[PATCH] docs/bpf: Document BPF_STRICT_BUILD=0 to tolerate test build failures

[PATCH] docs/bpf: Document BPF_STRICT_BUILD=0 to tolerate test build failures

[Ricardo B. Marlière]

When the kernel config does not fully match the BPF selftest config
fragment, some tests may fail to compile. BPF_STRICT_BUILD (defaulting to
1) makes any such failure fatal. Mention the option so that developers are
aware they can set it to 0 to skip broken tests and keep the build going,
which is particularly useful during bringup or when testing on constrained
(e.g. distribution) configurations.

Signed-off-by: Ricardo B. Marlière <rbm@suse.com>
---
 Documentation/bpf/bpf_devel_QA.rst | 5 ++++-
 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/Documentation/bpf/bpf_devel_QA.rst b/Documentation/bpf/bpf_devel_QA.rst
index 45bc5c5cd793..edf8107a7beb 100644
--- a/Documentation/bpf/bpf_devel_QA.rst
+++ b/Documentation/bpf/bpf_devel_QA.rst
@@ -479,7 +479,10 @@ for details.
 
 To maximize the number of tests passing, the .config of the kernel
 under test should match the config file fragment in
-tools/testing/selftests/bpf as closely as possible.
+tools/testing/selftests/bpf as closely as possible. If not possible,
+however, you can set ``BPF_STRICT_BUILD=0`` when invoking ``make``
+to tolerate individual compilation failures and continue building
+the remaining tests rather than treating each failure as fatal.
 
 Finally to ensure support for latest BPF Type Format features -
 discussed in Documentation/bpf/btf.rst - pahole version 1.16

---
base-commit: 8cdeaa50eae8dad34885515f62559ee83e7e8dda
change-id: 20260706-b4-bpf_strict_build_docs-a8aa7fa46e2f

Best regards,
--  
Ricardo B. Marlière <rbm@suse.com>

Re: [PATCH] docs/bpf: Document BPF_STRICT_BUILD=0 to tolerate test build failures

[Emil Tsalapatis]

On Mon Jul 6, 2026 at 11:28 AM EDT, Ricardo B. Marlière wrote:
> When the kernel config does not fully match the BPF selftest config
> fragment, some tests may fail to compile. BPF_STRICT_BUILD (defaulting to
> 1) makes any such failure fatal. Mention the option so that developers are
> aware they can set it to 0 to skip broken tests and keep the build going,
> which is particularly useful during bringup or when testing on constrained
> (e.g. distribution) configurations.
>
> Signed-off-by: Ricardo B. Marlière <rbm@suse.com>
> ---
>  Documentation/bpf/bpf_devel_QA.rst | 5 ++++-
>  1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)
>
> diff --git a/Documentation/bpf/bpf_devel_QA.rst b/Documentation/bpf/bpf_devel_QA.rst
> index 45bc5c5cd793..edf8107a7beb 100644
> --- a/Documentation/bpf/bpf_devel_QA.rst
> +++ b/Documentation/bpf/bpf_devel_QA.rst
> @@ -479,7 +479,10 @@ for details.
>  
>  To maximize the number of tests passing, the .config of the kernel
>  under test should match the config file fragment in
> -tools/testing/selftests/bpf as closely as possible.
> +tools/testing/selftests/bpf as closely as possible. If not possible,
> +however, you can set ``BPF_STRICT_BUILD=0`` when invoking ``make``
> +to tolerate individual compilation failures and continue building
> +the remaining tests rather than treating each failure as fatal.
>  

Reviewed-by: Emil Tsalapatis <emil@etsalapatis.com>

Nit: You could add the caveat that anything in TRUNNER_EXTRA_SOURCES is
not covered, but it's pretty minor.

>  Finally to ensure support for latest BPF Type Format features -
>  discussed in Documentation/bpf/btf.rst - pahole version 1.16
>
> ---
> base-commit: 8cdeaa50eae8dad34885515f62559ee83e7e8dda
> change-id: 20260706-b4-bpf_strict_build_docs-a8aa7fa46e2f
>
> Best regards,
> --  
> Ricardo B. Marlière <rbm@suse.com>

Re: [PATCH] docs/bpf: Document BPF_STRICT_BUILD=0 to tolerate test build failures

[patchwork-bot+netdevbpf]

Hello:

This patch was applied to bpf/bpf-next.git (master)
by Kumar Kartikeya Dwivedi <memxor@gmail.com>:

On Mon, 06 Jul 2026 12:28:43 -0300 you wrote:
> When the kernel config does not fully match the BPF selftest config
> fragment, some tests may fail to compile. BPF_STRICT_BUILD (defaulting to
> 1) makes any such failure fatal. Mention the option so that developers are
> aware they can set it to 0 to skip broken tests and keep the build going,
> which is particularly useful during bringup or when testing on constrained
> (e.g. distribution) configurations.
> 
> [...]

Here is the summary with links:
  - docs/bpf: Document BPF_STRICT_BUILD=0 to tolerate test build failures
    https://git.kernel.org/bpf/bpf-next/c/575d4e50192d

You are awesome, thank you!
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