README.txt
1Linux Kernel Selftests
2
3The kernel contains a set of "self tests" under the tools/testing/selftests/
4directory. These are intended to be small unit tests to exercise individual
5code paths in the kernel.
6
7On some systems, hot-plug tests could hang forever waiting for cpu and
8memory to be ready to be offlined. A special hot-plug target is created
9to run full range of hot-plug tests. In default mode, hot-plug tests run
10in safe mode with a limited scope. In limited mode, cpu-hotplug test is
11run on a single cpu as opposed to all hotplug capable cpus, and memory
12hotplug test is run on 2% of hotplug capable memory instead of 10%.
13
14Running the selftests (hotplug tests are run in limited mode)
15=============================================================
16
17To build the tests:
18
19 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests
20
21
22To run the tests:
23
24 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests run_tests
25
26- note that some tests will require root privileges.
27
28To run only tests targeted for a single subsystem: (including
29hotplug targets in limited mode)
30
31 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests TARGETS=cpu-hotplug run_tests
32
33See the top-level tools/testing/selftests/Makefile for the list of all possible
34targets.
35
36Running the full range hotplug selftests
37========================================
38
39To build the tests:
40
41 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests hotplug
42
43To run the tests:
44
45 $ make -C tools/testing/selftests run_hotplug
46
47- note that some tests will require root privileges.
48
49Contributing new tests
50======================
51
52In general, the rules for for selftests are
53
54 * Do as much as you can if you're not root;
55
56 * Don't take too long;
57
58 * Don't break the build on any architecture, and
59
60 * Don't cause the top-level "make run_tests" to fail if your feature is
61 unconfigured.
62