edenfs-systemd-triage

DevOps & Security

Triage systemd-managed EdenFS issues on Linux devservers and OnDemands. Use when investigating EdenFS service failures, unexpected restarts, systemctl errors, edenfs_upgrade/edenfs_restarter problems, or when a user reports EdenFS is down on a systemd-enabled host. Also use when someone asks how systemd-managed EdenFS works, how to monitor it, or how to check its health. Use when asked to build a timeline of EdenFS lifecycle events, show edenfs restart history, or understand how edenfs reached its current state. Trigger on mentions of edenfs systemd, edenfs@ service, edenfs_upgrade timer, edenfs auto-restart, eden status --debug, systemctl edenfs, edenfs lifecycle management, edenfs timeline, edenfs restart history, or "what happened to edenfs".

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EdenFS Systemd Triage

This skill helps EdenFS team members understand, monitor, and triage systemd-managed EdenFS.

Quick Orientation

Systemd manages the EdenFS daemon lifecycle on Linux (devservers and OnDemands). When EdenFS exits unexpectedly (crash, OOM-kill), systemd automatically restarts it — no user intervention needed.

Two systemd components to know:

Component	What it does	Scope
`edenfs@.service`	User-scoped service managing the edenfs daemon lifecycle (auto-restart on failure)	Per-user (`systemctl --user`)
`edenfs_upgrade.timer`	System-scoped hourly timer that runs `edenfs_restarter` to upgrade edenfs gracefully	System-wide (`systemctl`)

Config gate: [experimental] systemd-managed-lifecycle = true in eden config.

How to Use This Skill

Read the reference file that matches your need:

Need	Reference File	When to Read
Understand the architecture	`references/architecture.md`	How systemd-managed EdenFS works, service unit file, lifecycle operations
Check health & monitor	`references/monitoring.md`	Scuba queries, dashboards, success rate metrics, rollout monitoring
Build a lifecycle timeline	`references/timeline.md`	Reconstruct chronological EdenFS events from Scuba + local logs + systemd properties to understand how the system reached its current state
Triage a specific failure	`references/triage-playbook.md`	Step-by-step procedures for common failure scenarios
Identify known failure patterns	`references/common-failures.md`	Error signatures, root causes, and fixes for known issues

First-Response Checklist

When triaging an EdenFS systemd issue, start here:

Is the user on systemd? Check: eden config | grep systemd-managed
What's the service status? Check: eden status --debug
What does Scuba say? Check systemctl action failures: https://fburl.com/scuba/edenfs_events/4tf01a9c
What do the logs say? Check: /var/facebook/logs/edenfs_upgrade.log and /var/log/messages

If you need to run commands on a user's machine via sush, you cannot use su — you must use:

machinectl shell <username>@.host /usr/local/bin/eden status --debug

Diagnostic Commands (Safe to Run Locally)

These are read-only and safe to execute automatically:

# Check if systemd-managed
eden config | grep systemd-managed

# Full service status with systemd details
eden status --debug

# Check eden version mismatch
eden version

# Check systemd service properties (restart policy, crash counters, timestamps)
systemctl --user show edenfs@home-$(whoami)-local-.eden.service \
  --property=Id,Type,Restart,RestartUSec,StartLimitIntervalUSec,StartLimitBurst,NRestarts,ExecMainStartTimestamp,ExecMainPID,ExecMainCode,ExecMainStatus,ActiveState,SubState,Result,InvocationID,ActiveEnterTimestamp,ActiveExitTimestamp,InactiveEnterTimestamp,InactiveExitTimestamp

# Check eden logs for recent errors
eden debug log | tail -50

# Check startup log
cat <state_dir>/.edenfs_startup.log

# Check system messages for edenfs service events
grep 'edenfs@' /var/log/messages | tail -20

# Check edenfs_upgrade logs
tail -50 /var/facebook/logs/edenfs_upgrade.log

# Check kernel OOM kills
dmesg | grep -i -E '(edenfs|oom|killed)' | tail -20

# Check dbus connectivity (needed for systemctl --user)
python3 -c "import socket; s=socket.socket(socket.AF_UNIX,socket.SOCK_STREAM); s.settimeout(1); s.connect('/run/user/$(id -u)/bus'); print('alive'); s.close()"

# Check linger (needed for user services to persist)
loginctl show-user $(whoami) --property=Linger

Hostname for Scuba Queries

CRITICAL: Scuba uses the short hostname (e.g., devvm21611.cco0), NOT the FQDN returned by hostname (e.g., devvm21611.cco0.facebook.com). Always strip the .facebook.com suffix:

hostname | sed 's/\.facebook\.com$//'

Querying Scuba with the FQDN will silently return zero results.