Ubuntu Manpage: ctest - CTest Command-Line Reference

NAME

       ctest - CTest Command-Line Reference

   Contents
       • ctest(1)

         • Synopsis

         • Description

         • Run Tests

         • View Help

         • Label Matching

         • 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

           • Dynamically-Generated Resource Specification File

         • Job Server Integration

         • See Also

SYNOPSIS

          Run Tests
           ctest [<options>] [--test-dir <path-to-build>]

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

          Dashboard Client
           ctest -D <dashboard>         [-- <dashboard-options>...]
           ctest -M <model> -T <action> [-- <dashboard-options>...]
           ctest -S <script>            [-- <dashboard-options>...]
           ctest -SP <script>           [-- <dashboard-options>...]

          View Help
           ctest --help[-<topic>]

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.

RUN TESTS

--preset <preset>, --preset=<preset>
Use a test preset to specify test options. The project binary directory is inferred from the
configurePreset key. The current working directory must contain CMake preset files. See preset
for more details.

--list-presets
Lists the available test presets. The current working directory must contain CMake preset files.

-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

--stop-on-failure
Stop running the tests when the first failure happens.

-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 [<level>], --parallel [<level>]
Run tests in parallel, optionally limited to a given level of parallelism.

Added in version 3.29: The <level> may be omitted, or 0, in which case:

• Under Job Server Integration, parallelism is limited by available job tokens.

• Otherwise, if the value is omitted, parallelism is limited by the number of processors, or 2,
whichever is larger.

• Otherwise, if the value is 0, parallelism is unbounded.

This option may instead be specified by the CTEST_PARALLEL_LEVEL environment variable.

This option can be used with the PROCESSORS test property. See the 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.

--output-junit <file>
Added in version 3.21.

Write test results in JUnit format.

This option tells CTest to write test results to <file> in JUnit XML format. If <file> already
exists, it will be overwritten. If using the -S option to run a dashboard script, use the
OUTPUT_JUNIT keyword with the ctest_test() command instead.

-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.

Added in version 3.14: The --show-only option accepts a <format> value.

<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 as described under string(REGEX).

This option tells CTest to run only the tests whose labels match the given regular expression.
When more than one -L option is given, a test will only be run if each regular expression matches
at least one of the test's labels (i.e. the multiple -L labels form an AND relationship). See
Label Matching.

-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.
When more than one -LE option is given, a test will only be excluded if each regular expression
matches at least one of the test's labels (i.e. the multiple -LE labels form an AND relationship).
See Label Matching.

--tests-from-file <filename>
Added in version 3.29.

Run tests listed in the given file.

This option tells CTest to run tests that are listed in the given file. The file must contain one
exact test name per line. Lines that do not exactly match any test names are ignored. This
option can be combined with the other options like -R, -E, -L or -LE.

--exclude-from-file <filename>
Added in version 3.29.

Exclude tests listed in the given file.

This option tells CTest to NOT run tests that are listed in the given file. The file must contain
one exact test name per line. Lines that do not exactly match any test names are ignored. This
option can be combined with the other options like -R, -E, -L or -LE.

-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.

-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 <mode>:<n>
Run tests repeatedly based on the given <mode> up to <n> times. The modes are:

until-fail
Require each test to run <n> times without failing in order to pass. This is useful in
finding sporadic failures in test cases.

until-pass
Allow each test to run up to <n> times in order to pass. Repeats tests if they fail for
any reason. This is useful in tolerating sporadic failures in test cases.

after-timeout
Allow each test to run up to <n> times in order to pass. Repeats tests only if they
timeout. This is useful in tolerating sporadic timeouts in test cases on busy machines.

--repeat-until-fail <n>
Equivalent to --repeat until-fail:<n>.

--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. In
dashboard mode (Experimental, Nightly, Continuous), the default is non-interactive. In
non-interactive mode, the environment variable DASHBOARD_TEST_FROM_CTEST is set.

Prior to CMake 3.11, interactive mode on Windows allowed system debug popup windows to appear.
Now, due to CTest's use of libuv to launch test processes, all system debug popup windows are
always blocked.

--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.

--test-dir <dir>
Added in version 3.20.

Specify the directory in which to look for tests, typically a CMake project build directory. If
not specified, the current directory is used.

--test-output-size-passed <size>
Added in version 3.4.

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

--test-output-size-failed <size>
Added in version 3.4.

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

--test-output-truncation <mode>
Added in version 3.24.

