Grpc-go: ClientConn.Close does not wait for connections to be closed before returning

[micfan]

Hi, I'm testing the compatibility of helloworld example between https://github.com/tower-rs/tower-grpc and https://github.com/grpc/grpc-go.

I found that the Golang client sent a RST TCP flag before it closing connection, however, the Rust client sent a FIN TCP flag. And, the Rust server think a RST flag is not proper.

This issue is born from this https://github.com/tower-rs/tower-grpc/issues/187.

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What version of gRPC are you using?

const Version = "1.22.0-dev"

What version of Go are you using (go version)?

$ go version
go version go1.12.6 windows/amd64

What operating system (Linux, Windows, …) and version?

Windows 10

What did you do?

If possible, provide a recipe for reproducing the error.

Here is the Wireshark dump of Golang client: https://pastebin.com/XxLkUXQw

And the Screenshot:

1. got ConnectionReset error: https://github.com/tower-rs/tower-grpc/blob/master/tower-grpc-examples/src/helloworld/server.rs + https://github.com/grpc/grpc-go/tree/master/examples/helloworld/greeter_client

2. no this kind error: https://github.com/tower-rs/tower-grpc/blob/master/tower-grpc-examples/src/helloworld/server.rs + https://github.com/tower-rs/tower-grpc/blob/master/tower-grpc-examples/src/helloworld/client.rs

3. got the same kind TCP flag [RST, ACK]: https://github.com/grpc/grpc-go/tree/master/examples/helloworld/greeter_server + https://github.com/grpc/grpc-go/tree/master/examples/helloworld/greeter_client

What did you expect to see?

It should be a `FIN` flag instead of `RST` flag when TCP is closing, in my opinion

What did you see instead?

A `RST` flag was sent from grpc-go client

[menghanl]

I believe the root cause is: ClientConn.Close() doesn't wait for the underlying goroutines to exit. Which means, when ClientConn.Close() returns, the TCP connections are not guaranteed to be closed.

In the helloworld client, cc.Close() is the last thing, and the program exits after that. So it's possible that when the program exits, the TCP connection is still open, and will be __force__ closed, resulting in a RST.

You can try to add a defer func() { time.Sleep(time.Second) }() at the beginning of main, to give some for TCP connection to close. You should see FIN as expected.

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The race between ClientConn.Close() and other goroutines doesn't seem to be a big problem to me in practice, because it doesn't affect RPCs, and also server should be able to tolerate errors like this.
If it still concerns you, please file an issue.
EDIT: renaming this issue instead.

[stale[bot]]

This issue is labeled as requiring an update from the reporter, and no update has been received after 7 days. If no update is provided in the next 7 days, this issue will be automatically closed.

[dfawley]

We still should fix this. The stale bot went rogue (https://github.com/probot/stale/issues/207) and accidentally tagged this - sorry for the spam.

[johnwmstevens]

This is still a problem. Any plans to fix this?

[n0izn0iz]

bump

[dfawley]

If anyone would like to help with this, we don't have time to prioritize it, but are willing to review code.