[PULL 0/1] Docker fixes for 2026-07-16

[PULL 0/1] Docker fixes for 2026-07-16

[Pierrick Bouvier]

The following changes since commit eca2c16212ef9dcb0871de39bb9d1c2efebe76be:

  Update version for v11.1.0-rc0 release (2026-07-14 20:36:23 +0100)

are available in the Git repository at:

  https://gitlab.com/p-b-o/qemu tags/pbouvier/pr/docker-20260716

for you to fetch changes up to c4ce04cfb7460d46c0262d437a7f35bb5c5fc449:

  tests/docker: ensure container command is probed at most once (2026-07-16 10:49:11 -0700)

----------------------------------------------------------------
Changes:
- [PATCH v3] tests/docker: ensure container command is probed at most (=?UTF-8?q?Daniel=20P=2E=20Berrang=C3=A9?= <berrange@redhat.com>)
  Link: https://lore.kernel.org/qemu-devel/20260716102515.1503404-1-berrange@redhat.com

----------------------------------------------------------------
Daniel P. Berrangé (1):
      tests/docker: ensure container command is probed at most once

 configure                     | 25 ++++++++--------
 tests/docker/Makefile.include | 13 ++++-----
 tests/docker/docker.py        | 67 ++++++++++++++-----------------------------
 3 files changed, 40 insertions(+), 65 deletions(-)

[PULL 1/1] tests/docker: ensure container command is probed at most once

[Pierrick Bouvier]

From: Daniel P. Berrangé <berrange@redhat.com>

The '--engine' arg accepts either 'podman' or 'docker', which is
not sufficiently granular to map directly to a command. This
means that  docker.py still has to then probe the exact command
to use.

Meanwhile the 'probe' command prints out the full command to use
but this cannot be passed back to docker.py to avoid probing
again, so the caching is only useful in the few case where we
run a container directly bypassing docker.py.

Address this by replacing --engine with --command for docker.py.

This in turn requires the --container-engine configure arg to be
replaced with --container-command.

With these changes the container command is probed at most once
during configure and never again, while running in an unconfigured
tree will still probe on demand.

Tested-by: Pierrick Bouvier <pierrick.bouvier@oss.qualcomm.com>
Reviewed-by: Pierrick Bouvier <pierrick.bouvier@oss.qualcomm.com>
Signed-off-by: Daniel P. Berrangé <berrange@redhat.com>
Link: https://lore.kernel.org/qemu-devel/20260716102515.1503404-1-berrange@redhat.com
Signed-off-by: Pierrick Bouvier <pierrick.bouvier@oss.qualcomm.com>
---
 configure                     | 25 +++++++------
 tests/docker/Makefile.include | 13 ++++---
 tests/docker/docker.py        | 67 ++++++++++++-----------------------
 3 files changed, 40 insertions(+), 65 deletions(-)

diff --git a/configure b/configure
index d8bc10060e1..6ddfe4b5342 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ fi
 # some defaults, based on the host environment
 
 # default parameters
-container_engine="auto"
+container_command=""
 cpu=""
 cross_compile="no"
 cross_prefix=""
@@ -734,7 +734,7 @@ for opt do
   ;;
   --disable-containers) use_containers="no"
   ;;
-  --container-engine=*) container_engine="$optarg"
+  --container-command=*) container_command="$optarg"
   ;;
   --rust-target-triple=*) rust_target_triple="$optarg"
   ;;
@@ -869,7 +869,7 @@ Advanced options (experts only):
   --enable-debug           enable common debug build options
   --cpu=CPU                Build for host CPU [$cpu]
   --disable-containers     don't use containers for cross-building
-  --container-engine=TYPE  which container engine to use [$container_engine]
+  --container-command=CMD  which container command to use [autodetect]
   --gdb=GDB-path           gdb to use for gdbstub tests [$gdb_bin]
   --wasm64-32bit-address-limit Restrict wasm64 address space to 32-bit (default
                                is to use the whole 64-bit range).
@@ -1291,12 +1291,12 @@ fi
 ##########################################
 # functions to probe cross compilers
 
-runc="no"
-if test $use_containers = "yes" && (has "docker" || has "podman"); then
-    runc=$($python "$source_path"/tests/docker/docker.py --engine "$container_engine" probe)
-    if test "$runc" != "no"; then
-        docker_py="$python $source_path/tests/docker/docker.py --engine $container_engine"
-    fi
+if test "$container_command" = ""; then
+    container_command=$($python "$source_path"/tests/docker/docker.py probe)
+    test "$container_command" = "no" && container_command=""
+fi
+if test $use_containers = "yes" && test "$container_command" != ""; then
+    docker_py="$python $source_path/tests/docker/docker.py --command $container_command"
 fi
 
