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 You can find additional information on Kselftest framework, how to
11 write new tests using the framework on Kselftest wiki:
13 https://kselftest.wiki.kernel.org/
15 On some systems, hot-plug tests could hang forever waiting for cpu and
16 memory to be ready to be offlined. A special hot-plug target is created
17 to run the full range of hot-plug tests. In default mode, hot-plug tests run
18 in safe mode with a limited scope. In limited mode, cpu-hotplug test is
19 run on a single cpu as opposed to all hotplug capable cpus, and memory
20 hotplug test is run on 2% of hotplug capable memory instead of 10%.
22 kselftest runs as a userspace process. Tests that can be written/run in
23 userspace may wish to use the `Test Harness`_. Tests that need to be
24 run in kernel space may wish to use a `Test Module`_.
26 Running the selftests (hotplug tests are run in limited mode)
27 =============================================================
31 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests
35 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests run_tests
37 To build and run the tests with a single command, use::
41 Note that some tests will require root privileges.
43 Kselftest supports saving output files in a separate directory and then
44 running tests. To locate output files in a separate directory two syntaxes
45 are supported. In both cases the working directory must be the root of the
46 kernel src. This is applicable to "Running a subset of selftests" section
49 To build, save output files in a separate directory with O= ::
51 $ make O=/tmp/kselftest kselftest
53 To build, save output files in a separate directory with KBUILD_OUTPUT ::
55 $ export KBUILD_OUTPUT=/tmp/kselftest; make kselftest
57 The O= assignment takes precedence over the KBUILD_OUTPUT environment
60 The above commands by default run the tests and print full pass/fail report.
61 Kselftest supports "summary" option to make it easier to understand the test
62 results. Please find the detailed individual test results for each test in
63 /tmp/testname file(s) when summary option is specified. This is applicable
64 to "Running a subset of selftests" section below.
66 To run kselftest with summary option enabled ::
68 $ make summary=1 kselftest
70 Running a subset of selftests
71 =============================
73 You can use the "TARGETS" variable on the make command line to specify
74 single test to run, or a list of tests to run.
76 To run only tests targeted for a single subsystem::
78 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests TARGETS=ptrace run_tests
80 You can specify multiple tests to build and run::
82 $ make TARGETS="size timers" kselftest
84 To build, save output files in a separate directory with O= ::
86 $ make O=/tmp/kselftest TARGETS="size timers" kselftest
88 To build, save output files in a separate directory with KBUILD_OUTPUT ::
90 $ export KBUILD_OUTPUT=/tmp/kselftest; make TARGETS="size timers" kselftest
92 Additionally you can use the "SKIP_TARGETS" variable on the make command
93 line to specify one or more targets to exclude from the TARGETS list.
95 To run all tests but a single subsystem::
97 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests SKIP_TARGETS=ptrace run_tests
99 You can specify multiple tests to skip::
101 $ make SKIP_TARGETS="size timers" kselftest
103 You can also specify a restricted list of tests to run together with a
106 $ make TARGETS="bpf breakpoints size timers" SKIP_TARGETS=bpf kselftest
108 See the top-level tools/testing/selftests/Makefile for the list of all
111 Running the full range hotplug selftests
112 ========================================
114 To build the hotplug tests::
116 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests hotplug
118 To run the hotplug tests::
120 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests run_hotplug
122 Note that some tests will require root privileges.
128 You can use the "install" target of "make" (which calls the `kselftest_install.sh`
129 tool) to install selftests in the default location (`tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_install`),
130 or in a user specified location via the `INSTALL_PATH` "make" variable.
132 To install selftests in default location::
134 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests install
136 To install selftests in a user specified location::
138 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests install INSTALL_PATH=/some/other/path
140 Running installed selftests
141 ===========================
143 Found in the install directory, as well as in the Kselftest tarball,
144 is a script named `run_kselftest.sh` to run the tests.
146 You can simply do the following to run the installed Kselftests. Please
147 note some tests will require root privileges::
149 $ cd kselftest_install
152 To see the list of available tests, the `-l` option can be used::
154 $ ./run_kselftest.sh -l
156 The `-c` option can be used to run all the tests from a test collection, or
157 the `-t` option for specific single tests. Either can be used multiple times::
159 $ ./run_kselftest.sh -c bpf -c seccomp -t timers:posix_timers -t timer:nanosleep
