1======================
2Linux Kernel Selftests
3======================
4
5The kernel contains a set of "self tests" under the tools/testing/selftests/
6directory. These are intended to be small tests to exercise individual code
7paths in the kernel. Tests are intended to be run after building, installing
8and booting a kernel.
9
10Kselftest from mainline can be run on older stable kernels. Running tests
11from mainline offers the best coverage. Several test rings run mainline
12kselftest suite on stable releases. The reason is that when a new test
13gets added to test existing code to regression test a bug, we should be
14able to run that test on an older kernel. Hence, it is important to keep
15code that can still test an older kernel and make sure it skips the test
16gracefully on newer releases.
17
18You can find additional information on Kselftest framework, how to
19write new tests using the framework on Kselftest wiki:
20
21https://kselftest.wiki.kernel.org/
22
23On some systems, hot-plug tests could hang forever waiting for cpu and
24memory to be ready to be offlined. A special hot-plug target is created
25to run the full range of hot-plug tests. In default mode, hot-plug tests run
26in safe mode with a limited scope. In limited mode, cpu-hotplug test is
27run on a single cpu as opposed to all hotplug capable cpus, and memory
28hotplug test is run on 2% of hotplug capable memory instead of 10%.
29
30kselftest runs as a userspace process.  Tests that can be written/run in
31userspace may wish to use the `Test Harness`_.  Tests that need to be
32run in kernel space may wish to use a `Test Module`_.
33
34Running the selftests (hotplug tests are run in limited mode)
35=============================================================
36
37To build the tests::
38
39  $ make headers
40  $ make -C tools/testing/selftests
41
42To run the tests::
43
44  $ make -C tools/testing/selftests run_tests
45
46To build and run the tests with a single command, use::
47
48  $ make kselftest
49
50Note that some tests will require root privileges.
51
52Kselftest supports saving output files in a separate directory and then
53running tests. To locate output files in a separate directory two syntaxes
54are supported. In both cases the working directory must be the root of the
55kernel src. This is applicable to "Running a subset of selftests" section
56below.
57
58To build, save output files in a separate directory with O= ::
59
60  $ make O=/tmp/kselftest kselftest
61
62To build, save output files in a separate directory with KBUILD_OUTPUT ::
63
64  $ export KBUILD_OUTPUT=/tmp/kselftest; make kselftest
65
66The O= assignment takes precedence over the KBUILD_OUTPUT environment
67variable.
68
69The above commands by default run the tests and print full pass/fail report.
70Kselftest supports "summary" option to make it easier to understand the test
71results. Please find the detailed individual test results for each test in
72/tmp/testname file(s) when summary option is specified. This is applicable
73to "Running a subset of selftests" section below.
74
75To run kselftest with summary option enabled ::
76
77  $ make summary=1 kselftest
78
79Running a subset of selftests
80=============================
81
82You can use the "TARGETS" variable on the make command line to specify
83single test to run, or a list of tests to run.
84
85To run only tests targeted for a single subsystem::
86
87  $ make -C tools/testing/selftests TARGETS=ptrace run_tests
88
89You can specify multiple tests to build and run::
90
91  $  make TARGETS="size timers" kselftest
92
93To build, save output files in a separate directory with O= ::
94
95  $ make O=/tmp/kselftest TARGETS="size timers" kselftest
96
97To build, save output files in a separate directory with KBUILD_OUTPUT ::
98
99  $ export KBUILD_OUTPUT=/tmp/kselftest; make TARGETS="size timers" kselftest
100
101Additionally you can use the "SKIP_TARGETS" variable on the make command
102line to specify one or more targets to exclude from the TARGETS list.
103
104To run all tests but a single subsystem::
105
106  $ make -C tools/testing/selftests SKIP_TARGETS=ptrace run_tests
107
108You can specify multiple tests to skip::
109
110  $  make SKIP_TARGETS="size timers" kselftest
111
112You can also specify a restricted list of tests to run together with a
113dedicated skiplist::
114
115  $  make TARGETS="bpf breakpoints size timers" SKIP_TARGETS=bpf kselftest
116
117See the top-level tools/testing/selftests/Makefile for the list of all
118possible targets.
119
120Running the full range hotplug selftests
121========================================
122
123To build the hotplug tests::
124
125  $ make -C tools/testing/selftests hotplug
126
127To run the hotplug tests::
128
129  $ make -C tools/testing/selftests run_hotplug
130
131Note that some tests will require root privileges.