Truncate tail (default), middle or head of test output once maximum output size is reached.

--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.

--no-tests=<action>
Regard no tests found either as error (when <action> is set to error) or ignore it (when <action>
is set to ignore).

If no tests were found, the default behavior of CTest is to always log an error message but to
return an error code in script mode only. This option unifies the behavior of CTest by either
returning an error code if no tests were found or by ignoring it.

Added in version 3.26.

This option can also be set by setting the CTEST_NO_TESTS_ACTION environment variable.

VIEW HELP

       To  print  version  details  or  selected  pages  from  the CMake documentation, use one of the following
       options:

       -version [<file>], --version [<file>], /V [<file>]
              Show program name/version banner and exit.  The output is printed to a named <file> if given.

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

              Usage describes the basic command line interface and its options.

       --help <keyword> [<file>]
              Print help for one CMake keyword.

              <keyword> can be a property, variable, command, policy, generator or module.

              The relevant manual entry for <keyword> is printed in a human-readable text format.  The output is
              printed to a named <file> if given.

              Changed in version 3.28: Prior to CMake 3.28, this option supported command names only.

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

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

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

              The specified manual is printed in a human-readable text format.  The output is printed to a named
              <file> if given.

       --help-manual-list [<file>]
              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 output is printed to a named <file> if given.

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

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

       --help-command-list [<file>]
              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 output is printed to a named <file> if given.

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

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

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

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

       --help-module-list [<file>]
              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 output is printed to a named <file> if given.

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

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

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

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

       --help-policy-list [<file>]
              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 output is printed to a named <file> if given.

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

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

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

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

       --help-property-list [<file>]
              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 output is printed to a named <file> if given.

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

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

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

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

       --help-variable-list [<file>]
              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 output is printed to a named <file> if given.

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

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

LABEL MATCHING

Tests may have labels attached to them. Tests may be included or excluded from a test run by filtering on
the labels. Each individual filter is a regular expression applied to the labels attached to a test.

When -L is used, in order for a test to be included in a test run, each regular expression must match at
least one label. Using more than one -L option means "match all of these".

The -LE option works just like -L, but excludes tests rather than including them. A test is excluded if
each regular expression matches at least one label.

If a test has no labels attached to it, then -L will never include that test, and -LE will never exclude
that test. As an example of tests with labels, consider five tests, with the following labels:

• test1 has labels tuesday and production

• test2 has labels tuesday and test

• test3 has labels wednesday and production

• test4 has label wednesday

• test5 has labels friday and test

Running ctest with -L tuesday -L test will select test2, which has both labels. Running CTest with -L
test will select test2 and test5, because both of them have a label that matches that regular expression.

Because the matching works with regular expressions, take note that running CTest with -L es will match
all five tests. To select the tuesday and wednesday tests together, use a single regular expression that
matches either of them, like -L "tue|wed".

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.

       Added  in  version  3.22:  Labels added dynamically during test execution are also reported in the timing
       summary.  See Additional Labels.

       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-and-test
Switch into the build and test mode.

--build-target
Specify a specific target to build. The option can be given multiple times with different
targets, in which case each target is built in turn. A clean will be done before building each
target unless the --build-noclean option is given.

If no --build-target is specified, 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> [-- <dashboard-options>...]
ctest -M <model> -T <action> [-- <dashboard-options>...]
ctest -S <script> [-- <dashboard-options>...]
ctest -SP <script> [-- <dashboard-options>...]

Options for Dashboard Client include:

-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.

If <dashboard> is not one of the recognized <Mode><Test> values, this will be treated as a
variable definition instead (see the dashboard-options further below).

-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.

-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.

-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.

-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.

The available <dashboard-options> are the following:

-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.

--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.

--http-header <header>
Added in version 3.29.

Append HTTP header when submitting to the dashboard.

This option will cause CTest to append the specified header when submitting to the dashboard.
This option may be specified more than once.

--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.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE

• CTest module variable: CTEST_RESOURCE_SPEC_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 or the --timeout
flag.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_TEST_TIMEOUT

• CTest module variable: DART_TESTING_TIMEOUT

To report extra test values to CDash, see Additional Test Measurements.

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

DrMemoryCommand
Specify a MemoryCheckCommand that is known to be a command-line compatible with DrMemory.

• CTest Script variable: none

• CTest module variable: DRMEMORY_COMMAND

DrMemoryCommandOptions
Specify command-line options to the DrMemoryCommand tool. They will be placed prior to the test
command line.

