[Buildroot] [PATCH] package/haveged: Allow service to run early

Norbert Lange nolange79 at gmail.com
Sun Jun 7 20:14:11 UTC 2020


Am So., 7. Juni 2020 um 22:07 Uhr schrieb Jérémy ROSEN <jeremy.rosen at smile.fr>:
>
>
>
> Le dim. 7 juin 2020 à 21:59, Norbert Lange <nolange79 at gmail.com> a écrit :
>>
>> Am So., 7. Juni 2020 um 21:47 Uhr schrieb Jérémy ROSEN <jeremy.rosen at smile.fr>:
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> > Le dim. 7 juin 2020 à 21:42, Norbert Lange <nolange79 at gmail.com> a écrit :
>> >>
>> >> Am So., 7. Juni 2020 um 21:27 Uhr schrieb Jérémy ROSEN <jeremy.rosen at smile.fr>:
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > Le dim. 7 juin 2020 à 21:18, Norbert Lange <nolange79 at gmail.com> a écrit :
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Am So., 7. Juni 2020 um 21:05 Uhr schrieb Jérémy ROSEN <jeremy.rosen at smile.fr>:
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > Le dim. 7 juin 2020 à 20:35, Norbert Lange <nolange79 at gmail.com> a écrit :
>> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >> Am So., 7. Juni 2020 um 12:35 Uhr schrieb Jérémy ROSEN <jeremy.rosen at smile.fr>:
>> >> >> >> >
>> >> >> >> >
>> >> >> >> >
>> >> >> >> > Le sam. 6 juin 2020 à 00:55, Norbert Lange <nolange79 at gmail.com> a écrit :
>> >> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >> >> Drop default dependencies, haveged needs nothing but
>> >> >> >> >> local sockets and /dev/random.
>> >> >> >> >> This allows the entropy to be available earlier.
>> >> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >> >> Signed-off-by: Norbert Lange <nolange79 at gmail.com>
>> >> >> >> >> ---
>> >> >> >> >>  package/haveged/haveged.service | 5 ++++-
>> >> >> >> >>  1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>> >> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >> >> diff --git a/package/haveged/haveged.service b/package/haveged/haveged.service
>> >> >> >> >> index 91035c6711..ed9f043a91 100644
>> >> >> >> >> --- a/package/haveged/haveged.service
>> >> >> >> >> +++ b/package/haveged/haveged.service
>> >> >> >> >> @@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
>> >> >> >> >>  [Unit]
>> >> >> >> >>  Description=Entropy Harvesting Daemon
>> >> >> >> >>  Documentation=man:haveged(8)
>> >> >> >> >> +DefaultDependencies=no
>> >> >> >> >> +Conflicts=shutdown.target
>> >> >> >> >> +Before=sysinit.target shutdown.target systemd-update-done.service
>> >> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >> > Since v243 (quoting  systemd's NEWS file) :
>> >> >> >> >
>> >> >> >> > * systemd-random-seed.service is now a synchronization point for full
>> >> >> >> >           initialization of the kernel's entropy pool. Services that require
>> >> >> >> >           /dev/urandom to be correctly initialized should be ordered after this
>> >> >> >> >           service.
>> >> >> >> >
>> >> >> >> > so... in that case it might make sense to add Before=systemd-random-seed.service
>> >> >> >> > (assuming that works. This a very early point, so it needs some testing)
>> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >> No, doesnt make sense, a "before"  only means the service is *started before*,
>> >> >> >> not the process did do anything worthwile. (That's the reason for my
>> >> >> >> openssh patch BTW)
>> >> >> >> systemd-random-seed.service is a one-shot, so a "before" *that*
>> >> >> >> service means the dependants wait till it is finished.
>> >> >> >>
>> >> >> > (note that I don't really understand what haveged does, so I might be completely wrong in my
>> >> >> > understanding)
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > systemd-random-seed is the sync point, that means that any service that needs
>> >> >> > random numbers should  be ordered after random-seed.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > So, to me, it makes sense that we want to have haveged started before that point. Thus
>> >> >> > having haveged ordered before random-seed.
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > and I don't really understand your sentence above...
>> >> >> > if you add Before=systemd-random-seed, it's systemd-random-seed that will wait for
>> >> >> > haveged to be started, not the other way round. (which seems to be what you say ??)
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >>  Yes, systemd-random-seed will wait for haveged to be *startet* (and
>> >> >> maybe its immediatly preempted),
>> >> >> but it takes several seconds after that till /dev/urandom is "ready"
