TuxSuite, by Linaro, is a suite of tools and services to help with Linux kernel development.

To request access, email us at tuxsuite@linaro.org or fill out our access request form.

[[TOC]]

Services and their Status

Install and Configure

Install using pip

TuxSuite requires Python version 3.6 or greater, and is available using pip.

To install tuxsuite on your system globally:

sudo pip3 install -U tuxsuite

To install tuxsuite to your home directory at ~/.local/bin:

pip3 install -U --user tuxsuite

To upgrade tuxsuite to the latest version, run the same command you ran to install it.

Install using docker

tuxsuite is also available as a docker container at tuxsuite/tuxsuite.

For example, to run tuxsuite via docker:

docker run tuxsuite/tuxsuite tuxsuite build --help

Setup Config

The Authentication token needs to be stored in ~/.config/tuxsuite/config.ini. The minimal format of the ini file is given below:

$ cat ~/.config/tuxsuite/config.ini
[default]
token=vXXXXXXXYYYYYYYYYZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZg

Alternatively, the TUXSUITE_TOKEN environment variable may be provided.

If you do not have a tuxsuite token, please reach out to us at tuxsuite@linaro.org.

Examples

tuxsuite build

Submit a build request using the tuxsuite command line interface. This will wait for the build to complete before returning by default.

tuxsuite build --git-repo 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git' --git-ref master --target-arch arm64 --kconfig defconfig --toolchain gcc-9

tuxsuite build-set

Create a tuxsuite config file with a basic set of build combinations defined.

cat <<EOF > basic.yaml
sets:
  - name: basic
    builds:
      - {target_arch: arm,    toolchain: gcc-9,    kconfig: multi_v7_defconfig}
      - {target_arch: arm,    toolchain: gcc-10,   kconfig: multi_v7_defconfig}
      - {target_arch: arm,    toolchain: clang-10, kconfig: multi_v7_defconfig}
      - {target_arch: arm64,  toolchain: gcc-9,    kconfig: defconfig}
      - {target_arch: arm64,  toolchain: gcc-10,   kconfig: defconfig}
      - {target_arch: arm64,  toolchain: clang-10, kconfig: defconfig}
      - {target_arch: i386,   toolchain: gcc-9,    kconfig: defconfig}
      - {target_arch: i386,   toolchain: gcc-10,   kconfig: defconfig}
      - {target_arch: x86_64, toolchain: gcc-9,    kconfig: defconfig}
      - {target_arch: x86_64, toolchain: gcc-10,   kconfig: defconfig}
      - {target_arch: x86_64, toolchain: clang-10, kconfig: defconfig}
      - {target_arch: arc,    toolchain: gcc-10,   kconfig: hsdk_defconfig}
      - {target_arch: riscv,  toolchain: gcc-10,   kconfig: defconfig}
      - {target_arch: mips,   toolchain: gcc-10,   kconfig: ci20_defconfig}
EOF
# Build the build set defined in the config file named 'basic.yaml'
tuxsuite build-set --git-repo 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git' --git-ref master --tux-config basic.yaml --set-name basic

All the parameters can be specified in the build-set itself and invoke tuxsuite "tuxsuite build-set --tux-config <basic>.yaml --set-name <set-name>"

Curated Build Sets

Build sets can also be built with a URL to a build set definition. TuxSuite includes a curated example set of builds as a starting point at examples/buildsets.yaml.

To build the tinyconfigs set from examples/buildsets.yaml, run the following.

tuxsuite build-set --git-repo 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git' --git-ref master --tux-config https://gitlab.com/Linaro/tuxsuite/-/raw/master/examples/buildsets.yaml --set-name tinyconfigs

Precedence with build-set

If you pass an argument to cli and have it in the build-set as well then the value from build-set gets precedence over the one from cli.

Passing environment variable in build-set

In order to pass environment variables in build-set use the following syntax in the tuxsuite config yaml file:

sets:
  - name: basic
    builds:
      - target_arch: arm64
        toolchain: gcc-8
        kconfig: allnoconfig
        environment:
          KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG: arch/arm64/configs/defconfig

See environment section to know more about environment variables.

