How hw-test works
hw-test runs tests against hardware and shares a pool of
boards safely between teams. You can run it from a developer shell or from CI.
You do not operate the hardware directly. A test asks for a board by its
capabilities (for example sc598 and ezkit); hw-test finds a
compatible free board, reserves it, runs the test, and releases it afterwards.
The pieces
- Shared coordinator
The booking service. It keeps the inventory of hardware and records who has reserved each board. You connect to it by setting
LG_COORDINATOR; your team/organization owns and runs it, so you join it rather than set one up.- Hardware host
The machine physically wired to a board and its equipment: serial console, power switch, debug probe, GPIO. (Labgrid calls this an exporter.)
- Board slot
A reservable board in the shared pool is described by capability tags rather than by location or serial number. A test selects one by tags. (Labgrid calls this a place.)
- Driver
A single control on the board. Power, console, GPIO, SSH, OpenOCD, etc. A test asks for a driver by its protocol.
You rarely touch these directly. Each term maps to a Labgrid word. See glossary.
Where to go next
Run an existing test on a board that sis already set up: Run a test.
Write a new test for a supported platform: Write a test.
Add your board or fixture to the shared pool: Integrate hardware.
Run hardware tests from CI: Run tests in CI.
Set up a new hardware host for your team: Set up a hardware host.