path: root/Documentation/dev-tools/kselftest.rst

======================
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.

Kselftest from mainline can be run on older stable kernels. Running tests
from mainline offers the best coverage. Several test rings run mainline
kselftest suite on stable releases. The reason is that when a new test
gets added to test existing code to regression test a bug, we should be
able to run that test on an older kernel. Hence, it is important to keep
code that can still test an older kernel and make sure it skips the test
gracefully on newer releases.

You can find additional information on Kselftest framework, how to
write new tests using the framework on Kselftest wiki:

https://kselftest.wiki.kernel.org/

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 the 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%.

kselftest runs as a userspace process.  Tests that can be written/run in
userspace may wish to use the `Test Harness`_.  Tests that need to be
run in kernel space may wish to use a `Test Module`_.

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.

Kselftest supports saving output files in a separate directory and then
running tests. To locate output files in a separate directory two syntaxes
are supported. In both cases the working directory must be the root of the
kernel src. This is applicable to "Running a subset of selftests" section
below.

To build, save output files in a separate directory with O= ::

  $ make O=/tmp/kselftest kselftest

To build, save output files in a separate directory with KBUILD_OUTPUT ::

  $ export KBUILD_OUTPUT=/tmp/kselftest; make kselftest

The O= assignment takes precedence over the KBUILD_OUTPUT environment
variable.

The above commands by default run the tests and print full pass/fail report.
Kselftest supports "summary" option to make it easier to understand the test
results. Please find the detailed individual test results for each test in
/tmp/testname file(s) when summary option is specified. This is applicable
to "Running a subset of selftests" section below.

To run kselftest with summary option enabled ::

  $ make summary=1 kselftest

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

To build, save output files in a separate directory with O= ::

  $ make O=/tmp/kselftest TARGETS="size timers" kselftest

To build, save output files in a separate directory with KBUILD_OUTPUT ::

  $ export KBUILD_OUTPUT=/tmp/kselftest; make TARGETS="size timers" kselftest

Additionally you can use the "SKIP_TARGETS" variable on the make command
line to specify one or more targets to exclude from the TARGETS list.

To run all tests but a single subsystem::

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

You can specify multiple tests to skip::

  $  make SKIP_TARGETS="size timers" kselftest

You can also specify a restricted list of tests to run together with a
dedicated skiplist::

  $  make TARGETS="bpf breakpoints size timers" SKIP_TARGETS=bpf 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 the "install" target of "make" (which calls the `kselftest_install.sh`
tool) to install selftests in the default location (`tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_install`),
or in a user specified location via the `INSTALL_PATH` "make" variable.

To install selftests in default location::

   $ make -C tools/testing/selftests install

To install selftests in a user specified location::

   $ make -C tools/testing/selftests install INSTALL_PATH=/some/other/path

Running installed selftests
===========================

Found in the install directory, as well as in the Kselftest tarball,
is 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_install
   $ ./run_kselftest.sh

To see the list of available tests, the `-l` option can be used::

   $ ./run_kselftest.sh -l

The `-c` option can be used to run all the tests from a test collection, or
the `-t` option for specific single tests. Either can be used multiple times::

   $ ./run_kselftest.sh -c bpf -c seccomp -t timers:posix_timers -t timer:nanosleep

For other features see the script usage output, seen with the `-h` option.

Packaging selftests
===================

In some cases packaging is desired, such as when tests need to run on a
different system. To package selftests, run::

   $ make -C tools/testing/selftests gen_tar

This generates a tarball in the `INSTALL_PATH/kselftest-packages` directory. By
default, `.gz` format is used. The tar compression format can be overridden by
specifying a `FORMAT` make variable. Any value recognized by `tar's auto-compress`_
option is supported, such as::

    $ make -C tools/testing/selftests gen_tar FORMAT=.xz

`make gen_tar` invokes `make install` so you can use it to package a subset of
tests by using variables specified in `Running a subset of selftests`_
section::

    $ make -C tools/testing/selftests gen_tar TARGETS="bpf" FORMAT=.xz

.. _tar's auto-compress: https://www.gnu.org/software/tar/manual/html_node/gzip.html#auto_002dcompress

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 executable tested by
   default.

