"No connection pool for 'ActiveRecord::Base' found." every 5 minutes after 18.3 -> 18.4 update
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### Summary
<!-- Summarize the bug encountered concisely. -->
We have self-hosted GitLab environment installed using Omnibus on RHEL 9, where we experience intermittent 500 errors every ~5 minutes (sometimes more often, but in general every 5 minutes and it occurs for few seconds at a time), with following exceptions visible in exceptions_log.json (see below).
The GitLab instance uses external PostgreSQL 16 cluster and `gitlab` database and this issue didn't occur until we've updated to 18.4.1 yesterday (I've downgraded the instance to 18.4.0 to see whether it wasn't anything related to the bugfix version, but the issue is still present there - when we downgrade to 18.3.3, it works fine).
What I can see is various stacktraces and from nginx logs it's seems like just random endpoints (see logs below).
The instance really just has
```
gitlab_rails['db_adapter'] = 'postgresql'
gitlab_rails['db_encoding'] = 'utf8'
gitlab_rails['db_database'] = 'gitlab'
gitlab_rails['db_host'] = '<ip>'
gitlab_rails['db_port'] = '5432'
gitlab_rails['db_username'] = 'gitlab'
gitlab_rails['db_password'] = '<pass>'
```
configured for the database, so I assume this might be due to some dependency update or something internal about the connection handling - possibly some timeout/threshold is reached so often that causes the connection not to be available. However Googling that yielded nothing helpful.
In tcpdump there are no visible TCP RSTs or any visible issues where PostgreSQL would not be accessible (and I've verified it's actually available during that time).
As I've tried all I can think of, would anyone have any insights into what to check or what could be the underlying issue?
Thanks
### Steps to reproduce
<!-- Describe how one can reproduce the issue - this is very important. Please use an ordered list. -->
n/a
### Example Project
<!-- If possible, please create an example project here on GitLab.com that exhibits the problematic
behavior, and link to it here in the bug report. If you are using an older version of GitLab, this
will also determine whether the bug is fixed in a more recent version. -->
### What is the current *bug* behavior?
<!-- Describe what actually happens. -->
GitLab raises HTTP 500 errors with "ConnectionNotEstablished" error in logs every few minutes.
### What is the expected *correct* behavior?
<!-- Describe what you should see instead. -->
GitLab works fine and does not raise any errors.
### Relevant logs and/or screenshots
<!-- Paste any relevant logs - please use code blocks (```) to format console output, logs, and code
as it's tough to read otherwise. -->
```
{
"severity": "ERROR",
"time": "2025-10-01T17:00:14.761Z",
"correlation_id": "01K6GBFA0WYFNKR5JHVQH5HHMZ",
"exception.class": "ActiveRecord::ConnectionNotEstablished",
"exception.message": "No connection pool for 'ActiveRecord::Base' found.",
"exception.backtrace": [
"lib/feature.rb:24:in `connection'",
"lib/gitlab/database/query_analyzers/log_large_in_lists.rb:24:in `enabled?'",
"lib/gitlab/database/query_analyzer.rb:95:in `block in begin!'",
"lib/gitlab/database/query_analyzer.rb:92:in `select'",
"lib/gitlab/database/query_analyzer.rb:92:in `begin!'",
"lib/gitlab/database/query_analyzer.rb:80:in `within'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/query_analyzer.rb:11:in `call'",
"lib/ci/job_token/middleware.rb:11:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/multipart.rb:174:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/read_only/controller.rb:40:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/read_only.rb:18:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/unauthenticated_session_expiry.rb:18:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/secure_headers.rb:11:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/same_site_cookies.rb:27:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/path_traversal_check.rb:40:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/handle_malformed_strings.rb:21:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/json_validation.rb:179:in `allow_if_validated'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/json_validation.rb:160:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/basic_health_check.rb:25:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/handle_ip_spoof_attack_error.rb:25:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/request_context.rb:15:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/webhook_recursion_detection.rb:15:in `call'",
"config/initializers/fix_local_cache_middleware.rb:11:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/compressed_json.rb:44:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/rack_multipart_tempfile_factory.rb:19:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/metrics/requests_rack_middleware.rb:83:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/sidekiq_web_static.rb:20:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/release_env.rb:12:in `call'"
],
"user.username": null,
"tags.program": "web",
"tags.locale": "en",
"tags.feature_category": null,
"tags.correlation_id": "01K6GBFA0WYFNKR5JHVQH5HHMZ"
}
{
"severity": "ERROR",
"time": "2025-10-01T17:00:14.772Z",
"correlation_id": "01K6GBFA0WYFNKR5JHVQH5HHMZ",
"meta.caller_id": "POST /api/:version/internal/allowed",
"meta.remote_ip": "127.0.0.1",
"meta.feature_category": "source_code_management",
"meta.client_id": "ip/127.0.0.1",
"exception.class": "ActiveRecord::ConnectionNotEstablished",
