9.1. Test Banners — RTEMS User Manual 5.4-rc2 (21st August 2026) documentation

# 9.1. Test Banners

All test output banners or strings are embedded in each test and the test outputs the banners to the BSP’s console as it executes. The RTEMS Tester captures the BSP’s console and uses this information to manage the state of the executing test. The banner strings are:

`*** BEGIN TEST <name> ***`

  The test has loaded, RTEMS has initialized and the test specific code is about to start executing. The `<name>` field is the name of the test. The test name is internal to the test and may not match the name of the executable. The test name is informative and not used by the RTEMS Tester.

`*** END TEST <name> ***`

  The test has finished without error and has passed. The `<name>` field is the name of the test. See the Test Begin Banner for details about the name.

`*** TEST VERSION: <version>`

  The test prints the RTEMS version return by the RTEMS Version API as `<version>`. All tests must match the first test’s version or the Wrong Version error count is incremented.

`*** TEST STATE: <state>`

  The test is tagged in the RTEMS sources with a special `<state>` for this BSP. See Test States for the list of possible states. The state banner lets the RTEMS Tester categorize and manage the test. For example a user input test typically needing user interaction may never complete producing an invalid test result. A user input test is terminated to avoid extended delays in a long test run.

`*** TEST BUILD: <build>`

  The test prints the RTEMS build as a space separated series of labels as `<build>`. The build labels are created from the configuration settings in the Super Score header file `rtems/score/cputops.h`. All tests must match the first test’s build or the Wrong Build error count is incremented.

`*** TEST TOOLS: <version>`

  The test prints the RTEMS tools version returned the GGC internal macro `_VERSION_` as `<version>`. All tests must match the first test’s tools version string or the Wrong Tools error count is incremented.

# 9.2. Test Controls

The tests in the RTEMS kernel testsuite can be configured for each BSP. The expected state of the test can be set as well as any configuration parameters a test needs to run on a BSP.

The test states are:

`passed`

  The test start and end banners have been sent to the console.

`failure`

  The test start banner has been sent to the console and no end banner has been seen when a target restart is detected.

`excepted-fail`

  The test is tagged as `expected-fail` in the RTEMS sources for this BSP and outputs the banner `*** TEST STATE: EXPECTED_FAIL`. The test is known not to pass on this BSP. The RTEMS Tester will let the test run as far as it can and if the test passes it is recorded as a pass in the test results otherwise it is recorded as expected-fail.

`indeterminate`

  The test is tagged as `indeterminate` in the RTEMS sources for this BSP and outputs the banner `*** TEST STATE: INDETERMINATE`. The test may or may not pass so the result is not able to be determined. The RTEMS Tester will let the test run as far as it can and record the result as indeterminate.

`user-input`

  The test is tagged as `user-input` in the RTEMS sources and outputs the banner `*** TEST STATE: USER_INPUT`. The RTEMS Tester will reset the target if the target’s configuration provides a target reset command.

`benchmark`

  The test is tagged as `benchmark` in the RTEMS sources and outputs the banner `*** TEST STATE: BENCHMARK`. Benchmarks can take a while to run and performance is not regression tested in RTEMS. The RTEMS Tester will reset the target if the target’s configuration provides a target reset command.

`timeout`

  The test start banner has been sent to the console and no end banner is seen within the timeout period and the target has not restart. A default timeout can be set in a target configuration, a user configuration or provide on the RTEMS Tester’s command line using the `--timeout` option.

`invalid`

  The test did not output a start banner and the RTEMS Tester has detected the target has restarted. This means the executable did not load correctly, the RTEMS kernel did not initialize or the RTEMS kernel configuration failed for this BSP.

## 9.2.1. Expected Test States

A test’s expected state is set in the RTEMS kernel’s testsuite. The default for a tested is to `pass`. If a test is known to fail it can have it’s state set to `expected-fail`. Setting tests that are known to fail to `expected-fail` lets everyone know a failure is not to be countered and consider a regression.

