cfn-hup in daemon mode doesn't work on any currently supported Python version, because of dependency on obsolete python-daemon version about aws-cloudformation-templates HOT 8 OPEN

(Originally filed under my personal account, but this is my work account)

Apologies, it's been some time and it looks like I no longer have my notes from this, but I believe I found some documentation that took me to https://github.com/awslabs/aws-cloudformation-templates/blob/master/aws/solutions/OperatingSystems/Ubuntu22.04_cfn-hup.yaml - it could well have been that page although it doesn't look hugely familiar.

Ultimately I just ended up doing

            /lib/systemd/system/cfn-hup.service:
              content: !Sub |
                [Unit]
                Description=cfn-hup
                [Service]
                Type=oneshot
                ExecStart=/usr/local/bin/cfn-hup -c /etc/cfn --no-daemon
                [Install]
                WantedBy=multi-user.target
              mode: '000400'
              owner: root
              group: root
            /lib/systemd/system/cfn-hup.timer:
              content: !Sub |
                [Unit]
                Description=Run cfn-hup every minute
                [Timer]
                OnCalendar=*-*-* *:*:00
                [Install]
                WantedBy=timers.target
              mode: '000400'
              owner: root
              group: root

which is inelegant but gets the job done.

I'm guessing what you're really looking for is trivial steps to reproduction - I have some vague recollection of eventually realising that it only crashed after restarting or something like that, and thus the template could appear to work correctly at first run. I'm a bit swamped but I can try to take a look next week if I get the time.

from aws-cloudformation-templates.

Hi Aneurin, thanks for bringing this to our attention. This repo just supports the sample templates. I will see if I can find the correct team that supports aws-cfn-bootstrap

from aws-cloudformation-templates.

Hi @Aneurin, were you following the guidance from this post: https://repost.aws/knowledge-center/install-cloudformation-scripts?

from aws-cloudformation-templates.

I'm experiencing the same problem.
@aneurin-price maybe you were led to this repo from the official docs? https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonCloudWatch/latest/monitoring/Install-CloudWatch-Agent-New-Instances-CloudFormation.html#installing-CloudWatch-Agent-using-CloudFormation-Templates-inline
That's how I got here

from aws-cloudformation-templates.

Looks like the latest version of aws-cfn-bootstrap does support newer versions of python, but the S3 account link to the latest version is not actually pointing to the latest version.

aws-cfn-bootstrap documentation (to access links to the latest versions):
https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSCloudFormation/latest/UserGuide/releasehistory-aws-cfn-bootstrap.html

Incorrect latest link:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/cloudformation-examples/aws-cfn-bootstrap-latest.tar.gz => points to version 1.4 which is not the latest

However the py3 latest link points to a version that is closer to the latest:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/cloudformation-examples/aws-cfn-bootstrap-py3-latest.tar.gz

Can you verify if the issue is fixed when using a newer version?

from aws-cloudformation-templates.

That's definitely the version with the issue, because its setup.py requires python-daemon>=2.1,<2.2.

I've just spent an hour or so trying to replicate this again but it's tough because it originally came up in a large stack with a lot of dependencies and I've not yet been able to minimise it. I've also not had any success in using https://github.com/awslabs/aws-cloudformation-templates/blob/master/aws/solutions/OperatingSystems/Ubuntu22.04_cfn-hup.yaml as a starting point, because that template doesn't work. Even after fixing the obvious copy/paste errors in it I still haven't been able to get anything that successfully triggers cfn-hup after a stack update, and I'm not certain if it's something to do with this problem or if I've just made a mistake. It's unfortunate that there aren't any working minimal examples to start from.

I have to go away for a bit but I can probably find a couple of hours the week after next to try properly debugging this by paring down a known-working stack, and then switching it back into daemon mode.

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