This document describes how to use the TestShell
submodule in the functional
test suite.
The TestShell
submodule extends the BitcoinTestFramework
functionality to
external interactive environments for prototyping and educational purposes. Just
like BitcoinTestFramework
, the TestShell
allows the user to:
- Manage regtest bitcoind subprocesses.
- Access RPC interfaces of the underlying bitcoind instances.
- Log events to the functional test logging utility.
The TestShell
can be useful in interactive environments where it is necessary
to extend the object lifetime of the underlying BitcoinTestFramework
between
user inputs. Such environments include the Python3 command line interpreter or
Jupyter notebooks running a Python3 kernel.
- Python3
bitcoind
built in the same repository as theTestShell
.
We can import the TestShell
by adding the path of the Bitcoin Core
test_framework
module to the beginning of the PATH variable, and then
importing the TestShell
class from the test_shell
sub-package.
>>> import sys
>>> sys.path.insert(0, "/path/to/bitcoin/test/functional")
>>> from test_framework.test_shell import TestShell
The following TestShell
methods manage the lifetime of the underlying bitcoind
processes and logging utilities.
TestShell.setup()
TestShell.shutdown()
The TestShell
inherits all BitcoinTestFramework
members and methods, such
as:
TestShell.nodes[index].rpc_method()
TestShell.log.info("Custom log message")
The following sections demonstrate how to initialize, run, and shut down a
TestShell
object.
>>> test = TestShell().setup(num_nodes=2, setup_clean_chain=True)
20XX-XX-XXTXX:XX:XX.XXXXXXX TestFramework (INFO): Initializing test directory /path/to/bitcoin_func_test_XXXXXXX
The TestShell
forwards all functional test parameters of the parent
BitcoinTestFramework
object. The full set of argument keywords which can be
used to initialize the TestShell
can be found in section
#6 of this document.
Note: Running multiple instances of TestShell
is not allowed. Running a
single process also ensures that logging remains consolidated in the same
temporary folder. If you need more bitcoind nodes than set by default (1),
simply increase the num_nodes
parameter during setup.
>>> test2 = TestShell().setup()
TestShell is already running!
Unlike the BitcoinTestFramework
class, the TestShell
keeps the underlying
Bitcoind subprocesses (nodes) and logging utilities running until the user
explicitly shuts down the TestShell
object.
During the time between the setup
and shutdown
calls, all bitcoind
node
processes and BitcoinTestFramework
convenience methods can be accessed
interactively.
Example: Mining a regtest chain
By default, the TestShell
nodes are initialized with a clean chain. This means
that each node of the TestShell
is initialized with a block height of 0.
>>> test.nodes[0].getblockchaininfo()["blocks"]
0
We now let the first node generate 101 regtest blocks, and direct the coinbase rewards to a wallet address owned by the mining node.
>>> address = test.nodes[0].getnewaddress()
>>> test.nodes[0].generatetoaddress(101, address)
['2b98dd0044aae6f1cca7f88a0acf366a4bfe053c7f7b00da3c0d115f03d67efb', ...
Since the two nodes are both initialized by default to establish an outbound
connection to each other during setup
, the second node's chain will include
the mined blocks as soon as they propagate.
>>> test.nodes[1].getblockchaininfo()["blocks"]
101
The block rewards from the first block are now spendable by the wallet of the first node.
>>> test.nodes[0].getbalance()
Decimal('50.00000000')
We can also log custom events to the logger.
>>> test.nodes[0].log.info("Successfully mined regtest chain!")
20XX-XX-XXTXX:XX:XX.XXXXXXX TestFramework.node0 (INFO): Successfully mined regtest chain!
Note: Please also consider the functional test
readme, which provides an overview of the
test-framework. Modules such as
key.py,
script.py and
messages.py are particularly
useful in constructing objects which can be passed to the bitcoind nodes managed
by a running TestShell
object.
Shutting down the TestShell
will safely tear down all running bitcoind
instances and remove all temporary data and logging directories.
>>> test.shutdown()
20XX-XX-XXTXX:XX:XX.XXXXXXX TestFramework (INFO): Stopping nodes
20XX-XX-XXTXX:XX:XX.XXXXXXX TestFramework (INFO): Cleaning up /path/to/bitcoin_func_test_XXXXXXX on exit
20XX-XX-XXTXX:XX:XX.XXXXXXX TestFramework (INFO): Tests successful
To prevent the logs from being removed after a shutdown, simply set the
TestShell.options.nocleanup
member to True
.
>>> test.options.nocleanup = True
>>> test.shutdown()
20XX-XX-XXTXX:XX:XX.XXXXXXX TestFramework (INFO): Stopping nodes
20XX-XX-XXTXX:XX:XX.XXXXXXX TestFramework (INFO): Not cleaning up dir /path/to/bitcoin_func_test_XXXXXXX on exit
20XX-XX-XXTXX:XX:XX.XXXXXXX TestFramework (INFO): Tests successful
The following utility consolidates logs from the bitcoind nodes and the
underlying BitcoinTestFramework
:
/path/to/bitcoin/test/functional/combine_logs.py '/path/to/bitcoin_func_test_XXXXXXX'
The TestShell
object initializes with the default settings inherited from the
BitcoinTestFramework
class. The user can override these in
TestShell.setup(key=value)
.
Note: TestShell.reset()
will reset test parameters to default values and
can be called after the TestShell is shut down.
Test parameter key | Default Value | Description |
---|---|---|
bind_to_localhost_only |
True |
Binds bitcoind RPC services to 127.0.0.1 if set to True . |
cachedir |
"/path/to/bitcoin/test/cache" |
Sets the bitcoind datadir directory. |
chain |
"regtest" |
Sets the chain-type for the underlying test bitcoind processes. |
configfile |
"/path/to/bitcoin/test/config.ini" |
Sets the location of the test framework config file. |
coveragedir |
None |
Records bitcoind RPC test coverage into this directory if set. |
loglevel |
INFO |
Logs events at this level and higher. Can be set to DEBUG , INFO , WARNING , ERROR or CRITICAL . |
nocleanup |
False |
Cleans up temporary test directory if set to True during shutdown . |
noshutdown |
False |
Does not stop bitcoind instances after shutdown if set to True . |
num_nodes |
1 |
Sets the number of initialized bitcoind processes. |
perf |
False | Profiles running nodes with perf for the duration of the test if set to True . |
rpc_timeout |
60 |
Sets the RPC server timeout for the underlying bitcoind processes. |
setup_clean_chain |
False |
A 200-block-long chain is initialized from cache by default. Instead, setup_clean_chain initializes an empty blockchain if set to True . |
randomseed |
Random Integer | TestShell.options.randomseed is a member of TestShell which can be accessed during a test to seed a random generator. User can override default with a constant value for reproducible test runs. |
supports_cli |
False |
Whether the bitcoin-cli utility is compiled and available for the test. |
tmpdir |
"/var/folders/.../" |
Sets directory for test logs. Will be deleted upon a successful test run unless nocleanup is set to True |
trace_rpc |
False |
Logs all RPC calls if set to True . |
usecli |
False |
Uses the bitcoin-cli interface for all bitcoind commands instead of directly calling the RPC server. Requires supports_cli . |