From 401228183a63254a8edbded3693124ad466b185b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Noah Misch Date: Sun, 23 Sep 2018 22:56:39 -0700 Subject: [PATCH] Initialize random() in bootstrap/stand-alone postgres and in initdb. This removes a difference between the standard IsUnderPostmaster execution environment and that of --boot and --single. In a stand-alone backend, "SELECT random()" always started at the same seed. On a system capable of using posix shared memory, initdb could still conclude "selecting dynamic shared memory implementation ... sysv". Crashed --boot or --single postgres processes orphaned shared memory objects having names that collided with the not-actually-random names that initdb probed. The sysv fallback appeared after ten crashes of --boot or --single postgres. Since --boot and --single are rare in production use, systems used for PostgreSQL development are the principal candidate to notice this symptom. Back-patch to 9.3 (all supported versions). PostgreSQL 9.4 introduced dynamic shared memory, but 9.3 does share the "SELECT random()" problem. Reviewed by Tom Lane and Kyotaro HORIGUCHI. Discussion: https://postgr.es/m/20180915221546.GA3159382@rfd.leadboat.com --- src/backend/bootstrap/bootstrap.c | 8 ++++++++ src/backend/tcop/postgres.c | 8 ++++++++ src/bin/initdb/initdb.c | 3 +++ 3 files changed, 19 insertions(+) diff --git a/src/backend/bootstrap/bootstrap.c b/src/backend/bootstrap/bootstrap.c index 0e14b9272b5..0943a59d660 100644 --- a/src/backend/bootstrap/bootstrap.c +++ b/src/backend/bootstrap/bootstrap.c @@ -197,6 +197,14 @@ AuxiliaryProcessMain(int argc, char *argv[]) MyStartTime = time(NULL); + /* + * Initialize random() for the first time, like PostmasterMain() would. + * In a regular IsUnderPostmaster backend, BackendRun() computes a + * high-entropy seed before any user query. Fewer distinct initial seeds + * can occur here. + */ + srandom((unsigned int) (MyProcPid ^ MyStartTime)); + /* Compute paths, if we didn't inherit them from postmaster */ if (my_exec_path[0] == '\0') { diff --git a/src/backend/tcop/postgres.c b/src/backend/tcop/postgres.c index 5903b228905..98180ed52ab 100644 --- a/src/backend/tcop/postgres.c +++ b/src/backend/tcop/postgres.c @@ -3611,6 +3611,14 @@ PostgresMain(int argc, char *argv[], MyProcPid = getpid(); MyStartTime = time(NULL); + + /* + * Initialize random() for the first time, like PostmasterMain() + * would. In a regular IsUnderPostmaster backend, BackendRun() + * computes a high-entropy seed before any user query. Fewer distinct + * initial seeds can occur here. + */ + srandom((unsigned int) (MyProcPid ^ MyStartTime)); } SetProcessingMode(InitProcessing); diff --git a/src/bin/initdb/initdb.c b/src/bin/initdb/initdb.c index 6de22ba65e1..fb16897adf0 100644 --- a/src/bin/initdb/initdb.c +++ b/src/bin/initdb/initdb.c @@ -1055,6 +1055,9 @@ choose_dsm_implementation(void) #ifdef HAVE_SHM_OPEN int ntries = 10; + /* Initialize random(); this function is its only user in this program. */ + srandom((unsigned int) (getpid() ^ time(NULL))); + while (ntries > 0) { uint32 handle;