[Bug 1836475] Re: [SRU] update-notifier-common weekly cron job runs at the same time for all computers across the globe

[Dave Jones]

Attaching a debdiff for the focal version which implements a random
delay of up to 1 hour. The delay is executed in the background to ensure
that other cronjobs are not held up. Hopefully 1 hour is sufficient:
it's considerably shorter than the 24 hours that the systemd timer
"smears" this action over, but mitigates the issue of an update being
missed because the server is shutdown / rebooted during the delay.

Test build available in the following PPA:

https://launchpad.net/~waveform/+archive/ubuntu/update-notifier

** Patch added: "lp1836475-focal-2.debdiff"
   https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/update-notifier/+bug/1836475/+attachment/5516127/+files/lp1836475-focal-2.debdiff

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https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1836475

Title:
  [SRU] update-notifier-common weekly cron job runs at the same time for
  all computers across the globe

Status in update-notifier package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in update-notifier source package in Focal:
  Triaged
Status in update-notifier source package in Groovy:
  Fix Released

Bug description:
  [Impact]

  * The fix spreads access to changelogs.ubuntu.com over a full week (it was decided this was preferable to the 24h originally requested)
  * This results in reduced load on Canonical's infrastructure, of benefit to all users

  [Test Case]

  On Focal desktop and server installations:

  * sudo add-apt-repository ppa:waveform/update-notifier
  * sudo apt update
  * sudo apt install update-notifier-common
  * Ensure that /etc/cron.daily/update-notifier-common and /etc/cron.weekly/update-notifier-common have been removed
  * Ensure systemctl status update-notifier-motd.timer shows a valid timer
  * Ensure systemctl status update-notifier-download.timer shows a valid timer

  [Regression Potential]

  Low; the patch is already in active use in Groovy.

  [Original Description]

  Hi,

  /etc/cron.weekly/update-notifier-common is run at the same time on all
  machines across the globe. It's putting unnecessary stress on
  Canonical's infrastructure (changelogs.ubuntu.com, specifically).
  Could we please have this job spread out over 24h ?

  And could we please SRU this change ?

  Thanks

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