Ubuntu Manpage: ctest - CTest Command-Line Reference

Provided by: cmake_3.16.3-1ubuntu1.20.04.1_amd64

NAME

       ctest - CTest Command-Line Reference

   Contents
       • ctest(1)

         • Synopsis

         • Description

         • Options

         • Label and Subproject Summary

         • Build and Test Mode

         • Dashboard Client

           • Dashboard Client Steps

           • Dashboard Client Modes

           • Dashboard Client via CTest Command-Line

           • Dashboard Client via CTest Script

         • Dashboard Client Configuration

           • CTest Start Step

           • CTest Update Step

           • CTest Configure Step

           • CTest Build Step

           • CTest Test Step

           • CTest Coverage Step

           • CTest MemCheck Step

           • CTest Submit Step

         • Show as JSON Object Model

         • Resource Allocation

           • Resource Specification File

           • RESOURCE_GROUPS Property

           • Environment Variables

         • See Also

SYNOPSIS

          ctest [<options>]
          ctest --build-and-test <path-to-source> <path-to-build>
                --build-generator <generator> [<options>...]
                [--build-options <opts>...] [--test-command <command> [<args>...]]
          ctest {-D <dashboard> | -M <model> -T <action> | -S <script> | -SP <script>}
                [-- <dashboard-options>...]

DESCRIPTION

       The  ctest executable is the CMake test driver program.  CMake-generated build trees created for projects
       that use the enable_testing() and add_test() commands have testing support.  This program  will  run  the
       tests and report results.

OPTIONS

       -C <cfg>, --build-config <cfg>
              Choose configuration to test.

              Some  CMake-generated  build  trees can have multiple build configurations in the same tree.  This
              option can be used to specify which one should be tested.  Example configurations  are  Debug  and
              Release.

       --progress
              Enable short progress output from tests.

              When  the  output  of  ctest is being sent directly to a terminal, the progress through the set of
              tests is reported by updating the same line rather than printing start and end messages  for  each
              test  on  new  lines.   This  can  significantly  reduce  the  verbosity of the test output.  Test
              completion messages are still output on their own line for failed tests and the final test summary
              will also still be logged.

              This option can also be enabled by setting the environment variable CTEST_PROGRESS_OUTPUT.

       -V,--verbose
              Enable verbose output from tests.

              Test  output  is  normally suppressed and only summary information is displayed.  This option will
              show all test output.

       -VV,--extra-verbose
              Enable more verbose output from tests.

              Test output is normally suppressed and only summary information is displayed.   This  option  will
              show even more test output.

       --debug
              Displaying more verbose internals of CTest.

              This feature will result in a large number of output that is mostly useful for debugging dashboard
              problems.

       --output-on-failure
              Output anything outputted by the test program if the test should fail.  This option  can  also  be
              enabled by setting the CTEST_OUTPUT_ON_FAILURE environment variable

       -F     Enable failover.

              This  option  allows  CTest to resume a test set execution that was previously interrupted.  If no
              interruption occurred, the -F option will have no effect.

       -j <jobs>, --parallel <jobs>
              Run the tests in parallel using the given number of jobs.

              This option tells CTest to run the tests in parallel using given number of jobs. This  option  can
              also be set by setting the CTEST_PARALLEL_LEVEL environment variable.

              This option can be used with the PROCESSORS test property.

              See Label and Subproject Summary.

       --resource-spec-file <file>
              Run  CTest  with  resource  allocation enabled, using the resource specification file specified in
              <file>.

              When ctest is run as a Dashboard Client this sets the ResourceSpecFile option of  the  CTest  Test
              Step.

       --test-load <level>
              While running tests in parallel (e.g. with -j), try not to start tests when they may cause the CPU
              load to pass above a given threshold.

              When ctest is run as a Dashboard Client this sets the TestLoad option of the CTest Test Step.

       -Q,--quiet
              Make CTest quiet.

              This option will suppress all the output.  The output log file will  still  be  generated  if  the
              --output-log is specified.  Options such as --verbose, --extra-verbose, and --debug are ignored if
              --quiet is specified.

       -O <file>, --output-log <file>
              Output to log file.

              This option tells CTest to write all its output to a <file> log file.

       -N,--show-only[=<format>]
              Disable actual execution of tests.

              This option tells CTest to list the tests that would be run but not actually run them.  Useful  in
              conjunction with the -R and -E options.

              <format> can be one of the following values.

                 human  Human-friendly output.  This is not guaranteed to be stable.  This is the default.

                 json-v1
                        Dump the test information in JSON format.  See Show as JSON Object Model.

       -L <regex>, --label-regex <regex>
              Run tests with labels matching regular expression.

              This option tells CTest to run only the tests whose labels match the given regular expression.

       -R <regex>, --tests-regex <regex>
              Run tests matching regular expression.

              This option tells CTest to run only the tests whose names match the given regular expression.

       -E <regex>, --exclude-regex <regex>
              Exclude tests matching regular expression.

              This option tells CTest to NOT run the tests whose names match the given regular expression.

       -LE <regex>, --label-exclude <regex>
              Exclude tests with labels matching regular expression.

              This option tells CTest to NOT run the tests whose labels match the given regular expression.

       -FA <regex>, --fixture-exclude-any <regex>
              Exclude fixtures matching <regex> from automatically adding any tests to the test set.

              If  a  test in the set of tests to be executed requires a particular fixture, that fixture’s setup
              and cleanup tests would normally be added to the test  set  automatically.  This  option  prevents
              adding  setup  or  cleanup  tests  for  fixtures matching the <regex>. Note that all other fixture
              behavior is retained, including test dependencies and skipping tests that have fixture setup tests
              that fail.

       -FS <regex>, --fixture-exclude-setup <regex>
              Same as -FA except only matching setup tests are excluded.

       -FC <regex>, --fixture-exclude-cleanup <regex>
              Same as -FA except only matching cleanup tests are excluded.

