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== QualityAssurance ==
== QualityAssurance ==


In this section, we cover the activities of the QA team<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA</ref>. This week, we are trying out a new topic-focused layout, without the topic-by-topic weekly meeting recaps. Please let [[User:Adamwill|me]] know if you particularly like or dislike the new layout!
In this section, we cover the activities of the QA team<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA</ref>. For more information on the work of the QA team and how you can get involved, see the Joining page<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA/Join</ref>.
 
We apologize for the lack of a QA section for the last few issues of FWN: the QA team was very busy with Fedora 16 validation testing. This issue catches up with the QA team news from the last several weeks.


Contributing Writer: [[User:Adamwill|Adam Williamson]]
Contributing Writer: [[User:Adamwill|Adam Williamson]]
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=== Test Days ===
=== Test Days ===


Last week's Test Day<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2010-03-25_Printing</ref> was on printing, including the implementation of automatic print driver installation<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/AutomaticPrintDriverInstallation</ref>in Fedora 13. There was a disappointingly low turnout, despite [[User:twaugh|Tim Waugh's]] extensive efforts to organize and promote the event. We theorize that printing works so well for most people that they didn't think it was necessary to turn up! Nevertheless, thanks to those who did come out to test, and reported five bugs for Tim to work on.
In the past few weeks, we finished up the Fedora 16 Test Day schedule, with Graphics Test Week taking place at the start of September<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2011-09-06_Nouveau</ref> ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2011-09-07_Radeon</ref> ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2011-09-07_Radeon</ref>, virtualization test day taking place on 2011-09-15<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2011-09-15_Virtualization</ref>, another i18n desktop test day on 2011-09-22<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2011-09-22_I18n_Desktop</ref>, an ABRT test day on 2011-09-26<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2011-09-26_ABRT</ref>, a power management test day on 2011-09-29<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2011-09-29_PowerManagement</ref>, printing test day on 2011-10-06<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2011-10-06_Printing</ref>, Fedora packager plugin for Eclipse test day on 2011-10-13<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2011-10-13_Fedora_Packager_for_Eclipse</ref>, and Cloud SIG test day on 2011-10-20<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2011-10-20_Cloud_SIG_Test_Day</ref>. Most of these test days passed off successfully with the work of the developers behind them, despite the QA team being very busy, so many thanks to those who organized and carried out these events, and those who turned up to do the testing.
 
The Fedora 17 Test Day cycle has not yet started. We welcome proposals for test days for the Fedora 17 cycle, and we usually accept all the proposals that are made. You can propose a test day for almost anything, and organize it yourself following the handy guide we provide<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA/SOP_Test_Day_management</ref>, or alternatively we can help out with the organization of the event. Information on how to propose a test day is available on the Wiki<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA/Test_Days/Create</ref>.


This week sees two Test Days. The first<ref>https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2010-03-30_SSSDByDefault</ref>, on Tuesday 2010-03-30, will have passed by the time you read this; it will have been on the implementation of SSSD by default<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/SSSDByDefault</ref>. This feature is very useful to those who use accounts on a remote server which may not always be accessible from their system. We'll bring you a report on this event next week.
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The second<ref>https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2010-04-01_ABRT</ref> will be on ABRT<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/ABRT</ref>, the automated bug report tool which has been included with Fedora by default since the release of Fedora 12. We'll be testing Fedora 13 enhancements to ABRT and making sure the system is working correctly for the upcoming Fedora 13 release. ABRT is important to all Fedora users and developers, so if you have a few minutes, please come along and help test! As usual, you can test with an installed Fedora 13 or Rawhide system, or a live image which is available on the Test Day page. [[User:Zprikryl|Zdenek Prikryl]], [[User:Jmoskovc|Jiri Moskovc]] and [[User:Adamwill|Adam Williamson]] will be on hand during the event, which will run all day on Thursday 2010-04-01 in the #fedora-test-day IRC channel.
=== Fedora 16 preparation ===


If you would like to propose a main track Test Day for the Fedora 13 cycle, please contact the QA team via email or IRC, or file a ticket in QA Trac<ref>http://fedorahosted.org/fedora-qa/</ref>.
As mentioned above, Fedora 16 release validation took up almost all of the QA team's time during the last few months, with very challenging Beta and Final releases. There were a total of 12 candidate builds for Beta and Final combined, and the whole team put in tireless work running the set of validation tests against each build and then investigating and verifying the large number of blocker bugs identified. The team was able to contribute to the release eventually going ahead with only a one week slip to the Beta schedule and no slip of the Final schedule, a considerable achievement in the light of the many complex changes in the Fedora 16 feature list.


