator is the object that knows how to replicate a replicable. It's responsible for:

    • Firing events (producer)
    • Consuming events (consumer)

    It's tied to the Geo Replicable data type. All replicators have a common interface that can be used to process (that is, produce and consume) events. It takes care of the communication between the primary node (where events are produced) and the secondary node (where events are consumed). The engineer who wants to incorporate Geo in their feature will use the API of replicators to make this happen.

  • Geo Domain-Specific Language: The syntactic sugar that allows engineers to easily specify which resources should be replicated and how.

Geo Domain-Specific Language

The replicator

First of all, you need to write a replicator. The replicators live in ee/app/replicators/geo. For each resource that needs to be replicated, there should be a separate replicator specified, even if multiple resources are tied to the same model.

For example, the following replicator replicates a package file:

module Geo
  class PackageFileReplicator < Gitlab::Geo::Replicator
    # Include one of the strategies your resource needs
    include ::Geo::BlobReplicatorStrategy

    # Specify the CarrierWave uploader needed by the used strategy
    def carrierwave_uploader
      model_record.file
    end

    # Specify the model this replicator belongs to
    def self.model
      ::Packages::PackageFile
    end

    # The feature flag follows the format `geo_#{replicable_name}_replication`,
    # so here it would be `geo_package_file_replication`
    def self.replication_enabled_by_default?
      false
    end
  end
end

The class name should be unique. It also is tightly coupled to the table name for the registry, so for this example the registry table will be package_file_registry.

For the different data types Geo supports there are different strategies to include. Pick one that fits your needs.

Linking to a model

To tie this replicator to the model, you need to add the following to the model code:

class Packages::PackageFile < ApplicationRecord
  include ::Gitlab::Geo::ReplicableModel

  with_replicator Geo::PackageFileReplicator
end

API

When this is set in place, it's easy to access the replicator through the model:

package_file = Packages::PackageFile.find(4) # just a random ID as example
replicator = package_file.replicator

Or get the model back from the replicator:

replicator.model_record
=> <Packages::PackageFile id:4>

The replicator can be used to generate events, for example in ActiveRecord hooks:

  after_create_commit -> { replicator.publish_created_event }

Library

The framework behind all this is located in ee/lib/gitlab/geo/.

Existing Replicator Strategies

Before writing a new kind of Replicator Strategy, check below to see if your resource can already be handled by one of the existing strategies. Consult with the Geo team if you are unsure.

Blob Replicator Strategy

Models that use CarrierWave's Uploader::Base can be easily supported by Geo with the Geo::BlobReplicatorStrategy module.

First, each file should have its own primary ID and model. Geo strongly recommends treating every single file as a first-class citizen, because in our experience this greatly simplifies tracking replication and verification state.

For example, to add support for files referenced by a Widget model with a widgets table, you would perform the following steps:

Replication

  1. Include Gitlab::Geo::ReplicableModel in the Widget class, and specify the Replicator class with_replicator Geo::WidgetReplicator.

    At this point the Widget class should look like this:

    # frozen_string_literal: true

class Widget < ApplicationRecord
  include ::Gitlab::Geo::ReplicableModel

  with_replicator Geo::WidgetReplicator

  mount_uploader :file, WidgetUploader

  def local?
    # Must to be implemented, Check the uploader's storage types
    file_store == ObjectStorage::Store::LOCAL
  end

  # @param primary_key_in [Range, Widget] arg to pass to primary_key_in scope
  # @return [ActiveRecord::Relation<Widget>] everything that should be synced to this node, restricted by primary key
  def self.replicables_for_current_secondary(primary_key_in)
    # Should be implemented. The idea of the method is to restrict
    # the set of synced items depending on synchronization settings
  end
  ...
end

    If there is a common constraint for records to be available for replication, make sure to also overwrite the available_replicables scope.

