Getting Started¶
Those who prefer video-introduction, take a look at Other Resources. Either way first step towards using Avocado is, quite obviously, installing it.
Installing Avocado¶
Avocado is primarily written in Python, so a standard Python installation is possible and often preferable.
Tip
If you are looking for Virtualization specific testing, also consider looking at Avocado-VT installation instructions after finishing the Avocado installation.
Installing with standard Python tools¶
The simplest installation method is through pip
. On most POSIX
systems with Python 2.7 and pip
available, installation can be
performed with a single command:
pip install --user avocado-framework
This will fetch the Avocado package (and possibly some of its
dependecies) from the PyPI repository, and will attempt to install it
in the user’s home directory (usually under ~/.local
).
Tip
If you want to perform a system-wide installation, drop the
--user
switch.
If you want even more isolation, Avocado can also be installed in a Python virtual environment. with no additional steps besides creating and activating the “venv” itself:
python -m virtualenv /path/to/new/virtual_environment
. /path/to/new/virtual_environment/bin/activate
pip install avocado-framework
Please note that this installs the Avocado core functionality. Many
Avocado features are distributed as non-core plugins, also available
as additional packages on PyPI. You should be able to find them via
pip search avocado-framework-plugin | grep
avocado-framework-plugin
. Some of them are listed below:
- avocado-framework-plugin-result-html: HTML Report for Jobs
- avocado-framework-plugin-resultsdb: Propagate Job results to Resultsdb
- avocado-framework-plugin-runner-remote: Runner for Remote Execution
- avocado-framework-plugin-runner-vm: Runner for libvirt VM Execution
- avocado-framework-plugin-runner-docker: Runner for Execution on Docker Containers
- avocado-framework-plugin-loader-yaml: Loads tests from YAML files
- avocado-framework-plugin-robot: Execution of Robot Framework tests
- avocado-framework-plugin-varianter-yaml-to-mux: Parse YAML file into variants
Installing from Packages¶
Fedora¶
Avocado is available in stock Fedora 24 and later. The main package
name is python-avocado
, and can be installed with:
dnf install python-avocado
Other available packages (depending on the Avocado version) may include:
python-avocado-examples
: contains example tests and other example filespython2-avocado-plugins-output-html
: HTML job report pluginpython2-avocado-plugins-resultsdb
: propagate Job results to Resultsdbpython2-avocado-plugins-runner-remote
: execution of jobs on a remote machinepython2-avocado-plugins-runner-vm
: execution of jobs on a libvirt based VMpython2-avocado-plugins-runner-docker
: execution of jobs on a Docker containerpython-avocado-plugins-varianter-yaml-to-mux
: parse YAML file into variantspython2-avocado-plugins-varianter-pict
: varianter with combinatorial capabilities by PICT
Fedora from Avocado’s own Repo¶
The Avocado project also makes the latest release, and the LTS (Long Term Stability) releases available from its own package repository. To use it, first get the package repositories configuration file by running the following command:
sudo curl https://avocado-project.org/data/repos/avocado-fedora.repo -o /etc/yum.repos.d/avocado.repo
Now check if you have the avocado
and avocado-lts
repositories configured by running:
sudo dnf repolist avocado avocado-lts
...
repo id repo name status
avocado Avocado 50
avocado-lts Avocado LTS (Long Term Stability) disabled
Regular users of Avocado will want to use the standard avocado
repository, which tracks the latest Avocado releases. For more
information about the LTS releases, please refer to
RFC: Long Term Stability and to your package management
docs on how to switch to the avocado-lts
repo.
Finally, after deciding between regular Avocado releases or LTS, you can install the RPM packages by running the following commands:
dnf install python-avocado
Additionally, other Avocado packages are available for Fedora:
python-avocado-examples
: contains example tests and other example filespython2-avocado-plugins-output-html
: HTML job report pluginpython2-avocado-plugins-resultsdb
: propagate Job results to Resultsdbpython2-avocado-plugins-runner-remote
: execution of jobs on a remote machinepython2-avocado-plugins-runner-vm
: execution of jobs on a libvirt based VMpython2-avocado-plugins-runner-docker
: execution of jobs on a Docker containerpython-avocado-plugins-varianter-yaml-to-mux
: parse YAML file into variantspython2-avocado-plugins-varianter-pict
: varianter with combinatorial capabilities by PICT
Enterprise Linux¶
Avocado packages for Enterprise Linux are available from the Avocado project RPM repository. Additionally, some packages from the EPEL repo are necessary, so you need to enable it first. For EL7, running the following command should do it:
yum install https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm
Then you must use the Avocado project RHEL repo (https://avocado-project.org/data/repos/avocado-el.repo). Running the following command should give you the basic Avocado installation ready:
curl https://avocado-project.org/data/repos/avocado-el.repo -o /etc/yum.repos.d/avocado.repo
yum install python-avocado
Other available packages (depending on the Avocado version) may include:
python-avocado-examples
: contains example tests and other example filespython2-avocado-plugins-output-html
: HTML job report pluginpython2-avocado-plugins-resultsdb
: propagate Job results to Resultsdbpython2-avocado-plugins-runner-remote
: execution of jobs on a remote machinepython2-avocado-plugins-runner-vm
: execution of jobs on a libvirt based VMpython2-avocado-plugins-runner-docker
: execution of jobs on a Docker containerpython-avocado-plugins-varianter-yaml-to-mux
: parse YAML file into variantspython2-avocado-plugins-varianter-pict
: varianter with combinatorial capabilities by PICT
The LTS (Long Term Stability) repositories are also available for
Enterprise Linux. Please refer to RFC: Long Term Stability and
to your package management docs on how to switch to the
avocado-lts
repo.