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=== Fedora 13 testing ===
=== Release criteria updates ===


The first test compose for Fedora 13 Beta was announced<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2010-March/089526.html</ref> by [[User:Rhe|Rui He]] on 2010-03-23. The group helped to fill out the planned installation<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Results:Fedora_13_Beta_TC1_Install</ref> and desktop<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Results:Fedora_13_Beta_TC1_Desktop</ref> test matrices. [[User:Rhe|Rui He]] provided a summary<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2010-March/089681.html</ref> of the TC test results. Shortly after the test compose, the first release candidate build followed<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2010-March/089680.html</ref> on 2010-03-26. Andre Robatino provided delta ISOs between TC1 and RC1<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2010-March/089684.html</ref>. Again, the group quickly filled out the desktop<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Results:Fedora_13_Beta_RC1_Desktop</ref> and install<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Results:Fedora_13_Beta_RC1_Install</ref> matrices. The testers found several blocker issues.
Largely as a result of the Fedora 16 validation process, there were several adjustments and additions to the release criteria in recent weeks. After discussion of the proposed kickstart / unattended installation release criterion concluded, [[User:Adamwill|Adam Williamson]] reported that he had committed his proposed modifications<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-September/102599.html</ref>. He also committed a change to reflect the increased priority of EFI installations from Fedora 17 onwards<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-September/102600.html</ref>.


The third blocker bug review meeting for Fedora 13 Beta was held on 2010-03-26<ref>http://meetbot.fedoraproject.org/fedora-bugzappers/2010-03-26/f-13-beta-blocker-review.2010-03-26-16.05.html</ref>. All outstanding Beta blocker bugs were reviewed, and developers were consulted on the remaining open bugs to ensure fixes should be available in time for the release candidate process to begin the following week.
Adam also passed on a suggestion from [[User:Pjones|Peter Jones]] to improve the clarity of the virtualization criteria<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-September/102601.html</ref>. After an extensive discussion, an elegant wording suggestion from Albert Graham<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-September/102636.html</ref> was eventually accepted and committed<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-October/103680.html</ref>.


'John H' reported<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2010-March/089584.html</ref> that the test candidate build failed to install correctly to an Intel X25-M SSD. [[User:Jlaska|James Laska]] suggested<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2010-March/089595.html</ref> he file a bug report on the issue.
[[User:Tflink|Tim Flink]] raised the question to what extent support for Xen virtualization should be included in the release criteria<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-September/103127.html</ref>. After a similarly enthusiastic discussion, it was eventually agreed that Xen DomU support - effectively, the ability to install successfully as a Xen guest - should be a Final release criterion<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-October/103678.html</ref>.


[[User:Kparal|Kamil Paral]], Joachim Backes<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2010-March/089715.html</ref> and others found a bug<ref>https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=577789</ref> which prevented the boot process from completing successfully with the Plymouth graphical boot system enabled. The bug was later tracked down and resolved in a build which will be brought into the second Beta release candidate.
Adam also proposed downgrading some rarely-used kickstart deployment methods from Beta to Final in the criteria, requiring only the most commonly-used to be working at Beta stage<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-October/103557.html</ref>.
 
Finally, Adam proposed a criterion for i18n (translation) issues<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-October/103588.html</ref>. After discussion, the proposal was agreed upon at a blocker review meeting later in the week<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-October/103679.html</ref>.