       -D <dashboard>, --dashboard <dashboard>
              Execute dashboard test.

              This  option  tells  CTest  to  act as a CDash client and perform a dashboard test.  All tests are
              <Mode><Test>, where <Mode> can be Experimental, Nightly, and Continuous, and <Test> can be  Start,
              Update, Configure, Build, Test, Coverage, and Submit.

              See Dashboard Client.

       -D <var>:<type>=<value>
              Define a variable for script mode.

              Pass  in  variable values on the command line.  Use in conjunction with -S to pass variable values
              to a dashboard script.  Parsing -D arguments as variable values is only  attempted  if  the  value
              following -D does not match any of the known dashboard types.

       -M <model>, --test-model <model>
              Sets the model for a dashboard.

              This  option  tells CTest to act as a CDash client where the <model> can be Experimental, Nightly,
              and Continuous.  Combining -M and -T is similar to -D.

              See Dashboard Client.

       -T <action>, --test-action <action>
              Sets the dashboard action to perform.

              This option tells CTest to act as a CDash client and perform some action  such  as  start,  build,
              test etc. See Dashboard Client Steps for the full list of actions.  Combining -M and -T is similar
              to -D.

              See Dashboard Client.

       -S <script>, --script <script>
              Execute a dashboard for a configuration.

              This option tells CTest to load in a configuration script which sets a number of  parameters  such
              as  the  binary  and  source directories.  Then CTest will do what is required to create and run a
              dashboard.  This option basically sets up a dashboard and then runs ctest -D with the  appropriate
              options.

              See Dashboard Client.

       -SP <script>, --script-new-process <script>
              Execute a dashboard for a configuration.

              This  option  does  the  same operations as -S but it will do them in a separate process.  This is
              primarily useful in cases where the script may modify the environment and  you  do  not  want  the
              modified environment to impact other -S scripts.

              See Dashboard Client.

       -I [Start,End,Stride,test#,test#|Test file], --tests-information
              Run a specific number of tests by number.

              This  option  causes  CTest  to  run  tests  starting  at  number Start, ending at number End, and
              incrementing by Stride.  Any additional  numbers  after  Stride  are  considered  individual  test
              numbers.   Start,  End,  or Stride can be empty.  Optionally a file can be given that contains the
              same syntax as the command line.

       -U, --union
              Take the Union of -I and -R.

              When both -R and -I are specified by default the intersection of tests are run.  By specifying  -U
              the union of tests is run instead.

       --rerun-failed
              Run only the tests that failed previously.

              This  option tells CTest to perform only the tests that failed during its previous run.  When this
              option is specified, CTest ignores all other options intended to modify the list of tests  to  run
              (-L,  -R,  -E, -LE, -I, etc).  In the event that CTest runs and no tests fail, subsequent calls to
              CTest with the --rerun-failed option will run the set of tests that most recently failed (if any).

       --repeat-until-fail <n>
              Require each test to run <n> times without failing in order to pass.

              This is useful in finding sporadic failures in test cases.

       --max-width <width>
              Set the max width for a test name to output.

              Set the maximum width for each test name to show in the output.  This allows the user to widen the
              output to avoid clipping the test name which can be very annoying.

       --interactive-debug-mode [0|1]
              Set the interactive mode to 0 or 1.

              This option causes CTest to run tests in either an interactive mode or a non-interactive mode.  On
              Windows this means that in non-interactive mode, all system debug pop up windows are blocked.   In
              dashboard  mode  (Experimental,  Nightly,  Continuous), the default is non-interactive.  When just
              running tests not for a dashboard the default is to allow popups and interactive debugging.

       --no-label-summary
              Disable timing summary information for labels.

              This option tells CTest not to print summary information for each label associated with the  tests
              run.  If there are no labels on the tests, nothing extra is printed.

              See Label and Subproject Summary.

       --no-subproject-summary
              Disable timing summary information for subprojects.

              This  option  tells CTest not to print summary information for each subproject associated with the
              tests run.  If there are no subprojects on the tests, nothing extra is printed.

              See Label and Subproject Summary.

       --build-and-test See Build and Test Mode.

       --test-output-size-passed <size>
              Limit the output for passed tests to <size> bytes.

       --test-output-size-failed <size>
              Limit the output for failed tests to <size> bytes.

       --overwrite
              Overwrite CTest configuration option.

              By default CTest uses configuration options from configuration file.  This option  will  overwrite
              the configuration option.

       --force-new-ctest-process
              Run child CTest instances as new processes.

              By  default CTest will run child CTest instances within the same process.  If this behavior is not
              desired, this argument will enforce new processes for child CTest processes.

       --schedule-random
              Use a random order for scheduling tests.

              This option will run the tests in a  random  order.   It  is  commonly  used  to  detect  implicit
              dependencies in a test suite.

       --submit-index
              Legacy option for old Dart2 dashboard server feature.  Do not use.

       --timeout <seconds>
              Set the default test timeout.

              This option effectively sets a timeout on all tests that do not already have a timeout set on them
              via the TIMEOUT property.

       --stop-time <time>
              Set a time at which all tests should stop running.

              Set a real time of day at which all tests should  timeout.   Example:  7:00:00  -0400.   Any  time
              format  understood  by  the curl date parser is accepted.  Local time is assumed if no timezone is
              specified.

       --print-labels
              Print all available test labels.

              This option will not run any tests, it will simply print the list of all  labels  associated  with
              the test set.

       --help,-help,-usage,-h,-H,/?
              Print usage information and exit.

              Usage describes the basic command line interface and its options.

       --version,-version,/V [<f>]
              Show program name/version banner and exit.

              If  a file is specified, the version is written into it.  The help is printed to a named <f>ile if
              given.

       --help-full [<f>]
              Print all help manuals and exit.

              All manuals are printed in a human-readable text format.  The help is printed to a named <f>ile if
              given.

