envoyproxy/envoy

Exception caused by RTDS misconfiguration not caught by validation server

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#12,161 opened on Jul 17, 2020

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area/runtimebughelp wanted

Description

We saw a case in which a misconfiguration at the RTDS layer was not caught by the validation server. In staging (running the server in its normal mode) Envoy crashed with the following exception as expected:

EnvoyException in c-ares callback: envoy.config.core.v3.ApiConfigSource must have a statically defined non-EDS cluster: 'someclustername' does not exist, was added via api, or is an EDS cluster

Ideally this sort of error could be caught in development via running Envoy in validation mode. I've not looked too much into the validation server yet but the exception is thrown after starting main dispatch loop, which I noticed is not part of the validation process today based on the logs I'm seeing.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
cpp
Domain
backend
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-3 hours
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
C++ knowledgeEnvoy architecture basics
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
25
Research direction
The issue involves improving the validation server to catch misconfigurations. Look at the validation server code, likely in `source/server/validation server.cc`, to understand how it currently handles errors. The exception is thrown after `starting main dispatch loop`, so the validation server may not be executing that part. Investigate where the exception is thrown (e.g., in the config loading or RTDS layer) and ensure validation mode catches it. There are no linked PRs or comments, so the fix is open ended.