The boot action is used to cause the device to boot using the deployed
files. Depending on the parameters in the job definition, this could be by
executing a command on the dispatcher (for example
/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64) or by connecting to the device over serial or
ssh. Depending on the power state of the device and the device configuration,
the device may be powered up or reset to provoke the boot.
Every boot action must specify a method which is used to determine how
to boot the deployed files on the device. Depending on the method, other
parameters will be required.
Boot actions which result in a POSIX type login or shell must specify a list of expected prompts which will be matched against the output to determine the endpoint of the boot process. There are no default prompts, the test writer is responsible for providing a list of all possible prompts.
See also
Some systems require the test job to specify a username and optionally a
password to login. These values must be specified in the test job submission.
If the system boots directly to a prompt without needing a login, the
auto_login details can be omitted from the test job submission.
Note
The test job submission uses auto_login with underscore.
The prompt to match when the system requires a login. This prompt needs to be
unique across the entire boot sequence, so typically includes : and should
be quoted. If the hostname of the device is included in the prompt, this can be
included in the login_prompt:
auto_login:
login_prompt: 'login:'
username: root
Note
If login_prompt is not matched during boot LAVA will send control
characters to the shell “thinking” that the kernel alert happened
which may result in incorrect login but after it recognizes the
Login incorrect message it will automatically try to log in
using provided credentials.
Whenever a login_prompt is specified, a username will also be required.
The username should either be root or a user with sudo access without
needing a password.
If the login requires a password as well as a username, the password_prompt
must be specified:
auto_login:
login_prompt: 'login:'
username: root
password_prompt: 'Password:'
password: rootme
Note
If password_prompt is not matched during login or password is
required but not provided LAVA will recognize the Login timed out
message, stop the execution of the job and log the error.
A list of arbitrary login_commands can be run after the initial login and
before setting the shell prompt. This is typically used to make a regular user
become root with su. For example:
auto_login:
login_prompt: 'login:'
username: user
password_prompt: 'Password:'
password: pass
login_commands:
- sudo su
Note
No interactive input such as a password can be provided with the list
of login_commands.
After login (or directly from boot if no login is required), LAVA needs to match the first prompt offered by the booted system. The full list of possible prompts must be specified by the test writer in the test job submission.
Each prompt needs to be unique across the entire boot sequence, so typically
includes : and needs to be quoted. If the hostname of the device is
included in the prompt, this can be included in the prompt:
Caution
Take care with the specified prompts. Prompt strings which do not
include enough characters can match early, resulting in a failed login.
Prompt strings which include extraneous characters may fail to match for all
test jobs. Avoid prompt elements which are user-specific, e.g. $
indicates an unprivileged user in some shells and # indicates the
superuser. ~ indicates the home directory in some shells. In general,
the prompt string should include and usually end with a colon : or a
colon and space.
- boot:
prompts:
- 'root@debian:'
When using the lxc protocol, the hostname element of the prompt will vary:
- boot:
prompts:
- 'root@(.*):'
When using a ramdisk, the prompt is likely to need to contain brackets which will need to be escaped:
- boot:
prompts:
# escape the brackets to ensure that the prompt does not match
# kernel debug lines which may mention initramfs
- '\(initramfs\)'
When using namespaces in job definition, you can reuse the
existing serial connection from another namespace via connection-namespace
parameter. Example:
actions:
- deploy:
namespace: boot1
# ...
- boot:
namespace: boot1
# ...
- test:
namespace: boot1
# ...
- boot:
namespace: boot2
connection-namespace: boot1
# ...
- test:
namespace: boot2
# ...
One of the key definitions in the device type template for
each device is the list(s) of boot commands that the device
needs. These are sets of specific commands that will be run to boot
the device to start a test. The definitions will typically include
placeholders which LAVA will substitute with dynamic data as
necessary. For example, the full path to a tftp kernel image will be
expanded to include a job-specific temporary directory when a job is
started.
As a simple example from a U-Boot template:
- setenv autoload no
- setenv initrd_high '0xffffffff'
- setenv fdt_high '0xffffffff'
- setenv loadkernel 'tftp {KERNEL_ADDR} {KERNEL}'
- setenv loadinitrd 'tftp {RAMDISK_ADDR} {RAMDISK}; setenv initrd_size ${filesize}'
- setenv loadfdt 'tftp {DTB_ADDR} {DTB}'
- setenv bootcmd 'run loadkernel; run loadinitrd; run loadfdt; {BOOTX}'
- boot
Note
In some cases, the boot commands list in the template may
not provide all of the commands used; lines will also be
generated from other data in the template. For example: the command
setenv kernel_addr_r '0x82000000' might be generated from the
load addresses which match the type of kernel being deployed.
