Re: [PATCH v2 00/11] Improve command dispatch in test scripts

[David Gibson <david@gibson.dropbear.id.au>]

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On Fri, Sep 09, 2022 at 05:21:27PM +0200, Stefano Brivio wrote:
> On Thu,  8 Sep 2022 11:49:09 +1000
> David Gibson <david(a)gibson.dropbear.id.au> wrote:
> 
> > Sorry for the resend, but I found and fixed a couple of warts in this
> > series.
> > 
> > The test scripts need to dispatch commands in various different
> > contexts: on the host, in namespaces, and in guests.  Currently this
> > is done by running each context in a tmux pane and simulating typing
> > into that pane using tmux commands.  This has a number of problems:
> > 
> >  * It's slow
> >  * Getting the results from programs is tricky and error prone.  We
> >    can misparse output if:
> >      * The window isn't large enough
> >      * Commands produce output which looks like a shell prompt
> >      * The shell doesn't have the prompt we expect
> >  * A accidental keypress while the tests are running can mess up the
> >    test run
> >  * We have to issue explicit "echo $?" commands to check if things
> >    succeeded
> > 
> > This series adds a new subsystem to the test scripts for dispatching
> > commands which accurately preserves output (both stdout and stderr),
> > and exit codes.
> > 
> > Most of the testsuite is converted to this new system.  For now the
> > distro tests still rely on the old approach, since they have some
> > complications that require additional handling.  That does, alas, mean
> > we have some ugly transitional code remaining.  Oh well, we should be
> > able to clean that up at some point.
> > 
> > This series is pased on the previous series cleaning up the
> > performance tests.
> > 
> > Changes since v1:
> >  * Removed a couple of commented debugging lines in patch 9/11
> >  * Removed a no longer necessary pipe-pane in patch 9/11
> 
> In general, this looks like a big improvement, and I would try to apply
> it basically as it is (I haven't run the tests yet).
> 
> There are a few nits that might need to be addressed. I can fix them up
> on merge, unless you re-spin this, but I'd need some help with the
> comment on 11/11.

I'll send a respin next week when I can re-run the tests.

This weekend I've realized another problem with the current testsuite:
it reacts very poorly if the host has no IPv6 connectivity.  Unusually
for Australia I do have IPv6 at home, but not while I'm travelling
with mobile data.  I could get it using a VPN, of course, but it's a
hassle.

Anyway, that's another reason why having a more controlled artificial
network environment for the tests would be valuable; I'll tackle that
when I can.

-- 
David Gibson			| I'll have my music baroque, and my code
david AT gibson.dropbear.id.au	| minimalist, thank you.  NOT _the_ _other_
				| _way_ _around_!
http://www.ozlabs.org/~dgibson

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