"exception.message": "ActiveRecord::ConnectionNotEstablished",
"exception.backtrace": [
"lib/gitlab/database/load_balancing/configuration.rb:66:in `db_config_name'",
"lib/gitlab/database/load_balancing/load_balancer.rb:38:in `name'",
"lib/gitlab/database/load_balancing/session_map.rb:51:in `lookup'",
"lib/gitlab/database/load_balancing/session_map.rb:13:in `current'",
"lib/gitlab/database/load_balancing/connection_proxy.rb:134:in `current_session'",
"lib/gitlab/database/load_balancing/connection_proxy.rb:104:in `read_using_load_balancer'",
"lib/gitlab/database/load_balancing/connection_proxy.rb:54:in `block (2 levels) in <class:ConnectionProxy>'",
"config/initializers/postgresql_cte.rb:107:in `build_arel'",
"lib/api/support/git_access_actor.rb:19:in `from_params'",
"lib/api/helpers/internal_helpers.rb:13:in `actor'",
"lib/api/internal/base.rb:19:in `block in <class:Base>'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/ip_address.rb:11:in `call'",
"lib/api/api_guard.rb:266:in `call'",
"config/initializers/action_dispatch_journey_router.rb:52:in `block in find_routes'",
"config/initializers/action_dispatch_journey_router.rb:25:in `map!'",
"config/initializers/action_dispatch_journey_router.rb:25:in `find_routes'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/sidekiq_shard_awareness_validation.rb:20:in `block in call'",
"lib/gitlab/sidekiq_sharding/validator.rb:42:in `enabled'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/sidekiq_shard_awareness_validation.rb:20:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/memory_report.rb:13:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/speedscope.rb:13:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/database/load_balancing/rack_middleware.rb:23:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/go.rb:21:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/etag_caching/middleware.rb:21:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/query_analyzer.rb:11:in `block in call'",
"lib/gitlab/database/query_analyzer.rb:83:in `within'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/query_analyzer.rb:11:in `call'",
"lib/ci/job_token/middleware.rb:11:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/multipart.rb:174:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/read_only/controller.rb:40:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/read_only.rb:18:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/unauthenticated_session_expiry.rb:18:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/secure_headers.rb:11:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/same_site_cookies.rb:27:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/path_traversal_check.rb:40:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/handle_malformed_strings.rb:21:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/json_validation.rb:179:in `allow_if_validated'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/json_validation.rb:160:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/basic_health_check.rb:25:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/handle_ip_spoof_attack_error.rb:25:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/request_context.rb:15:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/webhook_recursion_detection.rb:15:in `call'",
"config/initializers/fix_local_cache_middleware.rb:11:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/compressed_json.rb:44:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/rack_multipart_tempfile_factory.rb:19:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/metrics/requests_rack_middleware.rb:83:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/sidekiq_web_static.rb:20:in `call'",
"lib/gitlab/middleware/release_env.rb:12:in `call'"
],
"user.username": null,
"tags.program": "web",
"tags.locale": "en",
"tags.feature_category": "source_code_management",
"tags.correlation_id": "01K6GBFA0WYFNKR5JHVQH5HHMZ"
}
```
Database diagnostics (in UI -> Admin -> Monitoring -> Database diagnostics) shows everything okay:

### Output of checks
<!-- If you are reporting a bug on GitLab.com, uncomment below -->
<!-- This bug happens on GitLab.com -->
<!-- and uncomment below if you have /label privileges -->
<!-- /label ~"reproduced on GitLab.com" -->
<!-- or follow up with an issue comment of `@gitlab-bot label ~"reproduced on GitLab.com"` if you do not -->
#### Results of GitLab environment info
<!-- Input any relevant GitLab environment information if needed. -->
<details>
<summary>Expand for output related to GitLab environment info</summary>
<pre>
System information
System:
Current User: git
Using RVM: no
Ruby Version: 3.2.8
Gem Version: 3.7.1
Bundler Version:2.7.1
Rake Version: 13.0.6
Redis Version: 7.2.10
Sidekiq Version:7.3.9
Go Version: unknown
GitLab information
Version: 18.4.1
Revision: e88a8d1d1c2
Directory: /opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails
DB Adapter: PostgreSQL
DB Version: 16.8
URL: https://domain
HTTP Clone URL: https://domain/some-group/some-project.git
SSH Clone URL: git@domain:some-group/some-project.git
Using LDAP: no
Using Omniauth: yes
Omniauth Providers: saml
GitLab Shell
Version: 14.45.2
Repository storages:
- default: tcp://ip:8075
GitLab Shell path: /opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-shell
Gitaly
- default Address: tcp://ip:8075
- default Version: 18.4.1
- default Git Version: 2.50.1
</pre>
</details>
#### Results of GitLab application Check
<!-- Input any relevant GitLab application check information if needed. -->
<details>
<summary>Expand for output related to the GitLab application check</summary>
<pre>
Checking GitLab subtasks ...
