boost::interprocess_exception - library_error exception when creating shared_memory_object

Question

In some rare cases (in fact on a single client's computer) code below throws an exception "library_error":

namespace ipc = boost::interprocess;
ipc::shared_memory_object m_shm;
...
bool initAsServer(size_t sharedMemSize)
{
    ipc::permissions perm;
    perm.set_unrestricted();

    try
    {
        m_shm = ipc::shared_memory_object(
            ipc::create_only,
            CNameGenHelper::genUniqueNameUtf8().c_str(), // static std::string genUniqueNameUtf8()
            ipc::read_write, perm);
    }
    catch(const ipc::interprocess_exception& ex)
    {
        logError("failed with exception \"%s\"", ex.what());
        return false;
    }
    ...
}

In log file: [ERR] failed with exception "boost::interprocess_exception::library_error"

Boost v1.58, platform win32, vs13.

I'll be very grateful if you help me in solving this problem. Thank you in advance!

Are you checking if the shared memory segment already exists in the system ? — Arunmu, Jun 27 '16 at 10:39
No, this is not necessary since the function CNameGenHelper::genUniqueNameUtf8() generates a unique name based on the GUID. I added to the log file getting error codes via ex.get_error_code() and ex.get_native_error() for additional exception information. Now I wating for log files from client side... Thank you for your interest in this issue! — Oleg, Jun 28 '16 at 04:30
for updated line in catch: logError("failed with exception \"%s\", error %d, native error %d", ex.what(), ex.get_error_code(), ex.get_native_error()); --- In log file: [ERR] failed with exception "boost::interprocess_exception::library_error", error 1, native error 0. --- error 1 - system_error (from enum error_code_t) Help me please... — Oleg, Jul 06 '16 at 01:45
Note: I'm trying to to allocate a relatively small amount of memory, only ~8 MB. — Oleg, Jul 06 '16 at 01:50
Why dont you step through a debugger in the function ? That would surely help you find the code where its throwing the exception. — Arunmu, Jul 06 '16 at 06:25
I can not use the debugger on the client (customer) computer. — Oleg, Jul 07 '16 at 07:06

Oleg · Answer 1 · 2016-07-07T06:58:43.090

Reason of problem is events with Event ID = "6005" and source name is "EventLog" in "System" Windows log. Event Viewer - Windows Logs - System. If the system log does not contain at least one such event, then method boost::interprocess::winapi::get_last_bootup_time() returns false and boost::interprocess::ipcdetail::windows_bootstamp constructor throws exception. (define BOOST_INTERPROCESS_HAS_KERNEL_BOOTTIME is used).

So it seems that it is enough to clear the "System" windows event log and any application that uses the Boost shared memory will stop working.

What a terrible logic: use the contents of the windows event log. It seems this boost ipc implementation bug that has not yet been fixed (boost_1_61_0).

My temporary workaround for this case (w/o reboot of computer):

bool fixBoostIpcSharedMem6005issue() const
{
    bool result = false;

    HANDLE hEventLog = ::RegisterEventSourceA(NULL, "EventLog");
    if(hEventLog)
    {
        const char* msg = "simple boost shared memory fix for 6005";

        if(::ReportEventA(hEventLog, EVENTLOG_INFORMATION_TYPE, 0, 6005, NULL, 1, 0, &msg, NULL))
            result = true;

        ::DeregisterEventSource(hEventLog);
    }

    return result;
}

Use it and try to use ipc::shared_memory_object again :)

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 09 '18 at 16:28

Many detailed explanations about by the problem, by one of the authors of the library: Boost interprocess: Getting boot-up time is unreliable on Windows and here: Interprocess get_last_bootup_time use of Event Log on Windows is completely unreliable

Apparently, a reliable solution is to define the preprocessor constant BOOST_INTERPROCESS_SHARED_DIR_PATH to a function call, which always returns the same directory path as a string, once the machine is booted. For example by formatting the update time-stamp of a file, written to at start-up.

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 18 '20 at 22:36

You can #define BOOST_INTERPROCESS_BOOTSTAMP_IS_SESSION_MANAGER_BASED or BOOST_INTERPROCESS_BOOTSTAMP_IS_LASTBOOTUPTIME to switch to either registry or WMI based boot time detection. Alternatively, you can use BOOST_INTERPROCESS_SHARED_DIR_PATH, but it's kind of useless on Windows since it uses hardcoded path. BOOST_INTERPROCESS_SHARED_DIR_FUNC is much better option since it lets you define a function that returns path to the shared directory.

boost::interprocess_exception - library_error exception when creating shared_memory_object

3 Answers3

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