Install and configure autotest

This page details installing and configuring autotest-server.

Package installation

Autotest is currently packaged for Fedora, but due to unpackaged dependencies, is not yet available in Fedora official repositories. The following section describes how Autotest is installed on a Fedora system using the AutoQA package repository.

Use the right repos

Setup the required package repositories.

1. If using RHEL or CentOS, configure the system to receive package updates using the update mechanism provided by the distribution (e.g. for RHEL, run rhn_register).
2. If using RHEL or CentOS, enable EPEL by following the instructions at EPEL/FAQ#howtouse
3. Add the same repositories as mentioned in the AutoQA installation guide.

Install

Finally, with yum repositories configured, use the yum command to install autotest and it's dependencies.

 yum install autotest-server

From version 0.14.0 onward the web interface is available in autotest-web package.

 yum install autotest-web

Configuration

With the packages installed, it's time to configure related system services.

httpd

The autotest server requires the Apache HTTP Server. No additional configuration is required, autotest provides a /etc/httpd/conf.d/autotest.conf configuration file.

1. Start httpd:

   service httpd restart

2. Configure httpd to start on system boot:

   chkconfig httpd on

mysql

Autotest requires access to a mysql server. You can use an existing server, or setup a new mysql server using the instructions below.

Initialization (optional)

If you are using an existing mysql-server, you may skip this section.

1. Install and setup mysql server

   yum install mysql-server 
   chkconfig mysqld on

2. On Fedora 15 and lower

   service mysqld start

3. On Fedora 16 and better

   systemctl start mysqld.service

4. Setup a password for the root database user. Please use a password other than NEWPASSWORD.

   mysqladmin -u root password NEWPASSWORD

Tables and privileges

Whether using a local mysql-server, or connecting to an existing mysql-server, autotest requires database tables with appropriate permissions.

1. Using the mysql command, login to the root database using the password specified above

   mysql -u root -p

2. Create the autotest_web database and user permissions needed by autotest using the following SQL commands. It is recommended that you use a password other than NEWPASSWORD.

   create database autotest_web;
   grant all privileges on autotest_web.* TO 'autotest'@'localhost' identified by 'NEWPASSWORD';
   grant SELECT on autotest_web.* TO 'nobody'@'%';
   grant SELECT on autotest_web.* TO 'nobody'@'localhost';
   flush privileges;

autotest

With the mysql database configured, it's time to tell autotest how to connect, and to pre-populate the database with initial data.

1. Update the autotest configuration file /usr/share/autotest/global_config.ini
   • In section [AUTOTEST_WEB]:
     • Enter the correct value for password.
     • Set appropriate value for job_max_runtime_hrs_default, the maximum number of hours a single test can run before it is aborted. The recommended value for AutoQA purposes is 2, but we currently use 10 because of autotest bug 117.
   • In section [SERVER], set the value of hostname
2. At this time, autotest and SELinux do not play well together. Until autotest conforms to SELinux policy, or custom policy is available, ensure SELinux is in permissive mode.

   setenforce permissive
   vim /etc/sysconfig/selinux   # set SELINUX=permissive
   

3. Setup the database schemas and populate initial data

   python /usr/share/autotest/database/migrate.py sync

4. Run the Django syncdb operation. This needs to be run twice, otherwise debug_user won't have access to the Django administrative interface.

   /usr/share/autotest/frontend/manage.py syncdb --noinput
   /usr/share/autotest/frontend/manage.py syncdb --noinput
   

5. Restart httpd

   service httpd restart

6. Start the autotest scheduler

   service autotestd start

7. If you want to have autotest scheduler automatically started on machine boot, run one more command:

   chkconfig autotestd on

Congratulations! Your autotest server should be up and running. Direct your web browser to http://localhost.

Package upgrade

When upgrading to a newer autotest-server package, it is common that the newer server includes database schema changes. The procedure for updating your autotest database is the same procedure used when initially setting up the database. Follow the instructions in #autotest after installing a newer autotest-server package.

1. Examine the autotest configuration file /usr/share/autotest/global_config.ini to determine whether updates are required
2. Stop httpd

   service httpd stop

3. Stop the autotest scheduler

   service autotestd stop

4. Setup the database schemas and populate initial data

   python /usr/share/autotest/database/migrate.py sync

5. Run the Django syncdb operation. This needs to be run twice, otherwise debug_user won't have access to the Django administrative interface.

   /usr/share/autotest/frontend/manage.py syncdb --noinput
   /usr/share/autotest/frontend/manage.py syncdb --noinput
   

6. Restart httpd

   service httpd restart

7. Start the autotest scheduler

   service autotestd start

8. If you want to have autotest scheduler automatically started on machine boot, run one more command:

   chkconfig autotestd on

Maintenance

Removing old results

Depending on how you use autotest, the results/ directory can fill up rather quickly. Depending on underlying file-system, you may run out of available inodes or disk space. To prevent both scenarios, you can use the tmpwatch command to remove results that meet certain criteria. For example, to remove test results older than 60 days, the following tmpwatch command can be used.

/usr/sbin/tmpwatch --dirmtime -m -f 60d /usr/share/autotest/results/ -X README