Checking GitLab Shell ...
GitLab Shell: ... GitLab Shell version >= 14.45.2 ? ... OK (14.45.2)
Running /opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-shell/bin/gitlab-shell-check
Internal API available: OK
Redis available via internal API: OK
gitlab-shell self-check successful
Checking GitLab Shell ... Finished
Checking Gitaly ...
Gitaly: ... default ... OK
cluster ... OK
Checking Gitaly ... Finished
Checking Sidekiq ...
Sidekiq: ... Running? ... yes
Number of Sidekiq processes (cluster/worker) ... 1/1
Checking Sidekiq ... Finished
Checking Incoming Email ...
Incoming Email: ... Reply by email is disabled in config/gitlab.yml
Checking Incoming Email ... Finished
Checking LDAP ...
LDAP: ... LDAP is disabled in config/gitlab.yml
Checking LDAP ... Finished
Checking GitLab App ...
Database config exists? ... yes
Tables are truncated? ... skipped
All migrations up? ... yes
Database contains orphaned GroupMembers? ... no
GitLab config exists? ... yes
GitLab config up to date? ... yes
Cable config exists? ... yes
Resque config exists? ... yes
Log directory writable? ... yes
Tmp directory writable? ... yes
Uploads directory exists? ... yes
Uploads directory has correct permissions? ... yes
Uploads directory tmp has correct permissions? ... skipped (no tmp uploads folder yet)
Systemd unit files or init script exist? ... skipped (omnibus-gitlab has neither init script nor systemd units)
Systemd unit files or init script up-to-date? ... skipped (omnibus-gitlab has neither init script nor systemd units)
Projects have namespace: ...
<all yes>
Redis version >= 6.2.14? ... yes
Ruby version >= 3.0.6 ? ... yes (3.2.8)
Git user has default SSH configuration? ... yes
Is authorized keys file accessible? ... skipped (authorized keys not enabled)
GitLab configured to store new projects in hashed storage? ... yes
All projects are in hashed storage? ... yes
Checking GitLab App ... Finished
Checking GitLab subtasks ... Finished
</pre>
</details>
### Possible fixes
<!-- If you can, link to the line of code that might be responsible for the problem. -->
n/a
### Patch release information for backports
If the bug fix needs to be backported in a [patch release](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/releases/patch-releases) to a version
under [the maintenance policy](https://docs.gitlab.com/policy/maintenance/), please follow the steps on the
[patch release runbook for GitLab engineers](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/release/docs/-/blob/master/general/patch/engineers.md).
Refer to the [internal "Release Information" dashboard](https://dashboards.gitlab.net/d/delivery-release_info/delivery3a-release-information?orgId=1)
for information about the next patch release, including the targeted versions, expected release date, and current status.
#### High-severity bug remediation
To remediate high-severity issues requiring an [internal release](https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/releases/internal-releases/) for single-tenant SaaS instances,
refer to the [internal release process for engineers](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/release/docs/-/blob/master/general/internal-releases/engineers.md?ref_type=heads).
<!-- If you don't have /label privileges, follow up with an issue comment of `@gitlab-bot label ~"type::bug"` -->
issue