multiprocessing.pool does not terminate (python 2.7) - python

I have an issue with multiprocessing.pool. Even though the exit condition defined in the while loop below is met, my workers never exit. After the last worker is done with its job the while loop is not entered anymore. However, the child processes do not terminate as I would expect but simply idle and the main process does not continue. This is on Ubuntu.
The last output is "Done" and nothing happens after that. If I add the line I commented out below, i.e. handler.get() the program runs through and terminates correctly without error (using one process only). Maybe there is an obvious error here but I am out of ideas, any help is appreciated!
manager = multiprocessing.Manager()
pool = multiprocessing.Pool()
queue = manager.Queue()
lock = manager.Lock()
finished = manager.list()
active = manager.list()
pending = manager.list()
for core in core_list:
queue.put(core)
pending.put(core.id)
while len(pending) > 0:
print "Submit jobs"
core = queue.get(block=True)
handler = pool.apply_async(solve_core, (core, core_list, params))
#handler.get()
pool.close()
pool.join()
def solve_core(core, core_list, params):
lock.acquire()
pending.remove(core.id)
active.append(core.id)
lock.release()
# Process some data...
lock.acquire()
active.remove(core.id)
finished.append(core.id)
for new_core in core_list:
if some_condition:
queue.put(new_core)
pending.append(new_core.id)
lock.release()
print "Done"

There is an obvious race condition error, despite there are many more.
Your program depend subprocess to empty pending list, but as you are using apply_async, subprocess may not able change pending list as quick as master's while len(pending) > 0 loop, then master process will call more times of queue.get(block=True) than the size of the queue, as a result, master process blocked on queue.get.

Related

Multiprocess.Process not exiting while target function returns

I spawn a subprocess which simply copy data from one queue to another. The problem is: after subprocess`s target function return, the subprocess seems not exsiting as expect. It hangs on the pdet.join() line.
What's causing it to hang?
import numpy as np
import multiprocessing as mp
def load( qdet):
i = 0
while i < 500:
im = np.zeros((480, 640, 3), 'uint8')
i += 1
print(i)
qdet.put(im)
print('load exit.')
def detect(qdet, qshw):
while True:
im = qdet.get()
if im is None:
break
qshw.put(im)
print('detect exit.')
def main():
qdet = mp.Queue()
qshw = mp.Queue()
load(qdet)
pdet = mp.Process(target=detect, args=(qdet, qshw,))
pdet.start()
qdet.put(None)
pdet.join()
if __name__ == '__main__':
mp.freeze_support()
main()
This happens because the if a process puts items on a queue, it will not exit until the items are flushed from the other end. From the documentation:
Bear in mind that a process that has put items in a queue will wait
before terminating until all the buffered items are fed by the
“feeder” thread to the underlying pipe. (The child process can call
the Queue.cancel_join_thread method of the queue to avoid this
behaviour.)
This means that whenever you use a queue you need to make sure that
all items which have been put on the queue will eventually be removed
before the process is joined. Otherwise you cannot be sure that
processes which have put items on the queue will terminate. Remember
also that non-daemonic processes will be joined automatically.
You should therefore make sure that all items from the queue have been removed before attempting to join. However, you can also workaround this by using manager queues, which introduce some overhead but are not affected by such issues:
def main():
with mp.Manager() as manager:
qdet = manager.Queue()
qshw = manager.Queue()
load(qdet)
pdet = mp.Process(target=detect, args=(qdet, qshw,))
pdet.start()
qdet.put(None)
pdet.join()

Thread not exiting

I am learning about Thread in Python and am trying to make a simple program, one that uses threads to grab a number off the Queue and print it.
I have the following code
import threading
from Queue import Queue
test_lock = threading.Lock()
tests = Queue()
def start_thread():
while not tests.empty():
with test_lock:
if tests.empty():
return
test = tests.get()
print("{}".format(test))
for i in range(10):
tests.put(i)
threads = []
for i in range(5):
threads.append(threading.Thread(target=start_thread))
threads[i].daemon = True
for thread in threads:
thread.start()
tests.join()
When run it just prints the values and never exits.
How do I make the program exit when the Queue is empty?
From the docstring of Queue.join():
Blocks until all items in the Queue have been gotten and processed.
The count of unfinished tasks goes up whenever an item is added to the
queue. The count goes down whenever a consumer thread calls task_done()
to indicate the item was retrieved and all work on it is complete.
When the count of unfinished tasks drops to zero, join() unblocks.
So you must call tests.task_done() after processing the item.
Since your threads are daemon threads, and the queue will handle concurrent access correctly, you don't need to check if the queue is empty or use a lock. You can just do:
def start_thread():
while True:
test = tests.get()
print("{}".format(test))
tests.task_done()