  2. Create ee/app/replicators/geo/widget_replicator.rb. Implement the #carrierwave_uploader method which should return a CarrierWave::Uploader, and implement the class method .model to return the Widget class:

    # frozen_string_literal: true

module Geo
  class WidgetReplicator < Gitlab::Geo::Replicator
    include ::Geo::BlobReplicatorStrategy

    def self.model
      ::Widget
    end

    def carrierwave_uploader
      model_record.file
    end

    # The feature flag follows the format `geo_#{replicable_name}_replication`,
    # so here it would be `geo_widget_replication`
    def self.replication_enabled_by_default?
      false
    end
  end
end

  3. Add this replicator class to the method replicator_classes in ee/lib/gitlab/geo.rb:

    REPLICATOR_CLASSES = [
   ::Geo::PackageFileReplicator,
   ::Geo::WidgetReplicator
]
end

  4. Create ee/spec/replicators/geo/widget_replicator_spec.rb and perform the necessary setup to define the model_record variable for the shared examples:

    # frozen_string_literal: true

require 'spec_helper'

RSpec.describe Geo::WidgetReplicator do
  let(:model_record) { build(:widget) }

  it_behaves_like 'a blob replicator'
end

  5. Create the widget_registry table, with columns ordered according to our guidelines so Geo secondaries can track the sync and verification state of each Widget's file. This migration belongs in ee/db/geo/migrate:

    # frozen_string_literal: true

class CreateWidgetRegistry < ActiveRecord::Migration[6.0]
  include Gitlab::Database::MigrationHelpers

  DOWNTIME = false

  disable_ddl_transaction!

  def up
    unless table_exists?(:widget_registry)
      ActiveRecord::Base.transaction do
        create_table :widget_registry, id: :bigserial, force: :cascade do |t|
          t.integer :widget_id, null: false
          t.integer :state, default: 0, null: false, limit: 2
          t.integer :retry_count, default: 0, limit: 2
          t.datetime_with_timezone :retry_at
          t.datetime_with_timezone :last_synced_at
          t.datetime_with_timezone :created_at, null: false
          t.text :last_sync_failure

          t.index :widget_id, name: :index_widget_registry_on_widget_id
          t.index :retry_at
          t.index :state
        end
      end
    end

    add_text_limit :widget_registry, :last_sync_failure, 255
  end

  def down
    drop_table :widget_registry
  end
end

  6. Create ee/app/models/geo/widget_registry.rb:

    # frozen_string_literal: true

class Geo::WidgetRegistry < Geo::BaseRegistry
  include Geo::ReplicableRegistry

  MODEL_CLASS = ::Widget
  MODEL_FOREIGN_KEY = :widget_id

  belongs_to :widget, class_name: 'Widget'
end

  7. Update REGISTRY_CLASSES in ee/app/workers/geo/secondary/registry_consistency_worker.rb.

  8. Add widget_registry to ActiveSupport::Inflector.inflections in config/initializers_before_autoloader/000_inflections.rb.

  9. Create ee/spec/factories/geo/widget_registry.rb:

    # frozen_string_literal: true

FactoryBot.define do
  factory :geo_widget_registry, class: 'Geo::WidgetRegistry' do
    widget
    state { Geo::WidgetRegistry.state_value(:pending) }

    trait :synced do
      state { Geo::WidgetRegistry.state_value(:synced) }
      last_synced_at { 5.days.ago }
    end

    trait :failed do
      state { Geo::WidgetRegistry.state_value(:failed) }
      last_synced_at { 1.day.ago }
      retry_count { 2 }
      last_sync_failure { 'Random error' }
    end

    trait :started do
      state { Geo::WidgetRegistry.state_value(:started) }
      last_synced_at { 1.day.ago }
      retry_count { 0 }
    end
  end
end

  10. Create ee/spec/models/geo/widget_registry_spec.rb:

    # frozen_string_literal: true

require 'spec_helper'

RSpec.describe Geo::WidgetRegistry, :geo, type: :model do
  let_it_be(:registry) { create(:geo_widget_registry) }

  specify 'factory is valid' do
    expect(registry).to be_valid
  end

  include_examples 'a Geo framework registry'

  describe '.find_registry_differences' do
    ... # To be implemented
  end
end

Widgets should now be replicated by Geo.

