Integration Tests¶

The Salt integration tests come with a number of classes and methods which allow for components to be easily tested. These classes are generally inherited from and provide specific methods for hooking into the running integration test environment created by the integration tests.

It is noteworthy that since integration tests validate against a running environment that they are generally the preferred means to write tests.

The integration system is all located under tests/integration in the Salt source tree. Each directory within tests/integration corresponds to a directory in Salt's tree structure. For example, the integration tests for the test.py Salt module that is located in salt/modules should also be named test.py and reside in tests/integration/modules.

Preparing to Write Integration Tests¶

This guide assumes that your Salt development environment is already configured and that you have a basic understanding of contributing to the Salt codebase. If you're unfamiliar with either of these topics, please refer to the Installing Salt for Development and the Contributing pages, respectively.

This documentation also assumes that you have an understanding of how to run Salt's test suite, including running the test subsections, and running a single integration test file, class, or individual test.

Best Practices¶

Integration tests should be written to the following specifications.

What to Test?¶

Since integration tests are used to validate against a running Salt environment, integration tests should be written with the Salt components, and their various interactions, in mind.

Isolate testing functionality. Don't rely on the pass or failure of other, separate tests.
Individual tests should test against a single behavior.
Since it occasionally takes some effort to "set up" an individual test, it may be necessary to call several functions within a single test. However, be sure that once the work has been done to set up a test, make sure you are clear about the functionality that is being tested.

Naming Conventions¶

Test names and docstrings should indicate what functionality is being tested. Test functions are named test_<fcn>_<test-name> where <fcn> is the function being tested and <test-name> describes the behavior being tested.

In order for integration tests to get picked up during a run of the test suite, each individual test must be prepended with the test_ naming syntax, as described above.

If a function does not start with test_, then the function acts as a "normal" function and is not considered a testing function. It will not be included in the test run or testing output.

The setUp and tearDown Functions¶

There are two special functions that can be utilized in the integration side of Salt's test suite: setUp and tearDown. While these functions are not required in all test files, there are many examples in Salt's integration test suite illustrating the broad usefulness of each function.

The setUp function is used to set up any repetitive or useful tasks that the tests in a test class need before running. For example, any of the mac_* integration tests should only run on macOS machines. The setUp function can be used to test for the presence of the Darwin kernel. If the Darwin kernel is not present, then the test should be skipped.

def setUp(self):
    """
    Sets up test requirements
    """
    os_grain = self.run_function("grains.item", ["kernel"])
    if os_grain["kernel"] not in "Darwin":
        self.skipTest("Test not applicable to '{kernel}' kernel".format(**os_grain))

The setUp function can be used for many things. The above code snippet is only one example. Another example might be to ensure that a particular setting is present before running tests that would require the setting.

The tearDown function is used to clean up after any tests. This function is useful for restoring any settings that might have been changed during the test run.

Note

The setUp and tearDown functions run before and after each test in the test class that the setUp and tearDown functions are defined.

Be sure to read the Destructive vs Non-Destructive Tests section when using any kind of destructive functions that might alter the system running the test suite in either the setUp or tearDown function definitions.

Testing Order¶

The test functions within a test class do not run in the order they were defined, but instead run in lexicographical order.

Note that if any setUp or tearDown functions are defined in the class, those functions will run before (for setUp) or after (for tearDown) each test case.

Integration Classes¶

The integration classes are located in tests/integration/__init__.py and can be extended therein. There are four classes available to extend:

ModuleCase
ShellCase
SSHCase
SyndicCase

ModuleCase¶

Used to define executions run via the master to minions and to call single modules and states. The available testing functions are:

run_function¶

Run a single salt function and condition the return down to match the behavior of the raw function call. This will run the command and only return the results from a single minion to verify.

run_state¶

Run the state.single command and return the state return structure.

minion_run¶

Run a single salt function on the 'minion' target and condition the return down to match the behavior of the raw function call.

