[uWSGI] Python threading and locks

http://lists.unbit.it/pipermail/uwsgi/2012-April/004089.html

> I have a web application written in Flask. At startup it spawns a
> background thread and waits on a threading.Event for the background thread
> to initialise before continuing. It works fine when run outside uwsgi, but
> when run in uwsgi it hangs on the lock. I know the lock has been released
> because I am writing to the log on the line before and the line after the
> line of code that releases the lock.
>
> Here is my config file, I am running uwsgi in Emperor mode:
>
> [uwsgi]
> master = true
> processes = 1
> uid=edpod
> gid=edpod
> virtualenv = /host/sites/edpod
> pythonpath = /host/sites/edpod
> module = Edpod.uwsgi
> callable = app
> socket = 127.0.0.1:6000
> enable-threads
>
> Does anyone have any ideas or can point me to some documentation around
> how
> threading works in uwsgi.
>


Hi Richard, it is not a threading problem, but a fork()-related one.

I suppose you are starting your thread in the application entry point (the
file Edpod/uwsgi.py). The master will spawn the thread and then it fork().

In the new process, the thread is no more.

The best way to solve it is in starting the thread only after the fork(),
using the uwsgi.post_fork_hook.

Another solution is in putting your stack in "lazy" mode. That means your
app is completely loaded only after each fork(). Simply add lazy = true
for that setup.