Fix createOrUpdate conflict loop and no-op update storm

[jpinsonneau]

Summary

While testing netobserv with bgp-cloud-connector, I noticed the operator was stuck in an infinite reconcile loop.

• Retry on conflict: Wrap the Update call in retry.RetryOnConflict so transient optimistic concurrency conflicts (e.g. when OVN-K's CUDN controller modifies the same object concurrently) are retried automatically instead of causing the reconciler to mark itself Degraded and trigger a reconcile storm.
• Skip no-op updates: Add specUnchanged() to compare spec and labels before issuing an Update. When nothing changed, the write is skipped entirely, preventing the infinite reconcile loop caused by unconditional Updates bumping resourceVersion and re-triggering watches.

Affects all resources managed through createOrUpdate: ClusterUserDefinedNetwork, FRRConfiguration, and RouteAdvertisements.

Test plan

• go build ./... passes
• go test ./internal/controller/... -count=1 -short passes
• Deployed on live OCP cluster with CUDNBgpRouting/CUDNBgpConfig
• Verified no more conflict errors in operator logs
• Verified reconcile loop settles after initial pass (no more rapid-fire reconciliations)
• Verified spec changes (e.g. localASN update) trigger a single clean reconcile

Made with Cursor

[coderabbitai]

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ℹ️ Recent review info

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Run ID: dd1dd1b9-f966-4244-a533-6adb08b55a09

📥 Commits

Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 25a6f39 and 58b5e99.

⛔ Files ignored due to path filters (3)

• vendor/k8s.io/client-go/util/retry/OWNERS is excluded by !**/vendor/**, !vendor/**
• vendor/k8s.io/client-go/util/retry/util.go is excluded by !**/vendor/**, !vendor/**
• vendor/modules.txt is excluded by !**/vendor/**, !vendor/**

📒 Files selected for processing (1)

• internal/controller/frr.go

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📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

The controller now compares existing and desired FRR resource specs and labels using semantic equality. It skips updates when no relevant values changed. When an update is required, it refreshes the resource version and retries after conflicts by rereading the current object.

Suggested reviewers: alebedev87, frobware

🚥 Pre-merge checks | ✅ 15

✅ Passed checks (15 passed)

Check name	Status	Explanation
Docstring Coverage	✅ Passed	Docstring check was indeterminate for this PR — some files could not be analyzed in time. Not blocking.
Linked Issues check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check	✅ Passed	Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Stable And Deterministic Test Names	✅ Passed	The PR changes only controller and vendored retry files; it adds no test files or Ginkgo title expressions, so it introduces no unstable test names.
Test Structure And Quality	✅ Passed	The PR changes only production code and vendored retry code; it adds or modifies no Ginkgo test, so the stated test-structure requirements are not applicable.
Microshift Test Compatibility	✅ Passed	The pull request changes only controller and vendored retry files; it adds no Ginkgo e2e tests or new It, Describe, Context, or When declarations.
Single Node Openshift (Sno) Test Compatibility	✅ Passed	The PR changes internal/controller/frr.go and vendored retry code only; the diff adds no Ginkgo e2e tests or multi-node assumptions.
Topology-Aware Scheduling Compatibility	✅ Passed	The diff changes only FRR resource update/retry logic and vendored retry code; it adds no affinity, topology spread, replica, PDB, taint, or node-targeting constraint.
Ote Binary Stdout Contract	✅ Passed	The PR changes only controller comparison/retry logic and adds vendored retry code; no process-level stdout writes, klog setup, or suite-output changes were introduced.
Ipv6 And Disconnected Network Test Compatibility	✅ Passed	The PR changes only controller and vendored retry code. It adds no Ginkgo e2e tests, IPv4 assumptions, or external connectivity requirements.
No-Weak-Crypto	✅ Passed	The PR changes only FRR reconciliation and vendored retry code; the diff introduces no MD5, SHA-1, DES/3DES, RC4, Blowfish, ECB, custom crypto, or secret comparisons.
Container-Privileges	✅ Passed	The PR changes only Go and vendor files. Its patch adds no privilege settings; existing workloads use runAsNonRoot and allowPrivilegeEscalation: false.
No-Sensitive-Data-In-Logs	✅ Passed	The PR diff adds no logging calls or sensitive values; frr.go adds comparison/retry logic, and vendored retry code does not log.
Title check	✅ Passed	The title clearly summarizes the fixes for conflict handling and no-op update loops.
Description check	✅ Passed	The description directly explains the conflict retry and no-op update changes, affected resources, and validation steps.

✨ Finishing Touches

🧪 Generate unit tests (beta)

• Create PR with unit tests

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[openshift-ci]

[APPROVALNOTIFIER] This PR is NOT APPROVED

This pull-request has been approved by: jpinsonneau
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[openshift-ci]

PR needs rebase.

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[openshift-ci]

@jpinsonneau: The following tests failed, say /retest to rerun all failed tests or /retest-required to rerun all mandatory failed tests:

Test name	Commit	Details	Required	Rerun command
ci/prow/ci-bundle-bgp-cloud-connector-bundle	58b5e99	link	true	/test ci-bundle-bgp-cloud-connector-bundle
ci/prow/e2e-aws-operator	58b5e99	link	true	/test e2e-aws-operator

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