Skip to content

Document automatic recovery from stuck PowerShell scripts on Tentacle#3175

Open
jimmyp wants to merge 1 commit into
mainfrom
jimpelletier/eft-3295-document-stuck-script-recovery
Open

Document automatic recovery from stuck PowerShell scripts on Tentacle#3175
jimmyp wants to merge 1 commit into
mainfrom
jimpelletier/eft-3295-document-stuck-script-recovery

Conversation

@jimmyp
Copy link
Copy Markdown

@jimmyp jimmyp commented May 26, 2026

Summary

Adds a new section to the "Troubleshooting failed or hanging tasks" page covering the two automatic recoveries Tentacle now ships for stuck PowerShell scripts:

  • PowerShell startup detection (EFT-365, shipped April 2026). Tentacle detects scripts that never start and fails them with exit code -47 after 5 minutes.
  • Cancel-abandon escape hatch (EFT-3295, in flight). When a cancellation can't take effect on Tentacle in 2 minutes, Octopus tells Tentacle to abandon and accept new work.

The section sits between the existing "Automatic failure of hanging tasks" subsection (Hung Deployment Detection, a different feature) and the "Antivirus software" subsection (the operator-side fix). The page now flows: deployment-level detection → script-level recovery → the AV configuration the customer still needs to apply.

Test plan

  • Spell check passes
  • Astro build doesn't break links
  • Cross-link to #anti-virus-software resolves (anchor already exists on the same page)
  • Voice consistent with the existing surrounding sections

Open questions for review

@lucyjspence @LukeButters, two version numbers in the new section that I want a second eye on:

  1. EFT-365 startup-detection timeout = 5 minutes. PR Move the Certificate supported formats page content to the Certificates index page. #1200 lists 5 min as the default. Clare quoted 13 min in her May 18 email to Philips. Is the actual rolled-out value 5, or did the rollout configure 13?
  2. Tentacle version supporting the cancellation abandon. Placeholder text reads "to be confirmed when the work ships". After EFT-3295 lands and we know the Tentacle version that publishes AbandonScript, update before merging.

The doc is otherwise self-contained. Happy to merge after those two items are confirmed.

Reducing risk

  • Honest framing throughout: both recoveries are mitigation, not cure. The doc explicitly says the underlying problem is on the target machine and the customer still needs to whitelist antivirus paths.
  • The abandon path explicitly tells the customer the runaway process may still be running, with guidance on what to do about it (inspect, clean up manually).
  • Don't-oversell: no claims of robustness, no marketing-speak.

Refs: EFT-365, EFT-3295

[JIM_BOT.EXE v2.13]

Adds a new section to the "Troubleshooting failed or hanging tasks" page
covering the two automatic recoveries that ship with EFT-365 (PowerShell
startup detection) and EFT-3295 (cancel-abandon escape hatch).

The section sits between the existing "Automatic failure of hanging tasks"
subsection (Hung Deployment Detection — a different feature) and the
"Antivirus software" subsection (operator-side fix), so the page flows
from deployment-level detection, to script-level recovery, to the
underlying fix the customer still needs to make.

Honest framing throughout: both recoveries are mitigation, the underlying
problem is on the target machine, and the abandon path explicitly does
not kill the runaway script process.

Refs: EFT-365, EFT-3295

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.7 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
@team-marketing-branch-protections
Copy link
Copy Markdown

Pull request environment is available at https://stoctodocspr3175.z22.web.core.windows.net.

You can view the ephemeral environment status in Octopus Deploy.

This environment will be automatically deprovisioned when the pull request is closed, or after 7 days of inactivity.

Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Labels

None yet

Projects

None yet

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

2 participants