Re: [PATCH v2] docs: Add fuller accounting of make check prerequisites

[Glenn Washburn]

On Tue, 5 Oct 2021 18:08:10 +0200
Daniel Kiper <dkiper@net-space.pl> wrote:

> On Tue, Oct 05, 2021 at 12:45:04AM -0500, Glenn Washburn wrote:
> > Many of the prerequisites for exercising the full `make check' test suite
> 
> I would prefer if you are more consistent and use "" instead of `' or '' 
> everywhere.

I was following a pre-existing convention from the INSTALL file itself.
I generally prefer '' because its easier and more natural for me. I'll
update to use ''.

> > have not been documented. This adds them along with a note that some tests
> > require elevated privileges to run.
> >
> > Also add documentation on trusted sources for finding cross compiling tool
> > chains.
> >
> > Signed-off-by: Glenn Washburn <development@efficientek.com>
> > ---
> > Changes since v1
> >
> > * Add section on where to find cross compiling tool chains per Daniel's 
> > request.
> > * Missed needed modules loop and we need fuse for ntfs and exfat (though on
> >   very recent kernels the exfat module would be better to use).
> > * Also, romfs, isofs, and squashfs are not required either because we don't
> >   mount or use these images in loopback devices.
> > * Need exfat-fuse for all but recent kernels. And exfatprogs is better
> >   than exfat-utils (more compete support). But its a newer package, so
> >   may not be available on older systems.
> > * g++ package is needed to build some tests.
> > * Gawk is not strictly needed, in that testing will work, but the process
> >   will complain without it.
> >
> > ---
> > Interdiff against v1:
> >   diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
> >   index 25e3740ff..bb086a902 100644
> >   --- a/INSTALL
> >   +++ b/INSTALL
> >   @@ -46,6 +46,11 @@ need the following.
> >    * Autoconf 2.63 or later
> >    * Automake 1.11 or later
> >
> >   +Cross compiling tool chains can be found at the following trusted sites:
> >   +
> >   +* https://mirrors.kernel.org/pub/tools/crosstool/
> >   +* https://toolchains.bootlin.com/
> >   +
> >    Prerequisites for make-check:
> >
> >    * qemu, specifically the binary 'qemu-system-ARCH' where ARCH is the
> >   @@ -57,14 +62,17 @@ Prerequisites for make-check:
> >    * mtools, FAT tools for EFI platforms
> >
> >    * If running a Linux kernel the following modules must be loaded:
> >   -  - minix, hfs, mac-roman, hfsplus, exfat, reiserfs, xfs, f2fs, btrfs,
> >   -    nilfs2, jfs, fat, ext4, udf, romfs, isofs, squashfs
> >   +  - fuse, loop, minix, hfs, mac-roman, hfsplus, reiserfs, xfs, f2fs, 
> > btrfs,
> >   +    nilfs2, jfs, fat, ext4, udf
> >   +  - On newer kernels, the exfat kernel modules may be used instead of the
> >   +    exfat FUSE filesystem.
> >    * The following are debian named packages required mostly for the full
> >      suite of filesystem testing (but some are needed by other tests as well
> >      - tar, cpio, gzip, lzop, xz-utils, parted, util-linux, squashfs-tools,
> >   -    zfs-fuse, dosfstools, exfat-utils, ntfs-3g, e2fsprogs, btrfs-progs,
> >   +    zfs-fuse, dosfstools, exfatprogs, ntfs-3g, e2fsprogs, btrfs-progs,
> >        xfsprogs, hfsprogs, recode, jfsutils, reiserfsprogs, udftools,
> >   -    nilfs-tools, f2fs-tools, genromfs, attr
> >   +    nilfs-tools, f2fs-tools, genromfs, attr, g++, gawk
> >   +  - exfat-fuse, if not using the exfat kernel module
> >
> >    Note that `make check' will run and many tests may complete successfully
> >    with only a subset of these prerequisites. However, some tests may be
> >
> >  INSTALL | 32 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++--
> >  1 file changed, 30 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
> >
> > diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
> > index 5e152b71f..bb086a902 100644
> > --- a/INSTALL
> > +++ b/INSTALL
> > @@ -46,10 +46,37 @@ need the following.
> >  * Autoconf 2.63 or later
> >  * Automake 1.11 or later
> >
> 
> I think you should add a sentence at the beginning of the file that packages
> names are for Debian X and can be different for other distros.

