5 This tool aims to test U-Boot by executing U-Boot shell commands using the
6 console interface. A single top-level script exists to execute or attach to the
7 U-Boot console, run the entire script of tests against it, and summarize the
8 results. Advantages of this approach are:
10 - Testing is performed in the same way a user or script would interact with
11 U-Boot; there can be no disconnect.
12 - There is no need to write or embed test-related code into U-Boot itself.
13 It is asserted that writing test-related code in Python is simpler and more
14 flexible than writing it all in C.
15 - It is reasonably simple to interact with U-Boot in this way.
19 The test suite is implemented using pytest. Interaction with the U-Boot console
20 involves executing some binary and interacting with its stdin/stdout. You will
21 need to implement various "hook" scripts that are called by the test suite at
24 In order to run the testsuite at a minimum we require that both python3 and
25 pip for python3 be installed. All of the required python modules are
26 described in the requirements.txt file in this directory and can be installed
27 with the command ```pip install -r requirements.txt```
29 In order to execute certain tests on their supported platforms other tools
30 will be required. The following is an incomplete list:
38 | sudo OR guestmount |
42 Please use the apporirate commands for your distribution to match these tools
43 up with the package that provides them.
45 The test script supports either:
47 - Executing a sandbox port of U-Boot on the local machine as a sub-process,
48 and interacting with it over stdin/stdout.
49 - Executing an external "hook" scripts to flash a U-Boot binary onto a
50 physical board, attach to the board's console stream, and reset the board.
51 Further details are described later.
53 ### Using `virtualenv` to provide requirements
55 The recommended way to run the test suite, in order to ensure reproducibility
56 is to use `virtualenv` to set up the necessary environment. This can be done
57 via the following commands:
61 $ sudo apt-get install python3 python3-virtualenv
62 $ virtualenv -p /usr/bin/python3 venv
63 $ . ./venv/bin/activate
64 $ pip install -r test/py/requirements.txt
69 To run the testsuite on the sandbox port (U-Boot built as a native user-space
70 application), simply execute:
73 ./test/py/test.py --bd sandbox --build
76 The `--bd` option tells the test suite which board type is being tested. This
77 lets the test suite know which features the board has, and hence exactly what
80 The `--build` option tells U-Boot to compile U-Boot. Alternatively, you may
81 omit this option and build U-Boot yourself, in whatever way you choose, before
82 running the test script.
84 The test script will attach to U-Boot, execute all valid tests for the board,
85 then print a summary of the test process. A complete log of the test session
86 will be written to `${build_dir}/test-log.html`. This is best viewed in a web
87 browser, but may be read directly as plain text, perhaps with the aid of the
90 ### Testing under a debugger
92 If you need to run sandbox under a debugger, you may pass the command-line
93 option `--gdbserver COMM`. This causes two things to happens:
95 - Instead of running U-Boot directly, it will be run under gdbserver, with
96 debug communication via the channel `COMM`. You can attach a debugger to the
97 sandbox process in order to debug it. See `man gdbserver` and the example
98 below for details of valid values for `COMM`.
99 - All timeouts in tests are disabled, allowing U-Boot an arbitrary amount of
100 time to execute commands. This is useful if U-Boot is stopped at a breakpoint
107 ./test/py/test.py --bd sandbox --gdbserver localhost:1234
112 gdb ./build-sandbox/u-boot -ex 'target remote localhost:1234'
115 Alternatively, you could leave off the `-ex` option and type the command
116 manually into gdb once it starts.
118 You can use any debugger you wish, so long as it speaks the gdb remote
119 protocol, or any graphical wrapper around gdb.
121 Some tests deliberately cause the sandbox process to exit, e.g. to test the
122 reset command, or sandbox's CTRL-C handling. When this happens, you will need
123 to attach the debugger to the new sandbox instance. If these tests are not
124 relevant to your debugging session, you can skip them using pytest's -k
125 command-line option; see the next section.
127 ## Command-line options
129 - `--board-type`, `--bd`, `-B` set the type of the board to be tested. For
130 example, `sandbox` or `seaboard`.
131 - `--board-identity`, `--id` set the identity of the board to be tested.
132 This allows differentiation between multiple instances of the same type of
133 physical board that are attached to the same host machine. This parameter is
134 not interpreted by the test script in any way, but rather is simply passed
135 to the hook scripts described below, and may be used in any site-specific
136 way deemed necessary.
137 - `--build` indicates that the test script should compile U-Boot itself
138 before running the tests. If using this option, make sure that any
139 environment variables required by the build process are already set, such as
141 - `--build-dir` sets the directory containing the compiled U-Boot binaries.
142 If omitted, this is `${source_dir}/build-${board_type}`.
143 - `--result-dir` sets the directory to write results, such as log files,
144 into. If omitted, the build directory is used.
