1 ## This will eventually do to wiki.debian.org/DebTestFramework
3 * '''Created''': <<Date(2010-10-07)>>
4 * '''Contributors''': MichaelHanke, YaroslavHalchenko
5 * '''Packages affected''':
10 This specification describes DebTest -- a framework with conventions and tools
11 that allow Debian to distribute test batteries developed by upstream or Debian
12 developers. DebTest will enable an extensive testing of a deployed Debian
13 system or a particular software of interest in a uniform fashion.
17 Ideally software packaged for Debian comes with an exhaustive test suite that
18 can be used to determine whether this software works as expected on the Debian
19 platform. However, especially for complex software, these test suites are often
20 resource hungry (CPU time, memory, diskspace, network bandwidth) and cannot be
21 ran at package build time by buildds. Consequently, test suites are typically
22 utilized manually only by the respective packager on a particular machine, before
23 uploading a new version to the archive.
25 However, Debian is an integrated system and packaged software typically
26 relies on functionality provided by other Debian packages (e.g. shared
27 libraries) instead of shipping duplicates with different versions in every
28 package -- for many good reasons. Unfortunately, there is also a downside to
29 this: Debian packages often use versions of 3rd-party tools different from
30 those tested by upstream, and moreover, the actual versions of dependencies
31 might change frequently between subsequent uploads of a dependent package. Currently
32 a change in a dependency that introduces an incompatibility cannot be detected
33 reliably even if upstream provides a test suite that would have caught
34 the breakage. Therefore integration testing heavily relies on users to detect
35 incorrect functioning and file bug reports. Although there are archive-wide
36 QA efforts (e.g. constantly rebuilding all packages) these tests can only
37 detect API/ABI breakage or functionality tested during build-time checks --
38 they are not exhaustive for the aforementioned reasons.
40 This is a proposal to, first of all, package upstream test suites in a way that
41 they can be used to run expensive archive-wide QA tests. However, this is also
42 a proposal to establish means to test interactions between software from multiple
43 Debian packages to provide more thorough continued integration and regression testing
44 for the Debian systems.
48 * Moritz is a member of the security team. Whenever he applies a patch to fix
49 a security issue he wants to make sure that the generic behavior of the software
50 remains unchanged. However, in general he only has access to test cases that
51 are included in the source package (if any). In the absence of proper tests
52 he can only either assume that is would work (bad by design), or rely on the
53 respective package maintainer to run the appropriate tests (introduces
54 delays). A packaged exhaustive regression test suite would allow Moritz to
55 perform comprehensive testing on his own and release the fixed package as
56 soon as the tests pass.
58 * Michael is a Debian package maintainer that takes care of three
59 packages each providing a data format conversion utility. While
60 all three tools have their merits there is also lots of
61 overlap. For example, given a particular data file they should all
62 generate identical output. With a DebTest framework, Michael can
63 write and package cross-package test suites to ensure that this
64 promise is fulfilled at any time. Moreover, Michael can also
65 develop/package "pipeline" tests that ensure proper functioning of
66 multi-stage/package processing pipelines (from raw data format
67 conversion to visualization), where some stages could be
68 (re)processed using alternative tools from different software
69 packages promising to provide the same functionality. By testing
70 a whole processing stream while changing the alternative
71 implementations, breakage of the compatibility compliance could be
74 * Yarik is a Debian maintainer of a package where upstream provides
75 a complete analysis pipeline which was used for an article
76 publication. Such analysis requires relatively large array of
77 data and a range of tools from other packages to acquire
78 publication-ready summary of the results. Therefor such analysis
79 cannot be carried out at package build time. Upstream aims to
80 assure the reproducibility of the published results and encourages
81 Yarik to promise correct functioning of the research product on
82 Debian systems. Within the DebTest framework, Yarik can package
83 upstream analysis pipeline along with the target results to assure
84 reproducibility of the scientific findings.
86 * Albert is a scientist using Debian for his research activities. The
87 developers of his favorite software tell him to rather use the GreenPants
88 distribution, because they cannot guarantee that their software works
89 properly on Debian. They reason that Debian has a different
90 version of a numerical library that hasn't been "tested" by the authors.
