1353141 - [Intermittent] Ping is not saved in "Pending Pings" folder when the browser is crashed on its first launch after a fresh install.

Status: RESOLVED INVALID

(Toolkit :: Telemetry, defect, P1)

Description

[Abe - QA (:Abe_LV)]

Steps to Reproduce:

1. Install fresh latest nightly
2. Launch Nightly from a clean profile
3. Set toolkit.telemetry.server;http://127.0.0.1:8080/
4. Stop your local Server if it is started. 
5. Crash the browser after the infobar is displayed. Use addon:  https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/crash-me-now-simple/
6. Check if the ping is saved in "Pending Pings" folder 

Actual Result:
Sometimes, the crash ping is not being saved in "pending pings" folder

Expected Result:
Pings should always be saved in the pending folder

Screen Capture: https://testing-1.tinytake.com/sf/MTQ3NjQ1Nl81MjA1MTk5

Comment 1

[Alessio Placitelli [:Dexter]]

Abe, I noticed that the crashreporter isn't even showing up in your screen capture.

That's scary and unexpected!

I tested the same build that you're using, on my machine, and the crashreporter is showing up after a crash (and so the ping is getting saved as well).

Can you try a nightly build from before the landing of bug 1345153 to make sure the crashreporter shows up? This is either an existing problem (that needs to be understood and eventually fixed) or a regression from bug 1345153.

Comment 2

[Alessio Placitelli [:Dexter]]

Just to clarify: if the crashreporter doesn't show up, then the crash is not captured and no ping can be generated.

Comment 3

[Alessio Placitelli [:Dexter]]

I have a theory for this. I suspect you're not seeing the ping there because it was correctly sent to the real Mozilla server. That can happen, if you mess with the "toolkit.telemetry.server" pref after Telemetry inits.

> 1. Install fresh latest nightly
> 2. Launch Nightly from a clean profile

As soon as Firefox starts up, we annotate the crash report with the address taken from the prefs [1].
This is "instantaneous", so the crash report is initially annotated with the address of the real Mozilla server.

> 3. Set toolkit.telemetry.server;http://127.0.0.1:8080/
> 4. Stop your local Server if it is started. 
> 5. Crash the browser after the infobar is displayed. Use addon: 
> https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/crash-me-now-simple/

On a fresh profile, on the first run, the infobar is displayed after 60s, exactly when Telemetry inits.
When that happens, we annotate the crash report again with the value from the server pref.

So, if you set the pref at step (2), then here the crash report will have the local server address that you set.

However, by looking at it again at your screen capture, I see that you're setting the server after.

> https://testing-1.tinytake.com/sf/MTQ3NjQ1Nl81MjA1MTk5

That means that your local server address isn't being picked up because the annotated crash report contains the real Mozilla server URL.

> 6. Check if the ping is saved in "Pending Pings" folder 

You are not seeing the ping there probably because it was deleted right after being sent.

[1] - http://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/rev/381a7b8f8a78b481336cfa384cb0a5536e217e4a/toolkit/components/telemetry/TelemetrySend.jsm#606,654
[2] - http://searchfox.org/mozilla-central/rev/381a7b8f8a78b481336cfa384cb0a5536e217e4a/toolkit/components/telemetry/TelemetrySend.jsm#624,654

Comment 4

[Alessio Placitelli [:Dexter]]

After talking with Abe I'm closing this as INVALID.