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-rw-r--r--Documentation/dev-tools/kunit/index.rst40
1 files changed, 25 insertions, 15 deletions
diff --git a/Documentation/dev-tools/kunit/index.rst b/Documentation/dev-tools/kunit/index.rst
index d16a4d2c3a41..e93606ecfb01 100644
--- a/Documentation/dev-tools/kunit/index.rst
+++ b/Documentation/dev-tools/kunit/index.rst
@@ -17,14 +17,23 @@ What is KUnit?
==============
KUnit is a lightweight unit testing and mocking framework for the Linux kernel.
-These tests are able to be run locally on a developer's workstation without a VM
-or special hardware.
KUnit is heavily inspired by JUnit, Python's unittest.mock, and
Googletest/Googlemock for C++. KUnit provides facilities for defining unit test
cases, grouping related test cases into test suites, providing common
infrastructure for running tests, and much more.
+KUnit consists of a kernel component, which provides a set of macros for easily
+writing unit tests. Tests written against KUnit will run on kernel boot if
+built-in, or when loaded if built as a module. These tests write out results to
+the kernel log in `TAP <https://testanything.org/>`_ format.
+
+To make running these tests (and reading the results) easier, KUnit offers
+:doc:`kunit_tool <kunit-tool>`, which builds a `User Mode Linux
+<http://user-mode-linux.sourceforge.net>`_ kernel, runs it, and parses the test
+results. This provides a quick way of running KUnit tests during development,
+without requiring a virtual machine or separate hardware.
+
Get started now: :doc:`start`
Why KUnit?
@@ -36,21 +45,20 @@ allow all possible code paths to be tested in the code under test; this is only
possible if the code under test is very small and does not have any external
dependencies outside of the test's control like hardware.
-Outside of KUnit, there are no testing frameworks currently
-available for the kernel that do not require installing the kernel on a test
-machine or in a VM and all require tests to be written in userspace running on
-the kernel; this is true for Autotest, and kselftest, disqualifying
-any of them from being considered unit testing frameworks.
+KUnit provides a common framework for unit tests within the kernel.
+
+KUnit tests can be run on most architectures, and most tests are architecture
+independent. All built-in KUnit tests run on kernel startup. Alternatively,
+KUnit and KUnit tests can be built as modules and tests will run when the test
+module is loaded.
-KUnit addresses the problem of being able to run tests without needing a virtual
-machine or actual hardware with User Mode Linux. User Mode Linux is a Linux
-architecture, like ARM or x86; however, unlike other architectures it compiles
-to a standalone program that can be run like any other program directly inside
-of a host operating system; to be clear, it does not require any virtualization
-support; it is just a regular program.
+.. note::
-Alternatively, kunit and kunit tests can be built as modules and tests will
-run when the test module is loaded.
+ KUnit can also run tests without needing a virtual machine or actual
+ hardware under User Mode Linux. User Mode Linux is a Linux architecture,
+ like ARM or x86, which compiles the kernel as a Linux executable. KUnit
+ can be used with UML either by building with ``ARCH=um`` (like any other
+ architecture), or by using :doc:`kunit_tool <kunit-tool>`.
KUnit is fast. Excluding build time, from invocation to completion KUnit can run
several dozen tests in only 10 to 20 seconds; this might not sound like a big
@@ -81,3 +89,5 @@ How do I use it?
* :doc:`start` - for new users of KUnit
* :doc:`usage` - for a more detailed explanation of KUnit features
* :doc:`api/index` - for the list of KUnit APIs used for testing
+* :doc:`kunit-tool` - for more information on the kunit_tool helper script
+* :doc:`faq` - for answers to some common questions about KUnit