When a test is started, the appropriate list of commands will be selected. LAVA then substitutes the placeholders in the list to generate a complete command list. The final parsed and expanded boot commands used for a test are reported in the logs for that test job, e.g.:
Parsed boot commands: setenv autoload no; setenv initrd_high '0xffffffff';
setenv fdt_high '0xffffffff'; setenv kernel_addr_r '0x82000000'; setenv
initrd_addr_r '0x83000000'; setenv fdt_addr_r '0x88000000'; setenv loadkernel
'tftp ${kernel_addr_r} 158349/tftp-deploy-Fo78o6/vmlinuz'; setenv loadinitrd
'tftp ${initrd_addr_r} 158349/tftp-deploy-Fo78o6/ramdisk.cpio.gz.uboot; setenv
initrd_size ${filesize}'; setenv loadfdt 'tftp ${fdt_addr_r}
158349/tftp-deploy-Fo78o6/am335x-boneblack.dtb'; setenv bootargs
'console=ttyO0,115200n8 root=/dev/ram0 ip=dhcp'; setenv bootcmd 'dhcp; setenv
serverip 10.3.1.1; run loadkernel; run loadinitrd; run loadfdt; bootz
0x82000000 0x83000000 0x88000000'; boot
During testing and development, it can sometimes be useful to use a different set of boot commands instead of what is listed in the jinja2 template for the device-type. This allows test writers to change boot commands beyond the scope of existing overrides. To work sensibly in the LAVA environment, these commands will still need to include the placeholders such that temporary paths etc. can be substituted in when the test job is started.
In this example (for an x86 test machine using iPXE), the commands
change the root argument to the kernel to boot from a SATA drive
which has been configured separately. (For example, by the admins or
by test writers from a hacking session.)
- boot:
commands:
- dhcp net0
- set console console=ttyS0,115200n8 lava_mac={LAVA_MAC}
- set extraargs ip=dhcp root=/dev/sda1 rw
- kernel tftp://{SERVER_IP}/{KERNEL} ${extraargs} ${console}
- initrd tftp://{SERVER_IP}/{RAMDISK}
- boot
Caution
This support is only recommended for use for corner cases and administrator-level debugging. Accordingly, LAVA will raise a warning each time this support is used. Abuse of this support can potentially stop devices from working in subsequent tests, or maybe even damage them permanently - be careful!
If the commands are to be used regularly, ask on the lava-users mailing list requesting that a label is created in the templates for this set of commands. Alternatively, you can request a new override to make the existing labels more flexible.
The boot method determines how the device is booted and which commands and
prompts are used to determine a successful boot.
The depthcharge boot method takes no arguments or parameters. It is used
to boot the downloaded kernel image, and optionally a device tree and a
ramdisk. The files are converted into an FIT (U-Boot Flattened Image Tree
format) image suitable to be booted by Coreboot using the Depthcharge payload,
typically used by Chrome OS devices. It also creates a separate text file with
the kernel command line which is made available to the DUT over TFTP
alongside the FIT image.
- boot:
method: depthcharge
commands: nfs
The fastboot boot method takes no arguments or parameters.
- boot:
method: fastboot
namespace: droid
prompts:
- 'root@(.*):/#'
- 'hikey:/'
timeout:
minutes: 15
Note
Since all fastboot DUT depend on LXC to run jobs, it is mandatory to have the namespace specified.
The grub-efi boot method takes no arguments or parameters. However, in
most cases, starting Grub from UEFI requires using the
uefi-menu as well.
- boot:
method: grub-efi
commands: nfs
Download or view the complete example: examples/test-jobs/mustang-grub-efi.yaml
Note
Admins can refer to the mustang-grub-efi.jinja2 template for an
example of how to make selections from a UEFI menu to load Grub. See
Device type templates.
The ipxe boot method takes no arguments or parameters.
- boot:
method: ipxe
commands: ramdisk
prompts:
- 'root@debian:~#'
- '/ #'
The new_connection boot method takes no arguments or
parameters. This method can be used to switch to a new connection,
allowing a test to isolate test and kernel messages (if the kernel and
the device are both appropriately configured).
- boot: # make the connection to the second uart for use in the test shell namespace: isolation uart: uart0 method: console
Note
The new_connection boot method must use a different
namespace to all other actions in the test job. The test
shell(s) must pass this namespace label as the
connection-namespace.
