<quote>sequential</quote> mode for running the tests. The

sequential method runs each test script alone, while the

parallel method starts up multiple server processes to run groups

of tests in parallel. Parallel testinggives confidence that

of tests in parallel. Parallel testingadds confidence that

interprocess communication and locking are working correctly.

</para>

</screen>

in the top-level directory. (Or you can change to

<filename>src/test/regress</filename> and run the command there.)

This will first build several auxiliary files, such as

sample user-defined trigger functions, and then run the test driver

script. At the end you should see something like:

At the end you should see something like:

<screen>

<computeroutput>

=======================

<title>Running the Tests Against an Existing Installation</title>

<para>

To run the tests after installation<![%standalone-ignore;[ (see <xref linkend="installation">)]]>,

To run the tests after installation (see <xref linkend="installation">),

initialize a data area and start the

server, <![%standalone-ignore;[as explained in <xref linkend="runtime">, ]]> then type:

serveras explained in <xref linkend="runtime">, then type:

<screen>

make installcheck

</screen>

<envar>PGPORT</envar> environment variables. The tests will be run in a

database named <literal>regression</>; any existing database by this name

will be dropped.

</para>

<para>

The source distribution also contains regression tests for the optional

procedural languages and for some of the <filename>contrib</> modules.

At present, these tests can be used only against an already-installed

server. To run the tests for all procedural languages that have been

built and installed, change to the <filename>src/pl</> directory of the

build tree and type:

<screen>

make installcheck

</screen>

You can also do this in any of the subdirectories of <filename>src/pl</>

to run tests for just one procedural language. To run the tests for all

<filename>contrib</> modules that have them, change to the

<filename>contrib</> directory of the build tree and type:

<screen>

make installcheck

</screen>

The <filename>contrib</> modules must have been built and installed first.

You can also do this in a subdirectory of <filename>contrib</> to run

the tests for just one module. Tests of <literal>contrib</> modules will

be run in a database named <literal>contrib_regression</>; any existing

database by this name will be dropped.

The tests will also transiently create some cluster-wide objects, such as

user identities named <literal>regressuser<replaceable>N</></literal>.

</para>

</sect2>

<sect2>

<title>Testing Hot Standby</title>

<title>Additional Test Suites</title>

<para>

The source distribution also contains regression tests of the static

behavior of Hot Standby. These tests require a running primary server

and a running standby server that is accepting new WAL changes from the

primary using either file-based log shipping or streaming replication.

Those servers are not automatically created for you, nor is the setup

documented here. Please check the various sections of the documentation already

devoted to the required commands and related issues.

The <literal>make check</> and <literal>make installcheck</> commands

run only the <quote>core</> regression tests, which test built-in

functionality of the <productname>PostgreSQL</> server. The source

distribution also contains additional test suites, most of them having

to do with add-on functionality such as optional procedural languages.

</para>

<para>

First create a database called "regression" on the primary.

To run all test suites applicable to the modules that have been selected

to be built, including the core tests, type one of these commands at the

top of the build tree:

<screen>

psql -h primary -c "CREATE DATABASE regression"

</screen>

Next, run a preparatory script on the primary in the regression database:

<filename>src/test/regress/sql/hs_primary_setup.sql</filename>, and

allow for the changes to propagate to the standby, for example

<screen>

psql -h primary -f src/test/regress/sql/hs_primary_setup.sql regression

</screen>

Now confirm that the default connection for the tester is the standby

server under test and then run the <literal>standbycheck</> target from the regression

directory:

<screen>

cd src/test/regress

make standbycheck

make check-world

make installcheck-world

</screen>

These commands run the tests using temporary servers or an

already-installed server, respectively, just as previously explained

for <literal>make check</> and <literal>make installcheck</>. Other

considerations are the same as previously explained for each method.

Note that <literal>make check-world</> builds a separate temporary

installation tree for each tested module, so it requires a great deal

more time and disk space than <literal>make installcheck-world</>.

</para>

<para>

Some extreme behaviors can also be generated on the primary using the

script: <filename>src/test/regress/sql/hs_primary_extremes.sql</filename>

to allow the behavior of the standby to be tested.

Alternatively, you can run individual test suites by typing

<literal>make check</> or <literal>make installcheck</> in the appropriate

subdirectory of the build tree. Keep in mind that <literal>make

installcheck</> assumes you've installed the relevant module(s), not

only the core server.

</para>

<para>

Additional automated testing may be available in later releases.

The additional tests that can be invoked this way include:

</para>

<itemizedlist>

<listitem>

<para>

Regression tests for optional procedural languages (other than

<application>PL/pgSQL</>, which is tested by the core tests).

These are located under <filename>src/pl</>.

</para>

</listitem>

<listitem>

<para>

Regression tests for <filename>contrib</> modules,

located under <filename>contrib</>.

Not all <filename>contrib</> modules have tests.

</para>

</listitem>

<listitem>

<para>

Regression tests for the ECPG interface library,

located in <filename>src/interfaces/ecpg/test</>.

</para>

</listitem>

<listitem>

<para>

Tests stressing behavior of concurrent sessions,

located in <filename>src/test/isolation</>.