OpenSUSE¶
The OpenSUSE project packages LTS versions of Avocado. You can install packages by running the following commands:
sudo zypper install avocado
Debian¶
DEB package support is available in the source tree (look at the
contrib/packages/debian
directory. No actual packages are
provided by the Avocado project or the Debian repos.
Generic installation from a GIT repository¶
First make sure you have a basic set of packages installed. The following applies to Fedora based distributions, please adapt to your platform:
sudo dnf install -y python2 git gcc python-devel python-pip libvirt-devel libffi-devel openssl-devel libyaml-devel redhat-rpm-config xz-devel
Then to install Avocado from the git repository run:
git clone git://github.com/avocado-framework/avocado.git
cd avocado
sudo make requirements
sudo python setup.py install
Note that python and pip should point to the Python interpreter version 2.7.x. If you’re having trouble to install, you can try again and use the command line utilities python2.7 and pip2.7.
Please note that some Avocado functionality may be implemented by optional plugins. To install say, the HTML report plugin, run:
cd optional_plugins/html
sudo python setup.py install
If you intend to hack on Avocado, you may want to look at Hacking and Using Avocado.
Using Avocado¶
You should first experience Avocado by using the test runner, that is, the command line tool that will conveniently run your tests and collect their results.
Running Tests¶
To do so, please run avocado
with the run
sub-command followed by
a test reference, which could be either a path to the file, or a
recognizable name:
$ avocado run /bin/true
JOB ID : 381b849a62784228d2fd208d929cc49f310412dc
JOB LOG : $HOME/avocado/job-results/job-2014-08-12T15.39-381b849a/job.log
(1/1) /bin/true: PASS (0.01 s)
RESULTS : PASS 1 | ERROR 0 | FAIL 0 | SKIP 0 | WARN 0 | INTERRUPT 0
JOB TIME : 0.11 s
JOB HTML : $HOME/avocado/job-results/job-2014-08-12T15.39-381b849a/html/results.html
You probably noticed that we used /bin/true
as a test, and in accordance with our
expectations, it passed! These are known as simple tests, but there is also another
type of test, which we call instrumented tests. See more at Test Types or just
keep reading.
Note
Although in most cases running avocado run $test1 $test3 ...
is
fine, it can lead to argument vs. test name clashes. The safest
way to execute tests is avocado run --$argument1 --$argument2
-- $test1 $test2
. Everything after – will be considered
positional arguments, therefore test names (in case of
avocado run
)
Listing tests¶
You have two ways of discovering the tests. You can simulate the execution by
using the --dry-run
argument:
avocado run /bin/true --dry-run
JOB ID : 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000
JOB LOG : /tmp/avocado-dry-runSeWniM/job-2015-10-16T15.46-0000000/job.log
(1/1) /bin/true: SKIP
RESULTS : PASS 0 | ERROR 0 | FAIL 0 | SKIP 1 | WARN 0 | INTERRUPT 0
JOB TIME : 0.10 s
JOB HTML : /tmp/avocado-dry-runSeWniM/job-2015-10-16T15.46-0000000/html/results.html
which supports all run
arguments, simulates the run and even lists the test params.
The other way is to use list
subcommand that lists the discovered tests
If no arguments provided, Avocado lists “default” tests per each plugin.
The output might look like this:
$ avocado list
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/abort.py
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/datadir.py
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/doublefail.py
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/doublefree.py
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/errortest.py
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/failtest.py
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/fiotest.py
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/gdbtest.py
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/gendata.py
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/linuxbuild.py
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/multiplextest.py
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/passtest.py
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/sleeptenmin.py
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/sleeptest.py
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/synctest.py
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/timeouttest.py
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/warntest.py
INSTRUMENTED /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/whiteboard.py
...
These Python files are considered by Avocado to contain INSTRUMENTED
tests.
