This chapter is for contributors and maintainers.
Test Strategy
NeuralDrive uses a multi-layered testing strategy to ensure that the appliance is stable across a wide variety of hardware and software configurations.
Test Philosophy
We prioritize integration testing over unit testing. Since NeuralDrive is a system appliance, its stability depends on the interaction between the kernel, drivers, systemd, and the application stack.
Key Principles
- Reproducibility: Tests should yield the same results given the same ISO image and virtualized environment.
- Automation: Wherever possible, tests should run in the CI pipeline without manual intervention.
- Hardware Diversity: While CI handles basic logic, manual "Target Hardware" testing is mandatory for every release.
Test Categories
1. Boot Testing
Ensures the ISO image is correctly formatted and can boot to a functional state. This is primarily handled via QEMU.
2. Hardware and GPU Testing
Validates that gpu-detect.sh correctly identifies hardware and that the appropriate compute stack (CUDA, ROCm, OneAPI) is loaded. This must be done on physical hardware.
3. API Testing
Verifies the endpoints of the System API and the Ollama inference API. These tests ensure that the core logic of the appliance is working as expected.
4. Security Auditing
Periodic checks of service isolation, systemd hardening, and firewall rules. This involves running automated security scanners against the running appliance.
The Test Life Cycle
- Local Development: Developers run unit tests and QEMU boot tests.
- Pull Request: CI runs linting, API tests, and build validation.
- Pre-Release: Maintainers perform full ISO builds and verify them on a variety of target hardware.
- Post-Release: Community feedback and bug reports are triaged and integrated back into the test suite.
Note: For detailed instructions on running specific tests, refer to the subsequent chapters in this section.