Re: Listing the tools required for Xen development/testing on x86 and Arm by the community

[Roger Pau Monné <roger.pau@xxxxxxxxxx>]

On Fri, Jun 02, 2023 at 02:46:03PM +0100, Ayan Kumar Halder wrote:
> Hi Roger,
> 
> On 02/06/2023 12:43, Roger Pau Monné wrote:
> > On Fri, Jun 02, 2023 at 09:48:48AM +0100, Ayan Kumar Halder wrote:
> > > Hi Xen developers,
> > > 
> > > We are trying to better document xen project development processes and
> > > related tools. At present, we are targeting **x86 and Arm** only.
> > > 
> > > These tools range from bug/change request tracking means, compilers, 
> > > infra,
> > > editors, code-review tools, etc which is connected in some way to the Xen
> > > development and is being currently used by xen-devel community.
> > What is the end goal of this?
> 
> We are trying to do an initial assesment of the requirements for Xen
> functional safety.
> 
> As a first step, I am trying to make a list tools which are in someways
> related to Xen development/testing/deployment.
> 
> > 
> > I'm kind of unsure why do you care about which editor I use to
> > generate my code, that's up to the developer.
> 
> I agree that editor, email-clients are something that are an individual
> developer's choice.
> 
> However as it is related to Xen development, we want to atleast put down
> some of the commonly used tools.
> 
> At a later state when (and if) we go through the list with a safety
> assessor, we might prune some of these items.

I have very little idea about what's required for a safety assessor,
sorry.

Will this have an impact on what tools are allowed to be used when
working with certain parts of Xen? (the safety certifiable parts I
would assume)

> > 
> > > I appreciate if you can let me know anything I missed or mistaken and the
> > > version currently being used (for some of the tools).
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 1. Code management portal - xenbits (https://xenbits.xenproject.org), 
> > > gitlab
> > > (https://gitlab.com/xen-project/xen)
> > > 
> > > 2. Project description - wiki.xenproject.org
> > > 
> > > 3. Project management - gitlab
> > > 
> > > 4. Code review - text based email clients (mutt, thunderbird), git-email, 
> > > b4
> > > 
> > > 5. Text Editors such as vim, emacs
> > > 
> > > 6. Code review history - xen-devel mail archives
> > > 
> > > 7. Code revision management - git
> > > 
> > > 8. Xen coding language - C89, C99, Kconfig
> > assembly (gas), python, perl, shell, Makefile, bison, flex, ocaml,
> > go...
> > 
> > Likely more that I've missed.
> Ack
> > 
> > > 9. Testing tools for Arm64 in gitlab CI
> > > 
> > > compiler - gcc-9.3.0 (Alpine 3.12)) (most commonly used version)
> > > 
> > > binutils - GNU Binutils for Debian) 2.38.9
> > > 
> > > emulator/hw - qemu-system-aarch64-6.0.0, qemuarm64 6.2.0 (From yocto, poky
> > > disto - 4.0.5), zcu102 (**need the uboot, TF-A versions **)
> > > 
> > > dom0/domU kernel - kernel-5.19.0
> > > 
> > > rootfs - alpine-3.12-arm64-rootfs
> > > 
> > > firmware - U-Boot 2022.10
> > > 
> > > 10. Testing tools for Arm in gitlab CI
> > > 
> > > compiler - arm-poky-linux-gnueabi-gcc (GCC) 11.3.0, 
> > > arm-linux-gnueabihf-gcc
> > > (Debian 12.2.0-14) 12.2.0 (most commonly used versions)
> > > 
> > > emulator/hw - qemu-system-arm 6.2.0 (From yocto, poky disto - 4.0.5)
> > > 
> > > dom0/domU kernel - kernel-5.15.72 (from Yocto), Kernel-5.10.0-22 (from
> > > Debian)
> > > 
> > > rootfs - alpine-minirootfs-3.15.1-armhf.tar.gz
> > > 
> > > firmware - U-Boot 2022.10
> > > 
> > > 11. Testing tools for x86
> > > 
> > > compiler - gcc-9.3.0 (Alpine Linux 9.3.0), gcc (Debian 12.2.0-14) 12.2.0,
> > > clang (from Debian) (most commonly used version)
> > > 
> > > binutils - GNU ld (GNU Binutils for Debian) 2.40)
> > > 
> > > emulator/hardware - Qubes HW (**need details regarding machine, firmware,
> > > etc**) , qemu 6.2.0 (From yocto, poky distro - 4.0.5)
> > > 
> > > dom0/domU kernel - kernel 6.1.19
> > > 
> > > rootfs - alpine-3.12-rootfs
> > > 
> > > firmware - BIOS Dasharo (coreboot+UEFI) v1.1.1 02/22/2023 , EFI v2.70 by 
> > > EDK
> > > II , SMBIOS 3.3.0 , SeaBIOS (version rel-1.16.2-0-gea1b7a0-Xen), GRUB
> > > 2.06~rc1
> > I do use an LLVM based toolstack, so that's usually latest LLVM import
> > on FreeBSD.  We do also test this on the cirrus-ci, see:
> > 
> > https://github.com/royger/xen/runs/5334480206
> 
> Thanks, this is interesting info.
> 
> For the moment, I am ignoring the downstream forks of Xen.

That's not a fork of Xen, just plain Xen hosted on my personal github
repo.

> I am only considering the tools used by the upstream Xen and the associated
> CI/CD.

Gitlab CI does test with LLVM toolchain also.

osstest does test FreeBSD guests, but no FreeBSD dom0.

> > 
> > I_n any case I think the scope to some of the questions is unknown,
> > it's not feasible to expect to list every possible combination of
> > Linux versions vs Xen version vs whatever guests versions a given
> > developer might be running.
> 
> I agree . That is the reason I am picking up the compiler, linux, binutils,
> firmware, etc versions from our gitlab CI.
> 
> It also acts as a proof that we are testing Xen against a known set of
> compiler, linux versions, etc.

OK, so the question is not what every developers uses, but you trying
to narrow down the scope to a specific environment?

Maybe what you want to do is create a specific container in the Gitlab
CI that has the specific tools versions you care about from a safety
certify angle.

Regards, Roger.