Prevent Tox from hanging with --installpkg sdist due to orphaned build backend

docs/changelog/3530.bugfix.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+Prevent tox from hanging upon exit due to orphaned build threads and
+subprocesses when the ``--installpkg`` option is used with *sdist*.
+- by :user:`vytas7`

pyproject.toml

@@ -90,6 +90,7 @@ test = [
   "flaky>=3.8.1",
   "hatch-vcs>=0.4",
   "hatchling>=1.27",
+  "pdm-backend",
   "psutil>=6.1.1",
   "pytest>=8.3.4",
   "pytest-cov>=5",

src/tox/tox_env/python/virtual_env/package/pyproject.py

@@ -118,8 +118,15 @@ def root(self) -> Path:
 
     @root.setter
     def root(self, value: Path) -> None:
-        self._root = value
-        self._frontend_ = None  # force recreating the frontend with new root
+        # NOTE(vytas): Recreating the frontend with a new root will orphan the
+        #   current frontend.backend_executor, if any, making tox hang upon
+        #   exit waiting for its threads and subprocesses (#3512).
+        #
+        #   Here, we partially work around the issue by only resetting the root
+        #   when it has actually changed:
+        if self._root != value:
+            self._root = value
+            self._frontend_ = None  # force recreating the frontend with new root
 
     @staticmethod
     def id() -> str:

tests/tox_env/python/virtual_env/package/conftest.py

@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 import pytest
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
-    from pathlib import Path
+    from pathlib import Callable, Path
 
 
 @pytest.fixture(scope="session")
@@ -40,3 +40,41 @@ def pkg_with_extras_project(tmp_path_factory: pytest.TempPathFactory) -> Path:
     toml = '[build-system]\nrequires=["setuptools", "wheel"]\nbuild-backend = "setuptools.build_meta"'
     (tmp_path / "pyproject.toml").write_text(toml)
     return tmp_path
+
+
+@pytest.fixture(scope="session")
+def pkg_with_pdm_backend(
+    tmp_path_factory: pytest.TempPathFactory,
+    pkg_builder: Callable[[Path, Path, list[str], bool], Path],
+) -> Path:
+    tmp_path = tmp_path_factory.mktemp("skeleton")
+
+    pyproject_toml = """
+    [build-system]
+    requires = ["pdm-backend"]
+    build-backend = "pdm.backend"
+
+    [project]
+    name = "skeleton"
+    description = "Just a skeleton for reproducing #3512."
+    version = "0.1.1337"
+    dependencies = [
+        "requests",
+    ]
+
+    [tool.pdm.build]
+    includes = [
+        "skeleton/",
+    ]
+    source-includes = [
+        "tox.ini",
+    ]
+    """
+    (tmp_path / "pyproject.toml").write_text(dedent(pyproject_toml))
+    (tmp_path / "skeleton").mkdir(exist_ok=True)
+    (tmp_path / "skeleton" / "__init__.py").touch()
+
+    dist = tmp_path / "dist"
+    pkg_builder(dist, tmp_path, ["sdist"], False)
+
+    return tmp_path

tests/tox_env/python/virtual_env/package/test_package_pyproject.py

@@ -458,3 +458,27 @@ def test_pyproject_config_settings_editable_legacy(
         "get_requires_for_build_wheel": {"C": "3"},
         "prepare_metadata_for_build_wheel": {"D": "4"},
     }
+
+
+@pytest.mark.usefixtures("enable_pip_pypi_access")
+def test_aaa_pyproject_installpkg_pep517_envs(
+    tox_project: ToxProjectCreator,
+    pkg_with_pdm_backend: Path,
+) -> None:
+    # Regression test for #3512
+    tox_ini = """
+    [tox]
+    envlist = dummy1,dummy2
+
+    [testenv:dummy1]
+    commands =
+        python -c print(1)
+
+    [testenv:dummy2]
+    commands =
+        python -c print(42)
+    """
+    sdist = pkg_with_pdm_backend / "dist" / "skeleton-0.1.1337.tar.gz"
+    proj = tox_project({"tox.ini": tox_ini}, base=pkg_with_pdm_backend)
+    result = proj.run("--installpkg", str(sdist), "--exit-and-dump-after", "10")
+    result.assert_success()