Expected test states are listed in test configuration files

## 9.2.2. Test Configuration

Tests can be configured for each BSP using test configuration files. These files have the file extension `.tcfg`. The testsuite supports global test configurations in the `testsuite/testdata` directory. Global test states are applied to all BSPs. BSPs can provide a test configuration that applies to just that BSP and these files can include subsets of test configurations.

The configuration supports:

1. Including test configuration files to allow sharing of common configurations.

2. Excluding tests from being built that do not build for a BSP.

3. Setting the test state if it is not `passed`.

4. Specifing a BSP specific build configuration for a test.

The test configuration file format is:

    state: test

where the `state` is state of the test and `test` is a comma separated list of tests the state applies too. The configuration format is:

    flags: test: configuration

where `flags` is the type of flags being set, the `test` is a comma separate list of regular expresions that match the test the configuration is applied too and the `configuration` is the string of flags.

The `state` is one of:

`include`

  The test list is the name of a test configuration file to include

`exclude`

  The tests listed are not build. This can happen if a BSP cannot support a test. For example it does not have enough memory.

`expected-fail`

  The tests listed are set to expected fail. The test will fail on the BSP being built.

`user-input`

  The tests listed require user input to run and are not supported by automatic testers.

`indeterminate`

  The tests listed may pass or may not, the result is not reliable.

`benchmark`

  The tests listed are benchmarks. Benchmarks are flagged and not left to run to completion because they may take too long.

Specialized filtering using regular expressions is supported using:

`rexclude`

  The test matching the regular expression are excluded.

`rinclude`

  The tests matching the regular expression are included.

By default all tests are included, specific excluded tests using the `exclude` state are excluded and cannot be included again. If a test matching a `rexclude` regular it is excluded unless it is included using a `rinclude` regular expression. For example to build only the `hello` sample application you can:

    rexclude .*
    rinclude hello

Test configuration flags can be applied to a range of tests using flags. Currently only `cflags` is support. Tests need to support the configuration for it to work. For example to configure a test:

    cflags: tm.*: -DTEST_CONFIG=42
    cflags: sp0[456]: -DA_SET_OF_TESTS=1

Flags setting are joined together and passed to the compiler’s command line. For example:

    cflags: tm.*: -DTEST_CONFIG=42
    cflags: tm03: -DTEST_TM03_CONFIG=1

would result in the command line to the test `tm03` being:

    -DTEST_CONFIG=42 -DTEST_TM03_CONFIG=1

Specific flags can be set for one test in a group. For example to set a configuration for all timer tests and a special configuraiton for one test:

    cflags: (?!tm02)tm.*: -DTEST_CONFIG=one
    cflags: tm02: -DTEST_CONFIG=two

# 9.3. Test Builds

The test reports the build of RTEMS being tested. The build are:

`default`

  The build is the default. No RTEMS configure options have been used.

`posix`

  The build includes the POSIX API. The RTEMS configure option `--enable-posix` has been used. The `cpuopts.h` define `RTEMS_POSIX` has defined and it true.

`smp`

  The build is an SMP kernel. The RTEMS configure option `--enable-smp` has been used. The `cpuopts.h` define `RTEMS_SMP` has defined and it true.

`mp`

  The build is an MP kernel. The RTEMS configure option `--enable-multiprocessing` has been used. The `cpuopts.h` define `RTEMS_MULTIPROCESSING` has defined and it true.

`paravirt`

  The build is a paravirtualization kernel. The `cpuopts.h` define `RTEMS_PARAVIRT` has defined and it true.

`debug`

  The build includes kernel debugging support. The RTEMS configure option `--enable-debug` has been used. The `cpuopts.h` define `RTEMS_DEBUG` has defined and it true.

`profiling`

  The build include profiling support. The RTEMS configure option `--enable-profiling` has been used. The `cpuopts.h` define `RTEMS_PROFILING` has defined and it true.