 # cross compilers defaults, can be overridden with --cross-cc-ARCH
@@ -1415,7 +1415,7 @@ probe_target_compiler() {
   esac
 
   for host in $container_hosts; do
-    test "$runc" != no || continue
+    test "$container_command" != "" || continue
     test "$host" = "$cpu" || continue
     case $target_arch in
       # debian-all-test-cross architectures
@@ -1736,9 +1736,8 @@ echo all: >> $config_host_mak
 echo "SRC_PATH=$source_path" >> $config_host_mak
 echo "TARGET_DIRS=$target_list" >> $config_host_mak
 echo "GDB=$gdb_bin" >> $config_host_mak
-if test "$runc" != no; then
-    echo "RUNC=$runc" >> $config_host_mak
-    echo "CONTAINER_ENGINE=$container_engine" >> $config_host_mak
+if test "$container_command" != ""; then
+    echo "CONTAINER_COMMAND=$container_command" >> $config_host_mak
 fi
 echo "SUBDIRS=$subdirs" >> $config_host_mak
 if test "$rust" != disabled; then
diff --git a/tests/docker/Makefile.include b/tests/docker/Makefile.include
index 4725c39807b..0adddb6a5c6 100644
--- a/tests/docker/Makefile.include
+++ b/tests/docker/Makefile.include
@@ -16,9 +16,8 @@ DOCKER_DEFAULT_REGISTRY := registry.gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu
 endif
 DOCKER_REGISTRY := $(if $(REGISTRY),$(REGISTRY),$(DOCKER_DEFAULT_REGISTRY))
 
-CONTAINER_ENGINE = auto
-DOCKER_SCRIPT=$(SRC_PATH)/tests/docker/docker.py --engine $(CONTAINER_ENGINE)
-RUNC ?= $(shell $(DOCKER_SCRIPT) probe)
+CONTAINER_COMMAND ?= $(shell $(SRC_PATH)/tests/docker/docker.py probe)
+DOCKER_SCRIPT=$(SRC_PATH)/tests/docker/docker.py --command "$(CONTAINER_COMMAND)"
 
 CUR_TIME := $(shell date +%Y-%m-%d-%H.%M.%S.$$$$)
 DOCKER_SRC_COPY := $(BUILD_DIR)/docker-src.$(CUR_TIME)
@@ -41,7 +40,7 @@ docker-qemu-src: $(DOCKER_SRC_COPY)
 # General rule for building docker images.
 docker-image-%: $(DOCKER_FILES_DIR)/%.docker
 	  $(call quiet-command,			\
-		DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 $(RUNC) build		\
+		DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 $(CONTAINER_COMMAND) build \
 		$(if $(DOCKER_V),,--quiet)		\
 		$(if $(NOCACHE),--no-cache,		\
 			$(if $(DOCKER_REGISTRY),--cache-from $(DOCKER_REGISTRY)/qemu/$*)) \
@@ -152,7 +151,7 @@ $(foreach i,$(filter-out $(DOCKER_PARTIAL_IMAGES),$(DOCKER_IMAGES)), \
 )
 
 docker:
-	@echo 'Build QEMU and run tests inside $(RUNC) containers'
+	@echo 'Build QEMU and run tests inside $(CONTAINER_COMMAND) containers'
 	@echo
 	@echo 'Available targets:'
 	@echo
@@ -219,10 +218,10 @@ docker-run: docker-qemu-src
 			$(IMAGE) --executable $(EXECUTABLE),		\
 			"  COPYING $(EXECUTABLE) to $(IMAGE)"))
 	$(call quiet-command,						\
-		$(RUNC) run 						\
+		$(CONTAINER_COMMAND) run 				\
 			--rm						\
 			$(if $(NOUSER),,				\
-				$(if $(filter docker,$(RUNC)),		\
+				$(if $(filter docker,$(CONTAINER_COMMAND)), \
 					-u $(UID),			\
 					--userns keep-id		\
 				)					\
diff --git a/tests/docker/docker.py b/tests/docker/docker.py
index 9e18b984f45..d2f39b5645b 100755
--- a/tests/docker/docker.py
+++ b/tests/docker/docker.py
@@ -35,27 +35,6 @@
 
