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Author SHA1 Message Date
a-kenji
bc290fe59f docs/testing: Document requirements for our container testing system
Document the requirements for our container testing system:
- uid-range
- auto-allocate-uids

Further document that the container tests are used by default and how to
switch to the more traditional and more supported / featureful VM
testing framework.
2025-10-29 13:47:26 +01:00

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@@ -150,10 +150,61 @@ Those are very similar to NixOS VM tests, as in they run virtualized nixos machi
As of now the container test driver is a downstream development in clan-core.
Basically everything stated under the NixOS VM tests sections applies here, except some limitations.
Limitations:
### Using Container Tests vs VM Tests
- Cannot run in interactive mode, however while the container test runs, it logs a nsenter command that can be used to log into each of the container.
- setuid binaries don't work
Container tests are **enabled by default** for all tests using the clan testing framework.
They offer significant performance advantages over VM tests:
- **Faster startup**
- **Lower resource usage**: No full kernel boot or hardware emulation overhead
To control whether a test uses containers or VMs, use the `clan.test.useContainers` option:
```nix
{
clan = {
directory = ./.;
test.useContainers = true; # Use containers (default)
# test.useContainers = false; # Use VMs instead
};
}
```
**When to use VM tests instead of container tests:**
- Testing kernel features, modules, or boot processes
- Testing hardware-specific features
- When you need full system isolation
### System Requirements for Container Tests
Container tests require the **`uid-range`** system feature** in the Nix sandbox.
This feature allows Nix to allocate a range of UIDs for containers to use, enabling `systemd-nspawn` containers to run properly inside the Nix build sandbox.
**Configuration:**
The `uid-range` feature requires the `auto-allocate-uids` setting to be enabled in your Nix configuration.
To verify or enable it, add to your `/etc/nix/nix.conf` or NixOS configuration:
```nix
settings.experimental-features = [
"auto-allocate-uids"
];
nix.settings.auto-allocate-uids = true;
nix.settings.system-features = [ "uid-range" ];
```
**Technical details:**
- Container tests set `requiredSystemFeatures = [ "uid-range" ];` in their derivation (see `lib/test/container-test-driver/driver-module.nix:98`)
- Without this feature, containers cannot properly manage user namespaces and will fail to start
### Limitations
- Cannot run in interactive mode, however while the container test runs, it logs a nsenter command that can be used to log into each of the containers.
- Early implementation and limited by features.
### Where to find examples for NixOS container tests