       --help-manual <man> [<f>]
              Print one help manual and exit.

              The  specified  manual is printed in a human-readable text format.  The help is printed to a named
              <f>ile if given.

       --help-manual-list [<f>]
              List help manuals available and exit.

              The list contains all manuals for which help may be obtained by  using  the  --help-manual  option
              followed by a manual name.  The help is printed to a named <f>ile if given.

       --help-command <cmd> [<f>]
              Print help for one command and exit.

              The cmake-commands(7) manual entry for <cmd> is printed in a human-readable text format.  The help
              is printed to a named <f>ile if given.

       --help-command-list [<f>]
              List commands with help available and exit.

              The list contains all commands for which help may be obtained by using the  --help-command  option
              followed by a command name.  The help is printed to a named <f>ile if given.

       --help-commands [<f>]
              Print cmake-commands manual and exit.

              The cmake-commands(7) manual is printed in a human-readable text format.  The help is printed to a
              named <f>ile if given.

       --help-module <mod> [<f>]
              Print help for one module and exit.

              The cmake-modules(7) manual entry for <mod> is printed in a human-readable text format.  The  help
              is printed to a named <f>ile if given.

       --help-module-list [<f>]
              List modules with help available and exit.

              The  list  contains  all  modules for which help may be obtained by using the --help-module option
              followed by a module name.  The help is printed to a named <f>ile if given.

       --help-modules [<f>]
              Print cmake-modules manual and exit.

              The cmake-modules(7) manual is printed in a human-readable text format.  The help is printed to  a
              named <f>ile if given.

       --help-policy <cmp> [<f>]
              Print help for one policy and exit.

              The cmake-policies(7) manual entry for <cmp> is printed in a human-readable text format.  The help
              is printed to a named <f>ile if given.

       --help-policy-list [<f>]
              List policies with help available and exit.

              The list contains all policies for which help may be obtained by using  the  --help-policy  option
              followed by a policy name.  The help is printed to a named <f>ile if given.

       --help-policies [<f>]
              Print cmake-policies manual and exit.

              The cmake-policies(7) manual is printed in a human-readable text format.  The help is printed to a
              named <f>ile if given.

       --help-property <prop> [<f>]
              Print help for one property and exit.

              The cmake-properties(7) manual entries for <prop> are printed in  a  human-readable  text  format.
              The help is printed to a named <f>ile if given.

       --help-property-list [<f>]
              List properties with help available and exit.

              The  list  contains  all  properties  for  which help may be obtained by using the --help-property
              option followed by a property name.  The help is printed to a named <f>ile if given.

       --help-properties [<f>]
              Print cmake-properties manual and exit.

              The cmake-properties(7) manual is printed in a human-readable text format.  The help is printed to
              a named <f>ile if given.

       --help-variable <var> [<f>]
              Print help for one variable and exit.

              The  cmake-variables(7)  manual  entry  for <var> is printed in a human-readable text format.  The
              help is printed to a named <f>ile if given.

       --help-variable-list [<f>]
              List variables with help available and exit.

              The list contains all variables for which help may be obtained by using the --help-variable option
              followed by a variable name.  The help is printed to a named <f>ile if given.

       --help-variables [<f>]
              Print cmake-variables manual and exit.

              The  cmake-variables(7) manual is printed in a human-readable text format.  The help is printed to
              a named <f>ile if given.

LABEL AND SUBPROJECT SUMMARY

       CTest prints timing summary information for each LABEL and subproject associated with the tests run.  The
       label time summary will not include labels that are mapped to subprojects.

       When  the  PROCESSORS test property is set, CTest will display a weighted test timing result in label and
       subproject summaries. The time is reported with sec*proc instead of just sec.

       The weighted time summary reported for each label or subproject j is computed as:

          Weighted Time Summary for Label/Subproject j =
              sum(raw_test_time[j,i] * num_processors[j,i], i=1...num_tests[j])

          for labels/subprojects j=1...total

       where:

       • raw_test_time[j,i]: Wall-clock time for the i test for the j label or subproject

       • num_processors[j,i]: Value of the CTest PROCESSORS  property  for  the  i  test  for  the  j  label  or
         subproject

       • num_tests[j]: Number of tests associated with the j label or subproject

       • total: Total number of labels or subprojects that have at least one test run

       Therefore,  the  weighted  time  summary  for each label or subproject represents the amount of time that
       CTest gave to run the tests for each label or subproject and gives a good  representation  of  the  total
       expense of the tests for each label or subproject when compared to other labels or subprojects.

       For  example, if SubprojectA showed 100 sec*proc and SubprojectB showed 10 sec*proc, then CTest allocated
       approximately 10 times the CPU/core time to run the tests for SubprojectA than for SubprojectB  (e.g.  so
       if  effort  is  going  to  be  expended  to reduce the cost of the test suite for the whole project, then
       reducing the cost of the test suite for SubprojectA would likely have a  larger  impact  than  effort  to
       reduce the cost of the test suite for SubprojectB).

BUILD AND TEST MODE

CTest provides a command-line signature to configure (i.e. run cmake on), build, and/or execute a test:

ctest --build-and-test <path-to-source> <path-to-build>
--build-generator <generator>
[<options>...]
[--build-options <opts>...]
[--test-command <command> [<args>...]]

The configure and test steps are optional. The arguments to this command line are the source and binary
directories. The --build-generator option must be provided to use --build-and-test. If --test-command
is specified then that will be run after the build is complete. Other options that affect this mode
include:

--build-target
Specify a specific target to build.

If left out the all target is built.

--build-nocmake
Run the build without running cmake first.

Skip the cmake step.

--build-run-dir
Specify directory to run programs from.

Directory where programs will be after it has been compiled.

--build-two-config
Run CMake twice.

--build-exe-dir
Specify the directory for the executable.