>> >> >> (what that means changed in the last few years multiple times)
>> >> >>
>> >> > ... yeah ...
>> >> >>
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> > now... if haveged needs some time to "do something usefull" then it means that haveged
>> >> >> > is badly synchronised on startup. The Ready signal in systemd is defined as "the point
>> >> >> > at which the service is able to render the service expected for it'
>> >> >>
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Yes, but haveged does not send such a signal (and systemd only wait
>> >> >> for that if the Type=notify).
>> >> >
>> >> >
>> >> > There is a workaround for that. Add an ExecStartPost that detects readiness.
>> >> > (mentionning that for completeness sake, not sure if it's worth doing here.)
>> >> >
>> >> >>
>> >> >> Further the service only feeds data to the kernel, and the only valid
>> >> >> meaning of /dev/urandom is "ready"
>> >> >> comes from the kernel.
>> >> >>
>> >> > and random-seed will wait for that, so syncronisation will work correctly
>> >>
>> >> Nope, it does not. It's a (poor) substitute to wait after some entropy
>> >> was fed to the kernel.
>> >>
>> > comment at the bottom of random-seed.service:
>> >
>> > # This service waits until the kernel's entropy pool is initialized, and may be
>> > # used as ordering barrier for service that require an initialized entropy
>> > # pool. Since initialization can take a while on entropy-starved systems, let's
>> > # increase the time-out substantially here.
>> >
>> > and from the man page
>> >
>> >  This new seed is  retrieved synchronously from the kernel, which means the
>> > service will not complete start-up until the random pool is fully initialized.
>> >
>> >  I might misread stuff, as you stated randomness handing in linux is complicated
>> > but I really think that the initial idea behind that service was synchronisation...
>>
>>
>> No you are correct, Ive been proven wrong. Did not know reading the
>> seed would sync to the entropy pool being ready.
>>
>> >
>> >
>> >> >
>> >> >>
>> >> >>  The point of waiting for "systemd-random-seed" is a substitute if you
>> >> >> are in a really tough spot,
>> >> >> and independent of what haveged does.
>> >> >>
>> >> > No, it's more than a substitute. it's a sync point.
>> >> > It doesn't just load entropy into the kernel, it also blocks until the kernel reports
>> >> > that /dev/urandom is ready
>> >>
>> >> Show me where?
>> >>
>> >> >
>> >> > IOW the only way to make sure that haveged is started "at the right point" in a generic
>> >> > way is to add that Before=
>> >> >
>> >> > That would allow any service that needs reliable randomness to be correctly synced
>> >> > with haveged, even if they are not aware that haveged is here...
>> >>
>> >> Well, consider that systemd-random-seed would block for that (which it
>> >> does not),
>> >> then it does not matter *when* haveged is started, only that it is not
>> >> blocked (and it is not).
>> >> In other words, it would make no difference.
>>
>>
>> That point still stands though.
>> -   haveged will be "startable" as early as systemd-random-seed,
>> potentially before (does not need a filesystem).
>> -   even if it is started later, systemd-random-seed will block until
>> haveged was running long enough to feed entropy to the kernel
>
>
> not if there are other sources of entropy available and the kernel marks
>  urandom  as ready before haveged is started
>
> more importantly, I am worried about "the promise".
> A user installing haveged will want to rely on it to provide improved
> randomness. by not syncing correctly, we are missing on that promise.
>
> Overall, I think it's good practice. Haveged should be aware of
> systemd-random-seed and should be started before systemd-random-seed.
>
> Having it explicitely before is more readable, safer, and doesn't rely on a
> kernel sync that is hard to understand.
>
> The more I think about it, the more I think you should add that...
> It's just a line in a config file and it might really improve clarity, avoid
> potential bugs and better guarantee that services needing high
> quality randomness will have it properly.

haveged is *not* a prefered source of entropy,
it's there that VMs and embedded systems don't stall for minutes at bootup
(I use that with a ConditionVirtualization to test my rootfs under qemu)

So I'd prefer any other sources to feed the kernel, this is the
software fallback.



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