Merge branch 'tb/cruft-packs'

A mechanism to pack unreachable objects into a "cruft pack",
instead of ejecting them into loose form to be reclaimed later, has
been introduced.

* tb/cruft-packs:
  sha1-file.c: don't freshen cruft packs
  builtin/gc.c: conditionally avoid pruning objects via loose
  builtin/repack.c: add cruft packs to MIDX during geometric repack
  builtin/repack.c: use named flags for existing_packs
  builtin/repack.c: allow configuring cruft pack generation
  builtin/repack.c: support generating a cruft pack
  builtin/pack-objects.c: --cruft with expiration
  reachable: report precise timestamps from objects in cruft packs
  reachable: add options to add_unseen_recent_objects_to_traversal
  builtin/pack-objects.c: --cruft without expiration
  builtin/pack-objects.c: return from create_object_entry()
  t/helper: add 'pack-mtimes' test-tool
  pack-mtimes: support writing pack .mtimes files
  chunk-format.h: extract oid_version()
  pack-write: pass 'struct packing_data' to 'stage_tmp_packfiles'
  pack-mtimes: support reading .mtimes files
  Documentation/technical: add cruft-packs.txt

Author: gitster

Documentation/Makefile

@@ -95,6 +95,7 @@ TECH_DOCS += MyFirstObjectWalk
 TECH_DOCS += SubmittingPatches
 TECH_DOCS += ToolsForGit
 TECH_DOCS += technical/bundle-format
+TECH_DOCS += technical/cruft-packs
 TECH_DOCS += technical/hash-function-transition
 TECH_DOCS += technical/http-protocol
 TECH_DOCS += technical/index-format

Documentation/config/gc.txt

@@ -81,14 +81,21 @@ gc.packRefs::
 	to enable it within all non-bare repos or it can be set to a
 	boolean value.  The default is `true`.
 
+gc.cruftPacks::
+	Store unreachable objects in a cruft pack (see
+	linkgit:git-repack[1]) instead of as loose objects. The default
+	is `false`.
+
 gc.pruneExpire::
-	When 'git gc' is run, it will call 'prune --expire 2.weeks.ago'.
-	Override the grace period with this config variable.  The value
-	"now" may be used to disable this grace period and always prune
-	unreachable objects immediately, or "never" may be used to
-	suppress pruning.  This feature helps prevent corruption when
-	'git gc' runs concurrently with another process writing to the
-	repository; see the "NOTES" section of linkgit:git-gc[1].
+	When 'git gc' is run, it will call 'prune --expire 2.weeks.ago'
+	(and 'repack --cruft --cruft-expiration 2.weeks.ago' if using
+	cruft packs via `gc.cruftPacks` or `--cruft`).  Override the
+	grace period with this config variable.  The value "now" may be
+	used to disable this grace period and always prune unreachable
+	objects immediately, or "never" may be used to suppress pruning.
+	This feature helps prevent corruption when 'git gc' runs
+	concurrently with another process writing to the repository; see
+	the "NOTES" section of linkgit:git-gc[1].
 
 gc.worktreePruneExpire::
 	When 'git gc' is run, it calls

Documentation/config/repack.txt

@@ -30,3 +30,12 @@ repack.updateServerInfo::
 	If set to false, linkgit:git-repack[1] will not run
 	linkgit:git-update-server-info[1]. Defaults to true. Can be overridden
 	when true by the `-n` option of linkgit:git-repack[1].
+
+repack.cruftWindow::
+repack.cruftWindowMemory::
+repack.cruftDepth::
+repack.cruftThreads::
+	Parameters used by linkgit:git-pack-objects[1] when generating
+	a cruft pack and the respective parameters are not given over
+	the command line. See similarly named `pack.*` configuration
+	variables for defaults and meaning.

Documentation/git-gc.txt

@@ -54,6 +54,11 @@ other housekeeping tasks (e.g. rerere, working trees, reflog...) will
 be performed as well.
 
 
+--cruft::
+	When expiring unreachable objects, pack them separately into a
+	cruft pack instead of storing the loose objects as loose
+	objects.
+
 --prune=<date>::
 	Prune loose objects older than date (default is 2 weeks ago,
 	overridable by the config variable `gc.pruneExpire`).

