Phoronix survey response

= Phoronix Test Suite survey response = Phoronix Test Suite (PTS) survey response provided by Michael Larabel

Survey Questions

 * What is the name of your test framework? Phoronix Test Suite (PTS) / Phoromatic.

Does your test framework:

source code access

 * access source code repositories for the software under test? yes - if open source
 * access source code repositories for the test software?
 * include the source for the test software?
 * provide interfaces for developers to perform code reviews? no
 * detect that the software under test has a new version? no
 * if so, how? n/a
 * detect that the test software has a new version? no

'''The Phoronix Test Suite / Phoromatic accesses the source code of the software under test if the software under test happens to be open-source and intended to be built from source as opposed to relying upon x86/x86_64/ARM release binaries for closed-source projects. The Phoronix Test Suite makes no enforcements over the software under test being open vs. closed-source or if built from source or just relying upon a static  binary.'''

The test profiles (test scripts) most often are open-source and publicly available but the Phoronix Test Suite / Phoromatic also allows for internal/private/behind-the-firewall tests that are not public.

test definitions
Does your test system:
 * have a test definition repository? yes, for public tests. PTS calls them "profiles"
 * if so, what data format or language is used? XML and bash scripts

Does your test definition include:
 * source code (or source code location)? yes, if available, but can be binary also
 * dependency information?
 * execution instructions?
 * command line variants?
 * environment variants?
 * setup instructions?
 * cleanup instructions?
 * if anything else, please describe: results parser - see below

The test profile meta-data specification is documented here: https://github.com/phoronix-test-suite/phoronix-test-suite/blob/master/pts-core/openbenchmarking.org/schemas/test-profile.xsd

There is also the result parser specification for how test profiles express how to read the "result" out of any log files: https://github.com/phoronix-test-suite/phoronix-test-suite/blob/master/pts-core/openbenchmarking.org/schemas/results-parser.xsd

Does your test system:
 * provide a set of existing tests? yes
 * if so, how many? around 400 unique core test profiles

build management
Does your test system:
 * build the software under test (e.g. the kernel)?
 * build the test software?
 * build other software (such as the distro, libraries, firmware)?
 * support cross-compilation?
 * require a toolchain or build system for the SUT?
 * require a toolchain or build system for the test software?
 * come with pre-built toolchains?
 * store the build artifacts for generated software?
 * in what format is the build metadata stored (e.g. json)?
 * are the build artifacts stored as raw files or in a database?
 * if a database, what database?

'''The Phoronix Test Suite / Phoromatic basically provides for when a test is to occur, any pre/post installation and pre/post run hooks to run. From there bash scripts or similar can be run to cater to setting up the environment depending upon whether the user is each time building a new kernel and rebooting / building a fresh compiler / updating the OS from the default OS package set / etc. So it doesn't enforce much of a direct work-flow on users but leaves it up to them to customize the workflow to their environment.'''

Test scheduling/management
Does your test system:
 * check that dependencies are met before a test is run? yes


 * schedule the test for the DUT? yes - see below
 * select an appropriate individual DUT based on SUT or test attributes?
 * reserve the DUT?
 * release the DUT?

'''Yes, if going after device targeting there is also support in Phoromatic for group/anything targeting based upon the preferences and devices connected. There is support for scheduling on a timed basis, whenever an API/REST call is made to the Phoromatic server (if wanting to hook it up to a per-commit environment or other arbitrary events, etc.'''


 * install the software under test to the DUT? Yes
 * install required packages before a test is run? Yes
 * require particular bootloader on the DUT? No
 * deploy the test program to the DUT? If it's defined by the test profile or the arbitrary hooks/scripts.
 * prepare the test environment on the DUT? If the user defined it as part of their scripts.
 * start a monitor (another process to collect data) on the DUT? PTS supports recording perf events, various hardware/software thermal/voltage/fan/power sensors in a separate thread and collecting that with the results.


 * start a monitor on external equipment?
 * initiate the test on the DUT? Yes
 * clean up the test environment on the DUT? In terms of uninstalling tests if that is desired and any other actions specified by the user in the -post scripts.