--build-generator
Specify the generator to use. See the cmake-generators(7) manual.

--build-generator-platform
Specify the generator-specific platform.

--build-generator-toolset
Specify the generator-specific toolset.

--build-project
Specify the name of the project to build.

--build-makeprogram
Specify the explicit make program to be used by CMake when configuring and building the project.
Only applicable for Make and Ninja based generators.

--build-noclean
Skip the make clean step.

--build-config-sample
A sample executable to use to determine the configuration that should be used. e.g. Debug,
Release etc.

--build-options
Additional options for configuring the build (i.e. for CMake, not for the build tool). Note that
if this is specified, the --build-options keyword and its arguments must be the last option given
on the command line, with the possible exception of --test-command.

--test-command
The command to run as the test step with the --build-and-test option. All arguments following
this keyword will be assumed to be part of the test command line, so it must be the last option
given.

--test-timeout
The time limit in seconds

DASHBOARD CLIENT

CTest can operate as a client for the CDash software quality dashboard application. As a dashboard
client, CTest performs a sequence of steps to configure, build, and test software, and then submits the
results to a CDash server. The command-line signature used to submit to CDash is:

ctest (-D <dashboard> | -M <model> -T <action> | -S <script> | -SP <script>)
[-- <dashboard-options>...]

Options for Dashboard Client include:

--group <group>
Specify what group you’d like to submit results to

Submit dashboard to specified group instead of default one. By default, the dashboard is
submitted to Nightly, Experimental, or Continuous group, but by specifying this option, the group
can be arbitrary.

This replaces the deprecated option --track. Despite the name change its behavior is unchanged.

-A <file>, --add-notes <file>
Add a notes file with submission.

This option tells CTest to include a notes file when submitting dashboard.

--tomorrow-tag
Nightly or Experimental starts with next day tag.

This is useful if the build will not finish in one day.

--extra-submit <file>[;<file>]
Submit extra files to the dashboard.

This option will submit extra files to the dashboard.

--http1.0
Submit using HTTP 1.0.

This option will force CTest to use HTTP 1.0 to submit files to the dashboard, instead of HTTP
1.1.

--no-compress-output
Do not compress test output when submitting.

This flag will turn off automatic compression of test output. Use this to maintain compatibility
with an older version of CDash which doesn’t support compressed test output.

Dashboard Client Steps
CTest defines an ordered list of testing steps of which some or all may be run as a dashboard client:

Start Start a new dashboard submission to be composed of results recorded by the following steps. See
the CTest Start Step section below.

Update Update the source tree from its version control repository. Record the old and new versions and
the list of updated source files. See the CTest Update Step section below.

Configure
Configure the software by running a command in the build tree. Record the configuration output
log. See the CTest Configure Step section below.

Build Build the software by running a command in the build tree. Record the build output log and detect
warnings and errors. See the CTest Build Step section below.

Test Test the software by loading a CTestTestfile.cmake from the build tree and executing the defined
tests. Record the output and result of each test. See the CTest Test Step section below.

Coverage
Compute coverage of the source code by running a coverage analysis tool and recording its output.
See the CTest Coverage Step section below.

MemCheck
Run the software test suite through a memory check tool. Record the test output, results, and
issues reported by the tool. See the CTest MemCheck Step section below.

Submit Submit results recorded from other testing steps to the software quality dashboard server. See
the CTest Submit Step section below.

Dashboard Client Modes
CTest defines three modes of operation as a dashboard client:

Nightly
This mode is intended to be invoked once per day, typically at night. It enables the Start,
Update, Configure, Build, Test, Coverage, and Submit steps by default. Selected steps run even if
the Update step reports no changes to the source tree.

Continuous
This mode is intended to be invoked repeatedly throughout the day. It enables the Start, Update,
Configure, Build, Test, Coverage, and Submit steps by default, but exits after the Update step if
it reports no changes to the source tree.

Experimental
This mode is intended to be invoked by a developer to test local changes. It enables the Start,
Configure, Build, Test, Coverage, and Submit steps by default.

Dashboard Client via CTest Command-Line
CTest can perform testing on an already-generated build tree. Run the ctest command with the current
working directory set to the build tree and use one of these signatures:

ctest -D <mode>[<step>]
ctest -M <mode> [ -T <step> ]...

The <mode> must be one of the above Dashboard Client Modes, and each <step> must be one of the above
Dashboard Client Steps.

CTest reads the Dashboard Client Configuration settings from a file in the build tree called either
CTestConfiguration.ini or DartConfiguration.tcl (the names are historical). The format of the file is:

# Lines starting in '#' are comments.
# Other non-blank lines are key-value pairs.
<setting>: <value>

where <setting> is the setting name and <value> is the setting value.

In build trees generated by CMake, this configuration file is generated by the CTest module if included
by the project. The module uses variables to obtain a value for each setting as documented with the
settings below.

Dashboard Client via CTest Script
CTest can perform testing driven by a cmake-language(7) script that creates and maintains the source and
build tree as well as performing the testing steps. Run the ctest command with the current working
directory set outside of any build tree and use one of these signatures:

ctest -S <script>
ctest -SP <script>

The <script> file must call CTest Commands commands to run testing steps explicitly as documented below.
The commands obtain Dashboard Client Configuration settings from their arguments or from variables set in
the script.

DASHBOARD CLIENT CONFIGURATION

The Dashboard Client Steps may be configured by named settings as documented in the following sections.

CTest Start Step
Start a new dashboard submission to be composed of results recorded by the following steps.

In a CTest Script, the ctest_start() command runs this step. Arguments to the command may specify some
of the step settings. The command first runs the command-line specified by the CTEST_CHECKOUT_COMMAND
variable, if set, to initialize the source directory.