   TEST_CUSTOM_PROGS should be used by tests that require custom build
   rules and prevent common build rule use.

   TEST_PROGS are for test shell scripts. Please ensure shell script has
   its exec bit set. Otherwise, lib.mk run_tests will generate a warning.

   TEST_CUSTOM_PROGS and TEST_PROGS will be run by common run_tests.

   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.

 * First use the headers inside the kernel source and/or git repo, and then the
   system headers.  Headers for the kernel release as opposed to headers
   installed by the distro on the system should be the primary focus to be able
   to find regressions.

 * If a test needs specific kernel config options enabled, add a config file in
   the test directory to enable them.

   e.g: tools/testing/selftests/android/config

Test Module
===========

Kselftest tests the kernel from userspace.  Sometimes things need
testing from within the kernel, one method of doing this is to create a
test module.  We can tie the module into the kselftest framework by
using a shell script test runner.  ``kselftest/module.sh`` is designed
to facilitate this process.  There is also a header file provided to
assist writing kernel modules that are for use with kselftest:

- ``tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_module.h``
- ``tools/testing/selftests/kselftest/module.sh``

How to use
----------

Here we show the typical steps to create a test module and tie it into
kselftest.  We use kselftests for lib/ as an example.

1. Create the test module

2. Create the test script that will run (load/unload) the module
   e.g. ``tools/testing/selftests/lib/printf.sh``

3. Add line to config file e.g. ``tools/testing/selftests/lib/config``

4. Add test script to makefile  e.g. ``tools/testing/selftests/lib/Makefile``

5. Verify it works:

.. code-block:: sh

   # Assumes you have booted a fresh build of this kernel tree
   cd /path/to/linux/tree
   make kselftest-merge
   make modules
   sudo make modules_install
   make TARGETS=lib kselftest

Example Module
--------------

A bare bones test module might look like this:

.. code-block:: c

   // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+

   #define pr_fmt(fmt) KBUILD_MODNAME ": " fmt

   #include "../tools/testing/selftests/kselftest/module.h"

   KSTM_MODULE_GLOBALS();

   /*
    * Kernel module for testing the foobinator
    */

   static int __init test_function()
   {
           ...
   }

   static void __init selftest(void)
   {
           KSTM_CHECK_ZERO(do_test_case("", 0));
   }

   KSTM_MODULE_LOADERS(test_foo);
   MODULE_AUTHOR("John Developer <jd@fooman.org>");
   MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");

Example test script
-------------------

.. code-block:: sh

    #!/bin/bash
    # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
    $(dirname $0)/../kselftest/module.sh "foo" test_foo


Test Harness
============

The kselftest_harness.h file contains useful helpers to build tests.  The
test harness is for userspace testing, for kernel space testing see `Test
Module`_ above.

The tests from tools/testing/selftests/seccomp/seccomp_bpf.c can be used as
example.

Example
-------

.. kernel-doc:: tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
    :doc: example


Helpers
-------

.. kernel-doc:: tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
    :functions: TH_LOG TEST TEST_SIGNAL FIXTURE FIXTURE_DATA FIXTURE_SETUP
                FIXTURE_TEARDOWN TEST_F TEST_HARNESS_MAIN FIXTURE_VARIANT
                FIXTURE_VARIANT_ADD

Operators
---------

.. kernel-doc:: tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
    :doc: operators

.. kernel-doc:: tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
    :functions: ASSERT_EQ ASSERT_NE ASSERT_LT ASSERT_LE ASSERT_GT ASSERT_GE
                ASSERT_NULL ASSERT_TRUE ASSERT_NULL ASSERT_TRUE ASSERT_FALSE
                ASSERT_STREQ ASSERT_STRNE EXPECT_EQ EXPECT_NE EXPECT_LT
                EXPECT_LE EXPECT_GT EXPECT_GE EXPECT_NULL EXPECT_TRUE
                EXPECT_FALSE EXPECT_STREQ EXPECT_STRNE