Using External Files in Tests

You might want to use external libraries, binaries, or other tools depending on your use case. For instance, if your test requires a specific tool or script, you can include it in your test workflow.

Let’s say you want to write a test for power-cycling your board using the latest firmware build and running your own tooling on it. We will demonstrate how to include the necessary tooling in the test.

Step-by-Step Guide

Add the Files

The fwci CLI tool provides multiple commands to add, update, list, and delete files on your FirmwareCI. To add files, simply execute:

$ fwci files add <file-name> <path-to-file>

This command allows you to add files under the specified file-name. The files can be provided in various formats, including single files, archives, and compressed archives.

Listing files should now result in a representation of the uploaded files:

$ fwci files get
files list:
0.  ID: 01JC3DDYRJ81EK6PM6NHZZY0Y5
  Name: my_file_1
  File-Tree:
  └── system-suite: 7372986 bytes
1.  ID: 01JCB0MT44NYJ1933RETVHY59X
  Name: my_file_2
  File-Tree:
  └── testing-binary: 14479360 bytes

Reference the files in a storage item

After uploading a file, you can reference it within a storage item. Storage items not only link to the files but also include an optional array of commands that are executed within the testing environment.

For a comprehensive explanation, refer to the Storage Configuration documentation.

Examplary storage.yaml

# Reference Name of the storage item
name: my_python_lib
# Optional commands executed inside the testing sandbox environment
commands: 
  - "apt update"
  - "apt install pip ipmitool inetutils-ping xvfb lsb-core -y"
  - "pip install robotframework"
paths: 
  bin: bin/executable
# Prefix the <files-name> with 'fwci://'
uri: fwci://my_python_lib

Add the storage.yaml file into a subdirectory within the .firmwareci/storage directory. The file structure should resemble the following:

$ tree .firmwareci

.firmwareci/
│   ....
├── storage
│   └── my_python_lib
│       └── storage.yaml
│   ....

Reference the Storage Inside a Test

Let’s modify the boot test from above and add an extra test command, which executes your testing library. If a storage is referenced inside a test, it will automatically be included at a path inside the testing environment. You can access the path by using a template identifier in the form of [[storage.<storage-name>]]. First copy the files from the storage path on the device, afterwards run the library as an executable.

For a comprehensive explanation, refer to the Templating documentation.

defaults:
  transport: &transport
    proto: ssh
    options:
      host: "[[attributes.Host]]"
      user: root
      password: root

stages:
  - name: Run Golang Power Test
    steps:
      - cmd: ping
        name: Wait for SSH service
        options:
          timeout: 2m
        parameters:
          host: "[[attributes.Host]]"

      - cmd: copy
        name: Copy tooling to DUT
        transport: *transport
        parameters:
          source: "[[storage.my_python_lib]]"
          destination: /tmp/lib
          recursive: true

      - cmd: cmd
        name: Run openbmc-test-go Power Test
        transport: *transport
        options:
          timeout: 20m
        parameters:
          executable: "/tmp/lib/[[storage.my_python_lib.bin]]"
          args:
            [
              "-user",
              "root",
              "-password",
              "root",
            ]