 DEVNULL = open(os.devnull, 'wb')
 
-class EngineEnum(enum.IntEnum):
-    AUTO = 1
-    DOCKER = 2
-    PODMAN = 3
-
-    def __str__(self):
-        return self.name.lower()
-
-    def __repr__(self):
-        return str(self)
-
-    @staticmethod
-    def argparse(s):
-        try:
-            return EngineEnum[s.upper()]
-        except KeyError:
-            return s
-
-
-USE_ENGINE = EngineEnum.AUTO
-
 def _bytes_checksum(bytes):
     """Calculate a digest string unique to the text content"""
     return hashlib.sha1(bytes).hexdigest()
@@ -73,12 +52,11 @@ def _file_checksum(filename):
 
 def _guess_engine_command():
     """ Guess a working engine command or raise exception if not found"""
-    commands = []
-
-    if USE_ENGINE in [EngineEnum.AUTO, EngineEnum.PODMAN]:
-        commands += [["podman"], ["podman-remote"], ["podman", "--remote"]]
-    if USE_ENGINE in [EngineEnum.AUTO, EngineEnum.DOCKER]:
-        commands += [["docker"], ["sudo", "-n", "docker"]]
+    commands = [["podman"],
+                ["podman-remote"],
+                ["podman", "--remote"],
+                ["docker"],
+                ["sudo", "-n", "docker"]]
     for cmd in commands:
         try:
             # 'version' is not sufficient to prove a working binary
@@ -222,8 +200,11 @@ def _dockerfile_verify_flat(df):
 
 class Docker(object):
     """ Running Docker commands """
-    def __init__(self):
-        self._command = _guess_engine_command()
+    def __init__(self, commandstr=None):
+        if commandstr is None:
+            self._command = _guess_engine_command()
+        else:
+            self._command = commandstr.split(" ")
 
         if ("docker" in self._command and
             "TRAVIS" not in os.environ and
@@ -411,8 +392,8 @@ def args(self, parser):
                             help="Run container using the current user's uid")
 
     def run(self, args, argv):
-        return Docker().run(argv, args.keep, quiet=args.quiet,
-                            as_user=args.run_as_current_user)
+        return Docker(args.command).run(argv, args.keep, quiet=args.quiet,
+                                        as_user=args.run_as_current_user)
 
 
 class BuildCommand(SubCommand):
@@ -445,7 +426,7 @@ def run(self, args, argv):
         dockerfile = _read_dockerfile(args.dockerfile)
         tag = args.tag
 
-        dkr = Docker()
+        dkr = Docker(args.command)
         if "--no-cache" not in argv and \
            dkr.image_matches_dockerfile(tag, dockerfile):
             if not args.quiet:
@@ -512,7 +493,7 @@ def args(self, parser):
                             help="Docker registry")
 
     def run(self, args, argv):
-        dkr = Docker()
+        dkr = Docker(args.command)
         dkr.command(cmd="pull", quiet=args.quiet,
                     argv=["%s/%s" % (args.registry, args.tag)])
         dkr.command(cmd="tag", quiet=args.quiet,
@@ -590,7 +571,7 @@ def run(self, args, argv):
         tmp.seek(0)
 
         # Run the build with our tarball context
-        dkr = Docker()
+        dkr = Docker(args.command)
         dkr.update_image(args.tag, tmp, quiet=args.quiet)
 
         return 0
@@ -601,7 +582,7 @@ class CleanCommand(SubCommand):
     name = "clean"
 
     def run(self, args, argv):
-        Docker().clean()
+        Docker(args.command).clean()
         return 0
 
 
@@ -610,7 +591,7 @@ class ImagesCommand(SubCommand):
     name = "images"
 
     def run(self, args, argv):
-        return Docker().command("images", argv, args.quiet)
+        return Docker(args.command).command("images", argv, args.quiet)
 
 
 class ProbeCommand(SubCommand):
@@ -619,7 +600,7 @@ class ProbeCommand(SubCommand):
 
     def run(self, args, argv):
         try:
-            docker = Docker()
+            docker = Docker(args.command)
             print(" ".join(docker._command))
         except Exception:
             print("no")
@@ -651,18 +632,16 @@ def run(self, args, argv):
                 cmd += ["-v", "%s:%s:ro,z" % (p, p)]
         cmd += [args.image, args.cc]
         cmd += argv
-        return Docker().run(cmd, False, quiet=args.quiet,
-                            as_user=True)
+        return Docker(args.command).run(cmd, False, quiet=args.quiet,
+                                        as_user=True)
 
