Default max_concurrent_processing to half the CPUs pixa sees (closes #242)
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The default max_concurrent_processing was one image per CPU pixa sees,
so in a container with no CPU limit on a 48-CPU host pixa processed 48
images at once. It is now half the CPUs, rounded down and at least 1,
defined once in internal/config; PIXA_MAX_CONCURRENT_PROCESSING stays
the override, and a value that is not a whole number of at least 1
stops startup. "Running under upaas" gives the worst-case memory, 4.2
GiB per image (the largest peak measured over every source format and
kind at 8192x8192) plus the upstream buffers, and the temporary file
libvips keeps under /tmp. The two existing tests expect the new
default, as the owner allowed.

Model: opus-5-5
This commit was merged in pull request #261.
This commit is contained in:
2026-10-15 23:07:22 +02:00
parent 4e30dc7467
commit f743930f71
8 changed files with 149 additions and 30 deletions
+35 -5
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@@ -131,6 +131,34 @@ What the [upaas](https://git.eeqj.de/sneak/upaas) app for pixa needs:
the cache can grow to three quarters or more of the space they all have
left, and to all of it when that is 500 MiB or less.
- the rest are in the table under Configuration below
- **Memory:** pixa can use up to `max_concurrent_processing` times 4.2 GiB for
the images it processes at once, plus `upstream_connections` times
`upstream_max_response_size` for the source images it has fetched that wait
for processing. 4.2 GiB is the most resident memory was measured to grow while
pixa, with pixad's libvips settings, processed one 8192x8192 source, the
largest it accepts, saving it at full size to each output format in turn, one
at a time. The sources were a JPEG, a GIF, a WebP, an 8-bit and a 16-bit PNG,
an 8-bit and a 12-bit AVIF, and an 8-bit, a 16-bit and a 32-bit floating-point
JPEG XL; memory grew most for the 16-bit JPEG XL, of random pixels, saved as
WebP. At the defaults that is half the CPUs pixa sees times 4.2 GiB, plus 64
times 50 MiB: on a host where pixa sees 48 CPUs, 24 times 4.2 GiB plus 3.1
GiB, about 104 GiB. Set `PIXA_MAX_CONCURRENT_PROCESSING` and
`PIXA_UPSTREAM_CONNECTIONS` so that this fits the memory the container may
use.
- **Temporary files:** while pixa processes a large source, libvips writes its
decoded pixels to a file in `/tmp`. The file disappears from `/tmp` once it is
written, so a listing of `/tmp` does not show it, but it keeps its space, on
disk or, where `/tmp` is a tmpfs, in memory, until the image is done. For a
GIF, WebP, AVIF or JPEG XL source the decoded pixels are held in memory as
well as written to that file, and the 4.2 GiB above includes that memory. For
an 8192x8192 source the file was measured on pixad at 192 MiB for an 8-bit RGB
JPEG, 512 MiB for a 16-bit RGBA PNG or JPEG XL, and 1 GiB for a JPEG XL of
32-bit floating-point RGBA, the largest measured: up to 1 GiB per image
processed at once, 24 GiB at the defaults on a host where pixa sees 48 CPUs.
This `/tmp` is in the container's own filesystem, not on the volume at
`/var/lib/pixa`, and `cache_max_bytes` does not count it. The 4.2 GiB above
does not include these files; where `/tmp` is a tmpfs, they are memory on top
of it.
- **Health check:** the image's `HEALTHCHECK` requests
`/.well-known/healthcheck.json`. upaas reads the container's health 60 seconds
after a deploy and marks the deploy failed unless it is `healthy`. The probe
@@ -566,7 +594,7 @@ tell. With no file, pixa uses the environment and the defaults.
| `PIXA_ALLOW_HTTP` | `allow_http` | Allow plain-HTTP upstreams, for testing only; default `false` |
| `PIXA_UPSTREAM_CONNECTIONS_PER_HOST` | `upstream_connections_per_host` | Concurrent connections per upstream host; default `20` |
| `PIXA_UPSTREAM_CONNECTIONS` | `upstream_connections` | Concurrent connections to all upstream hosts together; default `64` |
| `PIXA_MAX_CONCURRENT_PROCESSING` | `max_concurrent_processing` | Images processed at once; default the number of CPUs |
| `PIXA_MAX_CONCURRENT_PROCESSING` | `max_concurrent_processing` | Images processed at once; default half the CPUs, at least 1 |
| `PIXA_IMAGE_REQUESTS_PER_MINUTE` | `image_requests_per_minute` | Image requests per client per minute; `0` turns it off; default `600` |
| `PIXA_UPSTREAM_FETCH_TIMEOUT` | `upstream_fetch_timeout` | Time allowed for one fetch from an upstream host; default `30s` |
| `PIXA_UPSTREAM_MAX_RESPONSE_SIZE` | `upstream_max_response_size` | Largest upstream response accepted, in bytes; default 50 MiB |
@@ -652,10 +680,12 @@ Key settings in more detail:
does, and `downstream_timeout` has not ended first, the request is answered
503 with the error `server busy, try again later`
- `max_concurrent_processing` — the most images decoded and encoded at once;
default the number of CPUs pixa can use (`GOMAXPROCS`), which follows a
container's CPU limit. A request that finds all of them in use waits up to 10
seconds for one to free up; if none does, and `downstream_timeout` has not
ended first, it is answered 503 the same way
default half the CPUs pixa can use (`GOMAXPROCS`, which follows a container's
CPU limit), rounded down, and at least 1. A value that is not a whole number
of at least 1 aborts startup. A request that finds all of them in use waits up
to 10 seconds for one to free up; if none does, and `downstream_timeout` has
not ended first, it is answered 503 the same way. Each one can take a lot of
memory: see "Running under upaas"
- `image_requests_per_minute` — how many requests one client may send to the
image routes per minute (see the limit on them under Routes); default `600`.
`0` turns the limit off, and a negative or non-integer value aborts startup.