bug: fluent-operator triggers reload multiple times even when there was no config change

[Cajga]

Describe the issue

Even if we do not touch the config, fluent operator incorrectly detects config change and triggers reload of fluent-bit. When this happens, multiple reconciliation of the secret is called during a few seconds. Example:

2026-01-09T06:00:29Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:29Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:29Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:29Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:29Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:29Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:29Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:29Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:29Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:29Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:29Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:29Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:29Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:29Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:30Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:30Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:30Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:30Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:30Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:30Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:30Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:30Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:30Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:30Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:30Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:30Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:30Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:30Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:30Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:30Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:31Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:31Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:31Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:31Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:31Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:31Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:31Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:31Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:31Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:31Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:31Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:31Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:31Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:31Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:31Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:31Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}
2026-01-09T06:00:31Z	INFO	controllers.FluentBitConfig	Fluent Bit main configuration has updated	{"logging-control-plane": "fluent", "fluentbitconfig": "fluent-bit-config", "secret": "fluent-bit-config"}

This often triggers the known bug in fluent-bit and the fluent-bit pod starts to hang. While the bug on the fluent-bit side is considered to be fixed, the problem is still happening even with the latest release of fluent-bit.

To Reproduce

Installed fluent-operator following the documentation and watch the logs.

NOTE: I have the feeling that this may have something to do with the fact that we are using fluxv2 (gitops) to install/sync the fluent-operator CRs from a git repository.

Expected behavior

1. fluent operator only detects real config changes.
2. even when multiple config changes are detected in a short period of time, it should only reconcile the fluent-bit config once

Your Environment

- Fluent Operator version: 3.4.0
- Container Runtime: containerd
- Operating system: Ubuntu 22.04.5 LTS
- Kernel version: 5.15.0-151-generic

How did you install fluent operator?

No response

Additional context

No response