pg_waldump vs. all-zeros WAL files; server creation of such files

From: Noah Misch <noah(at)leadboat(dot)com>
To: pgsql-hackers(at)postgresql(dot)org
Subject: pg_waldump vs. all-zeros WAL files; server creation of such files
Date: 2023-08-13 03:15:31
Message-ID: 20230813031531.GC2326466@rfd.leadboat.com
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The attached 010_zero.pl, when run as part of the pg_waldump test suite, fails
at today's master (c36b636) and v15 (1bc19df). It passes at v14 (5a32af3).
Command "pg_waldump --start 0/01000000 --end 0/01000100" fails as follows:

pg_waldump: error: WAL segment size must be a power of two between 1 MB and 1 GB, but the WAL file "000000010000000000000002" header specifies 0 bytes

Where it fails, the server has created an all-zeros WAL file under that name.
Where it succeeds, that file doesn't exist at all. Two decisions to make:

- Should a clean server shutdown ever leave an all-zeros WAL file? I think
yes, it's okay to let that happen.
- Should "pg_waldump --start $X --end $Y" open files not needed for the
requested range? I think no.

Bisect of master got:
30a53b7 Wed Mar 8 16:56:37 2023 +0100 Allow tailoring of ICU locales with custom rules
Doesn't fail at $(git merge-base REL_15_STABLE master). Bisect of v15 got:
811203d Sat Aug 6 11:50:23 2022 -0400 Fix data-corruption hazard in WAL-logged CREATE DATABASE.

I suspect those are innocent. They changed the exact WAL content, which I
expect somehow caused creation of segment 2.

Oddly, I find only one other report of this:
https://www.postgresql.org/message-id/CAJ6DU3HiJ5FHbqPua19jAD%3DwLgiXBTjuHfbmv1jCOaNOpB3cCQ%40mail.gmail.com

Thanks,
nm

Attachment Content-Type Size
010_zero.pl application/x-perl 545 bytes

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