Verification

There are two ways to add verification related fields so that the Geo primary can track verification state.

Option 1: Add verification state fields to the existing widgets table itself

  1. Add a migration to add columns ordered according to our guidelines for verification state to the widgets table:

    # frozen_string_literal: true

class AddVerificationStateToWidgets < ActiveRecord::Migration[6.0]
  DOWNTIME = false

  def change
    change_table(:widgets) do |t|
      t.integer :verification_state, default: 0, limit: 2, null: false
      t.column :verification_started_at, :datetime_with_timezone
      t.integer :verification_retry_count, limit: 2
      t.column :verification_retry_at, :datetime_with_timezone
      t.column :verified_at, :datetime_with_timezone
      t.binary :verification_checksum, using: 'verification_checksum::bytea'

      # rubocop:disable Migration/AddLimitToTextColumns
      t.text :verification_failure
      # rubocop:enable Migration/AddLimitToTextColumns
    end
  end
end

  2. Adding a text column also requires setting a limit:

    # frozen_string_literal: true

class AddVerificationFailureLimitToWidgets < ActiveRecord::Migration[6.0]
  include Gitlab::Database::MigrationHelpers

  DOWNTIME = false

  disable_ddl_transaction!

  CONSTRAINT_NAME = 'widget_verification_failure_text_limit'

  def up
    add_text_limit :widget, :verification_failure, 255, constraint_name: CONSTRAINT_NAME
  end

  def down
    remove_check_constraint(:widget, CONSTRAINT_NAME)
  end
end

  3. Add indexes on verification fields to ensure verification can be performed efficiently:

    Some or all of these indexes can be omitted if the table is guaranteed to be small. Ask a database expert if you are unsure.

    # frozen_string_literal: true

class AddVerificationIndexesToWidgets < ActiveRecord::Migration[6.0]
  include Gitlab::Database::MigrationHelpers

  DOWNTIME = false
  VERIFICATION_STATE_INDEX_NAME = "index_widgets_verification_state"
  PENDING_VERIFICATION_INDEX_NAME = "index_widgets_pending_verification"
  FAILED_VERIFICATION_INDEX_NAME = "index_widgets_failed_verification"
  NEEDS_VERIFICATION_INDEX_NAME = "index_widgets_needs_verification"

  disable_ddl_transaction!

  def up
    add_concurrent_index :widgets, :verification_state, name: VERIFICATION_STATE_INDEX_NAME
    add_concurrent_index :widgets, :verified_at, where: "(verification_state = 0)", order: { verified_at: 'ASC NULLS FIRST' }, name: PENDING_VERIFICATION_INDEX_NAME
    add_concurrent_index :widgets, :verification_retry_at, where: "(verification_state = 3)", order: { verification_retry_at: 'ASC NULLS FIRST' }, name: FAILED_VERIFICATION_INDEX_NAME
    add_concurrent_index :widgets, :verification_state, where: "(verification_state = 0 OR verification_state = 3)", name: NEEDS_VERIFICATION_INDEX_NAME
  end

  def down
    remove_concurrent_index_by_name :widgets, VERIFICATION_STATE_INDEX_NAME
    remove_concurrent_index_by_name :widgets, PENDING_VERIFICATION_INDEX_NAME
    remove_concurrent_index_by_name :widgets, FAILED_VERIFICATION_INDEX_NAME
    remove_concurrent_index_by_name :widgets, NEEDS_VERIFICATION_INDEX_NAME
  end
end

  4. Add the Gitlab::Geo::VerificationState concern to the widget model if it is not already included in Gitlab::Geo::ReplicableModel:

    class Widget < ApplicationRecord
  ...
  include ::Gitlab::Geo::VerificationState
  ...
end
Option 2: Create a separate widget_states table with verification state fields

