Automated context-sensitive operating system switch

• US 20070168728A1
• Filed: 11/21/2005
• Published: 07/19/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Roberts, Paul, Law, Douglas, Blouin, Eric, Sremaniak, Shawn, Nanda, Kuldip, Kritt, Barry
• Granted Patent: US 7,853,926 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/25
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/263 Generation of test inputs, e.g. test vectors, patterns or sequences ; with adaptation of the tested hardware for testability with external testers

Abstract

An automated technique for switching operating systems, responsive to current context of an executing test scenario. A test designer specifies, in a process control file, a required operating system for appropriate command blocks. A test sequencer packages the required operating system name with each command to be executed, and sends that information to a test listener on a system under test. The test listener remembers the currently-running operating system, and compares that to the required operating system for each command to be executed. If a mismatch occurs, then the correct operating system is not running, and the listener automatically triggers a reboot.

Claims

1. A test system for automatically switching operating systems at a system under test (“

SUT”

), comprising;

a process control file specifying a plurality of commands to be executed on the SUT and further specifying a required operating system applicable to execution of one or more of the commands, wherein at least two different required operation systems are specified as being applicable to the plurality of commands; and

a test sequencer that iteratively evaluates the process control file and, responsive to the evaluation;

selects a next-executable one of the commands;

determines, from the specification of the required operating system, which operating system is required for the selected command;

packages, in a command message, an identification of the required operating system and the selected command;

communicates the identification of the required operating system to a reboot process; and

forwards the packaged command message to the SUT, such that the SUT can compare the identification of the required operating system to a currently-running operating system at the SUT before executing the selected command and, if a mismatch is detected, can trigger the reboot process to reboot the SUT to the required operating system as communicated thereto.

2. The test system according to claim 1, wherein the process control file is written in a markup language.

3. The test system according to claim 2, wherein the specification of the required operating system is specified as an attribute value for an attribute of tags of the markup language that correspond to ones of the specified commands.

4. The test system according to claim 3, wherein the attribute value is inherited from an ancestor tag when not specified directly on a tag corresponding to the selected command.

5. The test system according to claim 1, further comprising a test listener that receives the commands forwarded to the SUT, determines the required operating system for each received command by inspecting the operating system identification packaged therewith, compares the determined operating system to the currently-running operating system, and triggers the reboot process if the mismatch occurs.

6. The test system according to claim 5, further comprising a repository for communications between the test sequencer and the SUT and wherein the forwarded command messages are written to the repository by the test sequencer and retrieved therefrom by the test listener.

7. The test system according to claim 1, further comprising a repository for communications between the test sequencer and the SUT and wherein the forwarded command messages are written to the repository by the test sequencer for retrieval therefrom by the SUT.

8. The test system according to claim 6, wherein the repository comprises a first-in, first-out queue into which the test sequencer writes the forwarded command messages and from which the SUT retrieves the queued command messages.

9. The test system according to claim 1, wherein the forwarded messages are forwarded using a message broker.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the communication comprises writing the identification into a configuration file that is accessible to the reboot process.

11. The test system according to claim 1, wherein the identification of the required operating system packaged in the command message is provided as an attribute of the command message.

12. A computer-implemented method for testing a system under test (“

SUT”

), comprising;

forwarding, from a test sequencer running on a server to a test listener running on the SUT, command messages, each command message comprising a command to be executed on the SUT and an identification of an operating system required for executing the command; and

triggering, by the test listener, a reboot of a currently-running operating system of the SUT, upon detecting that the operating system identified in a next-executable forwarded command message is different from the currently-running operating system.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the command messages are forwarded by the test sequencer to a storage repository and are retrievable therefrom by the test listener.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the storage repository comprises a home directory for each of a plurality of SUTs and a SUT-specific one thereof is used for command messages forwarded by the test sequencer to this particular SUT.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein each of the forwarded command messages identifies the SUT-specific home directory to be used for command messages forwarded by the test sequencer to this particular SUT.

16. The method according to claim 13, wherein the storage repository comprises a first-in, first-out (“

FIFO”

) queue into which the forwarded command messages are queued and from which the queued messages are retrievable by the test listener.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein each of the forwarded command messages identifies the FIFO queue into which they are to be queued.

18. The method according to claim 12, wherein the triggering of the reboot causes a reboot process to replace the currently-running operating system with the operating system required for the next-executable command message.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the triggering further comprises obtaining, by the reboot process from a configuration file, an identification of the required operating system.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein the test sequencer writes the identification of the required operating system, for each of the forwarded command messages, in the configuration file.

21. A computer-implemented method for testing a system under test (“

SUT”

), comprising;

forwarding, from a test sequencer running on a server to a test listener running on the SUT, command messages, each command message comprising a command to be executed on the SUT and an identification of an operating system required for executing the command, such that a reboot of a currently-running operating system of the SUT will be triggered, by the test listener, upon detecting that the operating system identified in a next-executable forwarded command message is different from the currently-running operating system.

22. A computer-implemented method for testing a system under test (“

SUT”

), comprising;

triggering, by a test listener running on the SUT, a reboot of a currently-running operating system of the SUT, upon (1) evaluating a command message forwarded to the test listener from a test sequencer running on a server, the command message comprising a command to be executed on the SUT and an identification of an operating system required for executing the command, and (2) detecting that the operating system identified in the forwarded command message is different from the currently-running operating system.

23. A computer program product comprising at least one computer-usable media storing computer-readable program code, wherein the computer-readable program code, when executed on a system under test (“

SUT”

), causes the SUT to;

trigger, by a test listener running on the SUT, a reboot of a currently-running operating system of the SUT, upon (1) evaluating a command message forwarded to the test listener from a test sequencer running on a server, the command message comprising a command to be executed on the SUT and an identification of an operating system required for executing the command, and (2) detecting that the operating system identified in the forwarded command message is different from the currently-running operating system.