Configuration settings include:

BuildDirectory
The full path to the project build tree.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_BINARY_DIRECTORY

• CTest module variable: PROJECT_BINARY_DIR

SourceDirectory
The full path to the project source tree.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_SOURCE_DIRECTORY

• CTest module variable: PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR

CTest Update Step
In a CTest Script, the ctest_update() command runs this step. Arguments to the command may specify some
of the step settings.

Configuration settings to specify the version control tool include:

BZRCommand
bzr command-line tool to use if source tree is managed by Bazaar.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_BZR_COMMAND

• CTest module variable: none

BZRUpdateOptions
Command-line options to the BZRCommand when updating the source.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_BZR_UPDATE_OPTIONS

• CTest module variable: none

CVSCommand
cvs command-line tool to use if source tree is managed by CVS.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_CVS_COMMAND

• CTest module variable: CVSCOMMAND

CVSUpdateOptions
Command-line options to the CVSCommand when updating the source.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_CVS_UPDATE_OPTIONS

• CTest module variable: CVS_UPDATE_OPTIONS

GITCommand
git command-line tool to use if source tree is managed by Git.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_GIT_COMMAND

• CTest module variable: GITCOMMAND

The source tree is updated by git fetch followed by git reset --hard to the FETCH_HEAD. The
result is the same as git pull except that any local modifications are overwritten. Use
GITUpdateCustom to specify a different approach.

GITInitSubmodules
If set, CTest will update the repository’s submodules before updating.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_GIT_INIT_SUBMODULES

• CTest module variable: CTEST_GIT_INIT_SUBMODULES

GITUpdateCustom
Specify a custom command line (as a semicolon-separated list) to run in the source tree (Git work
tree) to update it instead of running the GITCommand.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_GIT_UPDATE_CUSTOM

• CTest module variable: CTEST_GIT_UPDATE_CUSTOM

GITUpdateOptions
Command-line options to the GITCommand when updating the source.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_GIT_UPDATE_OPTIONS

• CTest module variable: GIT_UPDATE_OPTIONS

HGCommand
hg command-line tool to use if source tree is managed by Mercurial.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_HG_COMMAND

• CTest module variable: none

HGUpdateOptions
Command-line options to the HGCommand when updating the source.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_HG_UPDATE_OPTIONS

• CTest module variable: none

P4Client
Value of the -c option to the P4Command.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_P4_CLIENT

• CTest module variable: CTEST_P4_CLIENT

P4Command
p4 command-line tool to use if source tree is managed by Perforce.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_P4_COMMAND

• CTest module variable: P4COMMAND

P4Options
Command-line options to the P4Command for all invocations.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_P4_OPTIONS

• CTest module variable: CTEST_P4_OPTIONS

P4UpdateCustom
Specify a custom command line (as a semicolon-separated list) to run in the source tree (Perforce
tree) to update it instead of running the P4Command.

• CTest Script variable: none

• CTest module variable: CTEST_P4_UPDATE_CUSTOM

P4UpdateOptions
Command-line options to the P4Command when updating the source.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_P4_UPDATE_OPTIONS

• CTest module variable: CTEST_P4_UPDATE_OPTIONS

SVNCommand
svn command-line tool to use if source tree is managed by Subversion.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_SVN_COMMAND

• CTest module variable: SVNCOMMAND

SVNOptions
Command-line options to the SVNCommand for all invocations.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_SVN_OPTIONS

• CTest module variable: CTEST_SVN_OPTIONS

SVNUpdateOptions
Command-line options to the SVNCommand when updating the source.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_SVN_UPDATE_OPTIONS

• CTest module variable: SVN_UPDATE_OPTIONS

UpdateCommand
Specify the version-control command-line tool to use without detecting the VCS that manages the
source tree.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_UPDATE_COMMAND

• CTest module variable: <VCS>COMMAND when UPDATE_TYPE is <vcs>, else UPDATE_COMMAND

UpdateOptions
Command-line options to the UpdateCommand.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_UPDATE_OPTIONS

• CTest module variable: <VCS>_UPDATE_OPTIONS when UPDATE_TYPE is <vcs>, else UPDATE_OPTIONS

UpdateType
Specify the version-control system that manages the source tree if it cannot be detected
automatically. The value may be bzr, cvs, git, hg, p4, or svn.

• CTest Script variable: none, detected from source tree

• CTest module variable: UPDATE_TYPE if set, else CTEST_UPDATE_TYPE

UpdateVersionOnly
Specify that you want the version control update command to only discover the current version that
is checked out, and not to update to a different version.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_UPDATE_VERSION_ONLY

UpdateVersionOverride
Specify the current version of your source tree.

When this variable is set to a non-empty string, CTest will report the value you specified rather
than using the update command to discover the current version that is checked out. Use of this
variable supersedes UpdateVersionOnly. Like UpdateVersionOnly, using this variable tells CTest not
to update the source tree to a different version.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_UPDATE_VERSION_OVERRIDE

Additional configuration settings include:

NightlyStartTime
In the Nightly dashboard mode, specify the “nightly start time”. With centralized version control
systems (cvs and svn), the Update step checks out the version of the software as of this time so
that multiple clients choose a common version to test. This is not well-defined in distributed
version-control systems so the setting is ignored.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_NIGHTLY_START_TIME

• CTest module variable: NIGHTLY_START_TIME if set, else CTEST_NIGHTLY_START_TIME

CTest Configure Step
In a CTest Script, the ctest_configure() command runs this step. Arguments to the command may specify
some of the step settings.

Configuration settings include:

ConfigureCommand
Command-line to launch the software configuration process. It will be executed in the location
specified by the BuildDirectory setting.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_CONFIGURE_COMMAND

• CTest module variable: CMAKE_COMMAND followed by PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR

LabelsForSubprojects
Specify a semicolon-separated list of labels that will be treated as subprojects. This mapping
will be passed on to CDash when configure, test or build results are submitted.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_LABELS_FOR_SUBPROJECTS

• CTest module variable: CTEST_LABELS_FOR_SUBPROJECTS

See Label and Subproject Summary.

