The mysql-test framework utilizes many other files that affect the testing process, in addition to test and result files.

disabled.def file

This file can be used to disable certain tests temporarily. For example, if one test fails and you are working on that, you may want to push the changeset that disables the test into the test suite so that other tests won't be disturbed by this failure.

The file contains test names and a comment (that should explain why the test was disabled), separated by a colon. Lines that start with a hash sign (#) are ignored. A typical disabled.def may look like this (note that a hash sign in the middle of a line does not start a comment):

# List of disabled tests
# test name : comment
rpl_redirect : Fails due to bug#49978
events_time_zone  : need to fix the timing

During testing, mtr will print disabled tests like this:

...
rpl.rpl_redirect              [ disabled ]  Fails due to bug#49978
rpl.events_time_zone          [ disabled ]  need to fix the timing
...

This file should be located in the suite directory.

suite.opt file

This file lists server options that will be added to the mysqld command line for every test of this suite. It can refer to environment variables with the $NAME syntax. Shell meta-characters should be quoted. For example

--plugin-load=$AUTH_PAM_SO
--max-connections=40 --net_read_timeout=5
"--replicate-rewrite-db=test->rewrite"

Note that options may be put either on one line or on separate lines. It is a good idea to start an option name with the --loose- prefix if the server may or may not recognize the option depending on the configuration. An unknown option in the .opt file will stop the server from starting, and the test will be aborted.

This file should be located in the suite directory.

other *.opt files

For every test or include file somefile.test or somefile.inc, mtr will look for somefile.opt, somefile-master.opt and somefile-slave.opt. These files have exactly the same syntax as the suite.opt above. Options from these files will also be added to the server command line (all servers started for this test, only master, or only slave respectively) for all affected tests, for example, for all tests that include somefile.inc directly or indirectly.

A typical usage example is include/have_blackhole.inc and include/have_blackhole.opt. The latter contains the necessary command-line options to load the Blackhole storage engine, while the former verifies that the engine was really loaded. Any test that needs the Blackhole engine needs only to start from source include/have_blackhole.inc; and the engine will be automatically loaded for the test.

my.cnf file

This is not the my.cnf file that tests from this suite will use, but rather a template of it. It will be converted later to an actual my.cnf. If a suite contains no my.cnf template, a default template, — include/default_my.cnf — will be used. Or suite/rpl/my.cnf if the test includes master-slave.inc (it's one of the few bits of the old MySQL mysql-test-run magic that we have not removed yet). Typically a suite template will not contain a complete server configuration, but rather start from

!include include/default_my.cnf

and then add the necessary modifications.

The syntax of my.cnf template is the same of a normal my.cnf file, with a few extensions and assumptions. They are:

• For any group with the name [mysqld.N], where N is a number, mtr will start one mysqld process. Usually one needs to have only [mysqld.1] group, and [mysqld.2] group for replication tests.

• There can be groups with non-standard names ([foo], [bar], whatever), not used by mysqld. The suite.pm files (see below) may use them somehow.

• Values can refer to each other using the syntax @groupname.optionname — these references be expanded as needed. For example

  [mysqld.2]
  master-port= @mysqld.1.port
  

• it sets the value of the master-port in the [mysqld.2] group to the value of port in the [mysqld.1] group.

• An option name may start with a hash sign #. In the resulting my.cnf it will look like a comment, but it still can be referred to. For example:

[example]
#location = localhost:@mysqld.1.port
bar = server:@example.#location/data

• There is the [ENV] group. It sets values for the environment variables. For example

  [ENV]
  MASTER_MYPORT = @mysqld.1.port
  

• Also, one can refer to values of environment variables via this group:

  [mysqld.1]
  user = @ENV.LOGNAME
  

• There is the [OPT] group. It allows to invoke functions and generate values. Currently it contains only one option — @OPT.port. Every time this option is referred to in some other group in the my.cnf template, a new unique port number is generated. It will not match any other port number used by this test run. For example

  [ENV]
  SPHINXSEARCH_PORT = @OPT.port
  

This file should be located in the suite directory.

other *.cnf files

For every test file somefile.test (but for not included files) mtr will look for somefile.cnf file. If such a file exists, it will be used as a template instead of suite my.cnf or a default include/default_my.cnf templates.

combinations file

The combinations file defines few sets of alternative configurations, and every test in this suite will be run many times - once for every configuration. This can be used, for example, to run all replication tests in the rpl suite for all three binlog format modes (row, statement, and mixed). A corresponding combinations file would look as following:

[row]
binlog-format=row

[stmt]
binlog-format=statement

[mix]
binlog-format=mixed

It uses my.cnf file syntax, with groups (where group names define combination names) and options. But, despite the similarity, it is not a my.cnf template, and it cannot use the templating extentions. Instead, options from the combinations file are added to the server command line. In this regard, combination file is closer to suite.opt file. And just like it, combination file can use environment variables using the $NAME syntax.

Not all tests will necessarily run for all combinations. A particular test may require to be run only in one specific combination. For example, in replication, if a test can only be run with the row binlog format, it will have --binlog-format=row in one of the .opt files. In this case, mtr will notice that server command line already has an option that matches one of the combinations, and will skip all other combinations for this particular test.

