tail: fix --pid with FIFO by using non-blocking open (#9663)

* tail: fix --pid with FIFO by using non-blocking open

* Address review comments: propagate fcntl errors and remove Windows stub

---------

Co-authored-by: Sylvestre Ledru <sylvestre@debian.org>
Co-authored-by: Sylvestre Ledru <sylvestre.ledru@gmail.com>

.vscode/cspell.dictionaries/jargon.wordlist.txt

@@ -217,4 +217,5 @@ TUNABLES
 tunables
 VMULL
 vmull
+SETFL
 tmpfs

Cargo.lock

@@ -3981,6 +3981,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "fluent",
  "libc",
  "memchr",
+ "nix",
  "notify",
  "rstest",
  "same-file",

src/uu/tail/Cargo.toml

@@ -27,6 +27,9 @@ uucore = { workspace = true, features = ["fs", "parser-size", "signals"] }
 same-file = { workspace = true }
 fluent = { workspace = true }
 
+[target.'cfg(unix)'.dependencies]
+nix = { workspace = true, features = ["fs"] }
+
 [target.'cfg(windows)'.dependencies]
 windows-sys = { workspace = true, features = [
   "Win32_System_Threading",

src/uu/tail/src/tail.rs

@@ -152,7 +152,12 @@ fn tail_file(
         }
         observer.add_bad_path(path, input.display_name.as_str(), false)?;
     } else {
-        match File::open(path) {
+        #[cfg(unix)]
+        let open_result = open_file(path, settings.pid != 0);
+        #[cfg(not(unix))]
+        let open_result = File::open(path);
+
+        match open_result {
             Ok(mut file) => {
                 let st = file.metadata()?;
                 let blksize_limit = uucore::fs::sane_blksize::sane_blksize_from_metadata(&st);
@@ -197,6 +202,43 @@ fn tail_file(
     Ok(())
 }
 
+/// Opens a file, using non-blocking mode for FIFOs when `use_nonblock_for_fifo` is true.
+///
+/// When opening a FIFO with `--pid`, we need to use O_NONBLOCK so that:
+/// 1. The open() call doesn't block waiting for a writer
+/// 2. We can periodically check if the monitored process is still alive
+///
+/// After opening, we clear O_NONBLOCK so subsequent reads block normally.
+/// Without `--pid`, FIFOs block on open() until a writer connects (GNU behavior).
+#[cfg(unix)]
+fn open_file(path: &Path, use_nonblock_for_fifo: bool) -> std::io::Result<File> {
+    use nix::fcntl::{FcntlArg, OFlag, fcntl};
+    use std::fs::OpenOptions;
+    use std::os::fd::AsFd;
+    use std::os::unix::fs::{FileTypeExt, OpenOptionsExt};
+
+    let is_fifo = path
+        .metadata()
+        .ok()
+        .is_some_and(|m| m.file_type().is_fifo());
+
+    if is_fifo && use_nonblock_for_fifo {
+        let file = OpenOptions::new()
+            .read(true)
+            .custom_flags(libc::O_NONBLOCK)
+            .open(path)?;
+
+        // Clear O_NONBLOCK so reads block normally
+        let flags = fcntl(file.as_fd(), FcntlArg::F_GETFL)?;
+        let new_flags = OFlag::from_bits_truncate(flags) & !OFlag::O_NONBLOCK;
+        fcntl(file.as_fd(), FcntlArg::F_SETFL(new_flags))?;
+
+        Ok(file)
+    } else {
+        File::open(path)
+    }
+}
+
 fn tail_stdin(
     settings: &Settings,
     header_printer: &mut HeaderPrinter,

tests/by-util/test_tail.rs

@@ -2659,6 +2659,45 @@ fn test_fifo() {
     }
 }
 
+/// Test that tail with --pid exits when the monitored process dies, even with a FIFO.
+/// Without non-blocking FIFO open, tail would block forever waiting for a writer.
+#[test]
+#[cfg(all(
+    not(target_vendor = "apple"),
+    not(target_os = "windows"),
+    not(target_os = "android"),
+    not(target_os = "freebsd"),
+    not(target_os = "openbsd")
+))]
+fn test_fifo_with_pid() {
+    use std::process::Command;
+
+    let (at, mut ucmd) = at_and_ucmd!();
+    at.mkfifo("FIFO");
+
+    let mut dummy = Command::new("sh").spawn().unwrap();
+    let pid = dummy.id();
+
+    let mut child = ucmd
+        .arg("-f")
+        .arg(format!("--pid={pid}"))
+        .arg("FIFO")
+        .run_no_wait();
+
+    child.make_assertion_with_delay(500).is_alive();
+
+    kill(Pid::from_raw(i32::try_from(pid).unwrap()), Signal::SIGUSR1).unwrap();
+    let _ = dummy.wait();
+
+    child
+        .make_assertion_with_delay(DEFAULT_SLEEP_INTERVAL_MILLIS)
+        .is_not_alive()
+        .with_all_output()
+        .no_stderr()
+        .no_stdout()
+        .success();
+}
+
 #[test]
 #[cfg(unix)]
 #[ignore = "disabled until fixed"]