 
 def main():
-    global USE_ENGINE
-
     parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="A Docker helper",
                                      usage="%s <subcommand> ..." %
                                      os.path.basename(sys.argv[0]))
-    parser.add_argument("--engine", type=EngineEnum.argparse, choices=list(EngineEnum),
-                        help="specify which container engine to use")
+    parser.add_argument("--command",
+                        help="specify which container engine command to use")
     subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(title="subcommands", help=None)
     for cls in SubCommand.__subclasses__():
         cmd = cls()
@@ -671,8 +650,6 @@ def main():
         cmd.args(subp)
         subp.set_defaults(cmdobj=cmd)
     args, argv = parser.parse_known_args()
-    if args.engine:
-        USE_ENGINE = args.engine
     return args.cmdobj.run(args, argv)
 
 
-- 
2.47.3

Re: [PULL 0/1] Docker fixes for 2026-07-16

[Pierrick Bouvier]

On 7/16/2026 12:58 PM, Pierrick Bouvier wrote:
> The following changes since commit eca2c16212ef9dcb0871de39bb9d1c2efebe76be:
> 
>   Update version for v11.1.0-rc0 release (2026-07-14 20:36:23 +0100)
> 
> are available in the Git repository at:
> 
>   https://gitlab.com/p-b-o/qemu tags/pbouvier/pr/docker-20260716
> 
> for you to fetch changes up to c4ce04cfb7460d46c0262d437a7f35bb5c5fc449:
> 
>   tests/docker: ensure container command is probed at most once (2026-07-16 10:49:11 -0700)
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> Changes:
> - [PATCH v3] tests/docker: ensure container command is probed at most (=?UTF-8?q?Daniel=20P=2E=20Berrang=C3=A9?= <berrange@redhat.com>)
>   Link: https://lore.kernel.org/qemu-devel/20260716102515.1503404-1-berrange@redhat.com
> 
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> Daniel P. Berrangé (1):
>       tests/docker: ensure container command is probed at most once
> 
>  configure                     | 25 ++++++++--------
>  tests/docker/Makefile.include | 13 ++++-----
>  tests/docker/docker.py        | 67 ++++++++++++++-----------------------------
>  3 files changed, 40 insertions(+), 65 deletions(-)

This is a fix PR (so eligible for current release), since it solves slow
tcg-tests compilation time regression introduced by:
https://gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu/-/commit/c5ecd377a016997f093801685a73303980be3ec4

Regards,
Pierrick

Re: [PULL 0/1] Docker fixes for 2026-07-16

[Stefan Hajnoczi]

[-- Attachment #1: Type: text/plain, Size: 116 bytes --]

Applied, thanks.

Please update the changelog at https://wiki.qemu.org/ChangeLog/11.1 for any user-visible changes.

[-- Attachment #2: signature.asc --]
[-- Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 488 bytes --]

Re: [PULL 1/1] tests/docker: ensure container command is probed at most once

[Alex Bennée]

Pierrick Bouvier <pierrick.bouvier@oss.qualcomm.com> writes:

> From: Daniel P. Berrangé <berrange@redhat.com>
>
> The '--engine' arg accepts either 'podman' or 'docker', which is
> not sufficiently granular to map directly to a command. This
> means that  docker.py still has to then probe the exact command
> to use.
>
> Meanwhile the 'probe' command prints out the full command to use
> but this cannot be passed back to docker.py to avoid probing
> again, so the caching is only useful in the few case where we
> run a container directly bypassing docker.py.
>
> Address this by replacing --engine with --command for docker.py.
>
> This in turn requires the --container-engine configure arg to be
> replaced with --container-command.
>
> With these changes the container command is probed at most once
> during configure and never again, while running in an unconfigured
> tree will still probe on demand.
>
> Tested-by: Pierrick Bouvier <pierrick.bouvier@oss.qualcomm.com>
> Reviewed-by: Pierrick Bouvier <pierrick.bouvier@oss.qualcomm.com>
> Signed-off-by: Daniel P. Berrangé <berrange@redhat.com>
> Link: https://lore.kernel.org/qemu-devel/20260716102515.1503404-1-berrange@redhat.com
> Signed-off-by: Pierrick Bouvier <pierrick.bouvier@oss.qualcomm.com>

I've bisected to this as breaking --disable-containers:

  ../../configure --target-list=aarch64-linux-user,loongarch64-linux-user --disable-containers
  ...
    Cross compilers                       
      aarch64                         : aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc
      loongarch64                     : cc --cc loongarch64-unknown-linux-gnu-gcc -i qemu/debian-loongarch-cross -s /home/alex.bennee/lsrc/qemu.git --

So some mangling with the container command line has happened.

