tools/testing/nvdimm: libnvdimm unit test infrastructure

'libnvdimm' is the first driver sub-system in the kernel to implement
mocking for unit test coverage.  The nfit_test module gets built as an
external module and arranges for external module replacements of nfit,
libnvdimm, nd_pmem, and nd_blk.  These replacements use the linker
--wrap option to redirect calls to ioremap() + request_mem_region() to
custom defined unit test resources.  The end result is a fully
functional nvdimm_bus, as far as userspace is concerned, but with the
capability to perform otherwise destructive tests on emulated resources.

Q: Why not use QEMU for this emulation?
QEMU is not suitable for unit testing.  QEMU's role is to faithfully
emulate the platform.  A unit test's role is to unfaithfully implement
the platform with the goal of triggering bugs in the corners of the
sub-system implementation.  As bugs are discovered in platforms, or the
sub-system itself, the unit tests are extended to backstop a fix with a
reproducer unit test.

Another problem with QEMU is that it would require coordination of 3
software projects instead of 2 (kernel + libndctl [1]) to maintain and
execute the tests.  The chances for bit rot and the difficulty of
getting the tests running goes up non-linearly the more components
involved.


Q: Why submit this to the kernel tree instead of external modules in
   libndctl?
Simple, to alleviate the same risk that out-of-tree external modules
face.  Updates to drivers/nvdimm/ can be immediately evaluated to see if
they have any impact on tools/testing/nvdimm/.


Q: What are the negative implications of merging this?
It is a unique maintenance burden because the purpose of mocking an
interface to enable a unit test is to purposefully short circuit the
semantics of a routine to enable testing.  For example
__wrap_ioremap_cache() fakes the pmem driver into "ioremap()'ing" a test
resource buffer allocated by dma_alloc_coherent().  The future
maintenance burden hits when someone changes the semantics of
ioremap_cache() and wonders what the implications are for the unit test.

[1]: https://github.com/pmem/ndctl

Cc: <linux-acpi@vger.kernel.org>
Cc: Lv Zheng <lv.zheng@intel.com>
Cc: Robert Moore <robert.moore@intel.com>
Cc: Rafael J. Wysocki <rafael.j.wysocki@intel.com>
Cc: Christoph Hellwig <hch@lst.de>
Signed-off-by: Dan Williams <dan.j.williams@intel.com>

1 files changed, 40 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/tools/testing/nvdimm/Kbuild b/tools/testing/nvdimm/Kbuild
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8e9b64520ec1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/testing/nvdimm/Kbuild
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+ldflags-y += --wrap=ioremap_cache
+ldflags-y += --wrap=ioremap_nocache
+ldflags-y += --wrap=iounmap
+ldflags-y += --wrap=__request_region
+ldflags-y += --wrap=__release_region
+
+DRIVERS := ../../../drivers
+NVDIMM_SRC := $(DRIVERS)/nvdimm
+ACPI_SRC := $(DRIVERS)/acpi
+
+obj-$(CONFIG_LIBNVDIMM) += libnvdimm.o
+obj-$(CONFIG_BLK_DEV_PMEM) += nd_pmem.o
+obj-$(CONFIG_ND_BTT) += nd_btt.o
+obj-$(CONFIG_ND_BLK) += nd_blk.o
+obj-$(CONFIG_ACPI_NFIT) += nfit.o
+
+nfit-y := $(ACPI_SRC)/nfit.o
+nfit-y += config_check.o
+
+nd_pmem-y := $(NVDIMM_SRC)/pmem.o
+nd_pmem-y += config_check.o
+
+nd_btt-y := $(NVDIMM_SRC)/btt.o
+nd_btt-y += config_check.o
+
+nd_blk-y := $(NVDIMM_SRC)/blk.o
+nd_blk-y += config_check.o
+
+libnvdimm-y := $(NVDIMM_SRC)/core.o
+libnvdimm-y += $(NVDIMM_SRC)/bus.o
+libnvdimm-y += $(NVDIMM_SRC)/dimm_devs.o
+libnvdimm-y += $(NVDIMM_SRC)/dimm.o
+libnvdimm-y += $(NVDIMM_SRC)/region_devs.o
+libnvdimm-y += $(NVDIMM_SRC)/region.o
+libnvdimm-y += $(NVDIMM_SRC)/namespace_devs.o
+libnvdimm-y += $(NVDIMM_SRC)/label.o
+libnvdimm-$(CONFIG_BTT) += $(NVDIMM_SRC)/btt_devs.o
+libnvdimm-y += config_check.o
+
+obj-m += test/