The regression test can be run against an already installed and
running server, or using a temporary installation within the build
tree. Furthermore, there is a "parallel" and a
"sequential" mode for running the tests. The
sequential method runs each test script in turn, whereas the
parallel method starts up multiple server processes to run groups
of tests in parallel. Parallel testing gives confidence that
interprocess communication and locking are working correctly. For
historical reasons, the sequential test is usually run against an
existing installation and the parallel method against a temporary
installation, but there are no technical reasons for this.
To run the regression tests after building but before installation,
type
$ gmake check
in the top-level directory. (Or you can change to
src/test/regress and run the command there.)
This will first build several auxiliary files, such as
platform-dependent "expected" files and some sample
user-defined trigger functions, and then run the test driver
script. At the end you should see something like
======================
All 77 tests passed.
======================
or otherwise a note about what tests failed. See Section 13.3 below for more.
Note: Because this test method runs a temporary server, it will not work
when you are the root user (the server will not start as root).
If you already did the build as root, you do not have to start all
over. Instead, make the regression test directory writable by
some other user, log in as that user, and restart the tests.
For example,
root# chmod -R a+w src/test/regress
root# chmod -R a+w contrib/spi
root# su - joeuser
joeuser$ cd top-level build directory
joeuser$ gmake check
(The only possible "security risk" here is that other
users might be able to alter the regression test results behind
your back. Use common sense when managing user permissions.)
Alternatively, run the tests after installation.
Tip: The parallel regression test starts quite a few processes under your
user ID. Presently, the maximum concurrency is twenty parallel test
scripts, which means sixty processes --- there's a backend, a psql,
and usually a shell parent process for the psql for each test script.
So if your system enforces a per-user limit on the number of processes,
make sure this limit is at least seventy-five or so, else you may get
random-seeming failures in the parallel test. If you are not in
a position to raise the limit, you can edit the file
src/test/regress/parallel_schedule to split the
larger concurrent test sets into more manageable groups.
Tip: On some systems, the default Bourne-compatible shell
(/bin/sh) gets confused when it has to manage
too many child processes in parallel. This may cause the parallel
test run to lock up or fail. In such cases, specify a different
Bourne-compatible shell on the command line, for example:
If no non-broken shell is available, you can alter the parallel test
schedule as suggested above.
To run the tests after installation (see Chapter 1),
initialize a data area and start the
server, as explained in Chapter 3, then type
$ gmake installcheck
The tests will expect to contact the server at the local host and the
default port number, unless directed otherwise by PGHOST and PGPORT
environment variables.
