[Feature flag] Rollout of `npm_package_registry_fix_group_path_validation`

Summary

This issue is to rollout the fix from !127164 (merged) on production, that is currently behind the npm_package_registry_fix_group_path_validation feature flag.

The fix contains an index that is composed of multiple columns and a SQL expression.

The issue with such index is that it needs an ANALYZE execution to be useable. If that is not done, the index will be probably discarded by the database planner for its executions. See !127164 (comment 1490010938).

It's not clear if we have a simple way to execute an ANALYZE after the index is created. Thus, we are choosing a different path: a feature flag.

This way on:

• gitlab.com, we can wait and know exactly when an ANALYZE happens. Right after that, we can enable the feature flag and the new code path will properly use the new index.
• self-managed, we can wait the next milestone to enabled it by default. By imposing a full milestone wait, we high chances that an ANALYZE will get executed during that time.

Owners

• Team: Package Registry
• Most appropriate slack channel to reach out to: #g_package_registry
• Best individual to reach out to: @10io
• PM: @trizzi
• EM: @crystalpoole

Stakeholders

Expectations

What are we expecting to happen?

Group path updates should only consider npm packages that are properly scoped according to the naming convention.

In particular,

• updating the path of a subgroup should not trigger any npm package check (as they should only happen for path updates on root groups).
• updating the path of a root group with no namespaced npm package should goes through without issue.

When is the feature viable?

Group path updates are not blocked by npm packages anymore.

What might happen if this goes wrong?

Group path updates are still blocked by npm packages.

What can we monitor to detect problems with this?

https://log.gprd.gitlab.net/app/r/s/rAyVO

The group updates response codes should have a stable distribution between: 302 (success) and 200 (error message being displayed).

https://log.gprd.gitlab.net/app/r/s/uGL2h

What can we check for monitoring production after rollouts?

No 5xx errors in https://log.gprd.gitlab.net/app/r/s/facE2.

Rollout Steps

Note: Please make sure to run the chatops commands in the slack channel that gets impacted by the command.

Rollout on non-production environments

• Verify the MR with the feature flag is merged to master.
• Verify that the feature MRs have been deployed to non-production environments with:
  • /chatops run auto_deploy status <merge-commit-of-your-feature>
• Enable the feature globally on non-production environments.
  • /chatops run feature set <feature-flag-name> true --dev --staging --staging-ref
  • If the feature flag causes QA end-to-end tests to fail:
    • Disable the feature flag on staging to avoid blocking deployments.
• Verify that the feature works as expected. Posting the QA result in this issue is preferable. The best environment to validate the feature in is staging-canary as this is the first environment deployed to. Note you will need to make sure you are configured to use canary as outlined here when accessing the staging environment in order to make sure you are testing appropriately.

For assistance with QA end-to-end test failures, please reach out via the #quality Slack channel. Note that QA test failures on staging-ref don't block deployments.

Specific rollout on production

For visibility, all /chatops commands that target production should be executed in the #production slack channel and cross-posted (with the command results) to the responsible team's slack channel (#g_TEAM_NAME).

• Ensure that the feature MRs have been deployed to both production and canary.
  • /chatops run auto_deploy status 61b721783f2770a2d4fcad1516e99b40d292ac5b
• Depending on the type of actor you are using, pick one of these options:
  • If you're using project-actor, you must enable the feature on these entries:
    • /chatops run feature set --project=gitlab-org/gitlab,gitlab-org/gitlab-foss,gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com npm_package_registry_fix_group_path_validation true
  • If you're using group-actor, you must enable the feature on these entries:
    • /chatops run feature set --group=gitlab-org,gitlab-com npm_package_registry_fix_group_path_validation true
  • If you're using user-actor, you must enable the feature on these entries:
    • /chatops run feature set --user=<your-username> npm_package_registry_fix_group_path_validation true
• Verify that the feature works on the specific entries. Posting the QA result in this issue is preferable.

Preparation before global rollout

• Set a milestone to the rollout issue to signal for enabling and removing the feature flag when it is stable.
• Check if the feature flag change needs to be accompanied with a change management issue. Cross link the issue here if it does.
• Ensure that you or a representative in development can be available for at least 2 hours after feature flag updates in production. If a different developer will be covering, or an exception is needed, please inform the oncall SRE by using the @sre-oncall Slack alias.
• Ensure that documentation has been updated (More info).
• Leave a comment on the feature issue announcing estimated time when this feature flag will be enabled on GitLab.com.
• Ensure that any breaking changes have been announced following the release post process to ensure GitLab customers are aware.
• Notify #support_gitlab-com and your team channel (more guidance when this is necessary in the dev docs).
• Ensure that the feature flag rollout plan is reviewed by another developer familiar with the domain.

Global rollout on production

For visibility, all /chatops commands that target production should be executed in the #production slack channel and cross-posted (with the command results) to the responsible team's slack channel (#g_TEAM_NAME).

• Incrementally roll out the feature.
  • Between every step wait for at least 15 minutes and monitor the appropriate graphs on https://dashboards.gitlab.net.
  • If the feature flag in code does NOT have an actor, perform time-based rollout (random rollout).
    • /chatops run feature set npm_package_registry_fix_group_path_validation 20 --random
    • /chatops run feature set npm_package_registry_fix_group_path_validation 50 --random
    • /chatops run feature set npm_package_registry_fix_group_path_validation 75 --random
  • Enable the feature globally on production environment.
    • /chatops run feature set npm_package_registry_fix_group_path_validation true
• Observe appropriate graphs on https://dashboards.gitlab.net and verify that services are not affected.
• Leave a comment on the feature issue announcing that the feature has been globally enabled.
• Wait for at least one day for the verification term.

Release the feature

After the feature has been deemed stable, the clean up should be done as soon as possible to permanently enable the feature and reduce complexity in the codebase.

You can either create a follow-up issue for Feature Flag Cleanup or use the checklist below in this same issue.

• Create a merge request to remove <feature-flag-name> feature flag. Ask for review and merge it.
  • Remove all references to the feature flag from the codebase.
  • Remove the YAML definitions for the feature from the repository.
  • Create a changelog entry.
• Ensure that the cleanup MR has been included in the release package. If the merge request was deployed before the monthly release was tagged, the feature can be officially announced in a release blog post.
  • /chatops run release check <merge-request-url> <milestone>
• Close the feature issue to indicate the feature will be released in the current milestone.
• Clean up the feature flag from all environments by running these chatops command in #production channel:
  • /chatops run feature delete <feature-flag-name> --dev --staging --staging-ref --production
• Close this rollout issue.

Rollback Steps

• This feature can be disabled by running the following Chatops command:

/chatops run feature set <feature-flag-name> false