> ---
>  configure                     | 25 +++++++------
>  tests/docker/Makefile.include | 13 ++++---
>  tests/docker/docker.py        | 67 ++++++++++++-----------------------
>  3 files changed, 40 insertions(+), 65 deletions(-)
>
> diff --git a/configure b/configure
> index d8bc10060e1..6ddfe4b5342 100755
> --- a/configure
> +++ b/configure
> @@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ fi
>  # some defaults, based on the host environment
>  
>  # default parameters
> -container_engine="auto"
> +container_command=""
>  cpu=""
>  cross_compile="no"
>  cross_prefix=""
> @@ -734,7 +734,7 @@ for opt do
>    ;;
>    --disable-containers) use_containers="no"
>    ;;
> -  --container-engine=*) container_engine="$optarg"
> +  --container-command=*) container_command="$optarg"
>    ;;
>    --rust-target-triple=*) rust_target_triple="$optarg"
>    ;;
> @@ -869,7 +869,7 @@ Advanced options (experts only):
>    --enable-debug           enable common debug build options
>    --cpu=CPU                Build for host CPU [$cpu]
>    --disable-containers     don't use containers for cross-building
> -  --container-engine=TYPE  which container engine to use [$container_engine]
> +  --container-command=CMD  which container command to use [autodetect]
>    --gdb=GDB-path           gdb to use for gdbstub tests [$gdb_bin]
>    --wasm64-32bit-address-limit Restrict wasm64 address space to 32-bit (default
>                                 is to use the whole 64-bit range).
> @@ -1291,12 +1291,12 @@ fi
>  ##########################################
>  # functions to probe cross compilers
>  
> -runc="no"
> -if test $use_containers = "yes" && (has "docker" || has "podman"); then
> -    runc=$($python "$source_path"/tests/docker/docker.py --engine "$container_engine" probe)
> -    if test "$runc" != "no"; then
> -        docker_py="$python $source_path/tests/docker/docker.py --engine $container_engine"
> -    fi
> +if test "$container_command" = ""; then
> +    container_command=$($python "$source_path"/tests/docker/docker.py probe)
> +    test "$container_command" = "no" && container_command=""
> +fi
> +if test $use_containers = "yes" && test "$container_command" != ""; then
> +    docker_py="$python $source_path/tests/docker/docker.py --command $container_command"

else
  container_command=""
fi

?

