We're experiencing a zombie outbreak:

user 25976  0.0  0.0   6808  1240 ?        S    17:17   0:00          \_ /opt/git-annex.linux/exe/git --library-path /opt/git-annex.linux//lib/x86_64-linux-gnu: /opt/git-annex.linux/shimmed/git/git annex get --jobs 4 --batch -z
user 26001 88.4  0.2 1076112312 41728 ?    Sl   17:17   4:09              \_ /opt/git-annex.linux/exe/git-annex --library-path /opt/git-annex.linux//lib/x86_64-linux-gnu: /opt/git-annex.linux/shimmed/git-annex/git-annex get --jobs 4 --batch -z
user 26278  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        Z    17:17   0:00                  \_ [git] <defunct>
user 26279  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        Z    17:17   0:00                  \_ [git] <defunct>
user 26474  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        Z    17:17   0:00                  \_ [git] <defunct>
user 26475  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        Z    17:17   0:00                  \_ [git] <defunct>
user 26735  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        Z    17:17   0:00                  \_ [git] <defunct>
user 26737  0.0  0.0      0     0 ?        Z    17:17   0:00                  \_ [git] <defunct>
...

over 1229 and climbing as I type.

It's git-annex version: 8.20210331-g1fb59a63a

I've now stopped and restarted the 'git-annex get', but without --jobs 4, and this time it appears to have two zombie git processes, but it's not increasing as it gets more objects.

I'm unsure how to debug what is wrong, so seeking guidance.

Tomorrow I'll start to see if I can reproduce with older/newer versions of git-annex.

done