ctest(1) CMake ctest(1)
NAME
ctest - CTest Command-Line Reference
Contents
ctest(1)
o Synopsis
o Description
o Run Tests
o View Help
o Label Matching
o Label and Subproject Summary
o Build and Test Mode
o Dashboard Client
o Dashboard Client Steps
o Dashboard Client Modes
o Dashboard Client via CTest Command-Line
o Dashboard Client via CTest Script
o Dashboard Client Configuration
o CTest Start Step
o CTest Update Step
o CTest Configure Step
o CTest Build Step
o CTest Test Step
o CTest Coverage Step
o CTest MemCheck Step
o CTest Submit Step
o Show as JSON Object Model
o Resource Allocation
o Resource Specification File
o RESOURCE_GROUPS Property
o Environment Variables
o Dynamically-Generated Resource Specification File
o Job Server Integration
o See Also
SYNOPSIS
Run Tests
ctest [<options>] [--test-dir <path-to-build>]
Build and Test Mode
ctest --build-and-test <path-to-source> <path-to-build>
--build-generator <generator> [<options>...]
[--build-options <opts>...]
[--test-command <command> [<args>...]]
Dashboard Client
ctest -D <dashboard> [-- <dashboard-options>...]
ctest -M <model> -T <action> [-- <dashboard-options>...]
ctest -S <script> [-- <dashboard-options>...]
ctest -SP <script> [-- <dashboard-options>...]
View Help
ctest --help[-<topic>]
DESCRIPTION
The ctest executable is the CMake test driver program. CMake-generated
build trees created for projects that use the enable_testing() <#
command:enable_testing> and add_test() <#command:add_test> commands
have testing support. This program will run the tests and report
results.
RUN TESTS
--preset <preset>, --preset=<preset>
Use a test preset to specify test options. The project binary
directory is inferred from the configurePreset key. The current
working directory must contain CMake preset files. See preset
<#manual:cmake-presets(7)> for more details.
--list-presets
Lists the available test presets. The current working directory
must contain CMake preset files.
-C <cfg>, --build-config <cfg>
Choose configuration to test.
Some CMake-generated build trees can have multiple build
configurations in the same tree. This option can be used to
specify which one should be tested. Example configurations are
Debug and Release.
--progress
Enable short progress output from tests.
When the output of ctest is being sent directly to a terminal,
the progress through the set of tests is reported by updating
the same line rather than printing start and end messages for
each test on new lines. This can significantly reduce the
verbosity of the test output. Test completion messages are
still output on their own line for failed tests and the final
test summary will also still be logged.
This option can also be enabled by setting the environment
variable CTEST_PROGRESS_OUTPUT <#envvar:CTEST_PROGRESS_OUTPUT>.
-V, --verbose
Enable verbose output from tests.
Test output is normally suppressed and only summary information
is displayed. This option will show all test output.
-VV, --extra-verbose
Enable more verbose output from tests.
Test output is normally suppressed and only summary information
is displayed. This option will show even more test output.
--debug
Displaying more verbose internals of CTest.
This feature will result in a large number of output that is
mostly useful for debugging dashboard problems.
--output-on-failure
Output anything outputted by the test program if the test should
fail. This option can also be enabled by setting the
CTEST_OUTPUT_ON_FAILURE <#envvar:CTEST_OUTPUT_ON_FAILURE>
environment variable
--stop-on-failure
Stop running the tests when the first failure happens.
-F Enable failover.
This option allows CTest to resume a test set execution that was
previously interrupted. If no interruption occurred, the -F
option will have no effect.
-j [<level>], --parallel [<level>]
Run tests in parallel, optionally limited to a given level of
parallelism.
Added in version 3.29: The <level> may be omitted, or 0, in
which case:
o Under Job Server Integration, parallelism is limited by
available job tokens.
o Otherwise, if the value is omitted, parallelism is limited by
the number of processors, or 2, whichever is larger.
o Otherwise, if the value is 0, parallelism is unbounded.
This option may instead be specified by the CTEST_PARALLEL_LEVEL
<#envvar:CTEST_PARALLEL_LEVEL> environment variable.
This option can be used with the PROCESSORS <#
prop_test:PROCESSORS> test property. See the Label and
Subproject Summary.
--resource-spec-file <file>
Run CTest with resource allocation enabled, using the resource
specification file specified in <file>.
When ctest is run as a Dashboard Client this sets the
ResourceSpecFile option of the CTest Test Step.
--test-load <level>
While running tests in parallel (e.g. with -j), try not to start
tests when they may cause the CPU load to pass above a given
threshold.
When ctest is run as a Dashboard Client this sets the TestLoad
option of the CTest Test Step.
-Q, --quiet
Make CTest quiet.
This option will suppress all the output. The output log file
will still be generated if the --output-log is specified.
Options such as --verbose, --extra-verbose, and --debug are
ignored if --quiet is specified.
-O <file>, --output-log <file>
Output to log file.
This option tells CTest to write all its output to a <file> log
file.
--output-junit <file>
Added in version 3.21.
Write test results in JUnit format.
This option tells CTest to write test results to <file> in JUnit
XML format. If <file> already exists, it will be overwritten. If
using the -S option to run a dashboard script, use the
OUTPUT_JUNIT keyword with the ctest_test() <#command:ctest_test>
command instead.
-N, --show-only[=<format>]
Disable actual execution of tests.
This option tells CTest to list the tests that would be run but
not actually run them. Useful in conjunction with the -R and -E
options.
Added in version 3.14: The --show-only option accepts a <format>
value.