>  
>  # cross compilers defaults, can be overridden with --cross-cc-ARCH
> @@ -1415,7 +1415,7 @@ probe_target_compiler() {
>    esac
>  
>    for host in $container_hosts; do
> -    test "$runc" != no || continue
> +    test "$container_command" != "" || continue
>      test "$host" = "$cpu" || continue
>      case $target_arch in
>        # debian-all-test-cross architectures
> @@ -1736,9 +1736,8 @@ echo all: >> $config_host_mak
>  echo "SRC_PATH=$source_path" >> $config_host_mak
>  echo "TARGET_DIRS=$target_list" >> $config_host_mak
>  echo "GDB=$gdb_bin" >> $config_host_mak
> -if test "$runc" != no; then
> -    echo "RUNC=$runc" >> $config_host_mak
> -    echo "CONTAINER_ENGINE=$container_engine" >> $config_host_mak
> +if test "$container_command" != ""; then
> +    echo "CONTAINER_COMMAND=$container_command" >> $config_host_mak
>  fi
>  echo "SUBDIRS=$subdirs" >> $config_host_mak
>  if test "$rust" != disabled; then
> diff --git a/tests/docker/Makefile.include b/tests/docker/Makefile.include
> index 4725c39807b..0adddb6a5c6 100644
> --- a/tests/docker/Makefile.include
> +++ b/tests/docker/Makefile.include
> @@ -16,9 +16,8 @@ DOCKER_DEFAULT_REGISTRY := registry.gitlab.com/qemu-project/qemu
>  endif
>  DOCKER_REGISTRY := $(if $(REGISTRY),$(REGISTRY),$(DOCKER_DEFAULT_REGISTRY))
>  
> -CONTAINER_ENGINE = auto
> -DOCKER_SCRIPT=$(SRC_PATH)/tests/docker/docker.py --engine $(CONTAINER_ENGINE)
> -RUNC ?= $(shell $(DOCKER_SCRIPT) probe)
> +CONTAINER_COMMAND ?= $(shell $(SRC_PATH)/tests/docker/docker.py probe)
> +DOCKER_SCRIPT=$(SRC_PATH)/tests/docker/docker.py --command "$(CONTAINER_COMMAND)"
>  
>  CUR_TIME := $(shell date +%Y-%m-%d-%H.%M.%S.$$$$)
>  DOCKER_SRC_COPY := $(BUILD_DIR)/docker-src.$(CUR_TIME)
> @@ -41,7 +40,7 @@ docker-qemu-src: $(DOCKER_SRC_COPY)
>  # General rule for building docker images.
>  docker-image-%: $(DOCKER_FILES_DIR)/%.docker
>  	  $(call quiet-command,			\
> -		DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 $(RUNC) build		\
> +		DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 $(CONTAINER_COMMAND) build \
>  		$(if $(DOCKER_V),,--quiet)		\
>  		$(if $(NOCACHE),--no-cache,		\
>  			$(if $(DOCKER_REGISTRY),--cache-from $(DOCKER_REGISTRY)/qemu/$*)) \
> @@ -152,7 +151,7 @@ $(foreach i,$(filter-out $(DOCKER_PARTIAL_IMAGES),$(DOCKER_IMAGES)), \
>  )
>  
>  docker:
> -	@echo 'Build QEMU and run tests inside $(RUNC) containers'
> +	@echo 'Build QEMU and run tests inside $(CONTAINER_COMMAND) containers'
>  	@echo
>  	@echo 'Available targets:'
>  	@echo
> @@ -219,10 +218,10 @@ docker-run: docker-qemu-src
>  			$(IMAGE) --executable $(EXECUTABLE),		\
>  			"  COPYING $(EXECUTABLE) to $(IMAGE)"))
>  	$(call quiet-command,						\
> -		$(RUNC) run 						\
> +		$(CONTAINER_COMMAND) run 				\
>  			--rm						\
>  			$(if $(NOUSER),,				\
> -				$(if $(filter docker,$(RUNC)),		\
> +				$(if $(filter docker,$(CONTAINER_COMMAND)), \
>  					-u $(UID),			\
>  					--userns keep-id		\
>  				)					\
> diff --git a/tests/docker/docker.py b/tests/docker/docker.py
> index 9e18b984f45..d2f39b5645b 100755
> --- a/tests/docker/docker.py
> +++ b/tests/docker/docker.py
> @@ -35,27 +35,6 @@
>  
>  DEVNULL = open(os.devnull, 'wb')
>  
> -class EngineEnum(enum.IntEnum):
> -    AUTO = 1
> -    DOCKER = 2
> -    PODMAN = 3
> -
> -    def __str__(self):
> -        return self.name.lower()
> -
> -    def __repr__(self):
> -        return str(self)
> -
> -    @staticmethod
> -    def argparse(s):
> -        try:
> -            return EngineEnum[s.upper()]
> -        except KeyError:
> -            return s
> -
> -
> -USE_ENGINE = EngineEnum.AUTO
> -
>  def _bytes_checksum(bytes):
>      """Calculate a digest string unique to the text content"""
>      return hashlib.sha1(bytes).hexdigest()
> @@ -73,12 +52,11 @@ def _file_checksum(filename):
>  
>  def _guess_engine_command():
>      """ Guess a working engine command or raise exception if not found"""
> -    commands = []
> -
> -    if USE_ENGINE in [EngineEnum.AUTO, EngineEnum.PODMAN]:
> -        commands += [["podman"], ["podman-remote"], ["podman", "--remote"]]
> -    if USE_ENGINE in [EngineEnum.AUTO, EngineEnum.DOCKER]:
> -        commands += [["docker"], ["sudo", "-n", "docker"]]
> +    commands = [["podman"],
> +                ["podman-remote"],
> +                ["podman", "--remote"],
