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+<!DOCTYPE chapter PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.2//EN"
+"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.2/docbookx.dtd"
+[<!ENTITY % poky SYSTEM "../poky.ent"> %poky; ] >
+<!--SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-2.0-UK-->
+
+<chapter id='test-manual-understand-autobuilder'>
+
+<title>Understanding the Yocto Project Autobuilder</title>
+ <section>
+ <title>Execution Flow within the Autobuilder</title>
+ <para>The “a-full” and “a-quick” targets are the usual entry points into the Autobuilder and
+ it makes sense to follow the process through the system starting there. This is best
+ visualised from the Autobuilder Console view (<link linkend=""
+ >https://autobuilder.yoctoproject.org/typhoon/#/console</link>). </para>
+ <para>Each item along the top of that view represents some “target build” and these targets
+ are all run in parallel. The ‘full’ build will trigger the majority of them, the “quick”
+ build will trigger some subset of them. The Autobuilder effectively runs whichever
+ configuration is defined for each of those targets on a seperate buildbot worker. To
+ understand the configuration, you need to look at the entry on
+ <filename>config.json</filename> file within the
+ <filename>yocto-autobuilder-helper</filename> repository. The targets are defined in
+ the ‘overrides’ section, a quick example could be qemux86-64 which looks
+ like:<literallayout class="monospaced">
+ "qemux86-64" : {
+ "MACHINE" : "qemux86-64",
+ "TEMPLATE" : "arch-qemu",
+ "step1" : {
+ "extravars" : [
+ "IMAGE_FSTYPES_append = ' wic wic.bmap'"
+ ]
+ }
+ },
+ </literallayout>And
+ to expand that, you need the “arch-qemu” entry from the “templates” section, which looks
+ like:<literallayout class="monospaced">
+ "arch-qemu" : {
+ "BUILDINFO" : true,
+ "BUILDHISTORY" : true,
+ "step1" : {
+ "BBTARGETS" : "core-image-sato core-image-sato-dev core-image-sato-sdk core-image-minimal core-image-minimal-dev core-image-sato:do_populate_sdk",
+ "SANITYTARGETS" : "core-image-minimal:do_testimage core-image-sato:do_testimage core-image-sato-sdk:do_testimage core-image-sato:do_testsdk"
+ },
+ "step2" : {
+ "SDKMACHINE" : "x86_64",
+ "BBTARGETS" : "core-image-sato:do_populate_sdk core-image-minimal:do_populate_sdk_ext core-image-sato:do_populate_sdk_ext",
+ "SANITYTARGETS" : "core-image-sato:do_testsdk core-image-minimal:do_testsdkext core-image-sato:do_testsdkext"
+ },
+ "step3" : {
+ "BUILDHISTORY" : false,
+ "EXTRACMDS" : ["${SCRIPTSDIR}/checkvnc; DISPLAY=:1 oe-selftest ${HELPERSTMACHTARGS} -j 15"],
+ "ADDLAYER" : ["${BUILDDIR}/../meta-selftest"]
+ }
+ },
+ </literallayout>Combining
+ these two entries you can see that “qemux86-64” is a three step build where the
+ <filename>bitbake BBTARGETS</filename> would be run, then <filename>bitbake
+ SANITYTARGETS</filename> for each step; all for
+ <filename>MACHINE=”qemx86-64”</filename> but with differing SDKMACHINE settings. In
+ step 1 an extra variable is added to the <filename>auto.conf</filename> file to enable
+ wic image generation.</para>
+ <para>While not every detail of this is covered here, you can see how the templating
+ mechanism allows quite complex configurations to be built up yet allows duplication and
+ repetition to be kept to a minimum.</para>
+ <para>The different build targets are designed to allow for parallelisation, so different
+ machines are usually built in parallel, operations using the same machine and metadata
+ are built sequentially, with the aim of trying to optimise build efficiency as much as
+ possible.</para>
+ <para>The <filename>config.json</filename> file is processed by the scripts in the Helper
+ repository in the <filename>scripts</filename> directory. The following section details
+ how this works.</para>
+ </section>
+
+ <section id='test-autobuilder-target-exec-overview'>
+ <title>Autobuilder Target Execution Overview</title>
+
+ <para>For each given target in a build, the Autobuilder executes several steps. These are
+ configured in <filename>yocto-autobuilder2/builders.py</filename> and roughly consist
+ of: <orderedlist>
+ <listitem id='test-list-tgt-exec-clobberdir'>
+ <para><emphasis>Run <filename>clobberdir</filename></emphasis></para>
+ <para>This cleans out any previous build. Old builds are left around to allow
+ easier debugging of failed builds. For additional information, see <link
+ linkend="test-clobberdir"><filename>clobberdir</filename></link>.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><emphasis>Obtain yocto-autobuilder-helper</emphasis></para>
+ <para>This step clones the <filename>yocto-autobuilder-helper</filename> git
+ repository. This is necessary to prevent the requirement to maintain all the
+ release or project-specific code within Buildbot. The branch chosen matches
+ the release being built so we can support older releases and still make
+ changes in newer ones.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><emphasis>Write layerinfo.json</emphasis></para>
+ <para>This transfers data in the Buildbot UI when the build was configured to
+ the Helper.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><emphasis>Call scripts/shared-repo-unpack</emphasis></para>
+ <para>This is a call into the Helper scripts to set up a checkout of all the