ShellCase¶

Shell out to the scripts which ship with Salt. The testing functions are:

run_cp¶

Execute salt-cp. Pass in the argument string as it would be passed on the command line.

run_call¶

Execute salt-call, pass in the argument string as it would be passed on the command line.

run_cloud¶

Execute the salt-cloud command. Pass in the argument string as it would be passed on the command line.

run_key¶

Execute the salt-key command. Pass in the argument string as it would be passed on the command line.

run_run¶

Execute the salt-run command. Pass in the argument string as it would be passed on the command line.

run_run_plus¶

Execute the runner function the and return the return data and output in a dict

run_salt¶

Execute the salt command. Pass in the argument string as it would be passed on the command line.

run_script¶

Execute a salt script with the given argument string.

run_ssh¶

Execute the salt-ssh. Pass in the argument string as it would be passed on the command line.

SSHCase¶

Used to execute remote commands via salt-ssh. The available methods are as follows:

run_function¶

Run a single salt function via salt-ssh and condition the return down to match the behavior of the raw function call. This will run the command and only return the results from a single minion to verify.

SyndicCase¶

Used to execute remote commands via a syndic and is only used to verify the capabilities of the Salt Syndic. The available methods are as follows:

run_function¶

Run a single salt function and condition the return down to match the behavior of the raw function call. This will run the command and only return the results from a single minion to verify.

Examples¶

The following sections define simple integration tests present in Salt's integration test suite for each type of testing class.

Module Example via ModuleCase Class¶

Import the integration module, this module is already added to the python path by the test execution. Inherit from the integration.ModuleCase class.

Now the workhorse method run_function can be used to test a module:

import os
from tests.support.case import ModuleCase


class TestModuleTest(ModuleCase):
    """
    Validate the test module
    """

    def test_ping(self):
        """
        test.ping
        """
        self.assertTrue(self.run_function("test.ping"))

    def test_echo(self):
        """
        test.echo
        """
        self.assertEqual(self.run_function("test.echo", ["text"]), "text")

The fist example illustrates the testing master issuing a test.ping call to a testing minion. The test asserts that the minion returned with a True value to the master from the test.ping call.

The second example similarly verifies that the minion executed the test.echo command with the text argument. The assertEqual call maintains that the minion ran the function and returned the data as expected to the master.

Shell Example via ShellCase¶

Validating the shell commands can be done via shell tests:

import sys
import shutil
import tempfile

from tests.support.case import ShellCase


class KeyTest(ShellCase):
    """
    Test salt-key script
    """

    _call_binary_ = "salt-key"

    def test_list(self):
        """
        test salt-key -L
        """
        data = self.run_key("-L")
        expect = [
            "Unaccepted Keys:",
            "Accepted Keys:",
            "minion",
            "sub_minion",
            "Rejected:",
            "",
        ]
        self.assertEqual(data, expect)

This example verifies that the salt-key command executes and returns as expected by making use of the run_key method.

SSH Example via SSHCase¶

Testing salt-ssh functionality can be done using the SSHCase test class:

from tests.support.case import SSHCase

class SSHGrainsTest(SSHCase):
'''
Test salt-ssh grains functionality
Depend on proper environment set by integration.SSHCase class
'''

def test_grains_id(self):
    '''
    Test salt-ssh grains id work for localhost.
    '''
    cmd = self.run_function('grains.get', ['id'])
    self.assertEqual(cmd, 'localhost')

Testing Event System via SaltMinionEventAssertsMixin¶

The fundamentially asynchronous nature of Salt makes testing the event system a challenge. The SaltMinionEventAssertsMixin provides a facility for testing that events were received on a minion event bus.

import salt.utils.event
from tests.support.mixins import SaltEventAssertsMixin


class TestEvent(SaltEventAssertsMixin):
    """
    Example test of firing an event and receiving it
    """

    def test_event(self):
        e = salt.utils.event.get_event(
            "minion", sock_dir=self.minion_opts["sock_dir"], opts=self.minion_opts
        )

        e.fire_event({"a": "b"}, "/test_event")

        self.assertMinionEventReceived({"a": "b"})

Syndic Example via SyndicCase¶

Testing Salt's Syndic can be done via the SyndicCase test class:

from tests.support.case import SyndicCase


class TestSyndic(SyndicCase):
    """
    Validate the syndic interface by testing the test module
    """

    def test_ping(self):
        """
        test.ping
        """
        self.assertTrue(self.run_function("test.ping"))

This example verifies that a test.ping command is issued from the testing master, is passed through to the testing syndic, down to the minion, and back up again by using the run_function located with in the SyndicCase test class.