DUT control
Does your test system:
 * store board configuration data? No - this is left up to the user customizing the environment for their test intentions
 * in what format?
 * store external equipment configuration data? No
 * in what format?
 * power cycle the DUT? Built-in is just standard reboot support or from the Phoromatic Server is also the ability to WoL the devices under test.
 * monitor the power usage during a run? Yes if the user enables that setting. By default it supports various IPMI power sensors, WattsUp Pro power meters, and various per-component wattage sensors like on various GPUs.
 * gather a kernel trace during a run? Not by default but can be done via a PTS module.
 * claim other hardware resources or machines (other than the DUT) for use during a test? No
 * reserve a board for interactive use (ie remove it from automated testing)? If a "maintenace mode" button is clicked from the Phoromatic server UI, the board will boot up and block all testing from happening so administrator(s) can do any maintenance or other non-test tasks.
 * provide a web-based control interface for the lab? Yes
 * provide a CLI control interface for the lab? Basic CLI offered at this point as well as an in-development WebSockets based communication interface.

Run artifact handling
Does your test system:
 * store run artifacts yes - raw system logs
 * in what format? bundled .tar.gz or .zip depending on OS
 * put the run meta-data in a database?
 * if so, which database?
 * parse the test logs for results? Yes
 * convert data from test logs into a unified format? Yes
 * if so, what is the format? '''Phoronix Test Suite Result XML format - https://github.com/phoronix-test-suite/phoronix-test-suite/blob/master/pts-core/openbenchmarking.org/schemas/result-file.xsd
 * evaluate pass criteria for a test?

Yes the Phoronix Test Suite can support ignoring first runs or other arbitrary runs, specify behavior for how many runs should be done by default for accurate readings (and dynamically increase the run count if high variance), and also allow besides quantitative results to also handle qualitative results like screenshots from GPU rendering / pass-fail tests and other data inputs.


 * do you have a common set of result names?
 * if so, what are they?
 * How is run data collected from the DUT? Currently pushing from the DUT but there is a WIP WebSockets implementation.
 * How is run data collected from external equipment? Via the Phoronix Test Suite's Phodevi library (Phoronix Device Interface) that provides much of the OS hardware and software level abstractions.


 * Is external equipment data parsed?

User interface
Does your test system:
 * have a visualization system? Yes
 * show build artifacts to users? Yes
 * show run artifacts to users? Yes
 * do you have a common set of result colors? Unclear.
 * if so, what are they?
 * generate reports for test runs? Yes
 * notify users of test results by e-mail? Yes
 * can you query (aggregate and filter) the build meta-data? Via the CLI but not the web interface currently.
 * can you query (aggregate and filter) the run meta-data? Via the CLI but not the web interface currently.
 * what language or data format is used for online results presentation? HTML, XML, PDF
 * what language or data format is used for reports? PDF, CSV, TXT
 * does your test system have a CLI control tool? yes
 * what is it called? phoronix-test-suite

Languages:
What languages or data formats is the user required to learn? XML
 * what is the base language of your test framework core? 'Bash scripts - programs in other languages may be called Python, PHP, etc) as long as it's listed as an external dependency.

Can a user do the following with your test framework:

 * manually request that a test be executed? Yes
 * see the results of recent tests? Yes
 * set the pass criteria for a test? Yes
 * set the threshold value for a benchmark test? Yes
 * set the list of testcase results to ignore? Yes
 * provide a rating for a test? (e.g. give it 4 stars out of 5) No
 * customize a test? Yes
 * alter the command line for the test program? Yes
 * alter the environment of the test program? Yes
 * specify to skip a testcase? Yes
 * set a new expected value for a test? No
 * edit the test program source? Yes
 * customize the notification criteria? yes - Basic customizations currently
 * customize the notification mechanism (eg. e-mail, text)
 * generate a custom report for a set of runs? Yes
 * save the report parameters to generate the same report in the future? Yes

Requirements
Does your test framework:
 * require minimum software on the DUT? yes
 * if so, what?: PHP 5.3+ (ideally PHP7) on Linux, macOS, Windows 10 / Windows Server 2016, BSDs, or Solaris.
 * require minimum hardware on the DUT?
 * If so, what?
 * require agent software on the DUT? No, the Phoronix Test Suite will dynamically pull in any additional dependencies needed by a given test.
 * If so, what agent?
 * is there optional agent software or libraries for the DUT?
 * require external hardware in your labs?

APIS
Does your test framework:
 * use existing APIs or data formats to interact within itself, or with 3rd-party modules?
 * have a published API for any of its sub-module interactions (any of the lines in the diagram)? Yes
 * Please provide a link or links to the APIs? https://github.com/phoronix-test-suite/phoronix-test-suite/tree/master/pts-core/openbenchmarking.org/schemas

Are they:
 * What is the nature of the APIs you currently use?
 * RPCs?
 * Unix-style? (command line invocation, while grabbing sub-tool output)
 * compiled libraries?
 * interpreter modules or libraries?
 * web-based APIs?
 * something else?

