NAME

       lift.yaml - Define a Lift test suite

DESCRIPTION

       Lift provides an integration/functional test platform which handle executable tests easily
       and generically.

       lift.yaml files are used to define a test suite.   Such  a  file  is  written  in  YAML  (
       <http://yaml.org/>  )  and support 3 root sections types: settings, local tests and remote
       tests. These are documented further below in this documentation.

       A Lift test suite is composed of at least one lift.yaml file but  it  is  often  a  folder
       hierarchy with one lift.yaml file at each level.

       Such  a  hierarchy  is  useful  to  define  more specialized sub-suites (eg. one for basic
       functionalities, one for performances...). Each sub-suite has its own lift.yaml and can be
       run individually.

       Settings defined on a lift.yaml file are inherited in sub-suites.  Sub-suites can override
       inherited settings if they need to.

SETTINGS DEFINITION

       This section is used to define remotes machines that will be used for remote tests and  to
       define environment variables that will be passed to tests.

       Environment variables can be overridden for each test individually in their definition.

       The 'settings' section has to be defined at the root of the lift.yaml file.

          settings:
              # The 'define' keyword followed by the remote name
              define my_remote:
                  host: localhost  # mandatory
                  username: root  # mandatory
                  password: foobar  # optional (if ssh keys are set properly)
              define my_other_remote:
                  host: localhost
                  username: not_root
                  password: foobar
              # These will be transmitted to the test commands
              # They can be used as a way to pass common settings around
              environment:
                  MY_ENV_VAR1: foo
                  MY_ENV_VAR2: bar

LOCAL TEST DEFINITION

       Each test is represented by a single section at the root of the lift.yaml file. Here is an
       example:

          # the 'test' keyword followed by the test name
          test my_test_name:
              command: "./my_test_executable --my-arg"  # mandatory
              return code: 0  # optional (default to 0)
              timeout: 10  # optional, in seconds (no timeout by default)
              environment:  # optional
                  MY_VAR: 42  # may override an already defined variable

       If a test timeouts, it will return 124. You can therefore test that a command does timeout
       by setting the 'return code' value to 124.

       The  actual  environment  used  by  a test is computed in the following order: environment
       defined in higher level lift.yaml files (inheritance), then the environment defined in the
       current lift.yaml file and finally the environment defined in the test itself.

       The  'command'  can be an absolute path, a path relative to the current lift.yaml position
       or a system command (like ping, curl...)

REMOTE TEST DEFINITION

       Each remote test is represented by a single section at the root  of  the  lift.yaml  file.
       Please also refer to the local test definition documentation, as all options are reused in
       the same way for remote tests.  Here is an example:

          # A known remote name followed by the 'test' keyword and the test name
          # This defines a test that will be ran on my_remote.
          my_remote test my_remote_test_name:
              command: "sh test/test.sh --my-arg"
              return code: 0
              timeout: 2
              # List files and folders that will be uploaded to the remote
              # before running the test.
              resources:
                  - test/
              environment:
                  MY_VAR: content

       To be known, a remote  has  to  be  defined  either  in  a  higher  level  lift.yaml  file
       (inheritance)  or in the current lift.yaml or directly via the --remote option of the lift
       command line.

       Files resources are uploaded "flatly" whereas folders keep  their  structure.   Lift  will
       take care of deleting all resources from the remote after the test is over.

       The  command will be executed in a temporary directory that will be created on the remote.
       Resources will be put in this directory, so you can use relative paths  to  them  in  your
       command/executable.

FULL TEST SUITE EXAMPLE

       The example folder at the root of the Lift sources contains a fully commented example of a
       Lift test suite, which can also be used as a functional test suite for Lift itself.

       On Debian systems, the example folder can be found in /usr/share/doc/lift/example.

SEE ALSO

       For the command line utility, see lift (1)

AUTHOR

       Written an maintained by Nicolas Delvaux <contact@nicolas-delvaux.org>

COPYRIGHT

       GPL2+