Let’s now list only the executable shell scripts:
$ avocado list | grep ^SIMPLE
SIMPLE /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/env_variables.sh
SIMPLE /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/output_check.sh
SIMPLE /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/simplewarning.sh
SIMPLE /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/failtest.sh
SIMPLE /usr/share/doc/avocado/tests/passtest.sh
Here, as mentioned before, SIMPLE
means that those files are executables
treated as simple tests. You can also give the --verbose
or -V
flag to
display files that were found by Avocado, but are not considered Avocado tests:
$ avocado list examples/gdb-prerun-scripts/ -V
Type Test Tag(s)
NOT_A_TEST examples/gdb-prerun-scripts/README
NOT_A_TEST examples/gdb-prerun-scripts/pass-sigusr1
TEST TYPES SUMMARY
==================
SIMPLE: 0
INSTRUMENTED: 0
MISSING: 0
NOT_A_TEST: 2
Notice that the verbose flag also adds summary information.
Writing a Simple Test¶
This very simple example of simple test written in shell script:
$ echo '#!/bin/bash' > /tmp/simple_test.sh
$ echo 'exit 0' >> /tmp/simple_test.sh
$ chmod +x /tmp/simple_test.sh
Notice that the file is given executable permissions, which is a requirement for Avocado to treat it as a simple test. Also notice that the script exits with status code 0, which signals a successful result to Avocado.
Running A More Complex Test Job¶
You can run any number of test in an arbitrary order, as well as mix and match instrumented and simple tests:
$ avocado run failtest.py sleeptest.py synctest.py failtest.py synctest.py /tmp/simple_test.sh
JOB ID : 86911e49b5f2c36caeea41307cee4fecdcdfa121
JOB LOG : $HOME/avocado/job-results/job-2014-08-12T15.42-86911e49/job.log
(1/6) failtest.py:FailTest.test: FAIL (0.00 s)
(2/6) sleeptest.py:SleepTest.test: PASS (1.00 s)
(3/6) synctest.py:SyncTest.test: PASS (2.43 s)
(4/6) failtest.py:FailTest.test: FAIL (0.00 s)
(5/6) synctest.py:SyncTest.test: PASS (2.44 s)
(6/6) /tmp/simple_test.sh.1: PASS (0.02 s)
RESULTS : PASS 4 | ERROR 0 | FAIL 2 | SKIP 0 | WARN 0 | INTERRUPT 0
JOB TIME : 5.98 s
JOB HTML : $HOME/avocado/job-results/job-2014-08-12T15.42-86911e49/html/results.html
Interrupting The Job On First Failed Test (failfast)¶
The Avocado run
command has the option --failfast on
to exit the job
on first failed test:
$ avocado run --failfast on /bin/true /bin/false /bin/true /bin/true
JOB ID : eaf51b8c7d6be966bdf5562c9611b1ec2db3f68a
JOB LOG : $HOME/avocado/job-results/job-2016-07-19T09.43-eaf51b8/job.log
(1/4) /bin/true: PASS (0.01 s)
(2/4) /bin/false: FAIL (0.01 s)
Interrupting job (failfast).
RESULTS : PASS 1 | ERROR 0 | FAIL 1 | SKIP 2 | WARN 0 | INTERRUPT 0
JOB TIME : 0.12 s
JOB HTML : /home/apahim/avocado/job-results/job-2016-07-19T09.43-eaf51b8/html/results.html
One can also use --failfast off
in order to force-disable failfast mode
when replaying a job executed with --failfast on
.
Ignoring Missing Test References¶
When you provide a list of test references, Avocado will try to resolve all of them to tests. If one or more test references can not be resolved to tests, the Job will not be created. Example:
$ avocado run passtest.py badtest.py
Unable to resolve reference(s) 'badtest.py' with plugins(s) 'file', 'robot', 'external', try running 'avocado list -V badtest.py' to see the details.
But if you want to execute the Job anyway, with the tests that could be
resolved, you can use --ignore-missing-references on
. The same message
will appear in the UI, but the Job will be executed:
$ avocado run passtest.py badtest.py --ignore-missing-references on
Unable to resolve reference(s) 'badtest.py' with plugins(s) 'file', 'robot', 'external', try running 'avocado list -V badtest.py' to see the details.
JOB ID : 85927c113074b9defd64ea595d6d1c3fdfc1f58f
JOB LOG : $HOME/avocado/job-results/job-2017-05-17T10.54-85927c1/job.log
(1/1) passtest.py:PassTest.test: PASS (0.02 s)
RESULTS : PASS 1 | ERROR 0 | FAIL 0 | SKIP 0 | WARN 0 | INTERRUPT 0 | CANCEL 0
JOB TIME : 0.11 s
JOB HTML : $HOME/avocado/job-results/job-2017-05-17T10.54-85927c1/html/results.html
The --ignore-missing-references
option accepts the argument off
.
