From: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>
To: davem@davemloft.net
Cc: netdev@vger.kernel.org, edumazet@google.com, pabeni@redhat.com,
andrew+netdev@lunn.ch, horms@kernel.org,
Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>,
corbet@lwn.net, skhan@linuxfoundation.org,
workflows@vger.kernel.org, linux-doc@vger.kernel.org
Subject: [PATCH net-next] docs: netdev: refine netdevsim testing guidance
Date: Wed, 4 Mar 2026 07:16:46 -0800 [thread overview]
Message-ID: <20260304151647.2770466-1-kuba@kernel.org> (raw)
The library to create tests for both NIC HW and netdevsim has existed
for almost a year. netdevsim-only tests we get increasingly feel like
a waste, we should try to write tests that work both on netdevsim and
real HW. Refine the guidance accordingly.
Signed-off-by: Jakub Kicinski <kuba@kernel.org>
---
CC: corbet@lwn.net
CC: skhan@linuxfoundation.org
CC: workflows@vger.kernel.org
CC: linux-doc@vger.kernel.org
---
Documentation/process/maintainer-netdev.rst | 10 ++++++++--
1 file changed, 8 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-)
diff --git a/Documentation/process/maintainer-netdev.rst b/Documentation/process/maintainer-netdev.rst
index 6bce4507d5d3..3aa13bc2405d 100644
--- a/Documentation/process/maintainer-netdev.rst
+++ b/Documentation/process/maintainer-netdev.rst
@@ -479,8 +479,14 @@ netdevsim
``netdevsim`` is a test driver which can be used to exercise driver
configuration APIs without requiring capable hardware.
-Mock-ups and tests based on ``netdevsim`` are strongly encouraged when
-adding new APIs, but ``netdevsim`` in itself is **not** considered
+Mock-ups and tests based on ``netdevsim`` are encouraged when
+adding new APIs with complex logic in the stack. The tests should
+be written so that they can run both against ``netdevsim`` and a real
+device (see ``tools/testing/selftests/drivers/net/README.rst``).
+``netdevsim``-only tests should focus on testing corner cases
+and failure paths in the core which are hard to exercise with a real driver.
+
+``netdevsim`` in itself is **not** considered
a use case/user. You must also implement the new APIs in a real driver.
We give no guarantees that ``netdevsim`` won't change in the future
--
2.53.0
next reply other threads:[~2026-03-04 15:16 UTC|newest]
Thread overview: 3+ messages / expand[flat|nested] mbox.gz Atom feed top
2026-03-04 15:16 Jakub Kicinski [this message]
2026-03-06 14:39 ` [PATCH net-next] docs: netdev: refine netdevsim testing guidance Simon Horman
2026-03-06 21:20 ` patchwork-bot+netdevbpf
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