When a new kernel is released, users often want to know if it’s usable. The kernel has a set of test cases that can be run to help validate it. These tests are run automatically on every successful build. They are designed to validate a basic set of functionality and some Fedora specific features, such as secure boot signing. Here’s how you can run them.

This wiki page provided by the Fedora QA team describes the process to run the regression tests on your local machine. To run these tests, you need the gcc, git, and python-fedora packages installed on your system. Use this sudo command if needed:

sudo dnf install gcc git python-fedora

Getting and running the tests

First, clone the kernel-tests repository and move into the directory:

git clone https://pagure.io/kernel-tests.git cd kernel-tests

Next, set some configuration options. The easiest way to get started is to copy the config.example file:

cp config.example .config

The most important settings are the ones labeled to set submission. By default, tests do not submit results to the server. To submit results anonymously, use the setting submit=anonymous. To submit results linked to your FAS username, set submit=authenticated and username=<your FAS login> in .config. If you link your submission to your FAS username, you’ll also receive a Fedora badge.

To run the basic set of tests, use this command:

$ sudo ./runtests.sh

To run the performance test suites, use this command:

$ sudo ./runtests.sh -t performance

The expected result is that the tests pass. However, some tests may fail occasionally due to system load. If a test fails repeatedly, though, consider helping by reporting the failure on Bugzilla.

Running these regression tests helps validate the kernel. Look for more tests added in the near future to help make the kernel better.