app/vlstorage: add support for forced merge via /internal/force_merge HTTP endpoint

app/victoria-logs/main.go

@@ -92,6 +92,9 @@ func requestHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) bool {
 	if vlselect.RequestHandler(w, r) {
 		return true
 	}
+	if vlstorage.RequestHandler(w, r) {
+		return true
+	}
 	return false
 }
 

app/vlstorage/main.go

@@ -37,6 +37,8 @@ var (
 		"see https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victorialogs/data-ingestion/ ; see also -logNewStreams")
 	minFreeDiskSpaceBytes = flagutil.NewBytes("storage.minFreeDiskSpaceBytes", 10e6, "The minimum free disk space at -storageDataPath after which "+
 		"the storage stops accepting new data")
+
+	forceMergeAuthKey = flagutil.NewPassword("forceMergeAuthKey", "authKey, which must be passed in query string to /internal/force_merge pages. It overrides -httpAuth.*")
 )
 
 // Init initializes vlstorage.
@@ -87,6 +89,28 @@ func Stop() {
 	strg = nil
 }
 
+// RequestHandler is a storage request handler.
+func RequestHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) bool {
+	path := r.URL.Path
+	if path == "/internal/force_merge" {
+		if !httpserver.CheckAuthFlag(w, r, forceMergeAuthKey) {
+			return true
+		}
+		// Run force merge in background
+		partitionNamePrefix := r.FormValue("partition_prefix")
+		go func() {
+			activeForceMerges.Inc()
+			defer activeForceMerges.Dec()
+			logger.Infof("forced merge for partition_prefix=%q has been started", partitionNamePrefix)
+			startTime := time.Now()
+			strg.MustForceMerge(partitionNamePrefix)
+			logger.Infof("forced merge for partition_prefix=%q has been successfully finished in %.3f seconds", partitionNamePrefix, time.Since(startTime).Seconds())
+		}()
+		return true
+	}
+	return false
+}
+
 var strg *logstorage.Storage
 var storageMetrics *metrics.Set
 
@@ -205,3 +229,5 @@ func writeStorageMetrics(w io.Writer, strg *logstorage.Storage) {
 	metrics.WriteCounterUint64(w, `vl_rows_dropped_total{reason="too_big_timestamp"}`, ss.RowsDroppedTooBigTimestamp)
 	metrics.WriteCounterUint64(w, `vl_rows_dropped_total{reason="too_small_timestamp"}`, ss.RowsDroppedTooSmallTimestamp)
 }
+
+var activeForceMerges = metrics.NewCounter("vl_active_force_merges")

docs/VictoriaLogs/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ according to [these docs](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victorialogs/quicksta
 
 ## tip
 
+* FEATURE: add support for forced merge. See [these docs](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victorialogs/#forced-merge).
+
 * BUGFIX: avoid possible panic when logs for a new day are ingested during execution of concurrent queries.
 * BUGFIX: avoid panic at `lib/logstorage.(*blockResultColumn).forEachDictValue()` when [stats with additional filters](https://docs.victoriametrics.com/victorialogs/logsql/#stats-with-additional-filters). The panic has been introduced in [v0.33.0](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/releases/tag/v0.33.0-victorialogs) in [this commit](https://github.com/VictoriaMetrics/VictoriaMetrics/commit/a350be48b68330ee1a487e1fb09b002d3be45163).
 

docs/VictoriaLogs/README.md

@@ -131,6 +131,19 @@ For example, the following command starts VictoriaLogs, which stores the data at
 
 VictoriaLogs automatically creates the `-storageDataPath` directory on the first run if it is missing.
 
+## Forced merge
+
+VictoriaLogs performs data compactions in background in order to keep good performance characteristics when accepting new data.
+These compactions (merges) are performed independently on per-day partitions.
+This means that compactions are stopped for per-day partitions if no new data is ingested into these partitions.
+Sometimes it is necessary to trigger compactions for old partitions. In this case forced compaction may be initiated on the specified per-month partition
+by sending request to `/internal/force_merge?partition_prefix=YYYYMMDD`,
+where `YYYYMMDD` is per-day partition name. For example, `http://victoria-logs:9428/internal/force_merge?partition_prefix=20240921` would initiate forced
+merge for September 21, 2024 partition. The call to `/internal/force_merge` returns immediately, while the corresponding forced merge continues running in background.
+
+Forced merges may require additional CPU, disk IO and storage space resources. It is unnecessary to run forced merge under normal conditions,
+since VictoriaLogs automatically performs optimal merges in background when new data is ingested into it.
+
 ## High Availability
 
