fix: respect cleanPodPolicy when job exceeds backoffLimit

pkg/controller.v1/common/job.go

@@ -220,8 +220,12 @@ func (jc *JobController) ReconcileJobs(
 			jobStatus.CompletionTime = &now
 		}
 
-		// If the Job exceeds backoff limit or is past active deadline
-		// delete all pods and services, then set the status to failed
+		// Set JobFailed condition BEFORE cleanup so that DeletePodsAndServices
+		// sees IsFinished()==true and correctly respects cleanPodPolicy.
+		// Fix: https://github.com/kubeflow/trainer/issues/3419
+		jc.Recorder.Event(runtimeObject, corev1.EventTypeNormal, commonutil.NewReason(jobKind, commonutil.JobFailedReason), failureMessage)
+		commonutil.UpdateJobConditions(&jobStatus, apiv1.JobFailed, corev1.ConditionTrue, commonutil.NewReason(jobKind, commonutil.JobFailedReason), failureMessage)
+
 		if err := jc.DeletePodsAndServices(runtimeObject, runPolicy, jobStatus, pods); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
@@ -240,10 +244,6 @@ func (jc *JobController) ReconcileJobs(
 			}
 		}
 
-		jc.Recorder.Event(runtimeObject, corev1.EventTypeNormal, commonutil.NewReason(jobKind, commonutil.JobFailedReason), failureMessage)
-
-		commonutil.UpdateJobConditions(&jobStatus, apiv1.JobFailed, corev1.ConditionTrue, commonutil.NewReason(jobKind, commonutil.JobFailedReason), failureMessage)
-
 		return jc.Controller.UpdateJobStatusInApiServer(job, &jobStatus)
 	} else {
 		// General cases which need to reconcile

pkg/controller.v1/common/job_test.go

@@ -97,6 +97,12 @@ func TestDeletePodsAndServices(T *testing.T) {
 			wantPods:       &corev1.PodList{},
 			wantService:    &corev1.ServiceList{},
 		},
+		"Unfinished job with cleanPodPolicy None deletes pods (pre-fix backoffLimit bug)": {
+			cleanPodPolicy: apiv1.CleanPodPolicyNone,
+			jobCondition:   "",
+			wantPods:       &corev1.PodList{},
+			wantService:    &corev1.ServiceList{},
+		},
 	}
 	for name, tc := range cases {
 		T.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
@@ -261,6 +267,97 @@ func TestManagedByExternalController(T *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+// TestBackoffLimitExceededRespectsCleanPodPolicy verifies that cleanPodPolicy is
+// respected when a job exceeds its backoffLimit. See https://github.com/kubeflow/trainer/issues/3419
+func TestBackoffLimitExceededRespectsCleanPodPolicy(T *testing.T) {
+	cases := map[string]struct {
+		cleanPodPolicy     apiv1.CleanPodPolicy
+		setConditionBefore bool
+		wantPodsPreserved  bool
+	}{
+		"cleanPodPolicy None with JobFailed set before delete (fixed)": {
+			cleanPodPolicy:     apiv1.CleanPodPolicyNone,
+			setConditionBefore: true,
+			wantPodsPreserved:  true,
+		},
+		"cleanPodPolicy None without JobFailed set before delete (buggy)": {
+			cleanPodPolicy:     apiv1.CleanPodPolicyNone,
+			setConditionBefore: false,
+			wantPodsPreserved:  false,
+		},
+		"cleanPodPolicy All with JobFailed set before delete": {
+			cleanPodPolicy:     apiv1.CleanPodPolicyAll,
+			setConditionBefore: true,
+			wantPodsPreserved:  false,
+		},
+		"cleanPodPolicy Running with JobFailed set before delete": {
+			cleanPodPolicy:     apiv1.CleanPodPolicyRunning,
+			setConditionBefore: true,
+			wantPodsPreserved:  false,
+		},
+	}
+	for name, tc := range cases {
+		T.Run(name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			masterPod := newPod("master-0", corev1.PodRunning)
+			masterPod.Status.ContainerStatuses = []corev1.ContainerStatus{
+				{RestartCount: 3},
+			}
+			workerPod := newPod("worker-0", corev1.PodRunning)
+			pods := []runtime.Object{masterPod, workerPod}
+			services := []runtime.Object{
+				newService("master-0"),
+				newService("worker-0"),
+			}
+
+			fakeClient := fake.NewSimpleClientset(append(pods, services...)...)
+			jobController := JobController{
+				PodControl:     control.RealPodControl{KubeClient: fakeClient, Recorder: &record.FakeRecorder{}},
+				ServiceControl: control.RealServiceControl{KubeClient: fakeClient, Recorder: &record.FakeRecorder{}},
+			}
+
+			now := metav1.Now()
+			jobStatus := apiv1.JobStatus{
+				CompletionTime: &now,
+			}
+			runPolicy := &apiv1.RunPolicy{
+				CleanPodPolicy: &tc.cleanPodPolicy,
+			}
+
+			if tc.setConditionBefore {
+				jobStatus.Conditions = append(jobStatus.Conditions, apiv1.JobCondition{
+					Type:   apiv1.JobFailed,
+					Status: corev1.ConditionTrue,
+					Reason: "BackoffLimitExceeded",
+				})
+			}
+
+			var inPods []*corev1.Pod
+			for i := range pods {
+				inPods = append(inPods, pods[i].(*corev1.Pod))
+			}
+
+			if err := jobController.DeletePodsAndServices(&testjobv1.TestJob{}, runPolicy, jobStatus, inPods); err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("DeletePodsAndServices failed: %v", err)
+			}
+
+			gotPods, err := fakeClient.CoreV1().Pods("").List(context.Background(), metav1.ListOptions{})
+			if err != nil {
+				t.Fatalf("Failed to list pods: %v", err)
+			}
+
+			if tc.wantPodsPreserved {
+				if len(gotPods.Items) != 2 {
+					t.Errorf("Expected pods to be preserved, but got %d pods", len(gotPods.Items))
+				}
+			} else {
+				if len(gotPods.Items) != 0 {
+					t.Errorf("Expected pods to be deleted, but got %d pods", len(gotPods.Items))
+				}
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
 func newPod(name string, phase corev1.PodPhase) *corev1.Pod {
 	pod := &corev1.Pod{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{