On 02/01/2010 10:24 AM, James Laska wrote:
Just a few general comments ...
Are there additional tests we might need to perform on ISO-based media? Not sure if it makes sense in this case, but I'm thinking about tests like QA:Testcase_Mediakit_ISO_Size and QA:Testcase_Mediakit_ISO_Checksums. The install.py script used for rats_install has a method we might also wish to use to validate the composition of the DVD ISO image itself (see installer_image_test()).
I think you are right. This is what I did not realize before. If test DVD image, the ISO size and checksum needs to be tested first. I will add later.
I see the script installs from the mounted DVD directory using virt-install --location. This raises an interesting dilemma. I'm inclined to think that the test should use virt-install --cdrom to more closely mirror a true DVD install. But I imagine doing so makes it difficult to provide the kickstart file. Have you tried this approach already?
If use virt-install --cdrom argument,the kickstart file will can not be easy put into kernel boot.That means we need to uncompress the ISO first and then put the kickstart file to boot image? I am not sure how much resource will be consumed, but I am afraid it will be big.
The type of test you chose to automate is a good choice, since it's one of the more challenging tests to automate. If we can automate the DVD install using a mechanism similar to that used by the existing install.py test, it might make our lives easier in the long run. What makes this scalable is if we have a small number of custom install scripts, but a large number of kickstart files to describe the tests. If we break down the needs of each install test [1] ... do they all have similar needs? From what I can tell, each install test needs to ...
* Prepare the host environment * Define a guest environment (# and type of disks, #nics etc...) * Validate the install images * Specify a kickstart file to direct the install * Detect install progress (and timeout if needed) * Validate installed system meets kickstart criteria * Cleanup the guest environment * What other needs do install tests have?
You are mentioning how to take advantage of the current existing resource. I did not think about this before. But if we have small customization to the install.py,that will absolutely save our time and energy. I will write tests under autoQA framework later. I do not think we waste some time before, at least I have a deep understanding of the current framework,including the methods of classes, the structure, how installation works under VM, etc... Let's update this to ticket #107
Thanks Liam