path: root/doc/administration/operations/extra_sidekiq_processes.md

---
stage: Enablement
group: Distribution
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
---

# Run multiple Sidekiq processes **(FREE SELF)**

GitLab allows you to start multiple Sidekiq processes.
These processes can be used to consume a dedicated set
of queues. This can be used to ensure certain queues always have dedicated
workers, no matter the number of jobs that need to be processed.

NOTE:
The information in this page applies only to Omnibus GitLab.

## Available Sidekiq queues

For a list of the existing Sidekiq queues, check the following files:

- [Queues for both GitLab Community and Enterprise Editions](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/blob/master/app/workers/all_queues.yml)
- [Queues for GitLab Enterprise Editions only](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/blob/master/ee/app/workers/all_queues.yml)

Each entry in the above files represents a queue on which Sidekiq processes
can be started.

## Start multiple processes

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/omnibus-gitlab/-/merge_requests/4006) in GitLab 12.10, starting multiple processes with Sidekiq cluster.
> - [Sidekiq cluster moved](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-com/gl-infra/-/epics/181) to GitLab Free in 12.10.
> - [Sidekiq cluster became default](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/omnibus-gitlab/-/merge_requests/4140) in GitLab 13.0.

To start multiple processes:

1. Using the `sidekiq['queue_groups']` array setting, specify how many processes to
   create using `sidekiq-cluster` and which queue they should handle.
   Each item in the array equates to one additional Sidekiq
   process, and values in each item determine the queues it works on.

   For example, the following setting creates three Sidekiq processes, one to run on
   `elastic_commit_indexer`, one to run on `mailers`, and one process running on all queues:

   ```ruby
   sidekiq['queue_groups'] = [
     "elastic_commit_indexer",
     "mailers",
     "*"
   ]
   ```

   To have an additional Sidekiq process handle multiple queues, add multiple
   queue names to its item delimited by commas. For example:

   ```ruby
   sidekiq['queue_groups'] = [
     "elastic_commit_indexer, elastic_association_indexer",
     "mailers",
     "*"
   ]
   ```

   [In GitLab 12.9](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/26594) and
   later, the special queue name `*` means all queues. This starts two
   processes, each handling all queues:

   ```ruby
   sidekiq['queue_groups'] = [
     "*",
     "*"
   ]
   ```

   `*` cannot be combined with concrete queue names - `*, mailers`
   just handles the `mailers` queue.

   When `sidekiq-cluster` is only running on a single node, make sure that at least
   one process is running on all queues using `*`. This means a process is
   This includes queues that have dedicated processes.

   If `sidekiq-cluster` is running on more than one node, you can also use
   [`--negate`](#negate-settings) and list all the queues that are already being
   processed.

1. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect:

   ```shell
   sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure
   ```

To view the Sidekiq processes in GitLab:

1. On the top bar, select **Menu >** **{admin}** **Admin**.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Monitoring > Background Jobs**.

## Negate settings

To have the additional Sidekiq processes work on every queue **except** the ones
you list:

1. After you follow the steps for [starting extra processes](#start-multiple-processes),
   edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and add:

   ```ruby
   sidekiq['negate'] = true
   ```

1. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect:

   ```shell
   sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure
   ```

## Queue selector

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/gl-infra/scalability/-/issues/45) in GitLab 12.8.
> - [Sidekiq cluster, including queue selector, moved](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-com/gl-infra/-/epics/181) to GitLab Free in 12.10.
> - [Renamed from `experimental_queue_selector` to `queue_selector`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/gl-infra/scalability/-/issues/147) in GitLab 13.6.

In addition to selecting queues by name, as above, the `queue_selector` option
allows queue groups to be selected in a more general way using a [worker matching
query](extra_sidekiq_routing.md#worker-matching-query). After `queue_selector`
is set, all `queue_groups` must follow the aforementioned syntax.

In `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb`:

```ruby
sidekiq['enable'] = true
sidekiq['queue_selector'] = true
sidekiq['queue_groups'] = [
  # Run all non-CPU-bound queues that are high urgency
  'resource_boundary!=cpu&urgency=high',
  # Run all continuous integration and pages queues that are not high urgency
  'feature_category=continuous_integration,pages&urgency!=high',
  # Run all queues
  '*'
]
```

### Disable Sidekiq cluster

WARNING:
Sidekiq cluster is [scheduled](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/gl-infra/scalability/-/issues/240)
to be the only way to start Sidekiq in GitLab 14.0.