Integration Test Files¶

Since using Salt largely involves configuring states, editing files, and changing system data, the integration test suite contains a directory named files to aid in testing functions that require files. Various Salt integration tests use these example files to test against instead of altering system files and data.

Each directory within tests/integration/files contain files that accomplish different tasks, based on the needs of the integration tests using those files. For example, tests/integration/files/ssh is used to bootstrap the test runner for salt-ssh testing, while tests/integration/files/pillar contains files storing data needed to test various pillar functions.

The tests/integration/files directory also includes an integration state tree. The integration state tree can be found at tests/integration/files/file/base.

The following example demonstrates how integration files can be used with ModuleCase to test states:

# Import python libs
from __future__ import absolute_import
import os
import shutil

# Import Salt Testing libs
from tests.support.case import ModuleCase
from tests.support.paths import FILES, TMP
from tests.support.mixins import SaltReturnAssertsMixin

# Import salt libs
import salt.utils.files

HFILE = os.path.join(TMP, "hosts")


class HostTest(ModuleCase, SaltReturnAssertsMixin):
    """
    Validate the host state
    """

    def setUp(self):
        shutil.copyfile(os.path.join(FILES, "hosts"), HFILE)
        super(HostTest, self).setUp()

    def tearDown(self):
        if os.path.exists(HFILE):
            os.remove(HFILE)
        super(HostTest, self).tearDown()

    def test_present(self):
        """
        host.present
        """
        name = "spam.bacon"
        ip = "10.10.10.10"
        ret = self.run_state("host.present", name=name, ip=ip)
        self.assertSaltTrueReturn(ret)
        with salt.utils.files.fopen(HFILE) as fp_:
            output = fp_.read()
            self.assertIn("{0}\t\t{1}".format(ip, name), output)

To access the integration files, a variable named FILES points to the tests/integration/files directory. This is where the referenced host.present sls file resides.

In addition to the static files in the integration state tree, the location TMP can also be used to store temporary files that the test system will clean up when the execution finishes.

Destructive vs Non-Destructive Tests¶

Since Salt is used to change the settings and behavior of systems, one testing approach is to run tests that make actual changes to the underlying system. This is where the concept of destructive integration tests comes into play. Tests can be written to alter the system they are running on. This capability is what fills in the gap needed to properly test aspects of system management like package installation.

Any test that changes the underlying system in any way, such as creating or deleting users, installing packages, or changing permissions should include the @destructive decorator to signal system changes and should be written with care. System changes executed within a destructive test should also be restored once the related tests have completed. For example, if a new user is created to test a module, the same user should be removed after the test is completed to maintain system integrity.

To write a destructive test, import, and use the destructiveTest decorator for the test method:

from tests.support.case import ModuleCase
from tests.support.helpers import destructiveTest, skip_if_not_root


class DestructiveExampleModuleTest(ModuleCase):
    """
    Demonstrate a destructive test
    """

    @destructiveTest
    @skip_if_not_root
    def test_user_not_present(self):
        """
        This is a DESTRUCTIVE TEST it creates a new user on the minion.
        And then destroys that user.
        """
        ret = self.run_state("user.present", name="salt_test")
        self.assertSaltTrueReturn(ret)
        ret = self.run_state("user.absent", name="salt_test")
        self.assertSaltTrueReturn(ret)

Cloud Provider Tests¶

Cloud provider integration tests are used to assess Salt-Cloud's ability to create and destroy cloud instances for various supported cloud providers. Cloud provider tests inherit from the ShellCase Integration Class.

