To reproduce :
1) In glance-api.conf, set "data_api = glance.db.simple.api"
2) Again in glance-api.conf, set "workers = 2" (or higher)
3) Restart glance-api to empty all tables
4) Using any method, create ten public images
5) Using any method, invoke "image list" several times
6) Observe that the results are not consistent between all invocations
--------------
timothy_symanczyk@devstack:~$ openstack image list
WARNING: openstackclient.common.utils is deprecated and will be removed after Jun 2017. Please use osc_lib.utils
timothy_symanczyk@devstack:~$ openstack image create 1
WARNING: openstackclient.common.utils is deprecated and will be removed after Jun 2017. Please use osc_lib.utils
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Field | Value |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
(snip)
| name | 1 |
(snip)
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
timothy_symanczyk@devstack:~$ openstack image create 2
WARNING: openstackclient.common.utils is deprecated and will be removed after Jun 2017. Please use osc_lib.utils
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Field | Value |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
(snip)
| name | 2 |
(snip)
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
timothy_symanczyk@devstack:~$ openstack image create 3
WARNING: openstackclient.common.utils is deprecated and will be removed after Jun 2017. Please use osc_lib.utils
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Field | Value |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
(snip)
| name | 3 |
(snip)
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
timothy_symanczyk@devstack:~$ openstack image create 4
WARNING: openstackclient.common.utils is deprecated and will be removed after Jun 2017. Please use osc_lib.utils
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Field | Value |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
(snip)
| name | 4 |
(snip)
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
timothy_symanczyk@devstack:~$ openstack image create 5
WARNING: openstackclient.common.utils is deprecated and will be removed after Jun 2017. Please use osc_lib.utils
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Field | Value |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
(snip)
| name | 5 |
(snip)
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
timothy_symanczyk@devstack:~$ openstack image create 6
WARNING: openstackclient.common.utils is deprecated and will be removed after Jun 2017. Please use osc_lib.utils
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Field | Value |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
(snip)
| name | 6 |
(snip)
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
timothy_symanczyk@devstack:~$ openstack image create 7
WARNING: openstackclient.common.utils is deprecated and will be removed after Jun 2017. Please use osc_lib.utils
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Field | Value |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
(snip)
| name | 7 |
(snip)
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
timothy_symanczyk@devstack:~$ openstack image create 8
WARNING: openstackclient.common.utils is deprecated and will be removed after Jun 2017. Please use osc_lib.utils
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Field | Value |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
(snip)
| name | 8 |
(snip)
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
timothy_symanczyk@devstack:~$ openstack image create 9
WARNING: openstackclient.common.utils is deprecated and will be removed after Jun 2017. Please use osc_lib.utils
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Field | Value |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
(snip)
| name | 9 |
(snip)
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
timothy_symanczyk@devstack:~$ openstack image create 10
WARNING: openstackclient.common.utils is deprecated and will be removed after Jun 2017. Please use osc_lib.utils
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
| Field | Value |
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
(snip)
| name | 10 |
(snip)
+------------------+------------------------------------------------------+
timothy_symanczyk@devstack:~$ openstack image list
WARNING: openstackclient.common.utils is deprecated and will be removed after Jun 2017. Please use osc_lib.utils
+--------------------------------------+------+--------+
| ID | Name | Status |
+--------------------------------------+------+--------+
| bb8160ee-16ff-41a2-8889-832ef93e0e91 | 10 | queued |
| 6937f3df-9ede-453d-a80a-08bacde838f5 | 9 | queued |
| 258ec9de-e7cb-45fc-b8fb-df6dd141412d | 8 | queued |
| c86e3182-e177-499b-a120-a0249f46b7c5 | 5 | queued |
| ed0bf158-3374-4456-a0ea-607d5e3d1e11 | 4 | queued |
| 41aacad5-dbc3-4175-8c25-b486bb96a478 | 3 | queued |
| 609c9ec4-dfee-4aee-a3c5-cb5229667a85 | 1 | queued |
+--------------------------------------+------+--------+
timothy_symanczyk@devstack:~$ openstack image list
WARNING: openstackclient.common.utils is deprecated and will be removed after Jun 2017. Please use osc_lib.utils
+--------------------------------------+------+--------+
| ID | Name | Status |
+--------------------------------------+------+--------+
| bb8160ee-16ff-41a2-8889-832ef93e0e91 | 10 | queued |
| 6937f3df-9ede-453d-a80a-08bacde838f5 | 9 | queued |
| 258ec9de-e7cb-45fc-b8fb-df6dd141412d | 8 | queued |
| c86e3182-e177-499b-a120-a0249f46b7c5 | 5 | queued |
| ed0bf158-3374-4456-a0ea-607d5e3d1e11 | 4 | queued |
| 41aacad5-dbc3-4175-8c25-b486bb96a478 | 3 | queued |
| 609c9ec4-dfee-4aee-a3c5-cb5229667a85 | 1 | queued |
+--------------------------------------+------+--------+
timothy_symanczyk@devstack:~$ openstack image list
WARNING: openstackclient.common.utils is deprecated and will be removed after Jun 2017. Please use osc_lib.utils
+--------------------------------------+------+--------+
| ID | Name | Status |
+--------------------------------------+------+--------+
| f7b4fcc5-36ea-45c3-bd94-f2c179a9f1c8 | 7 | queued |
| a3402651-5879-425c-8029-89e987dd13e8 | 6 | queued |
| 5fade950-723c-404b-87b6-406f413e5378 | 2 | queued |
+--------------------------------------+------+--------+
timothy_symanczyk@devstack:~$ openstack image list
WARNING: openstackclient.common.utils is deprecated and will be removed after Jun 2017. Please use osc_lib.utils
+--------------------------------------+------+--------+
| ID | Name | Status |
+--------------------------------------+------+--------+
| f7b4fcc5-36ea-45c3-bd94-f2c179a9f1c8 | 7 | queued |
| a3402651-5879-425c-8029-89e987dd13e8 | 6 | queued |
| 5fade950-723c-404b-87b6-406f413e5378 | 2 | queued |
+--------------------------------------+------+--------+
timothy_symanczyk@devstack:~$ openstack image list
WARNING: openstackclient.common.utils is deprecated and will be removed after Jun 2017. Please use osc_lib.utils
+--------------------------------------+------+--------+
| ID | Name | Status |
+--------------------------------------+------+--------+
| bb8160ee-16ff-41a2-8889-832ef93e0e91 | 10 | queued |
| 6937f3df-9ede-453d-a80a-08bacde838f5 | 9 | queued |
| 258ec9de-e7cb-45fc-b8fb-df6dd141412d | 8 | queued |
| c86e3182-e177-499b-a120-a0249f46b7c5 | 5 | queued |
| ed0bf158-3374-4456-a0ea-607d5e3d1e11 | 4 | queued |
| 41aacad5-dbc3-4175-8c25-b486bb96a478 | 3 | queued |
| 609c9ec4-dfee-4aee-a3c5-cb5229667a85 | 1 | queued |
+--------------------------------------+------+--------+
timothy_symanczyk@devstack:~$
Since glance. db.simple. api is an in-memory backend, a plausible explanation of the above behaviour may be that each individual working is creating and utilizing its own individual backend rather than sharing.