Since it’s disabled by default, the off
argument only makes sense in
replay jobs, when the original job was executed with
--ignore-missing-references on
.
Running Tests With An External Runner¶
It’s quite common to have organically grown test suites in most software projects. These usually include a custom built, very specific test runner that knows how to find and run their own tests.
Still, running those tests inside Avocado may be a good idea for various reasons, including being able to have results in different human and machine readable formats, collecting system information alongside those tests (the Avocado’s sysinfo functionality), and more.
Avocado makes that possible by means of its “external runner” feature. The most basic way of using it is:
$ avocado run --external-runner=/path/to/external_runner foo bar baz
In this example, Avocado will report individual test results for tests foo, bar and baz. The actual results will be based on the return code of individual executions of /path/to/external_runner foo, /path/to/external_runner bar and finally /path/to/external_runner baz.
As another way to explain an show how this feature works, think of the “external runner” as some kind of interpreter and the individual tests as anything that this interpreter recognizes and is able to execute. A UNIX shell, say /bin/sh could be considered an external runner, and files with shell code could be considered tests:
$ echo "exit 0" > /tmp/pass
$ echo "exit 1" > /tmp/fail
$ avocado run --external-runner=/bin/sh /tmp/pass /tmp/fail
JOB ID : 4a2a1d259690cc7b226e33facdde4f628ab30741
JOB LOG : /home/<user>/avocado/job-results/job-<date>-<shortid>/job.log
(1/2) /tmp/pass: PASS (0.01 s)
(2/2) /tmp/fail: FAIL (0.01 s)
RESULTS : PASS 1 | ERROR 0 | FAIL 1 | SKIP 0 | WARN 0 | INTERRUPT 0
JOB TIME : 0.11 s
JOB HTML : /home/<user>/avocado/job-results/job-<date>-<shortid>/html/results.html
This example is pretty obvious, and could be achieved by giving /tmp/pass and /tmp/fail shell “shebangs” (#!/bin/sh), making them executable (chmod +x /tmp/pass /tmp/fail), and running them as “SIMPLE” tests.
But now consider the following example:
$ avocado run --external-runner=/bin/curl http://local-avocado-server:9405/jobs/ \
http://remote-avocado-server:9405/jobs/
JOB ID : 56016a1ffffaba02492fdbd5662ac0b958f51e11
JOB LOG : /home/<user>/avocado/job-results/job-<date>-<shortid>/job.log
(1/2) http://local-avocado-server:9405/jobs/: PASS (0.02 s)
(2/2) http://remote-avocado-server:9405/jobs/: FAIL (3.02 s)
RESULTS : PASS 1 | ERROR 0 | FAIL 1 | SKIP 0 | WARN 0 | INTERRUPT 0
JOB TIME : 3.14 s
JOB HTML : /home/<user>/avocado/job-results/job-<date>-<shortid>/html/results.html
This effectively makes /bin/curl an “external test runner”, responsible for trying to fetch those URLs, and reporting PASS or FAIL for each of them.
Debugging tests¶
Showing test output¶
When developing new tests, you frequently want to look straight at the job log, without switching screens or having to “tail” the job log.
In order to do that, you can use avocado --show test run ...
or
avocado run --show-job-log ...
options:
$ avocado --show test run examples/tests/sleeptest.py
...
Job ID: f9ea1742134e5352dec82335af584d1f151d4b85
START 1-sleeptest.py:SleepTest.test
PARAMS (key=timeout, path=*, default=None) => None
PARAMS (key=sleep_length, path=*, default=1) => 1
Sleeping for 1.00 seconds
PASS 1-sleeptest.py:SleepTest.test
Test results available in $HOME/avocado/job-results/job-2015-06-02T10.45-f9ea174
As you can see, the UI output is suppressed and only the job log is shown, making this a useful feature for test development and debugging.
Interrupting tests execution¶
To interrupt a job execution a user can press ctrl+c
which after a single
press sends SIGTERM to the main test’s process and waits for it to finish.
If this does not help user can press ctrl+c
again (after 2s grace period)
which destroys the test’s process ungracefully and safely finishes the job
execution always providing the test results.
To pause the test execution a user can use ctrl+z
which sends SIGSTOP
to all processes inherited from the test’s PID. We do our best to stop all
processes, but the operation is not atomic and some new processes might
not be stopped. Another ctrl+z
sends SIGCONT
to all
processes inherited by the test’s PID resuming the execution. Note the
test execution time (concerning the test timeout) are still running while
the test’s process is stopped.
The test can also be interrupted by an Avocado feature. One example would be the Debugging with GDB Debugging with GDB feature.
For custom interactions it is also possible to use other means like pdb
or pydevd
Avocado development tips breakpoints. Beware it’s not possible
to use STDIN
from tests (unless dark magic is used).