CTest Build Step
In a CTest Script, the ctest_build() command runs this step. Arguments to the command may specify some
of the step settings.

Configuration settings include:

DefaultCTestConfigurationType
When the build system to be launched allows build-time selection of the configuration (e.g. Debug,
Release), this specifies the default configuration to be built when no -C option is given to the
ctest command. The value will be substituted into the value of MakeCommand to replace the literal
string ${CTEST_CONFIGURATION_TYPE} if it appears.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_CONFIGURATION_TYPE

• CTest module variable: DEFAULT_CTEST_CONFIGURATION_TYPE, initialized by the CMAKE_CONFIG_TYPE
environment variable

LabelsForSubprojects
Specify a semicolon-separated list of labels that will be treated as subprojects. This mapping
will be passed on to CDash when configure, test or build results are submitted.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_LABELS_FOR_SUBPROJECTS

• CTest module variable: CTEST_LABELS_FOR_SUBPROJECTS

See Label and Subproject Summary.

MakeCommand
Command-line to launch the software build process. It will be executed in the location specified
by the BuildDirectory setting.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_BUILD_COMMAND

• CTest module variable: MAKECOMMAND, initialized by the build_command() command

UseLaunchers
For build trees generated by CMake using one of the Makefile Generators or the Ninja generator,
specify whether the CTEST_USE_LAUNCHERS feature is enabled by the CTestUseLaunchers module (also
included by the CTest module). When enabled, the generated build system wraps each invocation of
the compiler, linker, or custom command line with a “launcher” that communicates with CTest via
environment variables and files to report granular build warning and error information.
Otherwise, CTest must “scrape” the build output log for diagnostics.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_USE_LAUNCHERS

• CTest module variable: CTEST_USE_LAUNCHERS

CTest Test Step
In a CTest Script, the ctest_test() command runs this step. Arguments to the command may specify some of
the step settings.

Configuration settings include:

ResourceSpecFile
Specify a resource specification file. See Resource Allocation for more information.

LabelsForSubprojects
Specify a semicolon-separated list of labels that will be treated as subprojects. This mapping
will be passed on to CDash when configure, test or build results are submitted.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_LABELS_FOR_SUBPROJECTS

• CTest module variable: CTEST_LABELS_FOR_SUBPROJECTS

See Label and Subproject Summary.

TestLoad
While running tests in parallel (e.g. with -j), try not to start tests when they may cause the CPU
load to pass above a given threshold.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_TEST_LOAD

• CTest module variable: CTEST_TEST_LOAD

TimeOut
The default timeout for each test if not specified by the TIMEOUT test property.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_TEST_TIMEOUT

• CTest module variable: DART_TESTING_TIMEOUT

CTest Coverage Step
In a CTest Script, the ctest_coverage() command runs this step. Arguments to the command may specify
some of the step settings.

Configuration settings include:

CoverageCommand
Command-line tool to perform software coverage analysis. It will be executed in the location
specified by the BuildDirectory setting.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_COVERAGE_COMMAND

• CTest module variable: COVERAGE_COMMAND

CoverageExtraFlags
Specify command-line options to the CoverageCommand tool.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_COVERAGE_EXTRA_FLAGS

• CTest module variable: COVERAGE_EXTRA_FLAGS

These options are the first arguments passed to CoverageCommand.

CTest MemCheck Step
In a CTest Script, the ctest_memcheck() command runs this step. Arguments to the command may specify
some of the step settings.

Configuration settings include:

MemoryCheckCommand
Command-line tool to perform dynamic analysis. Test command lines will be launched through this
tool.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_COMMAND

• CTest module variable: MEMORYCHECK_COMMAND

MemoryCheckCommandOptions
Specify command-line options to the MemoryCheckCommand tool. They will be placed prior to the
test command line.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_COMMAND_OPTIONS

• CTest module variable: MEMORYCHECK_COMMAND_OPTIONS

MemoryCheckType
Specify the type of memory checking to perform.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_TYPE

• CTest module variable: MEMORYCHECK_TYPE

MemoryCheckSanitizerOptions
Specify options to sanitizers when running with a sanitize-enabled build.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_SANITIZER_OPTIONS

• CTest module variable: MEMORYCHECK_SANITIZER_OPTIONS

MemoryCheckSuppressionFile
Specify a file containing suppression rules for the MemoryCheckCommand tool. It will be passed
with options appropriate to the tool.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_SUPPRESSIONS_FILE

• CTest module variable: MEMORYCHECK_SUPPRESSIONS_FILE

Additional configuration settings include:

BoundsCheckerCommand
Specify a MemoryCheckCommand that is known to be command-line compatible with Bounds Checker.

• CTest Script variable: none

• CTest module variable: none

PurifyCommand
Specify a MemoryCheckCommand that is known to be command-line compatible with Purify.

• CTest Script variable: none

• CTest module variable: PURIFYCOMMAND

ValgrindCommand
Specify a MemoryCheckCommand that is known to be command-line compatible with Valgrind.

• CTest Script variable: none

• CTest module variable: VALGRIND_COMMAND

ValgrindCommandOptions
Specify command-line options to the ValgrindCommand tool. They will be placed prior to the test
command line.

• CTest Script variable: none

• CTest module variable: VALGRIND_COMMAND_OPTIONS

CTest Submit Step
In a CTest Script, the ctest_submit() command runs this step. Arguments to the command may specify some
of the step settings.

Configuration settings include:

BuildName
Describe the dashboard client platform with a short string. (Operating system, compiler, etc.)

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_BUILD_NAME

• CTest module variable: BUILDNAME

CDashVersion
Legacy option. Not used.

• CTest Script variable: none, detected from server

• CTest module variable: CTEST_CDASH_VERSION

CTestSubmitRetryCount
Specify a number of attempts to retry submission on network failure.

