Linux Kernel Selftests

The kernel contains a set of “self tests” under the tools/testing/selftests/ directory. These are intended to be small tests to exercise individual code paths in the kernel. Tests are intended to be run after building, installing and booting a kernel.

On some systems, hot-plug tests could hang forever waiting for cpu and memory to be ready to be offlined. A special hot-plug target is created to run full range of hot-plug tests. In default mode, hot-plug tests run in safe mode with a limited scope. In limited mode, cpu-hotplug test is run on a single cpu as opposed to all hotplug capable cpus, and memory hotplug test is run on 2% of hotplug capable memory instead of 10%.

Running the selftests (hotplug tests are run in limited mode)

To build the tests:

$ make -C tools/testing/selftests

To run the tests:

$ make -C tools/testing/selftests run_tests

To build and run the tests with a single command, use:

$ make kselftest

Note that some tests will require root privileges.

Running a subset of selftests

You can use the “TARGETS” variable on the make command line to specify single test to run, or a list of tests to run.

To run only tests targeted for a single subsystem:

$ make -C tools/testing/selftests TARGETS=ptrace run_tests

You can specify multiple tests to build and run:

$  make TARGETS="size timers" kselftest

See the top-level tools/testing/selftests/Makefile for the list of all possible targets.

Running the full range hotplug selftests

To build the hotplug tests:

$ make -C tools/testing/selftests hotplug

To run the hotplug tests:

$ make -C tools/testing/selftests run_hotplug

Note that some tests will require root privileges.

Install selftests

You can use kselftest_install.sh tool installs selftests in default location which is tools/testing/selftests/kselftest or a user specified location.

To install selftests in default location:

$ cd tools/testing/selftests
$ ./kselftest_install.sh

To install selftests in a user specified location:

$ cd tools/testing/selftests
$ ./kselftest_install.sh install_dir

Running installed selftests

Kselftest install as well as the Kselftest tarball provide a script named “run_kselftest.sh” to run the tests.

You can simply do the following to run the installed Kselftests. Please note some tests will require root privileges:

$ cd kselftest
$ ./run_kselftest.sh

Contributing new tests

In general, the rules for selftests are

  • Do as much as you can if you’re not root;
  • Don’t take too long;
  • Don’t break the build on any architecture, and
  • Don’t cause the top-level “make run_tests” to fail if your feature is unconfigured.

Contributing new tests (details)

  • Use TEST_GEN_XXX if such binaries or files are generated during compiling.

    TEST_PROGS, TEST_GEN_PROGS mean it is the excutable tested by default.

    TEST_PROGS_EXTENDED, TEST_GEN_PROGS_EXTENDED mean it is the executable which is not tested by default. TEST_FILES, TEST_GEN_FILES mean it is the file which is used by test.

Test Harness

The kselftest_harness.h file contains useful helpers to build tests. The tests from tools/testing/selftests/seccomp/seccomp_bpf.c can be used as example.

Example

#include "../kselftest_harness.h"

TEST(standalone_test) {
  do_some_stuff;
  EXPECT_GT(10, stuff) {
     stuff_state_t state;
     enumerate_stuff_state(:c:type:`state`);
     TH_LOG("expectation failed with state: ``s``", state.msg);
  }
  more_stuff;
  ASSERT_NE(some_stuff, NULL) TH_LOG("how did it happen?!");
  last_stuff;
  EXPECT_EQ(0, last_stuff);
}

FIXTURE(my_fixture) {
  mytype_t *data;
  int awesomeness_level;
};
FIXTURE_SETUP(my_fixture) {
  self->data = :c:func:`mytype_new()`;
  ASSERT_NE(NULL, self->data);
}
FIXTURE_TEARDOWN(my_fixture) {
  mytype_free(self->data);
}
TEST_F(my_fixture, data_is_good) {
  EXPECT_EQ(1, is_my_data_good(self->data));
}

TEST_HARNESS_MAIN

Helpers

TH_LOG(fmt, ...)

Parameters

fmt
format string
...
optional arguments

Description

TH_LOG(format, ...)

Optional debug logging function available for use in tests. Logging may be enabled or disabled by defining TH_LOG_ENABLED. E.g., #define TH_LOG_ENABLED 1

If no definition is provided, logging is enabled by default.

If there is no way to print an error message for the process running the test (e.g. not allowed to write to stderr), it is still possible to get the ASSERT_* number for which the test failed. This behavior can be enabled by writing _metadata->no_print = true; before the check sequence that is unable to print. When an error occur, instead of printing an error message and calling abort(3), the test process call _exit(2) with the assert number as argument, which is then printed by the parent process.

TEST(test_name)

Defines the test function and creates the registration stub

Parameters

test_name
test name

Description

TEST(name) { implementation }

Defines a test by name. Names must be unique and tests must not be run in parallel. The implementation containing block is a function and scoping should be treated as such. Returning early may be performed with a bare “return;” statement.

EXPECT_* and ASSERT_* are valid in a TEST() { } context.

TEST_SIGNAL(test_name, signal)

Parameters

test_name
test name
signal
signal number

Description

TEST_SIGNAL(name, signal) { implementation }

Defines a test by name and the expected term signal. Names must be unique and tests must not be run in parallel. The implementation containing block is a function and scoping should be treated as such. Returning early may be performed with a bare “return;” statement.

EXPECT_* and ASSERT_* are valid in a TEST() { } context.