Passing make variables in build-set

In order to pass make variables in build-set use the following syntax in the tuxsuite config yaml file:

sets:
  - name: basic
    builds:
      - target_arch: arm64
        toolchain: gcc-8
        kconfig: allnoconfig
        make_variables:
          W: "1"
          LLVM: "1"

See make variables section to know more about make variables.

Passing git_repo in build-set

In order to pass git_repo in build-set use the following syntax in the tuxsuite config yaml file:

sets:
  - name: basic
    builds:
      - target_arch: arm64
        toolchain: gcc-8
        git_repo: "https://github.com/torvalds/linux.git"

Passing git_ref in build-set

In order to pass git_ref in build-set use the following syntax in the tuxsuite config yaml file:

sets:
  - name: basic
    builds:
      - target_arch: arm64
        toolchain: gcc-8
        git_ref: "master"

Passing build_name in build-set

In order to pass build_name in build-set use the following syntax in the tuxsuite config yaml file:

sets:
  - name: basic
    builds:
      - target_arch: arm64
        toolchain: gcc-8
        kconfig: allnoconfig
        build_name: "build_name"

See build_name section to know more about build_name

Passing make targets in build-set

In order to pass make targets in build-set use the following syntax in the tuxsuite config yaml file:

sets:
  - name: basic
    builds:
      - target_arch: arm64
        toolchain: gcc-8
        kconfig: allnoconfig
        targets:
          - config
          - dtbs

See targets section to know more about make targets.

Architecture and Toolchain Matrix

The following combinations of architecture and toolchain are supported.

Argument Reference

target_arch

target_arch supports arc, arm, arm64, i386, mips, parisc, powerpc, riscv, s390, sh, sparc, x86_64.

toolchain

toolchain supports gcc-8, gcc-9, gcc-10, clang-10, clang-11, clang-nightly.

kconfig

The kconfig argument is a string or a list of strings that are used to define what kernel config to use.

The first argument must be a defconfig argumnet that ends in "config", such as "defconfig" or "allmodconfig".

Subsequent arguments may be specified to enable/disable individual config options, an config fragment that exists in tree at kernel/configs/, or a url to an externally hosted config fragment.

All config options and fragments specified will be merged in the order that they are specified.

kconfig Examples

Simple defconfig build:

• tuxsuite --kconfig defconfig ...
• yaml (string): kconfig: defconfig
• yaml (list): kconfig: [defconfig]

Enable or disable individual options:

• tuxsuite --kconfig defconfig --kconfig "CONFIG_COMPILE_TEST=y" --kconfig "CONFIG_PROFILE_ALL_BRANCHES=n"
• yaml: kconfig: [defconfig, "CONFIG_COMPILE_TEST=y", "CONFIG_PROFILE_ALL_BRANCHES=n"]

Using external fragment files:

• tuxsuite --kconfig defconfig --kconfig "https://gist.githubusercontent.com/danrue/9e1e4d90149daadd5199256cc18a0499/raw/752138764ec039e4593185bfff888250a3d7692f/gistfile1.txt"
• yaml: kconfig: [defconfig, "https://gist.githubusercontent.com/danrue/9e1e4d90149daadd5199256cc18a0499/raw/752138764ec039e4593185bfff888250a3d7692f/gistfile1.txt"]

Using in-tree fragment files. The file referenced needs to exist in kernel/configs/:

• tuxsuite --kconfig defconfig --kconfig "kvm_guest.config"
• yaml: kconfig: [defconfig, "kvm_guest.config"]

All of these options can be combined. They will be merged in the order they are specified:

• tuxsuite --kconfig allnoconfig --kconfig "kvm_guest.config" --kconfig "https://gist.githubusercontent.com/danrue/9e1e4d90149daadd5199256cc18a0499/raw/752138764ec039e4593185bfff888250a3d7692f/gistfile1.txt" --kconfig CONFIG_COMPILE_TEST=y --kconfig "CONFIG_PROFILE_ALL_BRANCHES=n"
• yaml:

kconfig:
  - allnoconfig
  - kvm_guest.configs
  - https://gist.githubusercontent.com/danrue/9e1e4d90149daadd5199256cc18a0499/raw/752138764ec039e4593185bfff888250a3d7692f/gistfile1.txt
  - CONFIG_COMPILE_TEST=y
  - CONFIG_PROFILE_ALL_BRANCHES=n

json-out

The --json-out \<filename.json\> command-line option accepts a filesystem path, where it will write a status file in json format at the end of a build or a build-set. The file will contain, for example:

