[Linux-aus] Grant request: tinderbox / distcc host for libferris

[James Purser]

Ladies and Gentlemen of the membership,

We have hit our two week comment period for the following grant request
so it will either be approved or not at the next teleconf. This is your
last chance if you have any feelings either way or any questions for Ben
on his project.

Thanks

-- 
James Purser
Ordinary Committee Member
Linux Australia
http://linux.org.au


On Sun, 2006-06-25 at 19:27 +1000, Ben Martin wrote:
> Hi,
>   As it seems that grant requests tend to get discussed on the LA list I
> thought I'd send to both. Sorry if it has annoyed anyone.
> 
> Date: June 25th, 2006
> 
> Project Name: Tinderboxing libferris
> 
> Person Resposible for Request:
> Ben Martin
> 
> Aim of Project:
> As part of developing libferris I have also a dejagnu testsuite. The
> core expect file being over 3kloc providing 700+ tests on a libferris
> install. Running all of these tests takes considerable resources both in
> terms of the machine and wall time. The two primary reasons that the
> suite was constructed were to perform unit testing as code was developed
> and to ensure that regressions are detected. Due to the scope of
> libferris the test rig needs a rather intricate setup. For example,
> postgresql databases setup with correct user access permissions.
> 
> Request:
> The request is for a new machine to perform automated tinderboxing and
> distcc compilation on. I estimate the cost of a AMD X2 with 2Gb of RAM
> built with reasonable components to be about $1850. The justification
> for this selection is to use the RAM + CPU power to be able to perform
> full regression test runs by taking advantage of tmpfs mount points etc.
> The other facet is having a fast machine around to service distcc
> requests (mainly, as you might imagine, for compiling libferris ;).
> 
> Also, with a dedicated tinderhost I can setup Xen to run the suite
> inside of. With such a setup I can extend the testsuite to run tests
> which might have very bad outcomes for a machine if they fail. I have
> been unable to get Xen and certain X drivers to function in harmony on
> my desktop machine, preventing me from pursuing this testing route.
> I currently run the suite as a dedicated user ID with some other
> sandboxing stuff going on. I'd like to be able to have the testsuite run
> and test some commands as root without fear of bad things might happen.
> 
> A nice side benefit of the Xen approach is to allow folks to download
> the testsuite image for their own "enjoyment".
> 
> Some libferris details;
> http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/8901
> http://www.linuxjournal.com/article/7771
> 

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