python multi-processing zombie processes

I have a simple implementation of python's multi-processing module
if __name__ == '__main__':
jobs = []
while True:
for i in range(40):
# fetch one by one from redis queue
#item = item from redis queue
p = Process(name='worker '+str(i), target=worker, args=(item,))
# if p is not running, start p
if not p.is_alive():
jobs.append(p)
p.start()
for j in jobs:
j.join()
jobs.remove(j)
def worker(url_data):
"""worker function"""
print url_data['link']
What I expect this code to do:
run in infinite loop, keep waiting for Redis queue.
if Redis queue not empty, fetch item.
create 40 multiprocess.Process, not more not less
if a process has finished processing, start new process, so that ~40 process are running at all time.
I read that, to avoid zombie process that should be bound(join) to the parent, that's what I expected to achieve in the second loop. But the issue is that on launching it spawns 40 processes, workers finish processing and enter zombie state, until all currently spawned processes haven't finished,
then in next iteration of "while True", the same pattern continues.
So my question is:
How can I avoid zombie processes. and spawn new process as soon as 1 in 40 has finished
For a task like the one you described is usually better to use a different approach using Pool.
You can have the main process fetching data and the workers deal with it.
Following an example of Pool from Python Docs
def f(x):
return x*x
if __name__ == '__main__':
pool = Pool(processes=4) # start 4 worker processes
result = pool.apply_async(f, [10]) # evaluate "f(10)" asynchronously
print result.get(timeout=1) # prints "100" unless your computer is *very* slow
print pool.map(f, range(10)) # prints "[0, 1, 4,..., 81]"
I also suggest to use imap instead of map as it seems your task can be asynch.
Roughly your code will be:
p = Pool(40)
while True:
items = items from redis queue
p.imap_unordered(worker, items) #unordered version is faster
def worker(url_data):
"""worker function"""
print url_data['link']

How to list Processes started by multiprocessing Pool?

While attempting to store multiprocessing's process instance in multiprocessing list-variable 'poolList` I am getting a following exception:
SimpleQueue objects should only be shared between processes through inheritance
The reason why I would like to store the PROCESS instances in a variable is to be able to terminate all or just some of them later (if for example a PROCESS freezes). If storing a PROCESS in variable is not an option I would like to know how to get or to list all the PROCESSES started by mutliprocessing POOL. That would be very similar to what .current_process() method does. Except .current_process gets only a single process while I need all the processes started or all the processes currently running.
Two questions:
Is it even possible to store an instance of the Process (as a result of mp.current_process()
Currently I am only able to get a single process from inside of the function that the process is running (from inside of myFunct() using .current_process() method).
Instead I would like to to list all the processes currently running by multiprocessing. How to achieve it?
import multiprocessing as mp
poolList=mp.Manager().list()
def myFunct(arg):
print 'myFunct(): current process:', mp.current_process()
try: poolList.append(mp.current_process())
except Exception, e: print e
for i in range(110):
for n in range(500000):
pass
poolDict[arg]=i
print 'myFunct(): completed', arg, poolDict
from multiprocessing import Pool
pool = Pool(processes=2)
myArgsList=['arg1','arg2','arg3']
pool=Pool(processes=2)
pool.map_async(myFunct, myArgsList)
pool.close()
pool.join()
To list the processes started by a Pool()-instance(which is what you mean if I understand you correctly), there is the pool._pool-list. And it contains the instances of the processes.
However, it is not part of the documented interface and hence, really should not be used.
BUT...it seems a little bit unlikely that it would change just like that anyway. I mean, should they stop having an internal list of processes in the pool? And not call that _pool?
And also, it annoys me that there at least isn't a get processes-method. Or something.
And handling it breaking due to some name change should not be that difficult.
But still, use at your own risk:
from multiprocessing import pool
# Have to run in main
if __name__ == '__main__':
# Create 3 worker processes
_my_pool = pool.Pool(3)
# Loop, terminate, and remove from the process list
# Use a copy [:] of the list to remove items correctly
for _curr_process in _my_pool._pool[:]:
print("Terminating process "+ str(_curr_process.pid))
_curr_process.terminate()
_my_pool._pool.remove(_curr_process)
# If you call _repopulate, the pool will again contain 3 worker processes.
_my_pool._repopulate_pool()
for _curr_process in _my_pool._pool[:]:
print("After repopulation "+ str(_curr_process.pid))
The example creates a pool and manually terminates all processes.
It is important that you remember to delete the process you terminate from the pool yourself i you want Pool() to continue working as usual.
_my_pool._repopulate increases the number of working processes to 3 again, not needed to answer the question, but gives a little bit of behind-the-scenes insight.
Yes you can get all active process and perform action based on name of process
e.g
multiprocessing.Process(target=foo, name="refresh-reports")
and then
for p in multiprocessing.active_children():
if p.name == "foo":
p.terminate()
You're creating a managed List object, but then letting the associated Manager object expire.
Process objects are shareable because they aren't pickle-able; that is, they aren't simple.
Oddly the multiprocessing module doesn't have the equivalent of threading.enumerate() -- that is, you can't list all outstanding processes. As a workaround, I just store procs in a list. I never terminate() a process, but do sys.exit(0) in the parent. It's rough, because the workers will leave things in an inconsistent state, but it's okay for smaller programs
To kill a frozen worker, I suggest: 1) worker receives "heartbeat" jobs in a queue every now and then, 2) if parent notices worker A hasn't responded to a heartbeat in a certain amount of time, then p.terminate(). Consider restating the problem in another SO question, as it's interesting.
To be honest the map stuff is much easier than using a Manager.
Here's a Manager example I've used. A worker adds stuff to a shared list. Another worker occasionally wakes up, processes everything on the list, then goes back to sleep. The code also has verbose logs, which are essential for ease in debugging.
source
# producer adds to fixed-sized list; scanner uses them
import logging, multiprocessing, sys, time
def producer(objlist):
'''
add an item to list every sec; ensure fixed size list
'''
logger = multiprocessing.get_logger()
logger.info('start')
while True:
try:
time.sleep(1)
except KeyboardInterrupt:
return
msg = 'ding: {:04d}'.format(int(time.time()) % 10000)
logger.info('put: %s', msg)
del objlist[0]
objlist.append( msg )
def scanner(objlist):
'''
every now and then, run calculation on objlist
'''
logger = multiprocessing.get_logger()
logger.info('start')
while True:
try:
time.sleep(5)
except KeyboardInterrupt:
return
logger.info('items: %s', list(objlist))
def main():
logger = multiprocessing.log_to_stderr(
level=logging.INFO
)
logger.info('setup')
# create fixed-length list, shared between producer & consumer
manager = multiprocessing.Manager()
my_objlist = manager.list( # pylint: disable=E1101
[None] * 10
)
multiprocessing.Process(
target=producer,
args=(my_objlist,),
name='producer',
).start()
multiprocessing.Process(
target=scanner,
args=(my_objlist,),
name='scanner',
).start()
logger.info('running forever')
try:
manager.join() # wait until both workers die
except KeyboardInterrupt:
pass
logger.info('done')
if __name__=='__main__':
main()