161 For other features see the script usage output, seen with the `-h` option.
166 In some cases packaging is desired, such as when tests need to run on a
167 different system. To package selftests, run::
169 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests gen_tar
171 This generates a tarball in the `INSTALL_PATH/kselftest-packages` directory. By
172 default, `.gz` format is used. The tar compression format can be overridden by
173 specifying a `FORMAT` make variable. Any value recognized by `tar's auto-compress`_
174 option is supported, such as::
176 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests gen_tar FORMAT=.xz
178 `make gen_tar` invokes `make install` so you can use it to package a subset of
179 tests by using variables specified in `Running a subset of selftests`_
182 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests gen_tar TARGETS="bpf" FORMAT=.xz
184 .. _tar's auto-compress: https://www.gnu.org/software/tar/manual/html_node/gzip.html#auto_002dcompress
186 Contributing new tests
187 ======================
189 In general, the rules for selftests are
191 * Do as much as you can if you're not root;
193 * Don't take too long;
195 * Don't break the build on any architecture, and
197 * Don't cause the top-level "make run_tests" to fail if your feature is
200 Contributing new tests (details)
201 ================================
203 * Use TEST_GEN_XXX if such binaries or files are generated during
206 TEST_PROGS, TEST_GEN_PROGS mean it is the executable tested by
209 TEST_CUSTOM_PROGS should be used by tests that require custom build
210 rules and prevent common build rule use.
212 TEST_PROGS are for test shell scripts. Please ensure shell script has
213 its exec bit set. Otherwise, lib.mk run_tests will generate a warning.
215 TEST_CUSTOM_PROGS and TEST_PROGS will be run by common run_tests.
217 TEST_PROGS_EXTENDED, TEST_GEN_PROGS_EXTENDED mean it is the
218 executable which is not tested by default.
219 TEST_FILES, TEST_GEN_FILES mean it is the file which is used by
222 * First use the headers inside the kernel source and/or git repo, and then the
223 system headers. Headers for the kernel release as opposed to headers
224 installed by the distro on the system should be the primary focus to be able
227 * If a test needs specific kernel config options enabled, add a config file in
228 the test directory to enable them.
230 e.g: tools/testing/selftests/android/config
235 Kselftest tests the kernel from userspace. Sometimes things need
236 testing from within the kernel, one method of doing this is to create a
237 test module. We can tie the module into the kselftest framework by
238 using a shell script test runner. ``kselftest/module.sh`` is designed
239 to facilitate this process. There is also a header file provided to
240 assist writing kernel modules that are for use with kselftest:
242 - ``tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_module.h``
243 - ``tools/testing/selftests/kselftest/module.sh``
248 Here we show the typical steps to create a test module and tie it into
249 kselftest. We use kselftests for lib/ as an example.
251 1. Create the test module
253 2. Create the test script that will run (load/unload) the module
254 e.g. ``tools/testing/selftests/lib/printf.sh``
256 3. Add line to config file e.g. ``tools/testing/selftests/lib/config``
258 4. Add test script to makefile e.g. ``tools/testing/selftests/lib/Makefile``
264 # Assumes you have booted a fresh build of this kernel tree
265 cd /path/to/linux/tree
268 sudo make modules_install
269 make TARGETS=lib kselftest
274 A bare bones test module might look like this:
278 // SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
280 #define pr_fmt(fmt) KBUILD_MODNAME ": " fmt
282 #include "../tools/testing/selftests/kselftest/module.h"
284 KSTM_MODULE_GLOBALS();
287 * Kernel module for testing the foobinator
290 static int __init test_function()
295 static void __init selftest(void)
297 KSTM_CHECK_ZERO(do_test_case("", 0));
300 KSTM_MODULE_LOADERS(test_foo);
301 MODULE_AUTHOR("John Developer <jd@fooman.org>");
302 MODULE_LICENSE("GPL");
310 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0+
311 $(dirname $0)/../kselftest/module.sh "foo" test_foo
317 The kselftest_harness.h file contains useful helpers to build tests. The
318 test harness is for userspace testing, for kernel space testing see `Test
321 The tests from tools/testing/selftests/seccomp/seccomp_bpf.c can be used as
327 .. kernel-doc:: tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
334 .. kernel-doc:: tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
335 :functions: TH_LOG TEST TEST_SIGNAL FIXTURE FIXTURE_DATA FIXTURE_SETUP
336 FIXTURE_TEARDOWN TEST_F TEST_HARNESS_MAIN FIXTURE_VARIANT
342 .. kernel-doc:: tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
345 .. kernel-doc:: tools/testing/selftests/kselftest_harness.h
346 :functions: ASSERT_EQ ASSERT_NE ASSERT_LT ASSERT_LE ASSERT_GT ASSERT_GE
347 ASSERT_NULL ASSERT_TRUE ASSERT_NULL ASSERT_TRUE ASSERT_FALSE
348 ASSERT_STREQ ASSERT_STRNE EXPECT_EQ EXPECT_NE EXPECT_LT
349 EXPECT_LE EXPECT_GT EXPECT_GE EXPECT_NULL EXPECT_TRUE
350 EXPECT_FALSE EXPECT_STREQ EXPECT_STRNE