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=== Update acceptance testing ===
=== Update policy changes ===


During the weekly QA meeting<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA/Meetings/20100322</ref>, the group discussed the status of the various proposed changes and policies regarding updates. [[User:Adamwill|Adam Williamson]] summarized that "we need: a policy/sop for the 'proventesters' group, and a guide to providing updates-testing feedback for a) branched and b) stable releases, explaining what actually should be tested and how feedback should be given". [[User:maxamillion|Adam Miller]] provided<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2010-March/089764.html</ref> a second draft of the proventesters SOP proposal, and [[User:Adamwill|Adam Williamson]] posted a discussion of testing procedure<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2010-March/089690.html</ref> which posited that a policy for testing updates was impossible within the current Bodhi system, and the best way forward would be to revise the way Bodhi works. [[User:Bochecha|Mathieu Bridon]] pointed out<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/devel/2010-March/134089.html</ref> that Williamson's proposal was very similar to Doug Ledford's earlier proposal<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/devel/2010-March/131799.html</ref>, and explained that the infrastructure team was already working Doug's ideas into their plans for 'Bodhi 2', the next major revision of Bodhi.
In September, [[User:Karsten|Karsten Hopp]] raised the issue of a security update for Fedora 14 which had been languishing in the updates-testing repository for some time<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-September/102493.html</ref>. [[User:Adamwill|Adam Williamson]] explained that the amount of testers working on older releases was limited, and that the actual karma requirements for updates to be accepted were controlled by FESCo (the Fedora engineering steering committee), not the QA group<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-September/102497.html</ref>. [[User:Cra|Chuck Anderson]] noted that he had the update in question installed, but was struggling for lack of information on how to test it properly<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-September/102503.html</ref>. [[User:Sundaram|Rahul Sundaram]] suggested that Karsten file a ticket with FESCo to raise the issue<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-September/102502.html</ref>, and Karsten did<ref>http://fedorahosted.org/fesco/ticket/664</ref>.
 
That ticket was merged with another similar one reported by Doug Ledford<ref>http://fedorahosted.org/fesco/ticket/667</ref>, which became a topic of concern to FESCo. After several rounds of discussions, FESCo first decided to relax the requirements for critical path updates somewhat by allowing them to be sent through to the stable repository without the 'required' karma after a period of two weeks had elapsed<ref>http://fedorahosted.org/bodhi/ticket/642</ref>, and later proposed removing the requirement for critical path updates to receive positive karma from a proven tester<ref>http://fedorahosted.org/fesco/ticket/667#comment:26</ref>, effectively a proposal to end the proven tester system, as this is the only function it serves.
 
The QA group discussed this proposal at the weekly meeting of 2011-11-07<ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/QA/Meetings/20111107</ref>, agreeing that, while they had some reservations about the proposal, they were not definitely opposed to it, and recognized that critical path updates not receiving the currently-required karma is a significant problem.


<references/>
<references/>


=== Target bug trackers ===
=== Update candidate notification ===


Following on from discussion the previous week, [[User:Adamwill|Adam Williamson]] posted a proposal<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2010-March/089575.html</ref> on the use of the Target bug trackers, suggesting either discontinuing their use or repurposing them to track bugs which did not constitute release blockers, but for which fixes would be accepted through release freezes. The thread turned into quite a wide-ranging discussion about freeze procedures and update acceptance. Later, Adam summarized by suggesting the key issue to decide is 'whether we want to have a time-defined stage' where only fixes for blockers and certain specifically chosen bugs would be accepted, and if a tracker bug is the most sensible way to keep track of those bugs<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2010-March/089664.html</ref>.
Samuel Greenfeld asked if there was any system to notify testers of new candidate updates for specific packages, and to determine what packages are being actively used on a system<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-September/102981.html</ref>. There were no takers for the second question, but for the first, [[User:Adamwill|Adam Williamson]] suggested using yum parameters that would allow one to specify only certain packages be pulled from the updates-testing repository<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-September/102982.html</ref>, and [[User:till|Till Maas]] pointed out that Bodhi can actually provide per-package RSS notifications<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-September/102992.html</ref>.