By default, the Sidekiq service runs `sidekiq-cluster`. To disable this behavior,
add the following to the Sidekiq configuration:

```ruby
sidekiq['enable'] = true
sidekiq['cluster'] = false
```

All of the aforementioned configuration options for `sidekiq`
are available. By default, they are configured as follows:

```ruby
sidekiq['queue_selector'] = false
sidekiq['interval'] = nil
sidekiq['max_concurrency'] = 50
sidekiq['min_concurrency'] = nil
sidekiq['negate'] = false
sidekiq['queue_groups'] = ['*']
sidekiq['shutdown_timeout'] = 25
```

`sidekiq_cluster` must be disabled if you decide to configure the
cluster as above.

When disabling `sidekiq_cluster`, you must copy your configuration for
`sidekiq_cluster`over to `sidekiq`. Anything configured for
`sidekiq_cluster` is overridden by the options for `sidekiq` when
setting `sidekiq['cluster'] = true`.

When using this feature, the service called `sidekiq` is now 
running `sidekiq-cluster`.

The [concurrency](#manage-concurrency) and other options configured
for Sidekiq are respected.

By default, logs for `sidekiq-cluster` go to `/var/log/gitlab/sidekiq`
like regular Sidekiq logs.

## Ignore all GitHub import queues

When [importing from GitHub](../../user/project/import/github.md), Sidekiq might
use all of its resources to perform those operations. To set up a separate
`sidekiq-cluster` process to ignore all GitHub import-related queues:

1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and add:

   ```ruby
   sidekiq['enable'] = true
   sidekiq['negate'] = true
   sidekiq['queue_groups'] = [
     "github_import_advance_stage",
     "github_importer:github_import_import_diff_note",
     "github_importer:github_import_import_issue",
     "github_importer:github_import_import_note",
     "github_importer:github_import_import_lfs_object",
     "github_importer:github_import_import_pull_request",
     "github_importer:github_import_refresh_import_jid",
     "github_importer:github_import_stage_finish_import",
     "github_importer:github_import_stage_import_base_data",
     "github_importer:github_import_stage_import_issues_and_diff_notes",
     "github_importer:github_import_stage_import_notes",
     "github_importer:github_import_stage_import_lfs_objects",
     "github_importer:github_import_stage_import_pull_requests",
     "github_importer:github_import_stage_import_repository"
   ]
   ```

1. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect:

   ```shell
   sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure
   ```

## Number of threads

Each process defined under `sidekiq` starts with a
number of threads that equals the number of queues, plus one spare thread.
For example, a process that handles the `process_commit` and `post_receive`
queues uses three threads in total.

## Manage concurrency

When setting the maximum concurrency, keep in mind this normally should
not exceed the number of CPU cores available. The values in the examples
below are arbitrary and not particular recommendations.

Each thread requires a Redis connection, so adding threads may increase Redis
latency and potentially cause client timeouts. See the [Sidekiq documentation
about Redis](https://github.com/mperham/sidekiq/wiki/Using-Redis) for more
details.

### When running Sidekiq cluster (default)

Running Sidekiq cluster is the default in GitLab 13.0 and later.

1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and add:

   ```ruby
   sidekiq['min_concurrency'] = 15
   sidekiq['max_concurrency'] = 25
   ```

1. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect:

   ```shell
   sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure
   ```

`min_concurrency` and `max_concurrency` are independent; one can be set without
the other. Setting `min_concurrency` to `0` disables the limit.

For each queue group, let `N` be one more than the number of queues. The
concurrency factor are set to:

1. `N`, if it's between `min_concurrency` and `max_concurrency`.
1. `max_concurrency`, if `N` exceeds this value.
1. `min_concurrency`, if `N` is less than this value.

If `min_concurrency` is equal to `max_concurrency`, then this value is used
regardless of the number of queues.

When `min_concurrency` is greater than `max_concurrency`, it is treated as
being equal to `max_concurrency`.