+ pieces this build might need. It might clone the BitBake repository and the
+ OpenEmbedded-Core repository. It may clone the Poky repository, as well as
+ additional layers. It will use the data from the
+ <filename>layerinfo.json</filename> file to help understand the
+ configuration. It will also use a local cache of repositories to speed up
+ the clone checkouts. For additional information, see <link
+ linkend="test-autobuilder-clone-cache">Autobuilder Clone
+ Cache</link>.</para>
+ <para>This step has two possible modes of operation. If the build is part of a
+ parent build, its possible that all the repositories needed may already be
+ available, ready in a pre-prepared directory. An "a-quick" or "a-full" build
+ would prepare this before starting the other sub-target builds. This is done
+ for two reasons:<itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>the upstream may change during a build, for example, from a
+ forced push and this ensures we have matching content for the
+ whole build</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>if 15 Workers all tried to pull the same data from the same
+ repos, we can hit resource limits on upstream servers as they
+ can think they are under some kind of network attack</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>This pre-prepared directory is shared among the Workers over
+ NFS. If the build is an individual build and there is no "shared" directory
+ available, it would clone from the cache and the upstreams as necessary.
+ This is considered the fallback mode.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para><emphasis>Call scripts/run-config</emphasis></para>
+ <para>This is another call into the Helper scripts where its expected that the
+ main functionality of this target will be executed.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist></para>
+ </section>
+ <section id='test-autobuilder-tech'>
+ <title>Autobuilder Technology</title>
+ <para>The Autobuilder has Yocto Project-specific functionality to allow builds to operate
+ with increased efficiency and speed.</para>
+ <section id='test-clobberdir'>
+ <title>clobberdir</title>
+ <para>When deleting files, the Autobuilder uses <filename>clobberdir</filename>, which
+ is a special script that moves files to a special location, rather than deleting
+ them. Files in this location are deleted by an <filename>rm</filename> command,
+ which is run under <filename>ionice -c 3</filename>. For example, the deletion only
+ happens when there is idle IO capacity on the Worker. The Autobuilder Worker Janitor
+ runs this deletion. See <link linkend="test-autobuilder-worker-janitor">Autobuilder
+ Worker Janitor</link>.</para>
+ </section>
+ <section id='test-autobuilder-clone-cache'>
+ <title>Autobuilder Clone Cache</title>
+ <para>Cloning repositories from scratch each time they are required was slow on the
+ Autobuilder. We therefore have a stash of commonly used repositories pre-cloned on
+ the Workers. Data is fetched from these during clones first, then "topped up" with
+ later revisions from any upstream when necesary. The cache is maintained by the
+ Autobuilder Worker Janitor. See <link linkend="test-autobuilder-worker-janitor"
+ >Autobuilder Worker Janitor</link>.</para>
+ </section>
+ <section id='test-autobuilder-worker-janitor'>
+ <title>Autobuilder Worker Janitor</title>
+ <para>This is a process running on each Worker that performs two basic operations,
+ including background file deletion at IO idle (see <link
+ linkend="test-list-tgt-exec-clobberdir">Target Execution: clobberdir</link>) and
+ maintainenance of a cache of cloned repositories to improve the speed the system can
+ checkout repositories.</para>
+ </section>
+ <section id='test-shared-dl-dir'>
+ <title>Shared DL_DIR</title>
+ <para>The Workers are all connected over NFS which allows DL_DIR to be shared between
+ them. This reduces network accesses from the system and allows the build to be sped
+ up. Usage of the directory within the build system is designed to be able to be
+ shared over NFS.</para>
+ </section>
+ <section id='test-shared-sstate-cache'>
+ <title>Shared SSTATE_DIR</title>
+ <para>The Workers are all connected over NFS which allows the
+ <filename>sstate</filename> directory to be shared between them. This means once
+ a Worker has built an artefact, all the others can benefit from it. Usage of the
+ directory within the directory is designed for sharing over NFS.</para>
+ </section>
+ <section id='test-resulttool'>
+ <title>Resulttool</title>
+ <para>All of the different tests run as part of the build generate output into
+ <filename>testresults.json</filename> files. This allows us to determine which
+ tests ran in a given build and their status. Additional information, such as failure
+ logs or the time taken to run the tests, may also be included.</para>
+ <para>Resulttool is part of OpenEmbedded-Core and is used to manipulate these json
+ results files. It has the ability to merge files together, display reports of the
+ test results and compare different result files.</para>
+ <para>For details, see <link linkend=""
+ >https://wiki.yoctoproject.org/wiki/Resulttool</link>.</para>
+ </section>
+ </section>
+ <section id='test-run-config-tgt-execution'>