<references/>
<references/>


=== Bugzapping in the classroom ===
=== Proven tester meetings ===
 
As a response to the concerns about candidate updates not receiving enough karma, [[User:Kevin|Kevin Fenzi]] ran a series of weekly proven tester meetups<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-September/102869.html</ref> from 2011-09-21 to 2011-10-26. Recaps of these meetings are available in the mailing list archives<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-September/103000.html</ref> <ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-October/103341.html</ref> <ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-October/103585.html</ref> <ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-October/103840.html</ref> <ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-October/104043.html</ref>.


[[User:Vedranm|Vedran Miletić]] asked the group<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2010-March/089589.html<ref> for advice and support on teaching Bugzapping in a university environment. [[User:Beland|Christopher Beland]] applauded the idea, and suggested Firefox, Evolution, Nautilus and Rhythmbox as good components for a class group to work on. [[User:Adamwill|Adam Williamson]] offered<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2010-March/089604.html</ref> to provide support and assistance.
Kevin also proposed an updates-testing-info mailing list, containing only the mails about new packages in updates-testing<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-September/103163.html</ref>. However, the consensus was against the idea, as it was felt that it was easy enough to simply filter the desired mails from the test mailing list for those who did not want to read the other traffic.


<references/>
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=== rsync for test builds ===
=== QA group representation at FUDCon Pune ===


Andre Robatino asked<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2010-March/089669.html</ref> if it would be possible to set up rsync access for the server on which test builds are stored, to make it easier to convert a DVD build into a multi-CD build for testing purposes. He then suggested<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2010-March/089735.html</ref> that zsync would serve the purpose even better. [[User:Adamwill|Adam Williamson]] pointed out<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2010-March/089798.html</ref> that zsync was still not packaged in Fedora due to a problem with bundled libraries.
[[User:Ankursinha|Ankur Sinha]] asked whether anyone from the QA team would be present at the upcoming FUDCon in Pune, India and able to do a presentation on the group's activities<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-October/103712.html</ref>. [[User:Adamwill|Adam Williamson]] replied that unfortunately none of the Red Hat team would be at the conference, but encouraged Ankur to take a shot at giving a presentation himself<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-October/103728.html</ref>. A S Alam then stepped up to volunteer to lead a QA session<ref>http://lists.fedoraproject.org/pipermail/test/2011-October/103739.html</ref>. His session was scheduled for 2011-11-04<ref>http://fudcon.in/sessions/fedora-testing</ref>, but we have no report on the event - if you were present, please write to the mailing list and let us know how it went!


<references/>
<references/>

Latest revision as of 05:10, 17 November 2011

QualityAssurance

In this section, we cover the activities of the QA team[1]. For more information on the work of the QA team and how you can get involved, see the Joining page[2].

We apologize for the lack of a QA section for the last few issues of FWN: the QA team was very busy with Fedora 16 validation testing. This issue catches up with the QA team news from the last several weeks.

Contributing Writer: Adam Williamson

Test Days

In the past few weeks, we finished up the Fedora 16 Test Day schedule, with Graphics Test Week taking place at the start of September[1] ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2011-09-07_Radeon</ref> ref>http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Test_Day:2011-09-07_Radeon</ref>, virtualization test day taking place on 2011-09-15[2], another i18n desktop test day on 2011-09-22[3], an ABRT test day on 2011-09-26[4], a power management test day on 2011-09-29[5], printing test day on 2011-10-06[6], Fedora packager plugin for Eclipse test day on 2011-10-13[7], and Cloud SIG test day on 2011-10-20[8]. Most of these test days passed off successfully with the work of the developers behind them, despite the QA team being very busy, so many thanks to those who organized and carried out these events, and those who turned up to do the testing.

The Fedora 17 Test Day cycle has not yet started. We welcome proposals for test days for the Fedora 17 cycle, and we usually accept all the proposals that are made. You can propose a test day for almost anything, and organize it yourself following the handy guide we provide[9], or alternatively we can help out with the organization of the event. Information on how to propose a test day is available on the Wiki[10].

