Setting up a CI system part 1: Preparing your test machines - mupuf.org

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2021-06-04 22:30:07

Under contracting work for Valve Corporation, I have been working with Charlie Turner and Andres Gomez from Igalia to develop a CI test farm for driver testing (most graphics).

This is now the fifth CI system I have worked with / on, and I am growing tired of not being able to re-use components from the previous systems due to how deeply-integrated its components are, and how implementation details permeate from one component to another. Additionally, such designs limit the ability of the system to grow, as updating a component would impact a lot of components, making it difficult or even impossible to do without a rewrite of the system, or taking the system down for multiple hours.

With this new system, I am putting emphasis on designing good interfaces between components in order to create an open source toolbox that CI systems can re-use freely and tailor to their needs, while not painting themselves in a corner.

I aim to blog about all the different components/interfaces we will be making for this test system, but in this article, I would like to start with the basics: proposing design goals, and setting up a machine to be controllable remotely by a test system.