5 The kernel contains a set of "self tests" under the tools/testing/selftests/
6 directory. These are intended to be small tests to exercise individual code
7 paths in the kernel. Tests are intended to be run after building, installing
10 Kselftest from mainline can be run on older stable kernels. Running tests
11 from mainline offers the best coverage. Several test rings run mainline
12 kselftest suite on stable releases. The reason is that when a new test
13 gets added to test existing code to regression test a bug, we should be
14 able to run that test on an older kernel. Hence, it is important to keep
15 code that can still test an older kernel and make sure it skips the test
16 gracefully on newer releases.
18 You can find additional information on Kselftest framework, how to
19 write new tests using the framework on Kselftest wiki:
21 https://kselftest.wiki.kernel.org/
23 On some systems, hot-plug tests could hang forever waiting for cpu and
24 memory to be ready to be offlined. A special hot-plug target is created
25 to run the full range of hot-plug tests. In default mode, hot-plug tests run
26 in safe mode with a limited scope. In limited mode, cpu-hotplug test is
27 run on a single cpu as opposed to all hotplug capable cpus, and memory
28 hotplug test is run on 2% of hotplug capable memory instead of 10%.
30 kselftest runs as a userspace process. Tests that can be written/run in
31 userspace may wish to use the `Test Harness`_. Tests that need to be
32 run in kernel space may wish to use a `Test Module`_.
34 Documentation on the tests
35 ==========================
37 For documentation on the kselftests themselves, see:
43 Running the selftests (hotplug tests are run in limited mode)
44 =============================================================
49 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests
53 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests run_tests
55 To build and run the tests with a single command, use::
59 Note that some tests will require root privileges.
61 Kselftest supports saving output files in a separate directory and then
62 running tests. To locate output files in a separate directory two syntaxes
63 are supported. In both cases the working directory must be the root of the
64 kernel src. This is applicable to "Running a subset of selftests" section
67 To build, save output files in a separate directory with O= ::
69 $ make O=/tmp/kselftest kselftest
71 To build, save output files in a separate directory with KBUILD_OUTPUT ::
73 $ export KBUILD_OUTPUT=/tmp/kselftest; make kselftest
75 The O= assignment takes precedence over the KBUILD_OUTPUT environment
78 The above commands by default run the tests and print full pass/fail report.
79 Kselftest supports "summary" option to make it easier to understand the test
80 results. Please find the detailed individual test results for each test in
81 /tmp/testname file(s) when summary option is specified. This is applicable
82 to "Running a subset of selftests" section below.
84 To run kselftest with summary option enabled ::
86 $ make summary=1 kselftest
88 Running a subset of selftests
89 =============================
91 You can use the "TARGETS" variable on the make command line to specify
92 single test to run, or a list of tests to run.
94 To run only tests targeted for a single subsystem::
96 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests TARGETS=ptrace run_tests
98 You can specify multiple tests to build and run::
100 $ make TARGETS="size timers" kselftest
102 To build, save output files in a separate directory with O= ::
104 $ make O=/tmp/kselftest TARGETS="size timers" kselftest
106 To build, save output files in a separate directory with KBUILD_OUTPUT ::
108 $ export KBUILD_OUTPUT=/tmp/kselftest; make TARGETS="size timers" kselftest
110 Additionally you can use the "SKIP_TARGETS" variable on the make command
111 line to specify one or more targets to exclude from the TARGETS list.
113 To run all tests but a single subsystem::
115 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests SKIP_TARGETS=ptrace run_tests
117 You can specify multiple tests to skip::
119 $ make SKIP_TARGETS="size timers" kselftest
121 You can also specify a restricted list of tests to run together with a
124 $ make TARGETS="breakpoints size timers" SKIP_TARGETS=size kselftest
126 See the top-level tools/testing/selftests/Makefile for the list of all
129 Running the full range hotplug selftests
130 ========================================
132 To build the hotplug tests::
134 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests hotplug
136 To run the hotplug tests::
138 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests run_hotplug
140 Note that some tests will require root privileges.
146 You can use the "install" target of "make" (which calls the `kselftest_install.sh`
147 tool) to install selftests in the default location (`tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_install`),
148 or in a user specified location via the `INSTALL_PATH` "make" variable.
150 To install selftests in default location::
152 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests install
154 To install selftests in a user specified location::
156 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests install INSTALL_PATH=/some/other/path
158 Running installed selftests
159 ===========================
161 Found in the install directory, as well as in the Kselftest tarball,
162 is a script named `run_kselftest.sh` to run the tests.
