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[Feature flag] Enable `force_cancel_build`

Summary

This issue is to roll out the feature on production, that is currently behind the force_cancel_build feature flag.

Owners

  • Most appropriate Slack channel to reach out to: #<slack-channel-of-dri-team>
  • Best individual to reach out to: @panoskanell

Expectations

What are we expecting to happen?

Users for whom this flag is enabled will see a new Force cancel button on the job details page for jobs in the canceling state. If they click then confirm via modal a Force cancel, the job is transitioned from canceling to canceled immediately, without waiting for any further input from the runner executing the job.

What can go wrong and how would we detect it?

We need to ensure that the runners will shut down the after_script work after gitlab revokes the token. We can do this on staging before rolling it out to production. This is extremely important to verify because if the runners do not shut down it can become an abuse vector and way to get free CI minutes.

Check the kibana staging logs:

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 and has been deployed to non-production environments with /chatops run auto_deploy status <merge-commit-of-your-feature>
  • Deploy the feature flag at a percentage (recommended percentage: 50%) with /chatops run feature set force_cancel_build <rollout-percentage> --actors --dev --pre --staging --staging-ref
  • Monitor that the error rates did not increase (repeat with a different percentage as necessary).
  • Enable the feature globally on non-production environments with /chatops run feature set force_cancel_build true --dev --pre --staging --staging-ref
  • Verify that the feature works as expected.
  • If the feature flag causes end-to-end tests to fail, disable the feature flag on staging to avoid blocking deployments.
    • See #e2e-run-staging Slack channel and look for the following messages:
      • test kicked off: Feature flag force_cancel_build has been set to true on **gstg**
      • test result: This pipeline was triggered due to toggling of force_cancel_build feature flag

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

Specific rollout on production

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

  • Ensure that the feature MRs have been deployed to both production and canary with /chatops run auto_deploy status <merge-commit-of-your-feature>
  • Depending on the type of actor you are using, pick one of these options:
    • For project-actor: /chatops run feature set --project=gitlab-org/gitlab,gitlab-org/gitlab-foss,gitlab-com/www-gitlab-com force_cancel_build true
    • For group-actor: /chatops run feature set --group=gitlab-org,gitlab-com force_cancel_build true
    • For user-actor: /chatops run feature set --user=<gitlab-username-of-dri> force_cancel_build true
    • For all internal users: /chatops run feature set --feature-group=gitlab_team_members force_cancel_build true
  • Verify that the feature works for the specific actors.

Preparation before global rollout

  • Set a milestone to this 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 exists for the feature, and the version history text has been updated.
  • Ensure that any breaking changes have been announced following the release post process to ensure GitLab customers are aware.
  • Notify the #support_gitlab-com Slack channel and your team channel (more guidance when this is necessary in the dev docs).

Global rollout on production

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

(Optional) Release the feature with the feature flag

WARNING: This approach has the downside that it makes it difficult for us to clean up the flag. For example, on-premise users could disable the feature on their GitLab instance. But when you remove the flag at some point, they suddenly see the feature as enabled and they can't roll it back to the previous behavior. To avoid this potential breaking change, use this approach only for urgent matters.

See instructions if you're sure about enabling the feature globally through the feature flag definition

If you're still unsure whether the feature is deemed stable but want to release it in the current milestone, you can change the default state of the feature flag to be enabled. To do so, follow these steps:

  • Create a merge request with the following changes.
    • If feature was enabled for various actors, ensure the feature has been enabled globally on production /chatops run feature get force_cancel_build. If the feature has not been globally enabled then enable the feature globally using: /chatops run feature set force_cancel_build true
    • Set the default_enabled attribute in the feature flag definition to true.
    • Decide which changelog entry is needed.
  • Ensure that the default-enabling 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 https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/179137 17.10
  • After the default-enabling MR has been deployed, clean up the feature flag from all environments by running these chatops command in the #production channel: /chatops run feature delete force_cancel_build --dev --pre --staging --staging-ref --production
  • Close [the feature issue][#467107 (closed)] to indicate the feature will be released in the current milestone.
  • Set the next milestone to this rollout issue for scheduling the flag removal.
  • (Optional) You can create a separate issue for scheduling the steps below to Release the feature.
    • Set the title to "[Feature flag] Cleanup force_cancel_build".
    • Execute the /copy_metadata <this-rollout-issue-link> quick action to copy the labels from this rollout issue.
    • Link this rollout issue as a related issue.
    • Close this rollout issue.

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 the force_cancel_build feature flag. Ask for review/approval/merge as usual. The MR should include the following changes:
    • Remove all references to the feature flag from the codebase.
    • Remove the YAML definitions for the feature from the repository.
  • 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 https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/179137 17.10
  • Close [the feature issue][#467107 (closed)] to indicate the feature will be released in the current milestone.
  • Once the cleanup MR has been deployed to production, clean up the feature flag from all environments by running these chatops command in #production channel: /chatops run feature delete force_cancel_build --dev --pre --staging --staging-ref --production
  • Close this rollout issue.

Rollback Steps

  • This feature can be disabled on production by running the following Chatops command:
/chatops run feature set force_cancel_build false
  • Disable the feature flag on non-production environments:
/chatops run feature set force_cancel_build false --dev --pre --staging --staging-ref
  • Delete feature flag from all environments:
/chatops run feature delete force_cancel_build --dev --pre --staging --staging-ref --production
Edited by Panos Kanellidis