Relationship to other software:

 * what major components does your test framework use?
 * does your test framework interoperate with other test frameworks or software?
 * which ones?

Overview
Please list the major components of your test system. Please list your major components here:
 * Phodevi - Phoronix Device Interface library - provides much of the OS hardware and software level abstractions.
 * Phoronix Test Suite client - ???
 * OpenBenchmark.org - central repository???
 * pts_Graph - results visualizer??
 * Phoromatic Server - handles reboot, scheduling, (what else? [TRB])

= Additional Data =

test-profile schema
Here is the test-profile schema (extracted from test-profile.xsd

"PhoronixTestSuite"> "TestInformation" "Title" type="TitleString" "AppVersion" type="xs:string" "Description" type="DescriptionString" "ResultScale" type="xs:string" "Proportion" type="Proportion" "ResultQuantifier" type="ResultQuantifier" "DisplayFormat" type="DisplayFormat" "SubTitle" type="xs:string" "Executable" type="xs:string" "TimesToRun" type="TimesToRun" "IgnoreRuns" type="xs:string" "InstallationAgreement" type="xs:string" "PreInstallMessage" type="xs:string" "PostInstallMessage" type="xs:string" "TestProfile"> "Version" type="VersionString"> "SupportedPlatforms" type="PlatformString" "SoftwareType" type="SoftwareType" "TestType" type="TestType" "License" type="License" "Status" type="ProfileStatus" "SupportedArchitectures" type="xs:string" "ExternalDependencies" type="xs:string" "Extends" type="TestExtends" "RequiresRoot" type="Boolean" "EnvironmentSize" type="PositiveDecimal" "EnvironmentTestingSize" type="PositiveDecimal" "EstimatedTimePerRun" type="PositiveInteger" "ProjectURL" type="URLString" "RequiresCoreVersionMin" type="CoreVersion" "RequiresCoreVersionMax" type="CoreVersion" "InternalTags" type="xs:string" "Maintainer" type="xs:string" "AllowResultsSharing" type="Boolean" "AutoSaveResults" type="Boolean" "SystemDependencies" type="xs:string" "TestSettings" "Default" "Arguments" type="xs:string" "PostArguments" type="xs:string" "AllowCacheShare" type="Boolean" "MinimumLength" type="PositiveDecimal" "MaximumLength" type="PositiveDecimal" "Option" "DisplayName" type="xs:string"> "Identifier" type="xs:string" "ArgumentPrefix" type="xs:string" "ArgumentPostfix" type="xs:string" "DefaultEntry" type="xs:string" "Menu" "Entry" maxOccurs="unbounded" "Name" type="xs:string" "Value" type="xs:string" "Message" type="xs:string"

results-parser.xsd
Here are fields in the results-parser file:

"PhoronixTestSuite"> "ResultsParser" "OutputTemplate" type="xs:string"> "MatchToTestArguments" type="xs:string" "ResultKey" type="xs:string" "LineHint" type="xs:string" "LineBeforeHint" type="xs:string" "LineAfterHint" type="xs:string" "ResultBeforeString" type="xs:string" "ResultAfterString" type="xs:string" "StripFromResult" type="xs:string" "StripResultPostfix" type="xs:string" "MultiMatch" type="xs:string" "DivideResultBy" type="PositiveInteger" "MultiplyResultBy" type="PositiveInteger" "ResultScale" type="xs:string" "ResultProportion" type="xs:string" "ResultPrecision" type="xs:string" "ArgumentsDescription" type="xs:string" "AppendToArgumentsDescription" type="xs:string" "FileFormat" type="xs:string" "TurnCharsToSpace" type="xs:string" "DeleteOutputBefore" type="xs:string" "DeleteOutputAfter" type="xs:string" "ImageParser" "SourceImage" type="xs:string"> "MatchToTestArguments" type="xs:string" "ImageX" type="PositiveInteger" "ImageY" type="PositiveInteger" "ImageWidth" type="PositiveInteger" "ImageHeight" type="PositiveInteger" "SystemMonitor" "Sensor" type="xs:string"> "PollingFrequency" type="PositiveInteger" "Report" type="MonitorReporting" "ExtraData" "Identifier" type="xs:string">