• CTest Script variable: none, use the ctest_submit() RETRY_COUNT option.

• CTest module variable: CTEST_SUBMIT_RETRY_COUNT

CTestSubmitRetryDelay
Specify a delay before retrying submission on network failure.

• CTest Script variable: none, use the ctest_submit() RETRY_DELAY option.

• CTest module variable: CTEST_SUBMIT_RETRY_DELAY

CurlOptions
Specify a semicolon-separated list of options to control the Curl library that CTest uses
internally to connect to the server. Possible options are CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER_OFF and
CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST_OFF.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_CURL_OPTIONS

• CTest module variable: CTEST_CURL_OPTIONS

DropLocation
Legacy option. When SubmitURL is not set, it is constructed from DropMethod, DropSiteUser,
DropSitePassword, DropSite, and DropLocation.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_DROP_LOCATION

• CTest module variable: DROP_LOCATION if set, else CTEST_DROP_LOCATION

DropMethod
Legacy option. When SubmitURL is not set, it is constructed from DropMethod, DropSiteUser,
DropSitePassword, DropSite, and DropLocation.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_DROP_METHOD

• CTest module variable: DROP_METHOD if set, else CTEST_DROP_METHOD

DropSite
Legacy option. When SubmitURL is not set, it is constructed from DropMethod, DropSiteUser,
DropSitePassword, DropSite, and DropLocation.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_DROP_SITE

• CTest module variable: DROP_SITE if set, else CTEST_DROP_SITE

DropSitePassword
Legacy option. When SubmitURL is not set, it is constructed from DropMethod, DropSiteUser,
DropSitePassword, DropSite, and DropLocation.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_DROP_SITE_PASSWORD

• CTest module variable: DROP_SITE_PASSWORD if set, else CTEST_DROP_SITE_PASWORD

DropSiteUser
Legacy option. When SubmitURL is not set, it is constructed from DropMethod, DropSiteUser,
DropSitePassword, DropSite, and DropLocation.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_DROP_SITE_USER

• CTest module variable: DROP_SITE_USER if set, else CTEST_DROP_SITE_USER

IsCDash
Legacy option. Not used.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_DROP_SITE_CDASH

• CTest module variable: CTEST_DROP_SITE_CDASH

ScpCommand
Legacy option. Not used.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_SCP_COMMAND

• CTest module variable: SCPCOMMAND

Site Describe the dashboard client host site with a short string. (Hostname, domain, etc.)

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_SITE

• CTest module variable: SITE, initialized by the site_name() command

SubmitURL
The http or https URL of the dashboard server to send the submission to.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_SUBMIT_URL

• CTest module variable: SUBMIT_URL if set, else CTEST_SUBMIT_URL

TriggerSite
Legacy option. Not used.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_TRIGGER_SITE

• CTest module variable: TRIGGER_SITE if set, else CTEST_TRIGGER_SITE

SHOW AS JSON OBJECT MODEL

When the --show-only=json-v1 command line option is given, the test information is output in JSON format.
Version 1.0 of the JSON object model is defined as follows:

kind The string “ctestInfo”.

version
A JSON object specifying the version components. Its members are

major A non-negative integer specifying the major version component.

minor A non-negative integer specifying the minor version component.

backtraceGraph
JSON object representing backtrace information with the following members:

commands
List of command names.

files List of file names.

nodes List of node JSON objects with members:

command
Index into the commands member of the backtraceGraph.

file Index into the files member of the backtraceGraph.

line Line number in the file where the backtrace was added.

parent Index into the nodes member of the backtraceGraph representing the parent in the
graph.

tests A JSON array listing information about each test. Each entry is a JSON object with members:

name Test name.

config Configuration that the test can run on. Empty string means any config.

command
List where the first element is the test command and the remaining elements are the command
arguments.

backtrace
Index into the nodes member of the backtraceGraph.

properties
Test properties. Can contain keys for each of the supported test properties.

RESOURCE ALLOCATION

CTest provides a mechanism for tests to specify the resources that they need in a fine-grained way, and
for users to specify the resources availiable on the running machine. This allows CTest to internally
keep track of which resources are in use and which are free, scheduling tests in a way that prevents them
from trying to claim resources that are not available.

A common use case for this feature is for tests that require the use of a GPU. Multiple tests can
simultaneously allocate memory from a GPU, but if too many tests try to do this at once, some of them
will fail to allocate, resulting in a failed test, even though the test would have succeeded if it had
the memory it needed. By using the resource allocation feature, each test can specify how much memory it
requires from a GPU, allowing CTest to schedule tests in a way that running several of these tests at
once does not exhaust the GPU’s memory pool.

Please note that CTest has no concept of what a GPU is or how much memory it has, nor does it have any
way of communicating with a GPU to retrieve this information or perform any memory management. CTest
simply keeps track of a list of abstract resource types, each of which has a certain number of slots
available for tests to use. Each test specifies the number of slots that it requires from a certain
resource, and CTest then schedules them in a way that prevents the total number of slots in use from
exceeding the listed capacity. When a test is executed, and slots from a resource are allocated to that
test, tests may assume that they have exclusive use of those slots for the duration of the test’s
process.

The CTest resource allocation feature consists of two inputs:

• The resource specification file, described below, which describes the resources available on the
system.

• The RESOURCE_GROUPS property of tests, which describes the resources required by the test.

When CTest runs a test, the resources allocated to that test are passed in the form of a set of
environment variables as described below. Using this information to decide which resource to connect to
is left to the test writer.

The RESOURCE_GROUPS property tells CTest what resources a test expects to use grouped in a way meaningful
to the test. The test itself must read the environment variables to determine which resources have been
allocated to each group. For example, each group may correspond to a process the test will spawn when
executed.

