Speaker
Description
A large percentage of the functionality provided by the kernel to userspace
comes from the different devices in the system. For that reason, having a proper
common approach in mainline to test devices and detect regressions is of the
utmost importance for the kernel's reliability.
Devices are exposed through a diverse set of interfaces (uAPIs) and fully
testing them requires just as many, diverse, and complex testing frameworks.
Alternatively, by targeting the shared device framework, it becomes possible to
write generic tests that cover a lot of ground and require little maintenance.
One example is the device probe layer, which has been discussed during last
year's Plumbers [1] and has had a few tests merged [2] [3]. Another is the
device error logs, which are the universal mechanism for reporting errors in the
kernel, and for which a test is currently in review [4].
This session's goal is to provide a status update on the current generic device
tests, open the floor to gather feedback from the audience, and explore more
strategies to test device functionality at a generic level.
[1] https://lpc.events/event/17/contributions/1530/
[2] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20230828211424.2964562-1-nfraprado@collabora.com/
[3] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20240122-discoverable-devs-ksft-v4-0-d602e1df4aa2@collabora.com/
[4] https://lore.kernel.org/all/20240705-dev-err-log-selftest-v2-0-163b9cd7b3c1@collabora.com/