{
    "build_key": "_YNU6WjSnKv_Akdajrnhyw",
    "build_status": "pass",
    "download_url": "https://builds.tuxbuild.com/_YNU6WjSnKv_Akdajrnhyw/",
    "errors_count": 0,
    "git_describe": "v5.6-rc6-9-gac309e7744be",
    "git_sha": "ac309e7744bee222df6de0122facaf2d9706fa70",
    "git_short_log": "ac309e7744be (\"Merge branch 'for-linus' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/hid/hid\")",
    "status_message": "build completed",
    "tuxbuild_status": "complete",
    "warnings_count": 0
}

The --json-out result of a build set will contain a list of entries.

build_name

The build_name argument is a user defined string used as an identifier for the build.

example:

• tuxsuite --build-name "test_build_name"

quiet mode

Passing -q/--quiet to build or build-set will cause tuxsuite to produce minimal output. In particular:

• Only the final build artifacts URLs will be printed to stdout.
• No progress information will be printed while waiting for the builds to finish.
• Warnings and errors, including build failures, will be printed to stderr.

$ tuxsuite build --quiet --git-repo 'https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git' --git-ref master --target-arch arm64 --kconfig defconfig --toolchain gcc-9
https://builds.tuxbuild.com/_YNU6WjSnKv_Akdajrnhyw/

This is handy for use in automation/CI scripts.

environment

The environment argument accepts a key value pair that is used to pass the environment variables that will be set during the build.

Passing -e/--enviroment to build or build-set will set the environment variables during build time. There could be multiple environment variables passed via this argument.

There is a minimal set of environment variables that are supported. Arbitrary environment variables cannot be supplied, except for the ones listed below:

• KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG

Example:

tuxsuite build --git-repo https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git --git-ref master --target-arch arm --toolchain clang-10 --kconfig
tinyconfig --environment KCONFIG_ALLCONFIG=arch/arm64/configs/defconfig

make variables

The make variables argument accepts a key value pair that is used to pass the make variables that will be set during the build.

There could be multiple make variables passed via this argument. There is a minimal set of make variables that are supported. Arbitrary make variables cannot be supplied, except for the ones listed below:

• W
• LLVM
• LLVM_IAS
• LD
• AR
• NM
• STRIP
• OBJCOPY
• OBJDUMP
• READELF
• HOSTAR
• HOSTLD

Example:

tuxsuite build --git-repo https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git --git-ref master --target-arch arm --toolchain clang-10 --kconfig
tinyconfig W=1 LLVM=1

targets

The targets argument accepts a list of strings that are used as the make target during the build. Only those targets (if specified) and its pre-req targets will be built during the build run.

There is a minimal set of targets that are supported. Arbitrary targets cannot be supplied, except for the ones listed below:

1. config
2. debugkernel
3. dtbs
4. kernel
5. modules
6. xipkernel

Example:

tuxsuite build --git-repo https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git --git-ref master --target-arch arm --toolchain clang-10 --kconfig
tinyconfig config modules

Specifying which tree to build

For both build and build-set, you can specify the tree to build in the following ways:

• --git-repo=REPO and --git-ref=REF.
• --git-repo=REPO and --git-SHA=SHA.
• --git-head.

REPO needs to be a publically-accessible git repository URL. REF needs to be a ref name, i.e. the name of a valid branch or tag in REPO. SHA needs to be the SHA1 identifier of a git commit that exists in REPO.

--git-head can be used to build the tip of the git repository in the current directory, in which case tuxsuite will do the follwing:

• determine the remote to be used from the tuxsuite.remote git configuration variable, or origin if that variable is not set.
• transform the remote URL into a public URL, if not already one.
• push HEAD to that remote as refs/tuxsuite/$SHA.
• trigger the builds using its publically-accessible URL + the commit SHA for HEAD.