132
133
134Install selftests
135=================
136
137You can use the "install" target of "make" (which calls the `kselftest_install.sh`
138tool) to install selftests in the default location (`tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_install`),
139or in a user specified location via the `INSTALL_PATH` "make" variable.
140
141To install selftests in default location::
142
143   $ make -C tools/testing/selftests install
144
145To install selftests in a user specified location::
146
147   $ make -C tools/testing/selftests install INSTALL_PATH=/some/other/path
148
149Running installed selftests
150===========================
151
152Found in the install directory, as well as in the Kselftest tarball,
153is a script named `run_kselftest.sh` to run the tests.
154
155You can simply do the following to run the installed Kselftests. Please
156note some tests will require root privileges::
157
158   $ cd kselftest_install
159   $ ./run_kselftest.sh
160
161To see the list of available tests, the `-l` option can be used::
162
163   $ ./run_kselftest.sh -l
164
165The `-c` option can be used to run all the tests from a test collection, or
166the `-t` option for specific single tests. Either can be used multiple times::
167
168   $ ./run_kselftest.sh -c bpf -c seccomp -t timers:posix_timers -t timer:nanosleep
169
170For other features see the script usage output, seen with the `-h` option.
171
172Packaging selftests
173===================
174
175In some cases packaging is desired, such as when tests need to run on a
176different system. To package selftests, run::
177
178   $ make -C tools/testing/selftests gen_tar
179
180This generates a tarball in the `INSTALL_PATH/kselftest-packages` directory. By
181default, `.gz` format is used. The tar compression format can be overridden by
182specifying a `FORMAT` make variable. Any value recognized by `tar's auto-compress`_
183option is supported, such as::
184
185    $ make -C tools/testing/selftests gen_tar FORMAT=.xz
186
187`make gen_tar` invokes `make install` so you can use it to package a subset of
188tests by using variables specified in `Running a subset of selftests`_
189section::
190
191    $ make -C tools/testing/selftests gen_tar TARGETS="bpf" FORMAT=.xz
192
193.. _tar's auto-compress: https://www.gnu.org/software/tar/manual/html_node/gzip.html#auto_002dcompress
194
195Contributing new tests
196======================
197
198In general, the rules for selftests are
199
200 * Do as much as you can if you're not root;
201
202 * Don't take too long;
203
204 * Don't break the build on any architecture, and
205
206 * Don't cause the top-level "make run_tests" to fail if your feature is
207   unconfigured.
208
209Contributing new tests (details)
210================================
211
212 * In your Makefile, use facilities from lib.mk by including it instead of
213   reinventing the wheel. Specify flags and binaries generation flags on
214   need basis before including lib.mk. ::
215
216    CFLAGS = $(KHDR_INCLUDES)
217    TEST_GEN_PROGS := close_range_test
218    include ../lib.mk
219
220 * Use TEST_GEN_XXX if such binaries or files are generated during
221   compiling.
222
223   TEST_PROGS, TEST_GEN_PROGS mean it is the executable tested by
224   default.
225
226   TEST_CUSTOM_PROGS should be used by tests that require custom build
227   rules and prevent common build rule use.
228
229   TEST_PROGS are for test shell scripts. Please ensure shell script has
230   its exec bit set. Otherwise, lib.mk run_tests will generate a warning.
231
232   TEST_CUSTOM_PROGS and TEST_PROGS will be run by common run_tests.
233
234   TEST_PROGS_EXTENDED, TEST_GEN_PROGS_EXTENDED mean it is the
235   executable which is not tested by default.
236   TEST_FILES, TEST_GEN_FILES mean it is the file which is used by
237   test.
238
239 * First use the headers inside the kernel source and/or git repo, and then the
240   system headers.  Headers for the kernel release as opposed to headers
241   installed by the distro on the system should be the primary focus to be able
242   to find regressions. Use KHDR_INCLUDES in Makefile to include headers from
243   the kernel source.
244
245 * If a test needs specific kernel config options enabled, add a config file in
246   the test directory to enable them.
247
248   e.g: tools/testing/selftests/android/config
249
250 * Create a .gitignore file inside test directory and add all generated objects
251   in it.