  1. Create a widget_states table and add an index on verification_state to ensure verification can be performed efficiently. Order the columns according to the guidelines:

    # frozen_string_literal: true

class CreateWidgetStates < ActiveRecord::Migration[6.0]
  include Gitlab::Database::MigrationHelpers

  DOWNTIME = false

  disable_ddl_transaction!

  def up
    unless table_exists?(:widget_states)
      with_lock_retries do
        create_table :widget_states, id: false do |t|
          t.references :widget, primary_key: true, null: false, foreign_key: { on_delete: :cascade }
          t.integer :verification_state, default: 0, limit: 2, null: false
          t.column :verification_started_at, :datetime_with_timezone
          t.datetime_with_timezone :verification_retry_at
          t.datetime_with_timezone :verified_at
          t.integer :verification_retry_count, limit: 2
          t.binary :verification_checksum, using: 'verification_checksum::bytea'
          t.text :verification_failure

          t.index :verification_state, name: "index_widget_states_on_verification_state"
        end
      end
    end

    add_text_limit :widget_states, :verification_failure, 255
  end

  def down
    drop_table :widget_states
  end
end

  2. Add the following lines to the widget_state.rb model:

    class WidgetState < ApplicationRecord
  ...
  self.primary_key = :widget_id

  include ::Gitlab::Geo::VerificationState

  belongs_to :widget, inverse_of: :widget_state
  ...
end

  3. Add the following lines to the widget model:

    class Widget < ApplicationRecord
  ...
  has_one :widget_state, inverse_of: :widget

  delegate :verification_retry_at, :verification_retry_at=,
           :verified_at, :verified_at=,
           :verification_checksum, :verification_checksum=,
           :verification_failure, :verification_failure=,
           :verification_retry_count, :verification_retry_count=,
           to: :widget_state
  ...
end

To do: Add verification on secondaries. This should be done as part of Geo: Self Service Framework - First Implementation for Package File verification

Widgets should now be verified by Geo.

Metrics

Metrics are gathered by Geo::MetricsUpdateWorker, persisted in GeoNodeStatus for display in the UI, and sent to Prometheus:

  1. Add fields widgets_count, widgets_checksummed_count, widgets_checksum_failed_count, widgets_synced_count, widgets_failed_count, and widgets_registry_count to GET /geo_nodes/status example response in doc/api/geo_nodes.md.

  2. Add the same fields to GET /geo_nodes/status example response in ee/spec/fixtures/api/schemas/public_api/v4/geo_node_status.json.

  3. Add fields geo_widgets, geo_widgets_checksummed, geo_widgets_checksum_failed, geo_widgets_synced, geo_widgets_failed, and geo_widgets_registry to Sidekiq metrics table in doc/administration/monitoring/prometheus/gitlab_metrics.md.

  4. Add the following to the parameterized table in ee/spec/models/geo_node_status_spec.rb:

    Geo::WidgetReplicator | :widget | :geo_widget_registry

  5. Add the following to spec/factories/widgets.rb:

    trait(:verification_succeeded) do
  with_file
  verification_checksum { 'abc' }
  verification_state { Widget.verification_state_value(:verification_succeeded) }
end

trait(:verification_failed) do
  with_file
  verification_failure { 'Could not calculate the checksum' }
  verification_state { Widget.verification_state_value(:verification_failed) }
end

  6. Make sure the factory also allows setting a project attribute. If the model does not have a direct relation to a project, you can use a transient attribute. Check out spec/factories/merge_request_diffs.rb for an example.

Widget replication and verification metrics should now be available in the API, the Admin Area UI, and Prometheus.

GraphQL API

  1. Add a new field to GeoNodeType in ee/app/graphql/types/geo/geo_node_type.rb:

    field :widget_registries, ::Types::Geo::WidgetRegistryType.connection_type,
      null: true,
      resolver: ::Resolvers::Geo::WidgetRegistriesResolver,
      description: 'Find widget registries on this Geo node',
      feature_flag: :geo_widget_replication

  2. Add the new widget_registries field name to the expected_fields array in ee/spec/graphql/types/geo/geo_node_type_spec.rb.