### When running a single Sidekiq process

Running a single Sidekiq process is the default in GitLab 12.10 and earlier.

WARNING:
Running Sidekiq directly is scheduled to be removed in GitLab
[14.0](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/gl-infra/scalability/-/issues/240).

1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and add:

   ```ruby
   sidekiq['cluster'] = false
   sidekiq['concurrency'] = 25
   ```

1. Save the file and reconfigure GitLab for the changes to take effect:

   ```shell
   sudo gitlab-ctl reconfigure
   ```

This sets the concurrency (number of threads) for the Sidekiq process.

## Modify the check interval

To modify the check interval for the additional Sidekiq processes:

1. Edit `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` and add:

   ```ruby
   sidekiq['interval'] = 5
   ```

1. Save the file and [reconfigure GitLab](../restart_gitlab.md#omnibus-gitlab-reconfigure) for the changes to take effect.

This tells the additional processes how often to check for enqueued jobs.

## Troubleshoot using the CLI

WARNING:
It's recommended to use `/etc/gitlab/gitlab.rb` to configure the Sidekiq processes.
If you experience a problem, you should contact GitLab support. Use the command
line at your own risk.

For debugging purposes, you can start extra Sidekiq processes by using the command
`/opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails/bin/sidekiq-cluster`. This command
takes arguments using the following syntax:

```shell
/opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails/bin/sidekiq-cluster [QUEUE,QUEUE,...] [QUEUE, ...]
```

Each separate argument denotes a group of queues that have to be processed by a
Sidekiq process. Multiple queues can be processed by the same process by
separating them with a comma instead of a space.

Instead of a queue, a queue namespace can also be provided, to have the process
automatically listen on all queues in that namespace without needing to
explicitly list all the queue names. For more information about queue namespaces,
see the relevant section in the
[Sidekiq style guide](../../development/sidekiq_style_guide.md#queue-namespaces).

For example, say you want to start 2 extra processes: one to process the
`process_commit` queue, and one to process the `post_receive` queue. This can be
done as follows:

```shell
/opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails/bin/sidekiq-cluster process_commit post_receive
```

If you instead want to start one process processing both queues, you'd use the
following syntax:

```shell
/opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails/bin/sidekiq-cluster process_commit,post_receive
```

If you want to have one Sidekiq process dealing with the `process_commit` and
`post_receive` queues, and one process to process the `gitlab_shell` queue,
you'd use the following:

```shell
/opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails/bin/sidekiq-cluster process_commit,post_receive gitlab_shell
```

### Monitor the `sidekiq-cluster` command

The `sidekiq-cluster` command does not terminate once it has started the desired
amount of Sidekiq processes. Instead, the process continues running and
forward any signals to the child processes. This makes it easy to stop all
Sidekiq processes as you simply send a signal to the `sidekiq-cluster` process,
instead of having to send it to the individual processes.

If the `sidekiq-cluster` process crashes or receives a `SIGKILL`, the child
processes terminate themselves after a few seconds. This ensures you don't
end up with zombie Sidekiq processes.

All of this makes monitoring the processes fairly easy. Simply hook up
`sidekiq-cluster` to your supervisor of choice (for example, runit) and you're good to
go.

If a child process died the `sidekiq-cluster` command signals all remaining
process to terminate, then terminate itself. This removes the need for
`sidekiq-cluster` to re-implement complex process monitoring/restarting code.
Instead you should make sure your supervisor restarts the `sidekiq-cluster`
process whenever necessary.

### PID files

The `sidekiq-cluster` command can store its PID in a file. By default no PID
file is written, but this can be changed by passing the `--pidfile` option to
`sidekiq-cluster`. For example:

```shell
/opt/gitlab/embedded/service/gitlab-rails/bin/sidekiq-cluster --pidfile /var/run/gitlab/sidekiq_cluster.pid process_commit
```

Keep in mind that the PID file contains the PID of the `sidekiq-cluster`
command and not the PID(s) of the started Sidekiq processes.

### Environment

The Rails environment can be set by passing the `--environment` flag to the
`sidekiq-cluster` command, or by setting `RAILS_ENV` to a non-empty value. The
default value can be found in `/opt/gitlab/etc/gitlab-rails/env/RAILS_ENV`.