Note that even if a test specifies a RESOURCE_GROUPS property, it is still possible for that to test to
run without any resource allocation (and without the corresponding environment variables) if the user
does not pass a resource specification file. Passing this file, either through the --resource-spec-file
command-line argument or the RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE argument to ctest_test(), is what activates the resource
allocation feature. Tests should check the CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_COUNT environment variable to find out
whether or not resource allocation is activated. This variable will always (and only) be defined if
resource allocation is activated. If resource allocation is not activated, then the
CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_COUNT variable will not exist, even if it exists for the parent ctest process. If a
test absolutely must have resource allocation, then it can return a failing exit code or use the
SKIP_RETURN_CODE or SKIP_REGULAR_EXPRESSION properties to indicate a skipped test.

Resource Specification File
The resource specification file is a JSON file which is passed to CTest, either on the ctest(1) command
line as --resource-spec-file, or as the RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE argument of ctest_test(). The resource
specification file must be a JSON object. All examples in this document assume the following resource
specification file:

{
"version": {
"major": 1,
"minor": 0
},
"local": [
{
"gpus": [
{
"id": "0",
"slots": 2
},
{
"id": "1",
"slots": 4
},
{
"id": "2",
"slots": 2
},
{
"id": "3"
}
],
"crypto_chips": [
{
"id": "card0",
"slots": 4
}
]
}
]
}

The members are:

version
An object containing a major integer field and a minor integer field. Currently, the only
supported version is major 1, minor 0. Any other value is an error.

local A JSON array of resource sets present on the system. Currently, this array is restricted to being
of size 1.

Each array element is a JSON object with members whose names are equal to the desired resource
types, such as gpus. These names must start with a lowercase letter or an underscore, and
subsequent characters can be a lowercase letter, a digit, or an underscore. Uppercase letters are
not allowed, because certain platforms have case-insensitive environment variables. See the
Environment Variables section below for more information. It is recommended that the resource type
name be the plural of a noun, such as gpus or crypto_chips (and not gpu or crypto_chip.)

Please note that the names gpus and crypto_chips are just examples, and CTest does not interpret
them in any way. You are free to make up any resource type you want to meet your own requirements.

The value for each resource type is a JSON array consisting of JSON objects, each of which
describe a specific instance of the specified resource. These objects have the following members:

id A string consisting of an identifier for the resource. Each character in the identifier can
be a lowercase letter, a digit, or an underscore. Uppercase letters are not allowed.

Identifiers must be unique within a resource type. However, they do not have to be unique
across resource types. For example, it is valid to have a gpus resource named 0 and a
crypto_chips resource named 0, but not two gpus resources both named 0.

Please note that the IDs 0, 1, 2, 3, and card0 are just examples, and CTest does not
interpret them in any way. You are free to make up any IDs you want to meet your own
requirements.

slots An optional unsigned number specifying the number of slots available on the resource. For
example, this could be megabytes of RAM on a GPU, or cryptography units available on a
cryptography chip. If slots is not specified, a default value of 1 is assumed.

In the example file above, there are four GPUs with ID’s 0 through 3. GPU 0 has 2 slots, GPU 1 has 4, GPU
2 has 2, and GPU 3 has a default of 1 slot. There is also one cryptography chip with 4 slots.

RESOURCE_GROUPS Property
See RESOURCE_GROUPS for a description of this property.

Environment Variables
Once CTest has decided which resources to allocate to a test, it passes this information to the test
executable as a series of environment variables. For each example below, we will assume that the test in
question has a RESOURCE_GROUPS property of 2,gpus:2;gpus:4,gpus:1,crypto_chips:2.

The following variables are passed to the test process:

CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_COUNT
The total number of groups specified by the RESOURCE_GROUPS property. For example:

• CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_COUNT=3

This variable will only be defined if ctest(1) has been given a --resource-spec-file, or if
ctest_test() has been given a RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE. If no resource specification file has been
given, this variable will not be defined.

CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_<num>
The list of resource types allocated to each group, with each item separated by a comma. <num> is
a number from zero to CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_COUNT minus one. CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_<num> is defined
for each <num> in this range. For example:

• CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_0=gpus

• CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_1=gpus

• CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_2=crypto_chips,gpus

CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_<num>_<resource-type>
The list of resource IDs and number of slots from each ID allocated to each group for a given
resource type. This variable consists of a series of pairs, each pair separated by a semicolon,
and with the two items in the pair separated by a comma. The first item in each pair is id:
followed by the ID of a resource of type <resource-type>, and the second item is slots: followed
by the number of slots from that resource allocated to the given group. For example:

• CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_0_GPUS=id:0,slots:2

• CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_1_GPUS=id:2,slots:2

• CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_2_GPUS=id:1,slots:4;id:3,slots:1

• CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_2_CRYPTO_CHIPS=id:card0,slots:2

In this example, group 0 gets 2 slots from GPU 0, group 1 gets 2 slots from GPU 2, and group 2
gets 4 slots from GPU 1, 1 slot from GPU 3, and 2 slots from cryptography chip card0.

<num> is a number from zero to CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_COUNT minus one. <resource-type> is the name
of a resource type, converted to uppercase. CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_<num>_<resource-type> is defined
for the product of each <num> in the range listed above and each resource type listed in
CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_<num>.

Because some platforms have case-insensitive names for environment variables, the names of
resource types may not clash in a case-insensitive environment. Because of this, for the sake of
simplicity, all resource types must be listed in all lowercase in the resource specification file
and in the RESOURCE_GROUPS property, and they are converted to all uppercase in the
CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_<num>_<resource-type> environment variable.

COPYRIGHT

       2000-2022 Kitware, Inc. and Contributors

NAME

SYNOPSIS

DESCRIPTION

OPTIONS

LABEL AND SUBPROJECT SUMMARY

BUILD AND TEST MODE

DASHBOARD CLIENT

DASHBOARD CLIENT CONFIGURATION

SHOW AS JSON OBJECT MODEL

RESOURCE ALLOCATION

SEE ALSO

COPYRIGHT