164 You can simply do the following to run the installed Kselftests. Please
165 note some tests will require root privileges::
167 $ cd kselftest_install
170 To see the list of available tests, the `-l` option can be used::
172 $ ./run_kselftest.sh -l
174 The `-c` option can be used to run all the tests from a test collection, or
175 the `-t` option for specific single tests. Either can be used multiple times::
177 $ ./run_kselftest.sh -c size -c seccomp -t timers:posix_timers -t timer:nanosleep
179 For other features see the script usage output, seen with the `-h` option.
181 Timeout for selftests
182 =====================
184 Selftests are designed to be quick and so a default timeout is used of 45
185 seconds for each test. Tests can override the default timeout by adding
186 a settings file in their directory and set a timeout variable there to the
187 configured a desired upper timeout for the test. Only a few tests override
188 the timeout with a value higher than 45 seconds, selftests strives to keep
189 it that way. Timeouts in selftests are not considered fatal because the
190 system under which a test runs may change and this can also modify the
191 expected time it takes to run a test. If you have control over the systems
192 which will run the tests you can configure a test runner on those systems to
193 use a greater or lower timeout on the command line as with the `-o` or
194 the `--override-timeout` argument. For example to use 165 seconds instead
197 $ ./run_kselftest.sh --override-timeout 165
199 You can look at the TAP output to see if you ran into the timeout. Test
200 runners which know a test must run under a specific time can then optionally
201 treat these timeouts then as fatal.
206 In some cases packaging is desired, such as when tests need to run on a
207 different system. To package selftests, run::
209 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests gen_tar
211 This generates a tarball in the `INSTALL_PATH/kselftest-packages` directory. By
212 default, `.gz` format is used. The tar compression format can be overridden by
213 specifying a `FORMAT` make variable. Any value recognized by `tar's auto-compress`_
214 option is supported, such as::
216 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests gen_tar FORMAT=.xz
218 `make gen_tar` invokes `make install` so you can use it to package a subset of
219 tests by using variables specified in `Running a subset of selftests`_
222 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests gen_tar TARGETS="size" FORMAT=.xz
224 .. _tar's auto-compress: https://www.gnu.org/software/tar/manual/html_node/gzip.html#auto_002dcompress
226 Contributing new tests
227 ======================
229 In general, the rules for selftests are
231 * Do as much as you can if you're not root;
233 * Don't take too long;
235 * Don't break the build on any architecture, and
237 * Don't cause the top-level "make run_tests" to fail if your feature is
240 * The output of tests must conform to the TAP standard to ensure high
241 testing quality and to capture failures/errors with specific details.
242 The kselftest.h and kselftest_harness.h headers provide wrappers for
243 outputting test results. These wrappers should be used for pass,
244 fail, exit, and skip messages. CI systems can easily parse TAP output
245 messages to detect test results.
247 Contributing new tests (details)
248 ================================
250 * In your Makefile, use facilities from lib.mk by including it instead of
251 reinventing the wheel. Specify flags and binaries generation flags on
252 need basis before including lib.mk. ::
254 CFLAGS = $(KHDR_INCLUDES)
255 TEST_GEN_PROGS := close_range_test
258 * Use TEST_GEN_XXX if such binaries or files are generated during
261 TEST_PROGS, TEST_GEN_PROGS mean it is the executable tested by
264 TEST_GEN_MODS_DIR should be used by tests that require modules to be built
265 before the test starts. The variable will contain the name of the directory
266 containing the modules.
268 TEST_CUSTOM_PROGS should be used by tests that require custom build
269 rules and prevent common build rule use.
271 TEST_PROGS are for test shell scripts. Please ensure shell script has
272 its exec bit set. Otherwise, lib.mk run_tests will generate a warning.
274 TEST_CUSTOM_PROGS and TEST_PROGS will be run by common run_tests.
276 TEST_PROGS_EXTENDED, TEST_GEN_PROGS_EXTENDED mean it is the
277 executable which is not tested by default.
279 TEST_FILES, TEST_GEN_FILES mean it is the file which is used by
282 TEST_INCLUDES is similar to TEST_FILES, it lists files which should be
283 included when exporting or installing the tests, with the following
286 * symlinks to files in other directories are preserved
287 * the part of paths below tools/testing/selftests/ is preserved when
288 copying the files to the output directory
290 TEST_INCLUDES is meant to list dependencies located in other directories of
291 the selftests hierarchy.