145 - `--persistent-data-dir` sets the directory used to store persistent test
146 data. This is test data that may be re-used across test runs, such as file-
149 `pytest` also implements a number of its own command-line options. Commonly used
150 options are mentioned below. Please see `pytest` documentation for complete
151 details. Execute `py.test --version` for a brief summary. Note that U-Boot's
152 test.py script passes all command-line arguments directly to `pytest` for
155 - `-k` selects which tests to run. The default is to run all known tests. This
156 option takes a single argument which is used to filter test names. Simple
157 logical operators are supported. For example:
158 - `'ums'` runs only tests with "ums" in their name.
159 - `'ut_dm'` runs only tests with "ut_dm" in their name. Note that in this
160 case, "ut_dm" is a parameter to a test rather than the test name. The full
161 test name is e.g. "test_ut[ut_dm_leak]".
162 - `'not reset'` runs everything except tests with "reset" in their name.
163 - `'ut or hush'` runs only tests with "ut" or "hush" in their name.
164 - `'not (ut or hush)'` runs everything except tests with "ut" or "hush" in
166 - `-s` prevents pytest from hiding a test's stdout. This allows you to see
167 U-Boot's console log in real time on pytest's stdout.
169 ## Testing real hardware
171 The tools and techniques used to interact with real hardware will vary
172 radically between different host and target systems, and the whims of the user.
173 For this reason, the test suite does not attempt to directly interact with real
174 hardware in any way. Rather, it executes a standardized set of "hook" scripts
175 via `$PATH`. These scripts implement certain actions on behalf of the test
176 suite. This keeps the test suite simple and isolated from system variances
177 unrelated to U-Boot features.
181 #### Environment variables
183 The following environment variables are set when running hook scripts:
185 - `UBOOT_BOARD_TYPE` the board type being tested.
186 - `UBOOT_BOARD_IDENTITY` the board identity being tested, or `na` if none was
188 - `UBOOT_SOURCE_DIR` the U-Boot source directory.
189 - `UBOOT_TEST_PY_DIR` the full path to `test/py/` in the source directory.
190 - `UBOOT_BUILD_DIR` the U-Boot build directory.
191 - `UBOOT_RESULT_DIR` the test result directory.
192 - `UBOOT_PERSISTENT_DATA_DIR` the test persistent data directory.
194 #### `u-boot-test-console`
196 This script provides access to the U-Boot console. The script's stdin/stdout
197 should be connected to the board's console. This process should continue to run
198 indefinitely, until killed. The test suite will run this script in parallel
199 with all other hooks.
201 This script may be implemented e.g. by exec()ing `cu`, `kermit`, `conmux`, etc.
203 If you are able to run U-Boot under a hardware simulator such as qemu, then
204 you would likely spawn that simulator from this script. However, note that
205 `u-boot-test-reset` may be called multiple times per test script run, and must
206 cause U-Boot to start execution from scratch each time. Hopefully your
207 simulator includes a virtual reset button! If not, you can launch the
208 simulator from `u-boot-test-reset` instead, while arranging for this console
209 process to always communicate with the current simulator instance.
211 #### `u-boot-test-flash`
213 Prior to running the test suite against a board, some arrangement must be made
214 so that the board executes the particular U-Boot binary to be tested. Often,
215 this involves writing the U-Boot binary to the board's flash ROM. The test
216 suite calls this hook script for that purpose.
218 This script should perform the entire flashing process synchronously; the
219 script should only exit once flashing is complete, and a board reset will
220 cause the newly flashed U-Boot binary to be executed.
222 It is conceivable that this script will do nothing. This might be useful in
225 - Some other process has already written the desired U-Boot binary into the
226 board's flash prior to running the test suite.
227 - The board allows U-Boot to be downloaded directly into RAM, and executed
228 from there. Use of this feature will reduce wear on the board's flash, so
229 may be preferable if available, and if cold boot testing of U-Boot is not
230 required. If this feature is used, the `u-boot-test-reset` script should
231 perform this download, since the board could conceivably be reset multiple
232 times in a single test run.
234 It is up to the user to determine if those situations exist, and to code this
235 hook script appropriately.
237 This script will typically be implemented by calling out to some SoC- or
238 board-specific vendor flashing utility.
240 #### `u-boot-test-reset`
242 Whenever the test suite needs to reset the target board, this script is
243 executed. This is guaranteed to happen at least once, prior to executing the
244 first test function. If any test fails, the test infra-structure will execute
245 this script again to restore U-Boot to an operational state before running the
248 This script will likely be implemented by communicating with some form of
249 relay or electronic switch attached to the board's reset signal.
251 The semantics of this script require that when it is executed, U-Boot will
252 start running from scratch. If the U-Boot binary to be tested has been written
253 to flash, pulsing the board's reset signal is likely all this script need do.