91 With packaged regression test suites Albert can install and run, at any given point,
92 a complete test of his Debian system to ensure that everything is working
93 properly given the exact set of base libraries installed at this very moment.
94 This includes the test suite of the authors of his favorite software, but
95 also all distribution test suites provided by Debian developers (see above).
97 * Joerg maintains a repository of backports of Debian packages to be
98 installed in a stable environment. He wants to assure that
99 backporting of the packages has not caused a deviation in their
100 intended functioning. By using existing DebTest tests suites he
101 could verify that backported versions of the packages do not break
102 the stability and function as promised within the stable
105 * Mark wants to create a Debian-derived distribution and needs to
106 modify a number some essential packages in order to achieve the desired
107 improvements. He hopes that these changes do not break other Debian
108 packages, but he is not really sure. A comprehensive test battery for the
109 whole Debian system would offer him a way to verify proper functioning
110 of his modified snapshot of Debian -- without having to manually replicate
111 the testing efforts done by thousands of Debian contributors.
113 * Linus is an upstream developer. He just loves the fact that he can tell any
114 of his Debian-based users to just 'apt-get install' something and send him
115 the output of a command, whenever they claim that his software doesn't work
118 * Finally, Lucas has access to a powerful computing facility and
119 likes to run all kinds of tests on all packages in the Debian archive.
120 A Debian-wide regression test framework would allow Lucas to execute
121 complex test collections (suites for individual packages,
122 interoperability tests, or comparative) in an automated fashion,
123 and file bug reports against the respective packages whenever a
124 malfunction is detected. Some of Lucas friends are not brave enough to file
125 bugs, but still want to contribute. They simply run (selected) tests
126 on their local machines that in turn report results/logs to a Debian
127 dashboard server, where interested parties can get a weather report of
132 This specification is applicable to all Debian packages, and Debian as a whole.
136 === Core components ===
138 * Organization of the framework
139 - packages might register ways to run basic tests against installed
145 ==== Packaged tests ====
152 * Debug symbols: ....
153 - do not strip symbols from test binary
157 ==== debtest tools ====
160 - single package tests
161 - all (with -f to force even if resources are not sufficient)
162 - given specific resources demands, just run
163 the ones matching those
164 * Customization/Output:
166 + output: some structured output
167 + interface to some dashboard
171 ==== Maintainer helpers ====
174 - assess resources/performance:
177 A specification should be built with the following considerations:
179 * The person implementing it may not be the person writing it. Specification should be
180 * clear enough for someone to be able to read it and have a clear path
181 * towards implementing it. If it is not straightforward, it needs more detail.
183 * Use cases covered in the specification should be practical
184 * situations, not contrived issues.
186 * Limitations and issues discovered during the creation of a specification
187 * should be clearly pointed out so that they can be dealt with explicitly.
189 * If you don't know enough to be able to competently write a spec, you should
190 * either get help or research the problem further. Avoid spending time making
191 * up a solution: base yourself on your peers' opinions and prior work.
193 Specific issues related to particular sections are described further below.
195 === Implementation Plan ===
197 This section is usually broken down into subsections, such as the packages
198 being affected, data and system migration where necessary, user interface
199 requirements and pictures (photographs of drawings on paper work well).
203 To implement a specification, the developer should observe the use cases
204 carefully, and follow the design specified. He should make note of places in
205 which he has strayed from the design section, adding rationale describing why
206 this happened. This is important so that next iterations of this specification
207 (and new specifications that touch upon this subject) can use the specification
210 The implementation is very dependent on the type of feature to be implemented.
211 Refer to the team leader for further suggestions and guidance on this topic.
213 * Implementation language:
214 - Python unless someone takes the burden to develop
215 and maintain for upcoming years.
217 == Outstanding Issues ==
219 The specification process requires experienced people to drive it. More
220 documentation on the process should be produced.
222 The drafting of a specification requires english skills and a very good
223 understanding of the problem. It must also describe things to an extent that
224 someone else could implement. This is a difficult set of conditions to ensure
225 throughout all the specifications added.
227 There is a lot of difficulty in gardening obsolete, unwanted and abandoned
228 specifications in the Wiki.
230 == BoF agenda and discussion ==
232 Possible meetings where this specification will be discussed.