Using the API

The API examples below assume an environmental variable named TUXSUITE_TOKEN exists and contains a valid token. The following is not a valid token, but it is an example of what it looks like. If you do not have a valid token, please reach out to us at tuxsuite@linaro.org.

export TUXSUITE_TOKEN="gFkCz8wRHEA4BILyY4CtDfokKT5jPq1x413oGXvq3487ZAsZg9e_LJc4VUFrlahFRvp5kaKsnxZdnP7YdF4D-w"

Additionally, tuxsuite's default API endpoint is at https://api.tuxbuild.com/v1

Submit build with curl

The /build API endpoint takes the same arguments as the tuxsuite cli, formatted as a list of json objects.

$ curl -X POST --header "Authorization: $TUXSUITE_TOKEN" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json"  \
    --data '[{"git_repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git", "git_ref": "master", "target_arch": "arm64", "kconfig": "defconfig", "toolchain": "gcc-9" }]' \
    https://api.tuxbuild.com/v1/build
[{"git_repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git", "git_ref": "master", "target_arch": "arm64", "toolchain": "gcc-9", "kconfig": ["defconfig"], "client_token: "", "build_key": "PfHHehT4WzqbGCWFLOZ-Cg", "download_url": "https://builds.tuxbuild.com/PfHHehT4WzqbGCWFLOZ-Cg/"}]

The result of the POST is a json data structure describing the build. Printed with jq, it looks like the following:

[
  {
    "git_repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git",
    "git_ref": "master",
    "target_arch": "arm64",
    "toolchain": "gcc-9",
    "kconfig": [
      "defconfig"
    ],
    "client_token": "",
    "build_key": "4rolWYpvqW70LYGx9TIRcA",
    "download_url": "https://builds.tuxbuild.com/4rolWYpvqW70LYGx9TIRcA/"
  }
]

Use /status to monitor the status of the build.

Submit build set with curl

Using the same build endpoint, multiple builds can be requested. For example, build mainline with arm64 and arm.

$ curl -X POST --header "Authorization: $TUXSUITE_TOKEN" \
    --header "Content-Type: application/json"  \
    --data '[{"git_repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git", "git_ref": "master", "target_arch": "arm64", "kconfig": "defconfig", "toolchain": "gcc-9" }, {"git_repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git", "git_ref": "master", "target_arch": "arm", "kconfig": "defconfig", "toolchain": "gcc-9" }]' \
    https://api.tuxbuild.com/v1/build

Once again, it will return a json list.

[
  {
    "git_repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git",
    "git_ref": "master",
    "target_arch": "arm64",
    "toolchain": "gcc-9",
    "kconfig": [
      "defconfig"
    ],
    "client_token": "",
    "build_key": "H8ITBrgWFjJ_NiriZFteEw",
    "download_url": "https://builds.tuxbuild.com/H8ITBrgWFjJ_NiriZFteEw/"
  },
  {
    "git_repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git",
    "git_ref": "master",
    "target_arch": "arm",
    "toolchain": "gcc-9",
    "kconfig": [
      "defconfig"
    ],
    "client_token": "",
    "build_key": "yn1vuBZZF0nE2F-Vap7y-A",
    "download_url": "https://builds.tuxbuild.com/yn1vuBZZF0nE2F-Vap7y-A/"
  }
]

Use /status to monitor the status of the builds.

Check build status with curl

The status API endpoint will return the current status of a given build_key.

curl -s --header "Authorization: $TUXSUITE_TOKEN" --header "Content-Type: application/json" https://api.tuxbuild.com/v1/status/4rolWYpvqW70LYGx9TIRcA

It will return a json object such as the following:

{
  "build_key": "4rolWYpvqW70LYGx9TIRcA",
  "tuxbuild_status": "building",
  "client_token": "",
  "build_status": "building",
  "git_sha": "d3dca69085e94e52a1d61a34b8e5f73a9f3d7eed",
  "git_describe": "v5.6-rc5-270-gd3dca69085e9",
  "git_short_log": "d3dca69085e9 (\"Merge branch 'i2c/for-current' of git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/wsa/linux\")",
  "warnings_count": null,
  "errors_count": null,
  "download_url": "https://builds.tuxbuild.com/4rolWYpvqW70LYGx9TIRcA/",
  "status_message": " "
}

For a full desciription of the status fields, see the Build Status section.