254 However, in some scenarios, this script may perform other actions. For
255 example, it may call out to some SoC- or board-specific vendor utility in order
256 to download the U-Boot binary directly into RAM and execute it. This would
257 avoid the need for `u-boot-test-flash` to actually write U-Boot to flash, thus
258 saving wear on the flash chip(s).
262 https://github.com/swarren/uboot-test-hooks contains some working example hook
263 scripts, and may be useful as a reference when implementing hook scripts for
264 your platform. These scripts are not considered part of U-Boot itself.
266 ### Board-type-specific configuration
268 Each board has a different configuration and behaviour. Many of these
269 differences can be automatically detected by parsing the `.config` file in the
270 build directory. However, some differences can't yet be handled automatically.
272 For each board, an optional Python module `u_boot_board_${board_type}` may exist
273 to provide board-specific information to the test script. Any global value
274 defined in these modules is available for use by any test function. The data
275 contained in these scripts must be purely derived from U-Boot source code.
276 Hence, these configuration files are part of the U-Boot source tree too.
278 ### Execution environment configuration
280 Each user's hardware setup may enable testing different subsets of the features
281 implemented by a particular board's configuration of U-Boot. For example, a
282 U-Boot configuration may support USB device mode and USB Mass Storage, but this
283 can only be tested if a USB cable is connected between the board and the host
284 machine running the test script.
286 For each board, optional Python modules `u_boot_boardenv_${board_type}` and
287 `u_boot_boardenv_${board_type}_${board_identity}` may exist to provide
288 board-specific and board-identity-specific information to the test script. Any
289 global value defined in these modules is available for use by any test
290 function. The data contained in these is specific to a particular user's
291 hardware configuration. Hence, these configuration files are not part of the
292 U-Boot source tree, and should be installed outside of the source tree. Users
293 should set `$PYTHONPATH` prior to running the test script to allow these
294 modules to be loaded.
296 ### Board module parameter usage
298 The test scripts rely on the following variables being defined by the board
303 ### U-Boot `.config` feature usage
305 The test scripts rely on various U-Boot `.config` features, either directly in
306 order to test those features, or indirectly in order to query information from
307 the running U-Boot instance in order to test other features.
309 One example is that testing of the `md` command requires knowledge of a RAM
310 address to use for the test. This data is parsed from the output of the
311 `bdinfo` command, and hence relies on CONFIG_CMD_BDI being enabled.
313 For a complete list of dependencies, please search the test scripts for
316 - `buildconfig.get(...`
317 - `@pytest.mark.buildconfigspec(...`
318 - `@pytest.mark.notbuildconfigspec(...`
320 ### Complete invocation example
322 Assuming that you have installed the hook scripts into $HOME/ubtest/bin, and
323 any required environment configuration Python modules into $HOME/ubtest/py,
324 then you would likely invoke the test script as follows:
326 If U-Boot has already been built:
329 PATH=$HOME/ubtest/bin:$PATH \
330 PYTHONPATH=${HOME}/ubtest/py/${HOSTNAME}:${PYTHONPATH} \
331 ./test/py/test.py --bd seaboard
334 If you want the test script to compile U-Boot for you too, then you likely
335 need to set `$CROSS_COMPILE` to allow this, and invoke the test script as
339 CROSS_COMPILE=arm-none-eabi- \
340 PATH=$HOME/ubtest/bin:$PATH \
341 PYTHONPATH=${HOME}/ubtest/py/${HOSTNAME}:${PYTHONPATH} \
342 ./test/py/test.py --bd seaboard --build
347 Please refer to the pytest documentation for details of writing pytest tests.
348 Details specific to the U-Boot test suite are described below.
350 A test fixture named `u_boot_console` should be used by each test function. This
351 provides the means to interact with the U-Boot console, and retrieve board and
352 environment configuration information.
354 The function `u_boot_console.run_command()` executes a shell command on the
355 U-Boot console, and returns all output from that command. This allows
356 validation or interpretation of the command output. This function validates
357 that certain strings are not seen on the U-Boot console. These include shell
358 error messages and the U-Boot sign-on message (in order to detect unexpected
359 board resets). See the source of `u_boot_console_base.py` for a complete list of
360 "bad" strings. Some test scenarios are expected to trigger these strings. Use
361 `u_boot_console.disable_check()` to temporarily disable checking for specific
362 strings. See `test_unknown_cmd.py` for an example.
364 Board- and board-environment configuration values may be accessed as sub-fields
365 of the `u_boot_console.config` object, for example
366 `u_boot_console.config.ram_base`.
368 Build configuration values (from `.config`) may be accessed via the dictionary
369 `u_boot_console.config.buildconfig`, with keys equal to the Kconfig variable