> +                ["docker"],
> +                ["sudo", "-n", "docker"]]
>      for cmd in commands:
>          try:
>              # 'version' is not sufficient to prove a working binary
> @@ -222,8 +200,11 @@ def _dockerfile_verify_flat(df):
>  
>  class Docker(object):
>      """ Running Docker commands """
> -    def __init__(self):
> -        self._command = _guess_engine_command()
> +    def __init__(self, commandstr=None):
> +        if commandstr is None:
> +            self._command = _guess_engine_command()
> +        else:
> +            self._command = commandstr.split(" ")
>  
>          if ("docker" in self._command and
>              "TRAVIS" not in os.environ and
> @@ -411,8 +392,8 @@ def args(self, parser):
>                              help="Run container using the current user's uid")
>  
>      def run(self, args, argv):
> -        return Docker().run(argv, args.keep, quiet=args.quiet,
> -                            as_user=args.run_as_current_user)
> +        return Docker(args.command).run(argv, args.keep, quiet=args.quiet,
> +                                        as_user=args.run_as_current_user)
>  
>  
>  class BuildCommand(SubCommand):
> @@ -445,7 +426,7 @@ def run(self, args, argv):
>          dockerfile = _read_dockerfile(args.dockerfile)
>          tag = args.tag
>  
> -        dkr = Docker()
> +        dkr = Docker(args.command)
>          if "--no-cache" not in argv and \
>             dkr.image_matches_dockerfile(tag, dockerfile):
>              if not args.quiet:
> @@ -512,7 +493,7 @@ def args(self, parser):
>                              help="Docker registry")
>  
>      def run(self, args, argv):
> -        dkr = Docker()
> +        dkr = Docker(args.command)
>          dkr.command(cmd="pull", quiet=args.quiet,
>                      argv=["%s/%s" % (args.registry, args.tag)])
>          dkr.command(cmd="tag", quiet=args.quiet,
> @@ -590,7 +571,7 @@ def run(self, args, argv):
>          tmp.seek(0)
>  
>          # Run the build with our tarball context
> -        dkr = Docker()
> +        dkr = Docker(args.command)
>          dkr.update_image(args.tag, tmp, quiet=args.quiet)
>  
>          return 0
> @@ -601,7 +582,7 @@ class CleanCommand(SubCommand):
>      name = "clean"
>  
>      def run(self, args, argv):
> -        Docker().clean()
> +        Docker(args.command).clean()
>          return 0
>  
>  
> @@ -610,7 +591,7 @@ class ImagesCommand(SubCommand):
>      name = "images"
>  
>      def run(self, args, argv):
> -        return Docker().command("images", argv, args.quiet)
> +        return Docker(args.command).command("images", argv, args.quiet)
>  
>  
>  class ProbeCommand(SubCommand):
> @@ -619,7 +600,7 @@ class ProbeCommand(SubCommand):
>  
>      def run(self, args, argv):
>          try:
> -            docker = Docker()
> +            docker = Docker(args.command)
>              print(" ".join(docker._command))
>          except Exception:
>              print("no")
> @@ -651,18 +632,16 @@ def run(self, args, argv):
>                  cmd += ["-v", "%s:%s:ro,z" % (p, p)]
>          cmd += [args.image, args.cc]
>          cmd += argv
> -        return Docker().run(cmd, False, quiet=args.quiet,
> -                            as_user=True)
> +        return Docker(args.command).run(cmd, False, quiet=args.quiet,
> +                                        as_user=True)
>  
>  
>  def main():
> -    global USE_ENGINE
> -
>      parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description="A Docker helper",
>                                       usage="%s <subcommand> ..." %
>                                       os.path.basename(sys.argv[0]))
> -    parser.add_argument("--engine", type=EngineEnum.argparse, choices=list(EngineEnum),
> -                        help="specify which container engine to use")
> +    parser.add_argument("--command",
> +                        help="specify which container engine command to use")
>      subparsers = parser.add_subparsers(title="subcommands", help=None)
>      for cls in SubCommand.__subclasses__():
>          cmd = cls()
> @@ -671,8 +650,6 @@ def main():
>          cmd.args(subp)
>          subp.set_defaults(cmdobj=cmd)
>      args, argv = parser.parse_known_args()
> -    if args.engine:
> -        USE_ENGINE = args.engine
>      return args.cmdobj.run(args, argv)

