Here are aspects of the TC presentation:

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Outline [edit section]

• Introducing Target Control
• What is Target Control?
  • What does it do?
  • How do you use it?
  • Architecture for automated testing?
• Tips and tricks learned over the years

Introducing Target Control [edit section]

• What is it?
  • A program that helps you build and install kernels on a target board, then install and run programs on the board
• Where did it come from?
  • "tc" was originally written for the CELF test lab
  • Intent was to support remote development and test operations
  • Test lab didn't work out (although CELF might revive it)
  • tc is now in active use inside Sony
• It is now released to the public, and I expect to maintain it going forward

Tc Purpose (1) [edit section]

• Allows you to develop and test a kernel on different boards, using the same commands
• Primary goal is to preserve my own sanity
  • I get lots of different boards, with different attributes:
    • architectures (arm, mips, powerpc, x86, etc.)
    • toolchains (version, endian-ness, etc.)
    • bootloaders (u-boot, blob, pmon, custom)
    • network address
    • serial port
    • install procedures (tftp, serial upload, re-flash)
    • remote execution programs (telnet, ssh)
  • I am usually working on at least 2 boards at a time, and sometimes on 5 or 6 at a time (for testing)
• Boards are in a remote lab, and are shared

Tc Purpose (2) [edit section]

• Allows developers to share boards
  • Boards on a single host are remotely accessible
• Allows for test automation
  • Same commands can be used to perform the same test on different target boards
  • Can perform same steps manually, or write a program to perform the steps

How does it work? [edit section]

• Tc provides an abstraction layer to shield the developer from details of board configuration and control.
• Basic 'tc' operation:
  • reads a configuration file
  • sets up environment
  • runs command(s) appropriate for the specified target
• Tc is command-line oriented
  • It works over an network login (e.g. ssh'ed to a remote host)
  • It can automated from any language (sh, python, etc.)

Development architecture [edit section]

• tc is on a host machine
  • host machine has toolchain, kernel sources, patches, etc.
• target is connected to host via network, serial
• Host has ability to control power to target (or some method to reset the target)
• My preferences:
  • bootloader that can automatically download and boot kernel
  • download kernel via tftp
  • mount root file system over NFS
  • console over serial port
  • ssh for remote login and remote execution

Host/Target requirements [edit section]

• REQUIREMENT: Any operation required to install a kernel or file system on the target must be able to be executed non-interactively from the command line
  • Some bootloaders and board configs require the use of expect scripts
    • I tend to use python expect (pexpect.py)
  • Some targets can only be re-flashed using a windows utility (Ugh!)
    • There must be a way to automate this - have fun!

TC config file [edit section]

• tc is a pretty thin layer - most logic is in the config file
  • global conf file = /etc/tc.conf
  • local conf file = specified by LOCAL_TARGET_CONF
• list of targets, with attributes for each one
  • attributes are: name=<value>
  • attributes with a '_cmd' ending are executed
    • example: target=tx49 ARCH=mips kimage=uimage kbuild_cmd=make ARCH=$ARCH $kimage
    • command: tc tx49 kbuild

TC config file (cont.) [edit section]

• Advanced stuff:
  • inheritance:
    • target=bar
    • inherit_from=foo
  • macros
    • foo=bar
    • baz=<font color=red>&lt;missing data value for key "foo"&gt</font>
  • convenience/temporary environments
    • tc tx49 setenv
    • tc tx49 setenv -o foo ; source foo

TC commands [edit section]

TC sample session [edit section]

Supporting programs [edit section]

• <xxx>-reset
• <xxx>-reboot
• switch-target-fs
  • used with 'tc reserve'
• get-kernel
  • can be used with 'tc get_kernel'
• telnet_exec/ssh_exec
  • used for 'tc run'
• minicom (or other terminal emulator)
  • used for 'tc console'
• telnet/ssh
  • used for 'tc login'

To-Do list for tc presentation [edit section]

• write presentation
  • see FIXTHIS sections
  • finish section on automated test flow design
• update Target Control Usage Guide
• upload tc package
• create tc package support site
  • create online repository??
    • create repository for otl-tools
      • dust off testlab repository on sourceforge??
      • create git repository on mirror?
        • set up gitweb for http access??
  • gather utilities and support libraries for package
    • pexpect.py
    • serial.py
  • make an installer??
    • see if pexpect.py is already present
    • see if serial.py is already present
  • finish tc-autoconf??