  3. Create ee/app/graphql/resolvers/geo/widget_registries_resolver.rb:

    # frozen_string_literal: true

module Resolvers
  module Geo
    class WidgetRegistriesResolver < BaseResolver
      include RegistriesResolver
    end
  end
end

  4. Create ee/spec/graphql/resolvers/geo/widget_registries_resolver_spec.rb:

    # frozen_string_literal: true

require 'spec_helper'

RSpec.describe Resolvers::Geo::WidgetRegistriesResolver do
  it_behaves_like 'a Geo registries resolver', :geo_widget_registry
end

  5. Create ee/app/finders/geo/widget_registry_finder.rb:

    # frozen_string_literal: true

module Geo
  class WidgetRegistryFinder
    include FrameworkRegistryFinder
  end
end

  6. Create ee/spec/finders/geo/widget_registry_finder_spec.rb:

    # frozen_string_literal: true

require 'spec_helper'

RSpec.describe Geo::WidgetRegistryFinder do
  it_behaves_like 'a framework registry finder', :geo_widget_registry
end

  7. Create ee/app/graphql/types/geo/widget_registry_type.rb:

    # frozen_string_literal: true

module Types
  module Geo
    # rubocop:disable Graphql/AuthorizeTypes because it is included
    class WidgetRegistryType < BaseObject
      include ::Types::Geo::RegistryType

      graphql_name 'WidgetRegistry'
      description 'Represents the Geo sync and verification state of a widget'

      field :widget_id, GraphQL::ID_TYPE, null: false, description: 'ID of the Widget'
    end
  end
end

  8. Create ee/spec/graphql/types/geo/widget_registry_type_spec.rb:

    # frozen_string_literal: true

require 'spec_helper'

RSpec.describe GitlabSchema.types['WidgetRegistry'] do
  it_behaves_like 'a Geo registry type'

  it 'has the expected fields (other than those included in RegistryType)' do
    expected_fields = %i[widget_id]

    expect(described_class).to have_graphql_fields(*expected_fields).at_least
  end
end

  9. Add integration tests for providing Widget registry data to the frontend via the GraphQL API, by duplicating and modifying the following shared examples in ee/spec/requests/api/graphql/geo/registries_spec.rb:

    it_behaves_like 'gets registries for', {
  field_name: 'widgetRegistries',
  registry_class_name: 'WidgetRegistry',
  registry_factory: :geo_widget_registry,
  registry_foreign_key_field_name: 'widgetId'
}

  10. Update the GraphQL reference documentation:

    bundle exec rake gitlab:graphql:compile_docs

Individual widget synchronization and verification data should now be available via the GraphQL API.

Make sure to replicate the "update" events. Geo Framework does not currently support replicating "update" events because all entities added to the framework, by this time, are immutable. If this is the case for the entity you're going to add, follow https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/118743 and https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/118745 as examples to add the new event type. Also, remove this notice when you've added it.

Admin UI

To do: This should be done as part of Geo: Implement frontend for Self-Service Framework replicables

Widget sync and verification data (aggregate and individual) should now be available in the Admin UI.

Releasing the feature

  1. In ee/app/replicators/geo/widget_replicator.rb, delete the self.replication_enabled_by_default? method:

    module Geo
  class WidgetReplicator < Gitlab::Geo::Replicator
    ...

    # REMOVE THIS METHOD
    def self.replication_enabled_by_default?
      false
    end
    # REMOVE THIS METHOD

    ...
  end
end

  2. In ee/app/graphql/types/geo/geo_node_type.rb, remove the feature_flag option for the released type:

    field :widget_registries, ::Types::Geo::WidgetRegistryType.connection_type,
      null: true,
      resolver: ::Resolvers::Geo::WidgetRegistriesResolver,
      description: 'Find widget registries on this Geo node',
      feature_flag: :geo_widget_replication # REMOVE THIS LINE