Documentation/git-pack-objects.txt

@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ SYNOPSIS
 	[--no-reuse-delta] [--delta-base-offset] [--non-empty]
 	[--local] [--incremental] [--window=<n>] [--depth=<n>]
 	[--revs [--unpacked | --all]] [--keep-pack=<pack-name>]
+	[--cruft] [--cruft-expiration=<time>]
 	[--stdout [--filter=<filter-spec>] | <base-name>]
 	[--shallow] [--keep-true-parents] [--[no-]sparse] < <object-list>
 
@@ -95,6 +96,35 @@ base-name::
 Incompatible with `--revs`, or options that imply `--revs` (such as
 `--all`), with the exception of `--unpacked`, which is compatible.
 
+--cruft::
+	Packs unreachable objects into a separate "cruft" pack, denoted
+	by the existence of a `.mtimes` file. Typically used by `git
+	repack --cruft`. Callers provide a list of pack names and
+	indicate which packs will remain in the repository, along with
+	which packs will be deleted (indicated by the `-` prefix). The
+	contents of the cruft pack are all objects not contained in the
+	surviving packs which have not exceeded the grace period (see
+	`--cruft-expiration` below), or which have exceeded the grace
+	period, but are reachable from an other object which hasn't.
++
+When the input lists a pack containing all reachable objects (and lists
+all other packs as pending deletion), the corresponding cruft pack will
+contain all unreachable objects (with mtime newer than the
+`--cruft-expiration`) along with any unreachable objects whose mtime is
+older than the `--cruft-expiration`, but are reachable from an
+unreachable object whose mtime is newer than the `--cruft-expiration`).
++
+Incompatible with `--unpack-unreachable`, `--keep-unreachable`,
+`--pack-loose-unreachable`, `--stdin-packs`, as well as any other
+options which imply `--revs`. Also incompatible with `--max-pack-size`;
+when this option is set, the maximum pack size is not inferred from
+`pack.packSizeLimit`.
+
+--cruft-expiration=<approxidate>::
+	If specified, objects are eliminated from the cruft pack if they
+	have an mtime older than `<approxidate>`. If unspecified (and
+	given `--cruft`), then no objects are eliminated.
+
 --window=<n>::
 --depth=<n>::
 	These two options affect how the objects contained in

Documentation/git-repack.txt

@@ -63,6 +63,17 @@ to the new separate pack will be written.
 	Also run  'git prune-packed' to remove redundant
 	loose object files.
 
+--cruft::
+	Same as `-a`, unless `-d` is used. Then any unreachable objects
+	are packed into a separate cruft pack. Unreachable objects can
+	be pruned using the normal expiry rules with the next `git gc`
+	invocation (see linkgit:git-gc[1]). Incompatible with `-k`.
+
+--cruft-expiration=<approxidate>::
+	Expire unreachable objects older than `<approxidate>`
+	immediately instead of waiting for the next `git gc` invocation.
+	Only useful with `--cruft -d`.
+
 -l::
 	Pass the `--local` option to 'git pack-objects'. See
 	linkgit:git-pack-objects[1].