 ### High Availability (HA) Setup with VictoriaLogs Single-Node Instances

lib/logstorage/datadb.go

@@ -459,6 +459,7 @@ func assertIsInMerge(pws []*partWrapper) {
 // mustMergeParts merges pws to a single resulting part.
 //
 // if isFinal is set, then the resulting part is guaranteed to be saved to disk.
+// if isFinal is set, then the merge process cannot be interrupted.
 // The pws may remain unmerged after returning from the function if there is no enough disk space.
 //
 // All the parts inside pws must have isInMerge field set to true.
@@ -1226,3 +1227,48 @@ func getBlocksCount(pws []*partWrapper) uint64 {
 	}
 	return n
 }
+
+func (ddb *datadb) mustForceMergeAllParts() {
+	// Flush inmemory parts to files before forced merge
+	ddb.mustFlushInmemoryPartsToFiles(true)
+
+	var pws []*partWrapper
+
+	// Collect all the file parts for forced merge
+	ddb.partsLock.Lock()
+	pws = appendAllPartsForMergeLocked(pws, ddb.smallParts)
+	pws = appendAllPartsForMergeLocked(pws, ddb.bigParts)
+	ddb.partsLock.Unlock()
+
+	// If len(pws) == 1, then the merge must run anyway.
+	// This allows applying the configured retention, removing the deleted data, etc.
+
+	// Merge pws optimally
+	wg := getWaitGroup()
+	for len(pws) > 0 {
+		pwsToMerge, pwsRemaining := getPartsForOptimalMerge(pws)
+		wg.Add(1)
+		bigPartsConcurrencyCh <- struct{}{}
+		go func(pwsChunk []*partWrapper) {
+			defer func() {
+				<-bigPartsConcurrencyCh
+				wg.Done()
+			}()
+
+			ddb.mustMergeParts(pwsChunk, false)
+		}(pwsToMerge)
+		pws = pwsRemaining
+	}
+	wg.Wait()
+	putWaitGroup(wg)
+}
+
+func appendAllPartsForMergeLocked(dst, src []*partWrapper) []*partWrapper {
+	for _, pw := range src {
+		if !pw.isInMerge {
+			pw.isInMerge = true
+			dst = append(dst, pw)
+		}
+	}
+	return dst
+}

lib/logstorage/partition.go

@@ -195,3 +195,8 @@ func (pt *partition) updateStats(ps *PartitionStats) {
 	pt.ddb.updateStats(&ps.DatadbStats)
 	pt.idb.updateStats(&ps.IndexdbStats)
 }
+
+// mustForceMerge runs forced merge for all the parts in pt.
+func (pt *partition) mustForceMerge() {
+	pt.ddb.mustForceMergeAllParts()
+}

lib/logstorage/storage.go

@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import (
 	"os"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"sort"
+	"strings"
 	"sync"
 	"sync/atomic"
 	"time"
@@ -113,6 +114,8 @@ type Storage struct {
 	// partitions is a list of partitions for the Storage.
 	//
 	// It must be accessed under partitionsLock.
+	//
+	// partitions are sorted by time.
 	partitions []*partitionWrapper
 
 	// ptwHot is the "hot" partition, were the last rows were ingested.
@@ -472,6 +475,33 @@ func (s *Storage) MustClose() {
 	s.path = ""
 }
 
+// MustForceMerge force-merges parts in s partitions with names starting from the given partitionNamePrefix.
+//
+// Partitions are merged sequentially in order to reduce load on the system.
+func (s *Storage) MustForceMerge(partitionNamePrefix string) {
+	var ptws []*partitionWrapper
+
+	s.partitionsLock.Lock()
+	for _, ptw := range s.partitions {
+		if strings.HasPrefix(ptw.pt.name, partitionNamePrefix) {
+			ptw.incRef()
+			ptws = append(ptws, ptw)
+		}
+	}
+	s.partitionsLock.Unlock()
+
+	s.wg.Add(1)
+	defer s.wg.Done()
+
+	for _, ptw := range ptws {
+		logger.Infof("started force merge for partition %s", ptw.pt.name)
+		startTime := time.Now()
+		ptw.pt.mustForceMerge()
+		ptw.decRef()
+		logger.Infof("finished force merge for partition %s in %.3fs", ptw.pt.name, time.Since(startTime).Seconds())
+	}
+}
+
 // MustAddRows adds lr to s.
 //
 // It is recommended checking whether the s is in read-only mode by calling IsReadOnly()