</para>

</listitem>

</itemizedlist>

<para>

When using <literal>installcheck</> mode, these tests will destroy any

existing databases named <literal>pl_regression</>,

<literal>contrib_regression</>, <literal>isolationtest</>,

<literal>regress1</>, or <literal>connectdb</>, as well as

<literal>regression</>.

</para>

</sect2>

<sect2>

<title>Locale and Encoding</title>

<para>

By default,thetestsagainst a temporary installation use the

By default, testsusing a temporary installation use the

locale defined in the current environment and the corresponding

database encoding as determined by <command>initdb</command>. It

can be useful to test different locales by setting the appropriate

</para>

<para>

The encoding can be set for tests against a temporary or an

existing installation.

The database encoding can be set for tests against either a temporary or

an existing installation, though in the latter case it must be

compatible with the installation's locale.

</para>

</sect2>

<sect2>

<title>Extra Tests</title>

<para>

The regression test suite contains a few test files that are not

Thecoreregression test suite contains a few test files that are not

run by default, because they might be platform-dependent or take a

very long time to run. You can run these or other extra test

files by setting the variable <envar>EXTRA_TESTS</envar>. For

platforms, and only when run in a database that uses UTF-8 encoding.

</para>

</sect2>

<sect2>

<title>Testing Hot Standby</title>

<para>

The source distribution also contains regression tests for the static

behavior of Hot Standby. These tests require a running primary server

and a running standby server that is accepting new WAL changes from the

primary (using either file-based log shipping or streaming replication).

Those servers are not automatically created for you, nor is replication

setup documented here. Please check the various sections of the

documentation devoted to the required commands and related issues.

</para>

<para>

To run the Hot Standby tests, first create a database

called <literal>regression</> on the primary:

<screen>

psql -h primary -c "CREATE DATABASE regression"

</screen>

Next, run the preparatory script

<filename>src/test/regress/sql/hs_primary_setup.sql</filename>

on the primary in the regression database, for example:

<screen>

psql -h primary -f src/test/regress/sql/hs_primary_setup.sql regression

</screen>

Allow these changes to propagate to the standby.

</para>

<para>

Now arrange for the default database connection to be to the standby

server under test (for example, by setting the <envar>PGHOST</envar> and

<envar>PGPORT</envar> environment variables).

Finally, run <literal>make standbycheck</> in the regression directory:

<screen>

cd src/test/regress

make standbycheck

</screen>

</para>

<para>

Some extreme behaviors can also be generated on the primary using the

script <filename>src/test/regress/sql/hs_primary_extremes.sql</filename>

to allow the behavior of the standby to be tested.

</para>

</sect2>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="regress-evaluation">

file against the reference outputs stored in the

<filename>src/test/regress/expected</filename> directory. Any

differences are saved for your inspection in

<filename>src/test/regress/regression.diffs</filename>. If you don't

<filename>src/test/regress/regression.diffs</filename>.

(When running a test suite other than the core tests, these files

of course appear in the relevant subdirectory,

not <filename>src/test/regress</>.)

</para>

<para>

If you don't

like the <command>diff</command> options that are used by default, set the

environment variable <envar>PG_REGRESS_DIFF_OPTS</envar>, for

instance <literal>PG_REGRESS_DIFF_OPTS='-u'</literal>. (Or you

</para>

<para>

In general, it isneverthelessadvisable to try to run the

In general, it is advisable to try to run the

regression tests in the locale setup that is wanted for

production use, as this will exercise the locale- and

encoding-related code portions that will actually be used in

results involving mathematical functions of <type>double

precision</type> columns have been observed. The <literal>float8</> and

<literal>geometry</> tests are particularly prone to small differences

across platforms, or even with different compiler optimizationsetting.

across platforms, or even with different compiler optimizationsettings.

Human eyeball comparison is needed to determine the real

significance of these differences which are usually 10 places to

the right of the decimal point.

If the <literal>errors</literal> test results in a server crash

at the <literal>select infinite_recurse()</> command, it means that

the platform's limit on process stack size is smaller than the

<![%standalone-ignore;[<xref linkend="guc-max-stack-depth">]]>

<![%standalone-include;[<literal>max_stack_depth</literal>]]>

parameter indicates. This

<xref linkend="guc-max-stack-depth"> parameter indicates. This

can be fixed by running the server under a higher stack

size limit (4MB is recommended with the default value of

<varname>max_stack_depth</>). If you are unable to do that, an

alternative is to reduce the value of <varname>max_stack_depth</>.

</para>

<para>

On platforms supporting <function>getrlimit()</>, the server should

automatically choose a safe value of <varname>max_stack_depth</>;

so unless you've manually overridden this setting, a failure of this

kind is a reportable bug.

</para>

</sect2>

<sect2>

<title>The <quote>random</quote> Test</title>

<para>

The <literal>random</literal> test script is intended to produce

random results. In rare cases, this causesthe random regression

random results. Inveryrare cases, this causesthat regression

test to fail. Typing:

<programlisting>

diff results/random.out expected/random.out

parameter settings could cause the tests to fail. For example, changing

parameters such as <varname>enable_seqscan</varname> or

<varname>enable_indexscan</varname> could cause plan changes that would

affect the results of testswhich use <command>EXPLAIN</>.

affect the results of teststhat use <command>EXPLAIN</>.

</para>

</sect2>

</sect1>