Documentation/technical/cruft-packs.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+= Cruft packs
+
+The cruft packs feature offer an alternative to Git's traditional mechanism of
+removing unreachable objects. This document provides an overview of Git's
+pruning mechanism, and how a cruft pack can be used instead to accomplish the
+same.
+
+== Background
+
+To remove unreachable objects from your repository, Git offers `git repack -Ad`
+(see linkgit:git-repack[1]). Quoting from the documentation:
+
+[quote]
+[...] unreachable objects in a previous pack become loose, unpacked objects,
+instead of being left in the old pack. [...] loose unreachable objects will be
+pruned according to normal expiry rules with the next 'git gc' invocation.
+
+Unreachable objects aren't removed immediately, since doing so could race with
+an incoming push which may reference an object which is about to be deleted.
+Instead, those unreachable objects are stored as loose objects and stay that way
+until they are older than the expiration window, at which point they are removed
+by linkgit:git-prune[1].
+
+Git must store these unreachable objects loose in order to keep track of their
+per-object mtimes. If these unreachable objects were written into one big pack,
+then either freshening that pack (because an object contained within it was
+re-written) or creating a new pack of unreachable objects would cause the pack's
+mtime to get updated, and the objects within it would never leave the expiration
+window. Instead, objects are stored loose in order to keep track of the
+individual object mtimes and avoid a situation where all cruft objects are
+freshened at once.
+
+This can lead to undesirable situations when a repository contains many
+unreachable objects which have not yet left the grace period. Having large
+directories in the shards of `.git/objects` can lead to decreased performance in
+the repository. But given enough unreachable objects, this can lead to inode
+starvation and degrade the performance of the whole system. Since we
+can never pack those objects, these repositories often take up a large amount of
+disk space, since we can only zlib compress them, but not store them in delta
+chains.
+
+== Cruft packs
+
+A cruft pack eliminates the need for storing unreachable objects in a loose
+state by including the per-object mtimes in a separate file alongside a single
+pack containing all loose objects.
+
+A cruft pack is written by `git repack --cruft` when generating a new pack.
+linkgit:git-pack-objects[1]'s `--cruft` option. Note that `git repack --cruft`
+is a classic all-into-one repack, meaning that everything in the resulting pack is
+reachable, and everything else is unreachable. Once written, the `--cruft`
+option instructs `git repack` to generate another pack containing only objects
+not packed in the previous step (which equates to packing all unreachable
+objects together). This progresses as follows:
+
+  1. Enumerate every object, marking any object which is (a) not contained in a
+     kept-pack, and (b) whose mtime is within the grace period as a traversal
+     tip.
+
+  2. Perform a reachability traversal based on the tips gathered in the previous
+     step, adding every object along the way to the pack.
+
+  3. Write the pack out, along with a `.mtimes` file that records the per-object
+     timestamps.
+
+This mode is invoked internally by linkgit:git-repack[1] when instructed to
+write a cruft pack. Crucially, the set of in-core kept packs is exactly the set
+of packs which will not be deleted by the repack; in other words, they contain
+all of the repository's reachable objects.
+
+When a repository already has a cruft pack, `git repack --cruft` typically only
+adds objects to it. An exception to this is when `git repack` is given the
+`--cruft-expiration` option, which allows the generated cruft pack to omit
+expired objects instead of waiting for linkgit:git-gc[1] to expire those objects
+later on.
+
+It is linkgit:git-gc[1] that is typically responsible for removing expired
+unreachable objects.
+
+== Caution for mixed-version environments
+
+Repositories that have cruft packs in them will continue to work with any older
+version of Git. Note, however, that previous versions of Git which do not
+understand the `.mtimes` file will use the cruft pack's mtime as the mtime for
+all of the objects in it. In other words, do not expect older (pre-cruft pack)
+versions of Git to interpret or even read the contents of the `.mtimes` file.
+
+Note that having mixed versions of Git GC-ing the same repository can lead to
+unreachable objects never being completely pruned. This can happen under the
+following circumstances:
+
+  - An older version of Git running GC explodes the contents of an existing
+    cruft pack loose, using the cruft pack's mtime.
+  - A newer version running GC collects those loose objects into a cruft pack,
+    where the .mtime file reflects the loose object's actual mtimes, but the
+    cruft pack mtime is "now".
+
+Repeating this process will lead to unreachable objects not getting pruned as a
+result of repeatedly resetting the objects' mtimes to the present time.
+
+If you are GC-ing repositories in a mixed version environment, consider omitting
+the `--cruft` option when using linkgit:git-repack[1] and linkgit:git-gc[1], and
+leaving the `gc.cruftPacks` configuration unset until all writers understand
+cruft packs.
+
+== Alternatives
+
+Notable alternatives to this design include:
+
+  - The location of the per-object mtime data, and
+  - Storing unreachable objects in multiple cruft packs.
+
+On the location of mtime data, a new auxiliary file tied to the pack was chosen
+to avoid complicating the `.idx` format. If the `.idx` format were ever to gain
+support for optional chunks of data, it may make sense to consolidate the
+`.mtimes` format into the `.idx` itself.
+
+Storing unreachable objects among multiple cruft packs (e.g., creating a new
+cruft pack during each repacking operation including only unreachable objects
+which aren't already stored in an earlier cruft pack) is significantly more
+complicated to construct, and so aren't pursued here. The obvious drawback to
+the current implementation is that the entire cruft pack must be re-written from
+scratch.