Any new cloud provider test files should be added to the tests/integration/cloud/providers/ directory. Each cloud provider test file also requires a sample cloud profile and cloud provider configuration file in the integration test file directory located at tests/integration/files/conf/cloud.*.d/.

The following is an example of the default profile configuration file for Digital Ocean, located at: tests/integration/files/conf/cloud.profiles.d/digitalocean.conf:

digitalocean-test:
  provider: digitalocean-config
  image: Ubuntu 14.04 x64
  size: 512MB

Each cloud provider requires different configuration credentials. Therefore, sensitive information such as API keys or passwords should be omitted from the cloud provider configuration file and replaced with an empty string. The necessary credentials can be provided by the user by editing the provider configuration file before running the tests.

The following is an example of the default provider configuration file for Digital Ocean, located at: tests/integration/files/conf/cloud.providers.d/digitalocean.conf:

digitalocean-config:
  driver: digitalocean
  client_key: ''
  api_key: ''
  location: New York 1

In addition to providing the necessary cloud profile and provider files in the integration test suite file structure, appropriate checks for if the configuration files exist and contain valid information are also required in the test class's setUp function:

from tests.support.case import ShellCase
from tests.support.paths import FILES

class LinodeTest(ShellCase):
'''
Integration tests for the Linode cloud provider in Salt-Cloud
'''

def setUp(self):
    '''
    Sets up the test requirements
    '''
    super(LinodeTest, self).setUp()

    # check if appropriate cloud provider and profile files are present
    profile_str = 'linode-config:'
    provider = 'linode'
    providers = self.run_cloud('--list-providers')
    if profile_str not in providers:
        self.skipTest(
            'Configuration file for {0} was not found. Check {0}.conf files '
            'in tests/integration/files/conf/cloud.*.d/ to run these tests.'
            .format(provider)
        )

    # check if apikey and password are present
    path = os.path.join(FILES,
                        'conf',
                        'cloud.providers.d',
                        provider + '.conf')
    config = cloud_providers_config(path)
    api = config['linode-config']['linode']['apikey']
    password = config['linode-config']['linode']['password']
    if api == '' or password == '':
        self.skipTest(
            'An api key and password must be provided to run these tests. Check '
            'tests/integration/files/conf/cloud.providers.d/{0}.conf'.format(
                provider
            )
        )

Repeatedly creating and destroying instances on cloud providers can be costly. Therefore, cloud provider tests are off by default and do not run automatically. To run the cloud provider tests, the --cloud-provider-tests flag must be provided:

./tests/runtests.py --cloud-provider-tests

Since cloud provider tests do not run automatically, all provider tests must be preceded with the @expensiveTest decorator. The expensive test decorator is necessary because it signals to the test suite that the --cloud-provider-tests flag is required to run the cloud provider tests.

To write a cloud provider test, import, and use the expensiveTest decorator for the test function:

from tests.support.helpers import expensiveTest


@expensiveTest
def test_instance(self):
    """
    Test creating an instance on Linode
    """
    name = "linode-testing"

    # create the instance
    instance = self.run_cloud("-p linode-test {0}".format(name))
    str = "        {0}".format(name)

    # check if instance with salt installed returned as expected
    try:
        self.assertIn(str, instance)
    except AssertionError:
        self.run_cloud("-d {0} --assume-yes".format(name))
        raise

    # delete the instance
    delete = self.run_cloud("-d {0} --assume-yes".format(name))
    str = "            True"
    try:
        self.assertIn(str, delete)
    except AssertionError:
        raise

Adding New Directories¶

If the corresponding Salt directory does not exist within tests/integration, the new directory must be created along with the appropriate test file to maintain Salt's testing directory structure.

In order for Salt's test suite to recognize tests within the newly created directory, options to run the new integration tests must be added to tests/runtests.py. Examples of the necessary options that must be added can be found here: https://github.com/saltstack/salt/blob/master/tests/runtests.py. The functions that need to be edited are setup_additional_options, validate_options, and run_integration_tests.