[tor-bugs] #24991 [Core Tor/Tor]: relay frequently claiming "missing descriptors for 1/2 of our primary entry guards"

[Tor Bug Tracker & Wiki]

#24991: relay frequently claiming "missing descriptors for 1/2 of our primary entry
guards"
-------------------------------------------------+-------------------------
 Reporter:  alecmuffett                          |          Owner:  (none)
     Type:  defect                               |         Status:
                                                 |  needs_information
 Priority:  Medium                               |      Milestone:  Tor:
                                                 |  unspecified
Component:  Core Tor/Tor                         |        Version:  Tor:
                                                 |  0.3.0.1-alpha
 Severity:  Minor                                |     Resolution:
 Keywords:  single-onion, guards, logging,       |  Actual Points:
  easy, 034-triage-20180328,                     |
  034-removed-20180328                           |
Parent ID:  #23863                               |         Points:  0.5
 Reviewer:                                       |        Sponsor:
-------------------------------------------------+-------------------------
Changes (by teor):

 * status:  new => needs_information
 * version:  Tor: 0.3.4.1-alpha => Tor: 0.3.0.1-alpha


Comment:

 (This is a bug on 0.3.0.1-alpha, the earliest version with this issue.)

 You've stripped the times and the log levels from your log, so it's hard
 to analyse this bug.

 {{{
 Our directory information is no longer up-to-date enough to build
 circuits: We're missing descriptors for 1/2 of our primary entry guards
 (total microdescriptors: 6346/6383).
 I learned some more directory information, but not enough to build a
 circuit: We're missing descriptors for 1/2 of our primary entry guards
 (total microdescriptors: 6346/6383).
 We now have enough directory information to build circuits.
 }}}

 These logs show that Tor expires the microdescs for one of its guards,
 then fetches some more microdescs, then finally gets enough to use that
 guard again. How long did it take to recover?

 If it only took a minute or so, then that's ok. Maybe we should downgrade
 the log levels. But they are useful if the descriptor download fails.

 If it took a long time, then maybe we need to make the downloads more
 aggressive.

--
Ticket URL: <https://trac.torproject.org/projects/tor/ticket/24991#comment:12>
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