1. 11 7月, 2015 2 次提交
  2. 26 6月, 2015 1 次提交
    • D
      tools/testing/nvdimm: libnvdimm unit test infrastructure · 6bc75619
      Dan Williams 提交于
      'libnvdimm' is the first driver sub-system in the kernel to implement
      mocking for unit test coverage.  The nfit_test module gets built as an
      external module and arranges for external module replacements of nfit,
      libnvdimm, nd_pmem, and nd_blk.  These replacements use the linker
      --wrap option to redirect calls to ioremap() + request_mem_region() to
      custom defined unit test resources.  The end result is a fully
      functional nvdimm_bus, as far as userspace is concerned, but with the
      capability to perform otherwise destructive tests on emulated resources.
      
      Q: Why not use QEMU for this emulation?
      QEMU is not suitable for unit testing.  QEMU's role is to faithfully
      emulate the platform.  A unit test's role is to unfaithfully implement
      the platform with the goal of triggering bugs in the corners of the
      sub-system implementation.  As bugs are discovered in platforms, or the
      sub-system itself, the unit tests are extended to backstop a fix with a
      reproducer unit test.
      
      Another problem with QEMU is that it would require coordination of 3
      software projects instead of 2 (kernel + libndctl [1]) to maintain and
      execute the tests.  The chances for bit rot and the difficulty of
      getting the tests running goes up non-linearly the more components
      involved.
      
      
      Q: Why submit this to the kernel tree instead of external modules in
         libndctl?
      Simple, to alleviate the same risk that out-of-tree external modules
      face.  Updates to drivers/nvdimm/ can be immediately evaluated to see if
      they have any impact on tools/testing/nvdimm/.
      
      
      Q: What are the negative implications of merging this?
      It is a unique maintenance burden because the purpose of mocking an
      interface to enable a unit test is to purposefully short circuit the
      semantics of a routine to enable testing.  For example
      __wrap_ioremap_cache() fakes the pmem driver into "ioremap()'ing" a test
      resource buffer allocated by dma_alloc_coherent().  The future
      maintenance burden hits when someone changes the semantics of
      ioremap_cache() and wonders what the implications are for the unit test.
      
      [1]: https://github.com/pmem/ndctl
      
      Cc: <linux-acpi@vger.kernel.org>
      Cc: Lv Zheng <lv.zheng@intel.com>
      Cc: Robert Moore <robert.moore@intel.com>
      Cc: Rafael J. Wysocki <rafael.j.wysocki@intel.com>
      Cc: Christoph Hellwig <hch@lst.de>
      Signed-off-by: NDan Williams <dan.j.williams@intel.com>
      6bc75619