Documentation/technical/pack-format.txt

@@ -294,6 +294,25 @@ Pack file entry: <+
 
 All 4-byte numbers are in network order.
 
+== pack-*.mtimes files have the format:
+
+All 4-byte numbers are in network byte order.
+
+  - A 4-byte magic number '0x4d544d45' ('MTME').
+
+  - A 4-byte version identifier (= 1).
+
+  - A 4-byte hash function identifier (= 1 for SHA-1, 2 for SHA-256).
+
+  - A table of 4-byte unsigned integers. The ith value is the
+    modification time (mtime) of the ith object in the corresponding
+    pack by lexicographic (index) order. The mtimes count standard
+    epoch seconds.
+
+  - A trailer, containing a checksum of the corresponding packfile,
+    and a checksum of all of the above (each having length according
+    to the specified hash function).
+
 == multi-pack-index (MIDX) files have the following format:
 
 The multi-pack-index files refer to multiple pack-files and loose objects.

Makefile

@@ -740,6 +740,7 @@ TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-oid-array.o
 TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-oidmap.o
 TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-oidtree.o
 TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-online-cpus.o
+TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-pack-mtimes.o
 TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-parse-options.o
 TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-parse-pathspec-file.o
 TEST_BUILTINS_OBJS += test-partial-clone.o
@@ -996,6 +997,7 @@ LIB_OBJS += oidtree.o
 LIB_OBJS += pack-bitmap-write.o
 LIB_OBJS += pack-bitmap.o
 LIB_OBJS += pack-check.o
+LIB_OBJS += pack-mtimes.o
 LIB_OBJS += pack-objects.o
 LIB_OBJS += pack-revindex.o
 LIB_OBJS += pack-write.o

builtin/gc.c

@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ static const char * const builtin_gc_usage[] = {
 
 static int pack_refs = 1;
 static int prune_reflogs = 1;
+static int cruft_packs = 0;
 static int aggressive_depth = 50;
 static int aggressive_window = 250;
 static int gc_auto_threshold = 6700;
@@ -152,6 +153,7 @@ static void gc_config(void)
 	git_config_get_int("gc.auto", &gc_auto_threshold);
 	git_config_get_int("gc.autopacklimit", &gc_auto_pack_limit);
 	git_config_get_bool("gc.autodetach", &detach_auto);
+	git_config_get_bool("gc.cruftpacks", &cruft_packs);
 	git_config_get_expiry("gc.pruneexpire", &prune_expire);
 	git_config_get_expiry("gc.worktreepruneexpire", &prune_worktrees_expire);
 	git_config_get_expiry("gc.logexpiry", &gc_log_expire);
@@ -331,7 +333,11 @@ static void add_repack_all_option(struct string_list *keep_pack)
 {
 	if (prune_expire && !strcmp(prune_expire, "now"))
 		strvec_push(&repack, "-a");
-	else {
+	else if (cruft_packs) {
+		strvec_push(&repack, "--cruft");
+		if (prune_expire)
+			strvec_pushf(&repack, "--cruft-expiration=%s", prune_expire);
+	} else {
 		strvec_push(&repack, "-A");
 		if (prune_expire)
 			strvec_pushf(&repack, "--unpack-unreachable=%s", prune_expire);
@@ -551,6 +557,7 @@ int cmd_gc(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 		{ OPTION_STRING, 0, "prune", &prune_expire, N_("date"),
 			N_("prune unreferenced objects"),
 			PARSE_OPT_OPTARG, NULL, (intptr_t)prune_expire },
+		OPT_BOOL(0, "cruft", &cruft_packs, N_("pack unreferenced objects separately")),
 		OPT_BOOL(0, "aggressive", &aggressive, N_("be more thorough (increased runtime)")),
 		OPT_BOOL_F(0, "auto", &auto_gc, N_("enable auto-gc mode"),
 			   PARSE_OPT_NOCOMPLETE),
@@ -670,6 +677,7 @@ int cmd_gc(int argc, const char **argv, const char *prefix)
 			die(FAILED_RUN, repack.v[0]);
 
 		if (prune_expire) {
+			/* run `git prune` even if using cruft packs */
 			strvec_push(&prune, prune_expire);
 			if (quiet)
 				strvec_push(&prune, "--no-progress");