Filling a queue and managing multiprocessing in python

I'm having this problem in python:
I have a queue of URLs that I need to check from time to time
if the queue is filled up, I need to process each item in the queue
Each item in the queue must be processed by a single process (multiprocessing)
So far I managed to achieve this "manually" like this:
while 1:
self.updateQueue()
while not self.mainUrlQueue.empty():
domain = self.mainUrlQueue.get()
# if we didn't launched any process yet, we need to do so
if len(self.jobs) < maxprocess:
self.startJob(domain)
#time.sleep(1)
else:
# If we already have process started we need to clear the old process in our pool and start new ones
jobdone = 0
# We circle through each of the process, until we find one free ; only then leave the loop
while jobdone == 0:
for p in self.jobs :
#print "entering loop"
# if the process finished
if not p.is_alive() and jobdone == 0:
#print str(p.pid) + " job dead, starting new one"
self.jobs.remove(p)
self.startJob(domain)
jobdone = 1
However that leads to tons of problems and errors. I wondered if I was not better suited using a Pool of process. What would be the right way to do this?
However, a lot of times my queue is empty, and it can be filled by 300 items in a second, so I'm not too sure how to do things here.
You could use the blocking capabilities of queue to spawn multiple process at startup (using multiprocessing.Pool) and letting them sleep until some data are available on the queue to process. If your not familiar with that, you could try to "play" with that simple program:
import multiprocessing
import os
import time
the_queue = multiprocessing.Queue()
def worker_main(queue):
print os.getpid(),"working"
while True:
item = queue.get(True)
print os.getpid(), "got", item
time.sleep(1) # simulate a "long" operation
the_pool = multiprocessing.Pool(3, worker_main,(the_queue,))
# don't forget the comma here ^
for i in range(5):
the_queue.put("hello")
the_queue.put("world")
time.sleep(10)
Tested with Python 2.7.3 on Linux
This will spawn 3 processes (in addition of the parent process). Each child executes the worker_main function. It is a simple loop getting a new item from the queue on each iteration. Workers will block if nothing is ready to process.
At startup all 3 process will sleep until the queue is fed with some data. When a data is available one of the waiting workers get that item and starts to process it. After that, it tries to get an other item from the queue, waiting again if nothing is available...
Added some code (submitting "None" to the queue) to nicely shut down the worker threads, and added code to close and join the_queue and the_pool:
import multiprocessing
import os
import time
NUM_PROCESSES = 20
NUM_QUEUE_ITEMS = 20 # so really 40, because hello and world are processed separately
def worker_main(queue):
print(os.getpid(),"working")
while True:
item = queue.get(block=True) #block=True means make a blocking call to wait for items in queue
if item is None:
break
print(os.getpid(), "got", item)
time.sleep(1) # simulate a "long" operation
def main():
the_queue = multiprocessing.Queue()
the_pool = multiprocessing.Pool(NUM_PROCESSES, worker_main,(the_queue,))
for i in range(NUM_QUEUE_ITEMS):
the_queue.put("hello")
the_queue.put("world")
for i in range(NUM_PROCESSES):
the_queue.put(None)
# prevent adding anything more to the queue and wait for queue to empty
the_queue.close()
the_queue.join_thread()
# prevent adding anything more to the process pool and wait for all processes to finish
the_pool.close()
the_pool.join()
if __name__ == '__main__':
main()

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