293 * First use the headers inside the kernel source and/or git repo, and then the
294 system headers. Headers for the kernel release as opposed to headers
295 installed by the distro on the system should be the primary focus to be able
296 to find regressions. Use KHDR_INCLUDES in Makefile to include headers from
299 * If a test needs specific kernel config options enabled, add a config file in
300 the test directory to enable them.
302 e.g: tools/testing/selftests/android/config
304 * Create a .gitignore file inside test directory and add all generated objects
307 * Add new test name in TARGETS in selftests/Makefile::
311 * All changes should pass::
313 kselftest-{all,install,clean,gen_tar}
314 kselftest-{all,install,clean,gen_tar} O=abo_path
315 kselftest-{all,install,clean,gen_tar} O=rel_path
316 make -C tools/testing/selftests {all,install,clean,gen_tar}
317 make -C tools/testing/selftests {all,install,clean,gen_tar} O=abs_path
318 make -C tools/testing/selftests {all,install,clean,gen_tar} O=rel_path
323 Kselftest tests the kernel from userspace. Sometimes things need
324 testing from within the kernel, one method of doing this is to create a
325 test module. We can tie the module into the kselftest framework by
326 using a shell script test runner. ``kselftest/module.sh`` is designed
327 to facilitate this process. There is also a header file provided to
328 assist writing kernel modules that are for use with kselftest:
330 - ``tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_module.h``
331 - ``tools/testing/selftests/kselftest/module.sh``
333 Note that test modules should taint the kernel with TAINT_TEST. This will
334 happen automatically for modules which are in the ``tools/testing/``
335 directory, or for modules which use the ``kselftest_module.h`` header above.
336 Otherwise, you'll need to add ``MODULE_INFO(test, "Y")`` to your module
337 source. selftests which do not load modules typically should not taint the
338 kernel, but in cases where a non-test module is loaded, TEST_TAINT can be
339 applied from userspace by writing to ``/proc/sys/kernel/tainted``.
344 Here we show the typical steps to create a test module and tie it into
345 kselftest. We use kselftests for lib/ as an example.
347 1. Create the test module
349 2. Create the test script that will run (load/unload) the module
350 e.g. ``tools/testing/selftests/lib/printf.sh``
352 3. Add line to config file e.g. ``tools/testing/selftests/lib/config``
354 4. Add test script to makefile e.g. ``tools/testing/selftests/lib/Makefile``
360 # Assumes you have booted a fresh build of this kernel tree
361 cd /path/to/linux/tree
364 sudo make modules_install
365 make TARGETS=lib kselftest
370 A bare bones test module might look like this:
374 // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
376 #define pr_fmt(fmt) KBUILD_MODNAME ": " fmt
378 #include "../tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_module.h"
380 KSTM_MODULE_GLOBALS();
383 * Kernel module for testing the foobinator
386 static int __init test_function()
391 static void __init selftest(void)
393 KSTM_CHECK_ZERO(do_test_case("", 0));
396 KSTM_MODULE_LOADERS(test_foo);
397 MODULE_AUTHOR("John Developer <jd@fooman.org>");
398 MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
399 MODULE_INFO(test, "Y");
407 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
408 $(dirname $0)/../kselftest/module.sh "foo" test_foo
414 The kselftest_harness.h file contains useful helpers to build tests. The
415 test harness is for userspace testing, for kernel space testing see `Test
418 The tests from tools/testing/selftests/seccomp/seccomp_bpf.c can be used as
424 .. kernel-doc:: tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
431 .. kernel-doc:: tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
432 :functions: TH_LOG TEST TEST_SIGNAL FIXTURE FIXTURE_DATA FIXTURE_SETUP
433 FIXTURE_TEARDOWN TEST_F TEST_HARNESS_MAIN FIXTURE_VARIANT
439 .. kernel-doc:: tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
442 .. kernel-doc:: tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
443 :functions: ASSERT_EQ ASSERT_NE ASSERT_LT ASSERT_LE ASSERT_GT ASSERT_GE
444 ASSERT_NULL ASSERT_TRUE ASSERT_NULL ASSERT_TRUE ASSERT_FALSE
445 ASSERT_STREQ ASSERT_STRNE EXPECT_EQ EXPECT_NE EXPECT_LT
446 EXPECT_LE EXPECT_GT EXPECT_GE EXPECT_NULL EXPECT_TRUE
447 EXPECT_FALSE EXPECT_STREQ EXPECT_STRNE