252
253 * Add new test name in TARGETS in selftests/Makefile::
254
255    TARGETS += android
256
257 * All changes should pass::
258
259    kselftest-{all,install,clean,gen_tar}
260    kselftest-{all,install,clean,gen_tar} O=abo_path
261    kselftest-{all,install,clean,gen_tar} O=rel_path
262    make -C tools/testing/selftests {all,install,clean,gen_tar}
263    make -C tools/testing/selftests {all,install,clean,gen_tar} O=abs_path
264    make -C tools/testing/selftests {all,install,clean,gen_tar} O=rel_path
265
266Test Module
267===========
268
269Kselftest tests the kernel from userspace.  Sometimes things need
270testing from within the kernel, one method of doing this is to create a
271test module.  We can tie the module into the kselftest framework by
272using a shell script test runner.  ``kselftest/module.sh`` is designed
273to facilitate this process.  There is also a header file provided to
274assist writing kernel modules that are for use with kselftest:
275
276- ``tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_module.h``
277- ``tools/testing/selftests/kselftest/module.sh``
278
279Note that test modules should taint the kernel with TAINT_TEST. This will
280happen automatically for modules which are in the ``tools/testing/``
281directory, or for modules which use the ``kselftest_module.h`` header above.
282Otherwise, you'll need to add ``MODULE_INFO(test, "Y")`` to your module
283source. selftests which do not load modules typically should not taint the
284kernel, but in cases where a non-test module is loaded, TEST_TAINT can be
285applied from userspace by writing to ``/proc/sys/kernel/tainted``.
286
287How to use
288----------
289
290Here we show the typical steps to create a test module and tie it into
291kselftest.  We use kselftests for lib/ as an example.
292
2931. Create the test module
294
2952. Create the test script that will run (load/unload) the module
296   e.g. ``tools/testing/selftests/lib/printf.sh``
297
2983. Add line to config file e.g. ``tools/testing/selftests/lib/config``
299
3004. Add test script to makefile  e.g. ``tools/testing/selftests/lib/Makefile``
301
3025. Verify it works:
303
304.. code-block:: sh
305
306   # Assumes you have booted a fresh build of this kernel tree
307   cd /path/to/linux/tree
308   make kselftest-merge
309   make modules
310   sudo make modules_install
311   make TARGETS=lib kselftest
312
313Example Module
314--------------
315
316A bare bones test module might look like this:
317
318.. code-block:: c
319
320   // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
321
322   #define pr_fmt(fmt) KBUILD_MODNAME ": " fmt
323
324   #include "../tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_module.h"
325
326   KSTM_MODULE_GLOBALS();
327
328   /*
329    * Kernel module for testing the foobinator
330    */
331
332   static int __init test_function()
333   {
334           ...
335   }
336
337   static void __init selftest(void)
338   {
339           KSTM_CHECK_ZERO(do_test_case("", 0));
340   }
341
342   KSTM_MODULE_LOADERS(test_foo);
343   MODULE_AUTHOR("John Developer <jd@fooman.org>");
344   MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
345   MODULE_INFO(test, "Y");
346
347Example test script
348-------------------
349
350.. code-block:: sh
351
352    #!/bin/bash
353    # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
354    $(dirname $0)/../kselftest/module.sh "foo" test_foo
355
356
357Test Harness
358============
359
360The kselftest_harness.h file contains useful helpers to build tests.  The
361test harness is for userspace testing, for kernel space testing see `Test
362Module`_ above.
363
364The tests from tools/testing/selftests/seccomp/seccomp_bpf.c can be used as
365example.
366
367Example
368-------
369
370.. kernel-doc:: tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
371    :doc: example
372
373
374Helpers
375-------
376
377.. kernel-doc:: tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
378    :functions: TH_LOG TEST TEST_SIGNAL FIXTURE FIXTURE_DATA FIXTURE_SETUP
379                FIXTURE_TEARDOWN TEST_F TEST_HARNESS_MAIN FIXTURE_VARIANT
380                FIXTURE_VARIANT_ADD
381
382Operators
383---------
384
385.. kernel-doc:: tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
386    :doc: operators
387
388.. kernel-doc:: tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
389    :functions: ASSERT_EQ ASSERT_NE ASSERT_LT ASSERT_LE ASSERT_GT ASSERT_GE
390                ASSERT_NULL ASSERT_TRUE ASSERT_NULL ASSERT_TRUE ASSERT_FALSE
391                ASSERT_STREQ ASSERT_STRNE EXPECT_EQ EXPECT_NE EXPECT_LT
392                EXPECT_LE EXPECT_GT EXPECT_GE EXPECT_NULL EXPECT_TRUE
393                EXPECT_FALSE EXPECT_STREQ EXPECT_STRNE
394