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Tips & Tricks

Tips & Tricks

This page shares some tips and tricks about the Phoronix Test Suite as well as some random information that some users may find useful.

General

- The desktop's screensaver will automatically be shutdown when a test is running and will be restored to its previous state upon the test's completion. This should work for GNOME, KDE, and other XDG-supportive desktop environments.

- How do I find tests that are in a suite? Run phoronix-test-suite info NAME-OF-SUITE and (along with other information) a tree will be displayed that recursively shows the tests (along with any sub-suites) inside. To find suites that utilize a particular test, run phoronix-test-suite info NAME-OF-TEST and it will show that information too.

- If you have many computers you wish to benchmark, once all of your tests have been downloaded, run phoronix-test-suite make-download-cache to generate a copy of these files at ~/.phoronix-test-suite/download-cache/. A download cache is used for conserving time and bandwidth by eliminating the need for the Phoronix Test Suite to download files that have already been downloaded once. Copy this folder to the other systems or copy it to a DVD or USB hard drive, connect it to the next test system, and the Phoronix Test Suite will automatically use this local download cache. Or store these files on a local HTTP/FTP server and then update your ~/.phoronix-test-suite/user-config.xml file to reflect the location of this download cache directory.

- For developers, documentation on many of the Phoronix Test Suite interfaces can be found within phoronix-test-suite/pts-core/definitions/.

Running

- When running a test in batch mode (through the use of the batch-run or batch-benchmark options) that normally has end-user options (such as the sub-test to run or resolution), the Phoronix Test Suite will run the test with each unique combination of options possible.

- When running a test where you are prompted to enter any test options, multiple selections can be performed -- which will result in multiple test runs for each combination of the selected option(s) -- by separating each intended test option / number with a comma.

- When being prompted for the test identifier or the file name for saving the results, several user variables are supported. These include $VIDEO_RESOLUTION, $VIDEO_CARD, $OPERATING_SYSTEM, $PROCESSOR, $MOTHERBOARD, $CHIPSET, and $KERNEL_VERSION. If any of these variables are entered, the Phoronix Test Suite will replace them with their respective values before saving the results.

- If RemoveDownloadFiles is set to TRUE within the user-config.xml file, once a test has been installed the originally downloaded files for that test will be automatically removed. This conserves disk space but will cause these files to be re-downloaded the next time the test needs to be re-installed. This will also not back up the downloaded files to the Phoronix Test Suite download cache. Enabling this option is just recommended for users with very limited disk space.

- If the amount of video memory for your graphics card is incorrectly reported by the Phoronix Test Suite (you can check by running phoronix-test-suite diagnostics), you can use the VIDEO_MEMORY= environmental variable for overriding the video memory capacity (in Megabytes) used by the Phoronix Test Suite.

- If the DISPLAY environmental variable is not set or NO_GRAPHICS_TESTS environmental variable is set, tests of type Graphics will not be run. Likewise, if NO_SYSTEM_TESTS environmental variable is set, tests of type System will not run. This applies to all test types where NO_<TEST TYPE>_TESTS is set.

- If while running multiple tests you want to quit the testing prematurely, in a new terminal window type touch ~/.phoronix-test-suite/halt-testing. All results for tests that had already run will be saved (permitting you opted to save the results), except for the test currently being run.

- If you wish to stop the current test run prematurely but continue the testing process, in a new terminal window type touch ~/.phoronix-test-suite/skip-test.

- If you want the specified test(s) to run in a loop for a set period of time, use the TOTAL_LOOP_TIME environmental variable. For instance, running TOTAL_LOOP_TIME=120 phoronix-test-suite benchmark ffmpeg would keep running the ffmpeg test profile for 120 minutes.

- If you want the specified test(s) to run in a loop for a set number of times, use the TOTAL_LOOP_COUNT environmental variable. For instance, running TOTAL_LOOP_COUNT=3 phoronix-test-suite benchmark ffmpeg would keep running the ffmpeg test profile three times.

- When any tests are being installed and when tests are being run, a lock is created in the system's temporary directory with the name phoronix-test-suite.active (i.e. /tmp/phoronix-test-suite.active) and is removed upon completion. Thus if you have any system scripts that you wish to run when tests are not running or being installed as to not impact the results, one simple way to handle this is by having the script check for the existence of this lock.

Support

- The Phoronix Test Suite really appreciates and welcomes independent code contributions, patches, new tests/suites, etc... :)

- If you are just an individual user that enjoys the Phoronix Test Suite, and not an ISV/IHV interested in submitting products for review at Phoronix.com or a company interested in professional/enterprise support of the Phoronix Test Suite by Phoronix Media, another way to support this project is by becoming a Phoronix Premium subscriber @ http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=phoronix_premium. You may also contact us (phoronix [at] phoronix.com) for additional information or ideas.

Configuration

- The user configuration options for the Phoronix Test Suite are stored in ~/.phoronix-test-suite/user-config.xml. The batch mode options are also stored within this file and those can be adjusted by running phoronix-test-suite batch-setup.

- The colors, size, and other attributes for the graphs found within the PTS Results Viewer can be modified via the file ~/.phoronix-test-suite/graph-config.xml. No matter the graph type, the same generic graph-config.xml configuration is used.

Test / Suite Writing

- The Phoronix Test Suite recursively determines tests/suites and allows a suite to call another suite.

- One of the quickest and easiest ways to understand how to write a profile is by just looking at the some of the existing profiles within the pts/ folder.

- The XML syntax for all file specifications are defined within pts-core/library/pts-interfaces.php and trailing each definition is a comment describing its purpose / value.

Module Writing

- By writing a PTS module, you can easily extend the functionality of the Phoronix Test Suite. Some examples are being able to email the results upon completion, controlling the system's screensaver, updating a text LCD panel with the current test status, etc.

- One of the quickest and easiest ways to understand how to write a profile is by just looking at the some of the existing modules within the pts-core/modules folder. The Phoronix Test Suite has support for both shell and PHP modules.

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