Fedora 16 preparation

As mentioned above, Fedora 16 release validation took up almost all of the QA team's time during the last few months, with very challenging Beta and Final releases. There were a total of 12 candidate builds for Beta and Final combined, and the whole team put in tireless work running the set of validation tests against each build and then investigating and verifying the large number of blocker bugs identified. The team was able to contribute to the release eventually going ahead with only a one week slip to the Beta schedule and no slip of the Final schedule, a considerable achievement in the light of the many complex changes in the Fedora 16 feature list.


Release criteria updates

Largely as a result of the Fedora 16 validation process, there were several adjustments and additions to the release criteria in recent weeks. After discussion of the proposed kickstart / unattended installation release criterion concluded, Adam Williamson reported that he had committed his proposed modifications[1]. He also committed a change to reflect the increased priority of EFI installations from Fedora 17 onwards[2].

Adam also passed on a suggestion from Peter Jones to improve the clarity of the virtualization criteria[3]. After an extensive discussion, an elegant wording suggestion from Albert Graham[4] was eventually accepted and committed[5].

Tim Flink raised the question to what extent support for Xen virtualization should be included in the release criteria[6]. After a similarly enthusiastic discussion, it was eventually agreed that Xen DomU support - effectively, the ability to install successfully as a Xen guest - should be a Final release criterion[7].

Adam also proposed downgrading some rarely-used kickstart deployment methods from Beta to Final in the criteria, requiring only the most commonly-used to be working at Beta stage[8].

Finally, Adam proposed a criterion for i18n (translation) issues[9]. After discussion, the proposal was agreed upon at a blocker review meeting later in the week[10].

Update policy changes

In September, Karsten Hopp raised the issue of a security update for Fedora 14 which had been languishing in the updates-testing repository for some time[1]. Adam Williamson explained that the amount of testers working on older releases was limited, and that the actual karma requirements for updates to be accepted were controlled by FESCo (the Fedora engineering steering committee), not the QA group[2]. Chuck Anderson noted that he had the update in question installed, but was struggling for lack of information on how to test it properly[3]. Rahul Sundaram suggested that Karsten file a ticket with FESCo to raise the issue[4], and Karsten did[5].

That ticket was merged with another similar one reported by Doug Ledford[6], which became a topic of concern to FESCo. After several rounds of discussions, FESCo first decided to relax the requirements for critical path updates somewhat by allowing them to be sent through to the stable repository without the 'required' karma after a period of two weeks had elapsed[7], and later proposed removing the requirement for critical path updates to receive positive karma from a proven tester[8], effectively a proposal to end the proven tester system, as this is the only function it serves.

The QA group discussed this proposal at the weekly meeting of 2011-11-07[9], agreeing that, while they had some reservations about the proposal, they were not definitely opposed to it, and recognized that critical path updates not receiving the currently-required karma is a significant problem.

Update candidate notification

Samuel Greenfeld asked if there was any system to notify testers of new candidate updates for specific packages, and to determine what packages are being actively used on a system[1]. There were no takers for the second question, but for the first, Adam Williamson suggested using yum parameters that would allow one to specify only certain packages be pulled from the updates-testing repository[2], and Till Maas pointed out that Bodhi can actually provide per-package RSS notifications[3].

Proven tester meetings

As a response to the concerns about candidate updates not receiving enough karma, Kevin Fenzi ran a series of weekly proven tester meetups[1] from 2011-09-21 to 2011-10-26. Recaps of these meetings are available in the mailing list archives[2] [3] [4] [5] [6].

Kevin also proposed an updates-testing-info mailing list, containing only the mails about new packages in updates-testing[7]. However, the consensus was against the idea, as it was felt that it was easy enough to simply filter the desired mails from the test mailing list for those who did not want to read the other traffic.

QA group representation at FUDCon Pune

Ankur Sinha asked whether anyone from the QA team would be present at the upcoming FUDCon in Pune, India and able to do a presentation on the group's activities[1]. Adam Williamson replied that unfortunately none of the Red Hat team would be at the conference, but encouraged Ankur to take a shot at giving a presentation himself[2]. A S Alam then stepped up to volunteer to lead a QA session[3]. His session was scheduled for 2011-11-04[4], but we have no report on the event - if you were present, please write to the mailing list and let us know how it went!