The combinations file should be located in the suite directory.

other *.combinations files

Just like with the *.opt files, mtr will use somefile.combinations file for any somefile.test and somefile.inc that is used in testing. These files have exactly the same format as a suite combinations file.

This can cause many combination files affecting one test file (if a test includes two .inc files, and both of them have corresponding .combinations files). In this case, mtr will run the test for all combinations of combinations from both files. In MariaDB 5.5, for example, rpl_init.inc adds combinations for row/statement/mixed, and have_innodb.inc adds combinations for innodb/xtradb. Thus any replication test that uses innodb will be run six times.

suite.pm file

This (optional) file is a perl module. It must declare a package that inherits from My::Suite.

This file must normally end with bless {} — that is it must return an object of that class. It can also return a string — in this case all tests in the suite will be skipped, with this string being printed as a reason (for example "PBXT engine was not compiled").

A suite class can define the following methods:

• config_files()
• is_default()
• list_cases()
• servers()
• skip_combinations()
• start_test()

A config_files() method returns a list of additional config files (besides my.cnf), that this suite needs to be created. For every file it specifies a function that will create it, when given a My::Config object. For example:

sub config_files {(
    'config.ini' => \&write_ini,
    'new.conf'   => \&do_new
)}

A servers() method returns a list of processes that needs to be started for this suite. A process is specified as a [regex, hash] pair. The regular expression must match a section in the my.cnf template (for example, qr/mysqld\./ corresponds to all mysqld processes), the hash contains these options:

sub servers {(
    qr/^foo$/ => { SORT => 200,  # start foo before mysqld
                   START => \&start_foo,
                   WAIT => \&wait_foo }
)}

See the sphinx suite for a working example.

A list_cases() method returns a complete list of tests for this suite. By default it will be the list of files that have .test extension, but without the extension. This list will be filtered by mtr, subject to different mtr options (--big-test, --start-from, etc), the suite object does not have to do it.

A start_test() method starts one test process, by default it will be mysqltest. See the unit suite for a working example of list_cases() and start_test() methods.

A skip_combinations() method returns a hash that maps file names (where combinations are defined) to a list of combinations that should be skipped. As a special case, it can disable a complete file by using a string instead of a hash. For example

sub skip_combinations {(
    'combinations' => [ 'mix', 'rpl' ],
    'inc/many.combinations' => [ 'a', 'bb', 'c' ],
    'windows.inc' => "Not on windows",
)}

The last line will cause all tests of this suite that include windows.inc to be skipped with the reason being "Not on windows".

An is_default() method returns 1 if this particular suite should be run by default, when the mysql-test-run.pl script is run without explicitly specified test suites or test cases.

*.sh files

For every test file sometest.test mtr looks for sometest-master.sh and sometest-slave.sh. If either of these files is found, it will be run before the test itself.

*.require files

These files are obsolete. Do not use them anymore. If you need to skip a test use the skip command instead.

*.rdiff files

These files also define what the test result should be. But unlike *.result files, they contain a patch that should be applied to one result file to create a new result file. This is very useful when a result of some test in one combination differs slightly from the result of the same test, but in another combination. Or when a result of a test in an overlay differs from the test result in the overlayed suite.

It is quite difficult to edit .rdiff files to update them after the test file has changed. But luckily, it is never needed. When a test fails, mtr creates a .reject file. Having it, one can create .rdiff file as easy as (for example)

diff -u r/foo.result r/foo.reject > r/foo,comb.rdiff

An example:

diff -u suite/sys_vars/r/sysvars_server_notembedded.result suite/sys_vars/r/sysvars_server_notembedded,32bit.reject > suite/sys_vars/r/sysvars_server_notembedded,32bit.rdiff

Because a combination can be part of the .result or .rdiff file name, mtr has to look in many different places for a test result. For example, consider a test foo.test in the combination pair aa,bb, that is run in the overlay rty of the suite qwe, in other words, for the test that mtr prints as

qwe-rty.foo 'aa,bb'                     [ pass ]

For this test a result can be in

• either .rdiff or .result file
• either in the overlay "rty/" or in the overlayed suite "qwe/"
• with or without combinations in the file name (",a", ",b", ",a,b", or nothing)

which means any of the following 15 file names can be used:

1. rty/r/foo,aa,bb.result
2. rty/r/foo,aa,bb.rdiff
3. qwe/r/foo,aa,bb.result
4. qwe/r/foo,aa,bb.rdiff
5. rty/r/foo,aa.result
6. rty/r/foo,aa.rdiff
7. qwe/r/foo,aa.result
8. qwe/r/foo,aa.rdiff
9. rty/r/foo,bb.result
10. rty/r/foo,bb.rdiff
11. qwe/r/foo,bb.result
12. qwe/r/foo,bb.rdiff
13. rty/r/foo.result
14. rty/r/foo.rdiff
15. qwe/r/foo.result

They are listed, precisely, in the order of preference, and mtr will walk that list from top to bottom and the first file that is found will be used.

If this found file is a .rdiff, mtr continues walking down the list until the first .result file is found. A .rdiff is applied to that .result.

valgrind.supp file

This file defines valgrind suppressions, and it is used when mtr is started with a --valgrind option.