-- 
Alex Bennée
Virtualisation Tech Lead @ Linaro

Re: [PULL 1/1] tests/docker: ensure container command is probed at most once

[Pierrick Bouvier]

On 8/28/26 5:25 AM, Alex Bennée wrote:
> Pierrick Bouvier <pierrick.bouvier@oss.qualcomm.com> writes:
> 
>> From: Daniel P. Berrangé <berrange@redhat.com>
>>
>> The '--engine' arg accepts either 'podman' or 'docker', which is
>> not sufficiently granular to map directly to a command. This
>> means that  docker.py still has to then probe the exact command
>> to use.
>>
>> Meanwhile the 'probe' command prints out the full command to use
>> but this cannot be passed back to docker.py to avoid probing
>> again, so the caching is only useful in the few case where we
>> run a container directly bypassing docker.py.
>>
>> Address this by replacing --engine with --command for docker.py.
>>
>> This in turn requires the --container-engine configure arg to be
>> replaced with --container-command.
>>
>> With these changes the container command is probed at most once
>> during configure and never again, while running in an unconfigured
>> tree will still probe on demand.
>>
>> Tested-by: Pierrick Bouvier <pierrick.bouvier@oss.qualcomm.com>
>> Reviewed-by: Pierrick Bouvier <pierrick.bouvier@oss.qualcomm.com>
>> Signed-off-by: Daniel P. Berrangé <berrange@redhat.com>
>> Link: https://lore.kernel.org/qemu-devel/20260716102515.1503404-1-berrange@redhat.com
>> Signed-off-by: Pierrick Bouvier <pierrick.bouvier@oss.qualcomm.com>
> 
> I've bisected to this as breaking --disable-containers:
> 
>    ../../configure --target-list=aarch64-linux-user,loongarch64-linux-user --disable-containers
>    ...
>      Cross compilers
>        aarch64                         : aarch64-linux-gnu-gcc
>        loongarch64                     : cc --cc loongarch64-unknown-linux-gnu-gcc -i qemu/debian-loongarch-cross -s /home/alex.bennee/lsrc/qemu.git --
> 
> So some mangling with the container command line has happened.
> 
>> ---
>>   configure                     | 25 +++++++------
>>   tests/docker/Makefile.include | 13 ++++---
>>   tests/docker/docker.py        | 67 ++++++++++++-----------------------
>>   3 files changed, 40 insertions(+), 65 deletions(-)
>>
>> diff --git a/configure b/configure
>> index d8bc10060e1..6ddfe4b5342 100755
>> --- a/configure
>> +++ b/configure
>> @@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ fi
>>   # some defaults, based on the host environment
>>   
>>   # default parameters
>> -container_engine="auto"
>> +container_command=""
>>   cpu=""
>>   cross_compile="no"
>>   cross_prefix=""
>> @@ -734,7 +734,7 @@ for opt do
>>     ;;
>>     --disable-containers) use_containers="no"
>>     ;;
>> -  --container-engine=*) container_engine="$optarg"
>> +  --container-command=*) container_command="$optarg"
>>     ;;
>>     --rust-target-triple=*) rust_target_triple="$optarg"
>>     ;;
>> @@ -869,7 +869,7 @@ Advanced options (experts only):
>>     --enable-debug           enable common debug build options
>>     --cpu=CPU                Build for host CPU [$cpu]
>>     --disable-containers     don't use containers for cross-building
>> -  --container-engine=TYPE  which container engine to use [$container_engine]
>> +  --container-command=CMD  which container command to use [autodetect]
>>     --gdb=GDB-path           gdb to use for gdbstub tests [$gdb_bin]
>>     --wasm64-32bit-address-limit Restrict wasm64 address space to 32-bit (default
>>                                  is to use the whole 64-bit range).
>> @@ -1291,12 +1291,12 @@ fi
>>   ##########################################
>>   # functions to probe cross compilers
>>   
>> -runc="no"
>> -if test $use_containers = "yes" && (has "docker" || has "podman"); then
>> -    runc=$($python "$source_path"/tests/docker/docker.py --engine "$container_engine" probe)
>> -    if test "$runc" != "no"; then
>> -        docker_py="$python $source_path/tests/docker/docker.py --engine $container_engine"
>> -    fi
>> +if test "$container_command" = ""; then
>> +    container_command=$($python "$source_path"/tests/docker/docker.py probe)
>> +    test "$container_command" = "no" && container_command=""
>> +fi
>> +if test $use_containers = "yes" && test "$container_command" != ""; then
>> +    docker_py="$python $source_path/tests/docker/docker.py --command $container_command"
> 
> else
>    container_command=""
> fi
> 
> ?
> 

@Daniel, could you please take a look and fix this change?

Regards,
Pierrick