FIXTURE_DATA(datatype_name)

Wraps the struct name so we have one less argument to pass around

Parameters

datatype_name
datatype name

Description

FIXTURE_DATA(datatype name)

This call may be used when the type of the fixture data is needed. In general, this should not be needed unless the self is being passed to a helper directly.

FIXTURE(fixture_name)

Called once per fixture to setup the data and register

Parameters

fixture_name
fixture name

Description

FIXTURE(datatype name) {
  type property1;
  ...
};

Defines the data provided to TEST_F()-defined tests as self. It should be populated and cleaned up using FIXTURE_SETUP() and FIXTURE_TEARDOWN().

FIXTURE_SETUP(fixture_name)

Prepares the setup function for the fixture. _metadata is included so that ASSERT_* work as a convenience

Parameters

fixture_name
fixture name

Description

FIXTURE_SETUP(fixture name) { implementation }

Populates the required “setup” function for a fixture. An instance of the datatype defined with FIXTURE_DATA() will be exposed as self for the implementation.

ASSERT_* are valid for use in this context and will prempt the execution of any dependent fixture tests.

A bare “return;” statement may be used to return early.

FIXTURE_TEARDOWN(fixture_name)

Parameters

fixture_name
fixture name

Description

FIXTURE_TEARDOWN(fixture name) { implementation }

Populates the required “teardown” function for a fixture. An instance of the datatype defined with FIXTURE_DATA() will be exposed as self for the implementation to clean up.

A bare “return;” statement may be used to return early.

TEST_F(fixture_name, test_name)

Emits test registration and helpers for fixture-based test cases

Parameters

fixture_name
fixture name
test_name
test name

Description

TEST_F(fixture, name) { implementation }

Defines a test that depends on a fixture (e.g., is part of a test case). Very similar to TEST() except that self is the setup instance of fixture’s datatype exposed for use by the implementation.

TEST_HARNESS_MAIN()

Simple wrapper to run the test harness

Parameters

Description

TEST_HARNESS_MAIN

Use once to append a main() to the test file.

Operators

Operators for use in TEST() and TEST_F(). ASSERT_* calls will stop test execution immediately. EXPECT_* calls will emit a failure warning, note it, and continue.

ASSERT_EQ(expected, seen)

Parameters

expected
expected value
seen
measured value

Description

ASSERT_EQ(expected, measured): expected == measured

ASSERT_NE(expected, seen)

Parameters

expected
expected value
seen
measured value

Description

ASSERT_NE(expected, measured): expected != measured

ASSERT_LT(expected, seen)

Parameters

expected
expected value
seen
measured value

Description

ASSERT_LT(expected, measured): expected < measured

ASSERT_LE(expected, seen)

Parameters

expected
expected value
seen
measured value

Description

ASSERT_LE(expected, measured): expected <= measured

ASSERT_GT(expected, seen)

Parameters

expected
expected value
seen
measured value

Description

ASSERT_GT(expected, measured): expected > measured

ASSERT_GE(expected, seen)

Parameters

expected
expected value
seen
measured value

Description

ASSERT_GE(expected, measured): expected >= measured

ASSERT_NULL(seen)

Parameters

seen
measured value

Description

ASSERT_NULL(measured): NULL == measured

ASSERT_TRUE(seen)

Parameters

seen
measured value

Description

ASSERT_TRUE(measured): measured != 0

ASSERT_FALSE(seen)

Parameters

seen
measured value

Description

ASSERT_FALSE(measured): measured == 0

ASSERT_STREQ(expected, seen)

Parameters

expected
expected value
seen
measured value

Description

ASSERT_STREQ(expected, measured): !strcmp(expected, measured)

ASSERT_STRNE(expected, seen)

Parameters

expected
expected value
seen
measured value

Description

ASSERT_STRNE(expected, measured): strcmp(expected, measured)

EXPECT_EQ(expected, seen)

Parameters

expected
expected value
seen
measured value

Description

EXPECT_EQ(expected, measured): expected == measured

EXPECT_NE(expected, seen)

Parameters

expected
expected value
seen
measured value

Description

EXPECT_NE(expected, measured): expected != measured

EXPECT_LT(expected, seen)

Parameters

expected
expected value
seen
measured value

Description

EXPECT_LT(expected, measured): expected < measured

EXPECT_LE(expected, seen)

Parameters

expected
expected value
seen
measured value

Description

EXPECT_LE(expected, measured): expected <= measured

EXPECT_GT(expected, seen)

Parameters

expected
expected value
seen
measured value

Description

EXPECT_GT(expected, measured): expected > measured

EXPECT_GE(expected, seen)

Parameters

expected
expected value
seen
measured value

Description

EXPECT_GE(expected, measured): expected >= measured

EXPECT_NULL(seen)

Parameters

seen
measured value

Description

EXPECT_NULL(measured): NULL == measured

EXPECT_TRUE(seen)

Parameters

seen
measured value

Description

EXPECT_TRUE(measured): 0 != measured

EXPECT_FALSE(seen)

Parameters

seen
measured value

Description

EXPECT_FALSE(measured): 0 == measured

EXPECT_STREQ(expected, seen)

Parameters

expected
expected value
seen
measured value

Description

EXPECT_STREQ(expected, measured): !strcmp(expected, measured)

EXPECT_STRNE(expected, seen)

Parameters

expected
expected value
seen
measured value

Description

EXPECT_STRNE(expected, measured): strcmp(expected, measured)