See also
- test: namespace: hikey-oe connection-namespace: isolation timeout: minutes: 5 definitions: - repository: http://git.linaro.org/lava-team/lava-functional-tests.git from: git path: lava-test-shell/smoke-tests-basic.yaml name: smoke-tests-basic-oe
The qemu method is used to boot the downloaded image from the
deployment action using QEMU. This runs the QEMU command line on the
dispatcher. Only certain elements of the command line are available for
modification using the job context. The available values can vary
depending on local admin configuration. For example, many admins restrict the
available memory of each QEMU device, so the memory option in the job
context may be ignored.
context:
arch: aarch64
memory: 2048
# comment out or change to user if the dispatcher does not support bridging.
# netdevice: tap
extra_options:
- -smp
- 1
- -global
- virtio-blk-device.scsi=off
- -device virtio-scsi-device,id=scsi
- --append "console=ttyAMA0 root=/dev/vda rw"
The version of qemu installed on the dispatcher is a choice made by the
admin. Generally, this will be the same as the version of qemu available
from Debian in the same suite as the rest of the packages installed on the
dispatcher, e.g. jessie. Information on the available versions of qemu
in Debian is available at http://tracker.debian.org/qemu
The qemu-nfs method is used to boot a downloaded kernel with a root
filesystem deployed on the worker. Only certain elements of the command line
are available for modification using the job context. The available
values can vary depending on local admin configuration. For example, many
admins restrict the available memory of each QEMU device, so the memory
option in the job context may be ignored.
The version of qemu installed on the dispatcher is a choice made by the
admin. Generally, this will be the same as the version of qemu available
from Debian in the same suite as the rest of the packages installed on the
dispatcher, e.g. jessie. Information on the available versions of qemu
in Debian is available at http://tracker.debian.org/qemu
QEMU can be used with an NFS using the qemu-nfs method and the nfs
media:
minutes: 4
method: qemu-nfs
media: nfs
connection: serial
auto_login:
login_prompt: 'login:'
See also
When using qemu-nfs, the hostname element of the prompt will vary according
to the worker running QEMU:
- test:
The qemu-iso method is used to boot the downloaded installer from the
deployment action using QEMU. This runs the QEMU command line on the
dispatcher. Only certain elements of the command line are available for
modification using the job context.
The version of qemu installed on the dispatcher is a choice made by the
admin. Generally, this will be the same as the version of qemu available
from Debian in the same suite as the rest of the packages installed on the
dispatcher, e.g. jessie. Information on the available versions of qemu
in Debian is available at http://tracker.debian.org/qemu
See also
- boot:
method: qemu-iso
media: img
timeout:
minutes: 20
connection: serial
auto_login:
login_prompt: 'login:'
username: root
password_prompt: 'Password:'
password: root
prompts:
- 'root@debian:~#'
An overlay is a tarball of scripts which run the LAVA Test Shell for the test job. The tarball also includes the git clones of the repositories specified in the test job submission and the LAVA helper scripts. Normally, this overlay is integrated into the test job automatically. In some situations, for example when using a command list to specify an alternative rootfs, it is necessary to transfer the overlay from the worker to the device using commands within the booted system prior to starting to run the test shell.
Some overlay tarballs can be quite large. The LAVA TestShell helpers are tiny shell scripts but the git repositories cloned for your test shell definitions can become large over time. Additionally, if your test shell definition clones the git repo of source code, those clones will also appear in the overlay tarball.
Note
The situations where transfer_overlay is useful tend to
also require restricting the test job to specific devices of a
particular device type. This needs to be arranged with the lab
admins who can create suitable device tags
which will need to be specified in all test job definitions.
See also
Secondary media which is more flexible but slower.
The overlay is transferred before any test shell operations can occur, so the method of transferring and then unpacking the overlay must work without any further setup of the rootfs. All dependencies must be pre-installed and all configuration must be in place (possibly using a hacking session). This includes the network configuration - the worker offers an apache host to download the overlay and LAVA can populate the URL but the device must automatically configure the networking immediately upon boot and the network must work straight away.
transfer_overlay:
download_command: wget -S --progress=dot:giga
unpack_command: tar -C / -xzf
Note
The -C / command to tar is essential or the test shell will
not be able to start. The overlay will use gzip compresssion, so pass
the z option to tar.
The -S --progress=dot:giga options to wget in the example above optimise
the output for serial console logging to avoid wasting line upon line of
progress percentage dots. If the system uses busybox, these options may not
be supported by the version of wget on the device.
Some systems do not store the current time between boots. The --warning
no-timestamp option is a useful addition for tar for those systems but
note that busybox tar does not support this option.
The download_command and the unpack_command can include one or more
shell commands. However, as with the test shell definitions, avoid using
redirects (> or >>) or other complex shell syntax. This example changes
to /tmp to ensure there is enough writeable space for the download.
transfer_overlay:
download_command: cd /tmp ; wget
unpack_command: tar -C / -xzf
The u-boot method boots the downloaded files using U-Boot commands.
The predefined set of U-Boot commands into which the location of the downloaded files can be substituted (along with details like the SERVERIP and NFS location, where relevant). See the device configuration for the complete set of commands.
Certain elements of the command line are available for modification using the job context. The available values vary by device type.
Caution
This support is deprecated and has been replaced by kernel type in the deploy action.
The type of boot, dependent on the U-Boot configuration. This needs to match the supported boot types in the device configuration, e.g. it may change the load addresses passed to U-Boot.
- boot:
method: u-boot
commands: nfs
type: bootz
prompts:
- 'root@debian:~#'