[Bug 2168838] Re: netplan.io autopkgtest "ovs" fails with openvswitch 4.0.0: test_ovsdb_server_is_not_running (ovsdb-server.socket reactivates DB)

[Grayson Wolf]

No, the problem was only in the tests, marking openvswitch invalid

** Changed in: openvswitch (Ubuntu)
       Status: New => Invalid

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Title:
  netplan.io autopkgtest "ovs" fails with openvswitch 4.0.0:
  test_ovsdb_server_is_not_running (ovsdb-server.socket reactivates DB)

Status in netplan.io package in Ubuntu:
  Fix Released
Status in openvswitch package in Ubuntu:
  Invalid

Bug description:
  With openvswitch 4.0.0-1 in stonking-proposed, the netplan.io "ovs"
  autopkgtest fails in every run, which blocks openvswitch migration:

    FAIL: test_ovsdb_server_is_not_running (__main__.TestOVS.test_ovsdb_server_is_not_running)
      File ".../tests/integration/ovs.py", line 478, in test_ovsdb_server_is_not_running
        self.assertIn("OpenvSwitch database is not running", err)
    AssertionError: 'OpenvSwitch database is not running' not found in ''

  Failing runs (amd64):
    https://autopkgtest.ubuntu.com/results/autopkgtest-stonking/stonking/amd64/n/netplan.io/20260922_145459_efa42@/log.gz
    https://autopkgtest.ubuntu.com/results/autopkgtest-stonking/stonking/amd64/n/netplan.io/20260924_192643_460c4@/log.gz
    https://autopkgtest.ubuntu.com/results/autopkgtest-stonking/stonking/amd64/n/netplan.io/20260927_092923_bc791@/log.gz
  migration-reference/0 passes.

  [Cause]

  OVS 4.0.0 ships ovsdb-server.socket, so ovsdb-server is started on
  demand (socket activation). The test only stops ovsdb-server.service:

    Stopping 'ovsdb-server.service', but its triggering units are still active:
    ovsdb-server.socket

  Netplan's _ovs_active() check runs "ovs-vsctl show", which connects to the
  socket, so systemd starts ovsdb-server again. Netplan never sees the DB as
  down, and the expected error message never appears.

  This is a test problem, not a netplan bug: netplan doesn't crash, and it
  still works correctly.

  Side note on behaviour: with OVS >= 4.0, if an admin stops only
  ovsdb-server.service, "netplan apply" now starts the DB again (through the
  socket) instead of reporting "OpenvSwitch database is not running". That
  seems acceptable, but it's worth a look (as the upstream commit message
  also suggests).

  [Fix]

  Already fixed upstream (not in a release yet, latest is 1.2.2):

    commit 14780cf6b2277ceb066a3cdbfee5523de8c3d1d4
    "tests/integration: fix ovsdb-server test on OVS 4.0.0+ (#613)"
    https://github.com/canonical/netplan/pull/613

  The fix also stops ovsdb-server.socket in the test and restarts it during
  cleanup. It still works with older OVS releases that don't have the unit.

  [Proposed resolution]

  Cherry-pick 14780cf into netplan.io in stonking as a d/patches entry, then
  upload it and trigger the tests with openvswitch/4.0.0-1 (together with the
  netplan.io upload).

  Debian: sid already has openvswitch 4.0.0-2 and netplan.io 1.2.2-2, without
  the fix. Debian CI is green only because the "ovs" test is skipped there:
  openvswitch-switch.service is inactive in the debci testbed, so the test
  exits 77 (skippable). For example, debci unstable/arm64 on 2026-09-26:

    test ovs: (systemctl is-active openvswitch-switch.service || exit 77) && ...
    inactive
    ovs                  SKIP exit status 77 and marked as skippable

  The test code is the same, so it will fail in Debian as soon as OVS
  runs there. The patch should be forwarded to Debian too.

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