SqlAppLockHelper -- Easy & Robust Distributed Mutex Application Locking with Sql Server

An ultra lightweight library that provides an easy to use API for a robust distributed mutex locking capabilities that leverage Sql Server (e.g. sp_getapplock & sp_releaseapplock). Sql Server provides a very robust & efficient distributed mutex/locking capability and this library exposes this in an easy to use C# .Net Standard API using custom extension methods on the SqlConnection and SqlTransaction classes of the SqlClient libraries.

Nuget Package

To use in your project, add the appropriate package to your project for the namespace you are using:

• SqlAppLockHelper.MicrosoftData NuGet package
• SqlAppLockHelper.SystemData NuGet package

Buy me a Coffee ☕

I'm happy to share with the community, but if you find this useful (e.g for professional use), and are so inclinded, then I do love-me-some-coffee!

Usage:

Both SqlClient Namespaces are Supported for Sql Server:

The library supports both SqlClient libraries:

• System.Data.SqlClient (Legacy; long term supported for existing applications)
• Microsoft.Data.SqlClient (Future; recommended go-forward library for new applications)

The usage for both is identical, with only the import being different based on the library you are using (or both in some edge cases):

• using SqlAppLockHelper.SystemDataNS;
• using SqlAppLockHelper.MicrosoftDataNS;

Both Transaction & Connection Locking Scopes are supported:

There are two scopes for Locks that are supported:

• Session Scope (aka Connection) - will automatically be released by Sql Server when the Sql Connection is disposed/closed; or may be optionally explicitly released.
• Transaction Scope - Will automatically be released by Sql Server when Sql Transaction is Commited/Rolled-back/Closed; or can be optionally explicitly released.

NOTE: These scopes map to the underlying maps to the @LockOwner parameter of sp_getapplock)

Genral Usage Notes:

• The generally recommended approach is to use the Transaction scope because it is slightly safer (e.g. more resilient against abandoned locks) by allowing the Locks to automatically expire with the Transaction; and is the default behavior of Sql Server.
  • However the Session scope is reliably implemented as long as you always close/dispose of the connection and/or via the SqlServerAppLock class; which also implements IDisposable/IAsyncDisposable C# interfaces.
• The lock acquisition timeout value is the value (in seconds) for which Sql Server will try and wait for Lock Acquisition. By specifying Zero (0 seconds) then Sql Server will attempt to get the lock but immediately fail lock acquisition and return if it cannot acquire the lock.
• All locks are acquired as Exclusive locks for true distributed mutex functionality.
• More info can be found here:
  • sp_getapplock
  • sp_releaseapplock

Releasing Locks with IDisposable/IAsyncDisposable Patterns:

Explicit release can be done anytime from the SqlServerAppLock class returned from an acquired lock, and is also intrinsically done via IDisposable/IAsyncDisposable on the SqlServerAppLock class to provide reliable release when scope closes via C# using pattern.

Use Cases:

• Provide a lock implementation similar to C# lock (...) {} but on a distributed scale across many instances of an application (e.g. Azure Functions, Load Balanced Servers, etc.).
• Provide a mutex lock to ensure code is only ever run by one instance at a time (e.g. Bulk Loading or Bulk Synchronization processing, Queue Processing logic, Transactional Outbox Pattern, etc.).
• I'm sure there are many more... but these are the best examples that I've needed to implement in enterprises.

Code Samples/Snippets:

Import the Custom Extensions:

First import the extensions for the library you are using:

using Microsoft.Data.SqlClient;
using SqlAppLockHelper.MicrosoftDataNS;

OR

using System.Data.SqlClient;
using SqlAppLockHelper.SystemDataNS;

Simple Example:

Usage is very simple by using custom extensions of the SqlConnection or SqlTransaction. The following example shows the recommended usage of Transaction Scope by calling .AcquireAppLockAsync(...) on the SqlTransaction instance:

NOTES:

• Async is recommended, but the sync implementation works exactly the same -- sans async/await.
• Default behavior is to throw a SqlServerAppLockAcquisitionException when lock acquisition fails but this can be controlled via throwsException parameter.

Using Sql Transaction (Transaction Scope will be used) - Default behavior will throw an Exception:

    //Attempt Acquisition  of Lock and Handle Exception if Lock cannot be acquired...
    try
    {
        await using var sqlConn = new SqlConnection(sqlConnectionString);
        await sqlConn.OpenAsync();
        
        await using var sqlTrans = (SqlTransaction)await sqlConn.BeginTransactionAsync();

        //Using any SqlTransaction (cast DbTransaction to SqlTransaction if needed), this will 
        //	attempt to acquire a distributed mutex/lock, and will wait up to 5 seconds before timing out.
        await using var appLock = await sqlTrans.AcquireAppLockAsync("MyAppBulkLoadingDistributedLock", 5);

        //.... Custom logic that should only occur when a lock is held....

    }
    catch (SqlServerAppLockAcquisitionException appLockException)
    {
        //.... A lock could not be acquired so handle as needed....
    }

Using Sql Transaction (Transaction Scope will be used) - Without Exception Handling:

    await using var sqlConn = new SqlConnection(sqlConnectionString);
    await sqlConn.OpenAsync();

    await using var sqlTrans = (SqlTransaction)await sqlConn.BeginTransactionAsync();

    //Using any SqlTransaction (cast DbTransaction to SqlTransaction if needed), this will 
    //	attempt to acquire a distributed mutex/lock, and will wait up to 5 seconds before timing out.
    //Note: Default behavior is to throw and exception but this is controlled via throwsException param
    //		and can then be managed via the returned the SqlServerAppLock result.
    await using var appLock = await sqlTrans.AcquireAppLockAsync("MyAppBulkLoadingDistributedLock", 5, false);

    if(appLock.IsAcquired)
    {
        //.... Custom logic that should only occur when a lock is held....
    }

Using Sql Connection (Session Scope will be used) - Without Exception Handling:

NOTE: Application Lock should ALWAYS be explicity Disposed of to ensure Lock is released As a Connection level lock this will use the Sql Server Session level scoping which has it's own set of pros/cons and potentially some additional risks of orphaned locks in the event of a thread crasching and not disposing correctly or returning to the connection pool for the Session to end.

For more info see the Microsoft Docs here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/relational-databases/system-stored-procedures/sp-getapplock-transact-sql?view=sql-server-ver16#remarks

    await using var sqlConn = new SqlConnection(sqlConnectionString);
    await sqlConn.OpenAsync();

    //Using any SqlConnection (cast DbConnection to SqlConnection if needed), this will 
    //	attempt to acquire a distributed mutex/lock at the connection level, and will wait
    // up to 5 seconds before timing out (as specified).
    //Note: Default behavior is to throw and exception but this is controlled via throwsException param
    //		and can then be managed via the returned the SqlServerAppLock result.
    //Note: The IDisposable/IAsyncDisposable implementation ensures that the Lock is released!
    await using var appLock = await sqlConn.AcquireAppLockAsync("MyAppBulkLoadingDistributedLock", 5, false);

    if(appLock.IsAcquired)
    {
        //.... Custom logic that should only occur when a lock is held....
    }

NOTE: More Sample code is provided in the Tests Project...

  
MIT License

Copyright (c) 2020 - Brandon Bernard

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