+ <title>run-config Target Execution</title>
+ <para>The <filename>scripts/run-config</filename> execution is where most of the work within
+ the Autobuilder happens. It runs through a number of steps; the first are general setup
+ steps that are run once and include:<orderedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Set up any <filename>buildtools-tarball</filename> if configured.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>Call "buildhistory-init" if buildhistory is configured.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist></para>
+ <para>For each step that is configured in <filename>config.json</filename>, it will perform
+ the following:</para>
+ <para>
+ <remark>## WRITER's question: What does "logging in as stepXa" and others refer to
+ below? ##</remark>
+ <orderedlist>
+ <listitem id="test-run-config-add-layers-step">
+ <para dir="ltr">Add any layers that are specified using the
+ <filename>bitbake-layers add-layer</filename> command (logging as
+ stepXa)</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para dir="ltr">Call the <filename>scripts/setup-config</filename> script to
+ generate the necessary <filename>auto.conf</filename> configuration file for
+ the build</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para dir="ltr">Run the <filename>bitbake BBTARGETS</filename> command (logging
+ as stepXb)</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para dir="ltr">Run the <filename>bitbake SANITYTARGETS</filename> command
+ (logging as stepXc)</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para dir="ltr">Run the <filename>EXTRACMDS</filename> command, which are run
+ within the BitBake build environment (logging as stepXd)</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para dir="ltr">Run the <filename>EXTRAPLAINCMDS</filename> command(s), which
+ are run outside the BitBake build environment (logging as stepXd)</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para dir="ltr">Remove any layers added in <link
+ linkend="test-run-config-add-layers-step">step 1</link> using the
+ <filename>bitbake-layers remove-layer</filename> command (logging as
+ stepXa)</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist>
+ </para>
+ <para>Once the execution steps above complete, <filename>run-config</filename> executes a
+ set of post-build steps, including:<orderedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para dir="ltr">Call <filename>scripts/publish-artifacts</filename> to collect
+ any output which is to be saved from the build.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para dir="ltr">Call <filename>scripts/collect-results</filename> to collect any
+ test results to be saved from the build.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para dir="ltr">Call <filename>scripts/upload-error-reports</filename> to send
+ any error reports generated to the remote server.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para dir="ltr">Cleanup the build directory using <link
+ linkend="test-clobberdir"><filename>clobberdir</filename></link> if the
+ build was successful, else rename it to “build-renamed” for potential future
+ debugging.</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </orderedlist></para>
+ </section>
+ <section id='test-deploying-yp-autobuilder'>
+ <title>Deploying Yocto Autobuilder</title>
+ <para>The most up to date information about how to setup and deploy your own Autbuilder can
+ be found in README.md in the <filename>yocto-autobuilder2</filename> repository.</para>
+ <para>We hope that people can use the <filename>yocto-autobuilder2</filename> code directly
+ but it is inevitable that users will end up needing to heavily customise the
+ <filename>yocto-autobuilder-helper</filename> repository, particularly the
+ <filename>config.json</filename> file as they will want to define their own test
+ matrix.</para>
+ <para>The Autobuilder supports wo customization options: <itemizedlist>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>variable substitution</para>
+ </listitem>
+ <listitem>
+ <para>overlaying configuration files</para>
+ </listitem>
+ </itemizedlist>The standard <filename>config.json</filename> minimally attempts to allow
+ substitution of the paths. The Helper script repository includes a
+ <filename>local-example.json</filename> file to show how you could override these
+ from a separate configuration file. Pass the following into the environment of the
+ Autobuilder:<literallayout class="monospaced">
+ $ ABHELPER_JSON="config.json local-example.json"
+ </literallayout>As
+ another example, you could also pass the following into the
+ environment:<literallayout class="monospaced">
+ $ ABHELPER_JSON="config.json <replaceable>/some/location/</replaceable>local.json"
+ </literallayout>One
+ issue users often run into is validation of the <filename>config.json</filename> files.
+ A tip for minimizing issues from invalid json files is to use a Git
+ <filename>pre-commit-hook.sh</filename> script to verify the JSON file before
+ committing it. Create a symbolic link as
+ follows:<literallayout class="monospaced">
+ $ ln -s ../../scripts/pre-commit-hook.sh .git/hooks/pre-commit
+ </literallayout></para>
+ </section>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</chapter>
+<!--
+vim: expandtab tw=80 ts=4
+-->