Sure, I can do that. Perhaps this sentence will suffice:

  Where this document refers to packages names, they are named
  according to the Debian 11 package repositories.

> > +Cross compiling tool chains can be found at the following trusted sites:
> 
> Could you list names of cross compiling packages for Debian X too?
> I know at least gcc-aarch64-linux-gnu, gcc-arm-linux-gnueabihf,
> gcc-mipsel-linux-gnu and mingw-w64.

I am not familiar with such packages nor have any experience in using
them. I don't feel comfortable adding them. I can add something saying
that "your distro may provide you with cross compiling packages and if
not the following are reputable sites from which to get pre-built
cross compiling tool chains." If you have experience in this area feel
free to modify the patch as you deem fit and add yourself as coauthor.

> The sites below should be listed as an option if the cross compilers are
> not available for some architectures in a given distro.

Personally, I think listing these is fine as is.

> 
> > +* https://mirrors.kernel.org/pub/tools/crosstool/
> > +* https://toolchains.bootlin.com/
> > +
> >  Prerequisites for make-check:
> >
> > -* qemu, specifically the binary 'qemu-system-i386'
> > +* qemu, specifically the binary 'qemu-system-ARCH' where ARCH is the
> 
> Again, could you name relevant qemu packages...

The package qemu-system pulls in the mains ones: qemu-system-arm,
qemu-system-mips, qemu-system-ppc, qemu-system-sparc, qemu-system-x86,
and qemu-system-misc. I don't think we need to cater to the segment of
people who can't figure out how to use the package manager (search for
qemu packages and find the appropriate one). It might be worth
mentioning that the 'qemu-system' package pulls in all qemu-system
architectures.

> 
> > +  architecture GRUB has been built for
> > +* OVMF, for EFI platforms
> 
> IIRC the packages are called simply "ovmf" for amd64 and "ovmf-ia32" for x86.

OVNM is not a package name, its a project name, just as Autoconf above
is not a package name. I can append "(eg. Debian packages ovmf,
ovmf-ia32, qemu-efi-arm, and qemu-efi-aarch64)".

> 
> > +* OpenBIOS, for ieee1275 platforms
> 
> Could name OpenBIOS package?

Again, this is the project name. Debian package names would be
openbios-ppc and openbios-sparc.

> 
> >  * xorriso 1.2.9 or later, for grub-mkrescue and grub-shell
> > +* wamerican, for grub-fs-tester
> > +* mtools, FAT tools for EFI platforms
> > +
> > +* If running a Linux kernel the following modules must be loaded:
> > +  - fuse, loop, minix, hfs, mac-roman, hfsplus, reiserfs, xfs, f2fs, btrfs,
> > +    nilfs2, jfs, fat, ext4, udf
> > +  - On newer kernels, the exfat kernel modules may be used instead of the
> > +    exfat FUSE filesystem.
> > +* The following are debian named packages required mostly for the full
> > +  suite of filesystem testing (but some are needed by other tests as well
> > +  - tar, cpio, gzip, lzop, xz-utils, parted, util-linux, squashfs-tools,
> > +    zfs-fuse, dosfstools, exfatprogs, ntfs-3g, e2fsprogs, btrfs-progs,
> > +    xfsprogs, hfsprogs, recode, jfsutils, reiserfsprogs, udftools,
> > +    nilfs-tools, f2fs-tools, genromfs, attr, g++, gawk
> > +  - exfat-fuse, if not using the exfat kernel module
> 
> I am OK with the grouping but I would prefer if you sort the names of
> packages in alphabetical order in each group.

By grouping you mean how tar and cpio are grouped and gzip, lzop, and
xz-utils are grouped? Or is that all considered one group? They are
partially ordered, but not lexographically sorted.

Glenn