SCO OpenServer 5

hcptest(1Mcert)

hcptest -- system load tests for SCO OpenServer 5 kernel

Synopsis

hcptest

Description

hcptest is the interface to a suite of tests that exercise a computer system under a heavy load. These tests are used to qualify computer systems with the SVR5 operating system. To qualify, the Balanced Load Tests must execute without errors for 36 hours. These suites can also be used to test kernel sanity after new device drivers and other kernel-level code have been added.

Usage

To run the tests

Log in as root and run the /usr/bin/hcptest program.
hcptest displays notices on the screen, asks for user input, and allows the user to select the tests that will be run.
At the menu screen, enter 1 (the number ``one''), follows by <Enter> to run the Balanced Load Tests.
You will see the description string change to READY TO RUN.
Enter r to run the tests.
Insert a scratch floppy disk in the floppy drive, then enter c in response to the program prompt. The tests will then begin.
Enter <Del> to terminate test execution. It could take several minutes for the system to respond; please be patient.

The tests' stderr content is redirected to a file in the /home/hcptest/log directory. Examine these files for error messages after the tests complete. Note that some files in this directory are empty (have a size of 0 bytes). This is normal and acceptable and indicates that the test did not generate an error. Also, some of the files contain informational log entries that are not errors.

hcptest writes a timestamp to the /home/hcptest/tests/log/date.dat file once each minute. Should the test suite fail, or should the system hang or panic, subtracting the first timestamp from the last timestamp will provide the elapsed time the tests ran. The last timestamp in this file determines the date and time at which there was a failure.

Note the following:

System auditing must be disabled before running hcptest or the hard drive will rapidly be filled with auditing log files. System auditing is disabled by default.
On systems with 32MB of memory or less, the X server should be disabled before hcptest are run. To do this, run the following as root:
```
   /usr/bin/X11/scologin disable
```
You may also have to disbable optional services such as ArcServ and VisionFS to obtain enough free memory for the tests.
The log files may contain status messages that do not indicate failures in the tests.

TEST GROUPS

The System Load Tests suite contains several tests groups, described below.

Memory tests: malloc(3C) and free( ) system calls are exercised to allocate and free memory continuously over a wide range of addresses.
CPU tests: Tests the floating point calculations by using sin(3M), exp(3M), log(3M), atan(3M), and cos(3M).
Hard disk tests: Files are created, copied, and removed to exercise the filesystem. fsck(1M) is run to verify filesystem integrity.
Floppy disk tests: A continuous format and dd(1M) loop is executed. Data transfers occur using 30K blocks.
CD-ROM tests: Recursive ls(1) and find(1) commands are executed to exercise the CD-ROM subsystem. An unmounted CDFS filesystem CD-ROM must be installed in the drive before starting the test.

Version applicability

ddi: 7, 7mp, 8, 8mp and SVR5 non-conformant drivers.

Files

The files and directories listed with a relative pathname, are created under the /home/hcptest directory. Note that there is no actual hcptest user.

usr/bin/hcptest: The test script. This can be run only as ``root''.
log/date.dat: Contains timestamps. The data and time is written to this file once per minute while the tests are running.
doc/bulletin: Bulletin that must be completed after a successful test run.

Directories

tests/cpu/*: CPU tests.
tests/disk/*: Disk tests.
tests/cdrom/*: CD-ROM tests.
log/*: Log files generated by the tests.
tests/mem/*: Memory tests.
tests/oes/*: Balanced load tests.
tmp/*: Temporary workspace used for the hcptest.

References

loadtests(1Mcert)

``Driver testing and debugging'' in Developing device drivers
``Guidelines for all kernel drivers'' in Developing device drivers