• CTest Script variable: none

• CTest module variable: DRMEMORY_COMMAND_OPTIONS

CudaSanitizerCommand
Specify a MemoryCheckCommand that is known to be a command-line compatible with cuda-memcheck or
compute-sanitizer.

• CTest Script variable: none

• CTest module variable: CUDA_SANITIZER_COMMAND

CudaSanitizerCommandOptions
Specify command-line options to the CudaSanitizerCommand tool. They will be placed prior to the
test command line.

• CTest Script variable: none

• CTest module variable: CUDA_SANITIZER_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
Deprecated since version 3.30: Use TLSVerify instead.

Specify a semicolon-separated list of options to control the Curl library that CTest uses
internally to connect to the server.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_CURL_OPTIONS

• CTest module variable: CTEST_CURL_OPTIONS

Possible options are:

CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER_OFF
Disable the CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER curl option.

CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST_OFF
Disable the CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST curl option.

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

SubmitInactivityTimeout
The time to wait for the submission after which it is canceled if not completed. Specify a zero
value to disable timeout.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_SUBMIT_INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT

• CTest module variable: CTEST_SUBMIT_INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT

TLSVersion
Added in version 3.30.

Specify a minimum TLS version allowed when submitting to a dashboard via https:// URLs.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_TLS_VERSION

• CTest module variable: CTEST_TLS_VERSION

TLSVerify
Added in version 3.30.

Specify a boolean value indicating whether to verify the server certificate when submitting to a
dashboard via https:// URLs.

• CTest Script variable: CTEST_TLS_VERIFY

• CTest module variable: CTEST_TLS_VERIFY

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

Added in version 3.14.

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 available 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.

When the resource allocation feature is used, CTest will not oversubscribe resources. For example, if a
resource has 8 slots, CTest will not run tests that collectively use more than 8 slots at a time. This
has the effect of limiting how many tests can run at any given time, even if a high -j argument is used,
if those tests all use some slots from the same resource. In addition, it means that a single test that
uses more of a resource than is available on a machine will not run at all (and will be reported as Not
Run).

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. It does not have any
way of communicating with a GPU to retrieve this information or perform any memory management, although
the project can define a test that provides details about the test machine (see Dynamically-Generated
Resource Specification File).

CTest 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 at least 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 in one of a number of ways. It
can be specified on the command line with the ctest --resource-spec-file option, it can be given using
the RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE argument of ctest_test(), or it can be generated dynamically as part of test
execution (see Dynamically-Generated Resource Specification File).

If a dashboard script is used and RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE is not specified, the value of
CTEST_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE in the dashboard script is used instead. If --resource-spec-file,
RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE, and CTEST_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE in the dashboard script are not specified, the value of
CTEST_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE in the CMake build is used instead. If none of these are specified, no resource
spec file is used.

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.

Dynamically-Generated Resource Specification File
Added in version 3.28.

A project may optionally specify a single test which will be used to dynamically generate the resource
specification file that CTest will use for scheduling tests that use resources. The test that generates
the file must have the GENERATED_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE property set, and must have exactly one fixture in
its FIXTURES_SETUP property. This fixture is considered by CTest to have special meaning: it's the
fixture that generates the resource spec file. The fixture may have any name. If such a fixture exists,
all tests that have RESOURCE_GROUPS set must have the fixture in their FIXTURES_REQUIRED, and a resource
spec file may not be specified with the --resource-spec-file argument or the CTEST_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE
variable.

JOB SERVER INTEGRATION

       Added in version 3.29.

       On POSIX systems, when running under the context of a Job Server, CTest shares its job  slots.   This  is
       independent of the PROCESSORS test property, which still counts against CTest's -j parallel level.  CTest
       acquires exactly one token from the job server before running each test, and returns  it  when  the  test
       finishes.

       For example, consider the Makefile:

          test:
               +ctest -j 8

       When  invoked  via  make -j 2 test, ctest connects to the job server, acquires a token for each test, and
       runs at most 2 tests concurrently.

       On Windows systems, job server integration is not yet implemented.

COPYRIGHT

       2000-2024 Kitware, Inc. and Contributors

NAME

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SHOW AS JSON OBJECT MODEL

RESOURCE ALLOCATION

JOB SERVER INTEGRATION

SEE ALSO

COPYRIGHT