Build Status

The status API call and status.json file provide the following fields.

build_key

(string) The generated build key for the given build.

build_status

(string) A single word describing the current status of the build, which changes as the build proceeds and ends up with one of the terminal statuses.

queued - A build is queued until a server and source code are available to perform the build.

building - A build is building while the build is actually being performed.

pass - A build completed without errors.

fail - A build has completed with one or more errors.

error - Something went wrong. See status_message for a description of the error.

graph TD
  A[queued] --> B(building)
  B --> C(pass)
  B --> D(fail)
  B --> E(error)

client_token

(string) user-defined string (characters [a-z0-9-]) which is echoed back as a status field. The tuxsuite client uses this to uniquely identify which build is which in a build-set.

download_url

(string) URL to the build artifact location.

errors_count

(integer) Count of errors in build. A build with a count > 0 is considered a failed build.

git_describe

(string) The result of running git describe.

git_sha

(string) The full 40-character sha of the build.

git_short_log

(string) A short string describing the git sha.

status_message

(string) In the event that tuxbuild_status is "error", status_message will contain an error description. In the event of a completed build, status message will contain 'build completed'.

tuxbuild_status

(string) A single word describing the tuxsuite/infrastructure status of the build, irrespective of the actual contents and results of the build.

queued - A build is queued until a server and source code are available to perform the build.

building - A build is building while the build is actually being performed.

complete - There is nothing left to do.

error - Something went wrong. See status_message for a description of the error.

graph TD
  A[queued] --> B(building)
  B --> C(complete)
  B --> E(error)

warnings_count

(integer) Count of warnings in build.

Python client API

The tuxsuite client can also be used from Python programs. The authentication token needs to be in place in ~/.config/tuxsuite/config.ini, or via the $TUXSUITE_TOKEN environment variable.

Single builds

import tuxsuite

params = {
    "git_repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git",
    "git_ref": "master",
    "target_arch": "arm64",
    "toolchain": "gcc-9",
    "kconfig": [
      "defconfig"
    ],
}

# fire and forget
build = tuxsuite.Build(**params)
build.build()

# submit a build and wait for it to finish, quietly
build = tuxsuite.Build(**params)
build.build()
state = build.wait()
print(f"{state.icon} #{build}: #{state.message}")

# submit build and watch its progress
build = tuxsuite.Build(**params)
build.build()
for state in build.watch():
  print(f"{state.icon} #{build}: #{state.message}")

Build sets

Build sets have a very similar api as individual builds, except that 1) the majority of the parameters comes from the build set configured in ~/.config/tuxsuite/builds.yaml and 2) wait() will return a list of build states. watch() works similarly but you get updates for all the builds as soon as they change state.

params = {
    "git_repo": "https://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git",
    "git_ref": "master",
}
set_name = "my-build-set"

# fire and forget
build_set = tuxsuite.BuildSet(set_name, **params)
build_set.build()

# submit a build set, quietly wait for all of them to finish, then print their
# results
build_set = tuxsuite.BuildSet(set_name, **params)
build_set.build()
results = build_set.wait():
for state in results:
  print(f"{state.icon} #{state.build}: #{state.message}")

# submit build set and watch progress by printing each status update as it
# arrives
build_set = tuxsuite.BuildSet(set_name, **params)
build_set.build()
for state in build_set.watch():
  print(f"{state.icon} #{state.build}: #{state.message}")

Projects and Developers using tuxsuite

• LKFT - Linaro's Linux Kernel Functional Testing uses tuxsuite with gitlab-ci to continuously build upstream Linux kernels. The kernels are then functionally tested on a variety of hardware using LAVA.
• Lee Jones uses a GitLab CI pipeline to validate his 3.18 kernel maintainership. The gitlab pipeline, tuxsuite config, and README.md documenting its setup are defined in the kernel-pipeline repository.

Support

If you have any questions or concerns, please email them to tuxsuite@linaro.org. Please include the build ID with any build-specific questions.