Instance shuts down abruptly and new instance starts automatically

[DFB]

- App Engine SDK Java v1.9.80

- Automatic Scaling (Default instance - F1)

My app engine instance shuts down abruptly every few hours (typically 2-3 hours) for no apparent reason. It would have just finished serving a request and the next minute a new instance is spawned by a warmup request. There are absolutely no errors that cause it to shutdown.

I'm using automatic scaling, and also set up a cron to ping my instance every 10 minutes to keep it alive. But it still behaves the same way. It's not as if it's shutting down because it's idle.

Note that until 2 weeks ago I was on v1.9.63 and it behaved the same. Then I upgraded to 1.9.74 to 1.9.76 to 1.9.80, and all have been behaving the same. 

I can understand if it spawns a second, third or fourth instance under more load, but I don't understanding an instance shutting down and new one starting when the previous one was actively servicing the requests, and the load on the instance is very low.

Can someone help me understand what's going on?

[ankush kapoor]

As per the documentation, Instances are created on demand to handle requests and automatically turned down when idle.

However, the time interval varies based on multiple facotrs including system load/idle time, scaling type etc.

Following link provided details on that.

https://cloud.google.com/appengine/docs/standard/go/how-instances-are-managed

[DFB]

Hello Ankush,

But the point is that the instance is not idle and load is not high when I see it happening.

The only thing I can think of it is exceeding memory limit for the instance. My instance is usually around 200-225MB. I understand that the memory limit is 256MB for an F1 instance for a Java 8 application.

[Katayoon (Cloud Platform Support)]

As recommended in this thread, you may upgrade your instance class to resolve this issue. If the issue still persists, you can create a private report in the Issue tracker and provide us with your project id, the service name and the version number, so that we would be able to look into it and assist you to resolve the issue efficiently. 

[DFB]

I know that option, but isn't there a way to find out the reason of why an instance would shut down?

I already created a private issue about a week ago and have not received any response so far. That's why I turned to this forum for help.

[George (Cloud Platform Support)]

To solve such an issue, which depends on your project and specific settings, private information is usually requested. A public forum, such as this one, is not suitable for such exchange of information. By contrast, a private issue in the Public Issue Tracker secures confidentiality, and private data protection. Opening your issue there offers the additional advantage of being actively followed, and fixed in due course. 

[DFB]

Sure, but I haven't received a response to the private issue for 8 days now. What can I do to get someone to pick up the issue (other than of course buying paid support)?