Re: [dpdk-dev] [PATCH 1/2] tests: Fix unit tests for shared builds

[Aaron Conole <aconole@redhat.com>]

Bruce Richardson <bruce.richardson@intel.com> writes:

> On Wed, Jul 31, 2019 at 12:10:55PM -0400, Aaron Conole wrote:
>> Aaron Conole <aconole@redhat.com> writes:
>> 
>> > Bruce Richardson <bruce.richardson@intel.com> writes:
>> >
>> >> On Wed, Jul 31, 2019 at 10:50:29AM -0400, Aaron Conole wrote:
>> >>> From: Michael Santana <msantana@redhat.com>
>> >>> 
>> >>> Currently many unit tests fail when running tests under shared builds.
>> >>> This happens because of missing driver dependencies. This is fixed by
>> >>> explicitly linking in missing drivers for the test application.
>> >>> 
>> >>> before and after (clang):
>> >>> https://travis-ci.com/Maickii/dpdk-2/jobs/212329160#L623
>> >>> https://travis-ci.com/Maickii/dpdk-2/jobs/212335912#L620
>> >>> 
>> >>> Suggested-by: Bruce Richardson <bruce.richardson@intel.com>
>> >>> Suggested-by: David Marchand <david.marchand@redhat.com>
>> >>> Signed-off-by: Michael Santana <msantana@redhat.com>
>> >>> Signed-off-by: Aaron Conole <aconole@redhat.com>
>> >>> ---
>> >> Rather than linking in the libraries explicitly, can you have the build do
>> >> a "ninja install" at the end to place the libraries and drivers in their
>> >> correct paths. That should mean that the test app (via eal) auto-loads all
>> >> drivers from EAL_PMD_PATH (/usr/local/...). It would save having to make
>> >> further changes to this file to link in any additional drivers.
>> 
>> Oops, forgot to include a link to a build where I did this.  It's
>> failing (you can see the corresponding commit at
>> https://github.com/orgcandman/dpdk/commit/ccba975bdfe851b4c8ec3f208451bb105317b76d):
>> 
>>   https://travis-ci.org/orgcandman/dpdk/jobs/566044409
>> 
> I think the error may be due to having some drivers already linked in while
> trying to reload all drivers dynamically. The dynamic loading of drivers I
> actually think we could make more robust. For example:
>
> * only load .so files. If you pass in the drivers path from the build, it
>   errors out trying to load .a files
> * when loading directories, maybe skip any files which don't have a "librte"
>   prefix - anyone who has their own drivers they want loaded can add the
>   prefix or load it explicitly via -d
> * alternatively, skip files which don't have a pmdinfo section in them
> * allow skipping of drivers which are already linked in
> * don't fail the whole process if one driver fails to load from a
>   directory.

What change do you suggest I make to the steps I outlined?  I think it
seems to be more complex than a simple 'ninja install'.

Maybe it makes sense to merge these patches now and fix the library
loading code as a separate action?  Or is there a different procedure I
(and other developers) should follow?  Does it really need a 'ninja
install' even for a drive-by developer to make a small patch and test
before submitting?

> Regards,
> /Bruce