<format> can be one of the following values.
human Human-friendly output. This is not guaranteed to be
stable. This is the default.
json-v1
Dump the test information in JSON format. See Show as
JSON Object Model.
-L <regex>, --label-regex <regex>
Run tests with labels matching regular expression as described
under string(REGEX) <#regex-specification>.
This option tells CTest to run only the tests whose labels match
the given regular expression. When more than one -L option is
given, a test will only be run if each regular expression
matches at least one of the test's labels (i.e. the multiple -L
labels form an AND relationship). See Label Matching.
-R <regex>, --tests-regex <regex>
Run tests matching regular expression.
This option tells CTest to run only the tests whose names match
the given regular expression.
-E <regex>, --exclude-regex <regex>
Exclude tests matching regular expression.
This option tells CTest to NOT run the tests whose names match
the given regular expression.
-LE <regex>, --label-exclude <regex>
Exclude tests with labels matching regular expression.
This option tells CTest to NOT run the tests whose labels match
the given regular expression. When more than one -LE option is
given, a test will only be excluded if each regular expression
matches at least one of the test's labels (i.e. the multiple -LE
labels form an AND relationship). See Label Matching.
--tests-from-file <filename>
Added in version 3.29.
Run tests listed in the given file.
This option tells CTest to run tests that are listed in the
given file. The file must contain one exact test name per line.
Lines that do not exactly match any test names are ignored.
This option can be combined with the other options like -R, -E,
-L or -LE.
--exclude-from-file <filename>
Added in version 3.29.
Exclude tests listed in the given file.
This option tells CTest to NOT run tests that are listed in the
given file. The file must contain one exact test name per line.
Lines that do not exactly match any test names are ignored.
This option can be combined with the other options like -R, -E,
-L or -LE.
-FA <regex>, --fixture-exclude-any <regex>
Exclude fixtures matching <regex> from automatically adding any
tests to the test set.
If a test in the set of tests to be executed requires a
particular fixture, that fixture's setup and cleanup tests would
normally be added to the test set automatically. This option
prevents adding setup or cleanup tests for fixtures matching the
<regex>. Note that all other fixture behavior is retained,
including test dependencies and skipping tests that have fixture
setup tests that fail.
-FS <regex>, --fixture-exclude-setup <regex>
Same as -FA except only matching setup tests are excluded.
-FC <regex>, --fixture-exclude-cleanup <regex>
Same as -FA except only matching cleanup tests are excluded.
-I [Start,End,Stride,test#,test#|Test file], --tests-information
Run a specific number of tests by number.
This option causes CTest to run tests starting at number Start,
ending at number End, and incrementing by Stride. Any
additional numbers after Stride are considered individual test
numbers. Start, End, or Stride can be empty. Optionally a file
can be given that contains the same syntax as the command line.
-U, --union
Take the Union of -I and -R.
When both -R and -I are specified by default the intersection of
tests are run. By specifying -U the union of tests is run
instead.
--rerun-failed
Run only the tests that failed previously.
This option tells CTest to perform only the tests that failed
during its previous run. When this option is specified, CTest
ignores all other options intended to modify the list of tests
to run ( -L, -R, -E, -LE, -I, etc). In the event that CTest
runs and no tests fail, subsequent calls to CTest with the
--rerun-failed option will run the set of tests that most
recently failed (if any).
--repeat <mode>:<n>
Run tests repeatedly based on the given <mode> up to <n> times.
The modes are:
until-fail
Require each test to run <n> times without failing in
order to pass. This is useful in finding sporadic
failures in test cases.
until-pass
Allow each test to run up to <n> times in order to pass.
Repeats tests if they fail for any reason. This is
useful in tolerating sporadic failures in test cases.
after-timeout
Allow each test to run up to <n> times in order to pass.
Repeats tests only if they timeout. This is useful in
tolerating sporadic timeouts in test cases on busy
machines.
--repeat-until-fail <n>
Equivalent to --repeat until-fail:<n>.
--max-width <width>
Set the max width for a test name to output.
Set the maximum width for each test name to show in the output.
This allows the user to widen the output to avoid clipping the
test name which can be very annoying.
--interactive-debug-mode [0|1]
Set the interactive mode to 0 or 1.
This option causes CTest to run tests in either an interactive
mode or a non-interactive mode. In dashboard mode
(Experimental, Nightly, Continuous), the default is
non-interactive. In non-interactive mode, the environment
variable DASHBOARD_TEST_FROM_CTEST <#
envvar:DASHBOARD_TEST_FROM_CTEST> is set.
Prior to CMake 3.11, interactive mode on Windows allowed system
debug popup windows to appear. Now, due to CTest's use of libuv
to launch test processes, all system debug popup windows are
always blocked.
--no-label-summary
Disable timing summary information for labels.
This option tells CTest not to print summary information for
each label associated with the tests run. If there are no
labels on the tests, nothing extra is printed.
See Label and Subproject Summary.
--no-subproject-summary
Disable timing summary information for subprojects.
This option tells CTest not to print summary information for
each subproject associated with the tests run. If there are no
subprojects on the tests, nothing extra is printed.
See Label and Subproject Summary.
--test-dir <dir>
Added in version 3.20.
Specify the directory in which to look for tests, typically a
CMake project build directory. If not specified, the current
directory is used.
--test-output-size-passed <size>
Added in version 3.4.
Limit the output for passed tests to <size> bytes.
--test-output-size-failed <size>
Added in version 3.4.
Limit the output for failed tests to <size> bytes.
--test-output-truncation <mode>
Added in version 3.24.
Truncate tail (default), middle or head of test output once
maximum output size is reached.
--overwrite
Overwrite CTest configuration option.
By default CTest uses configuration options from configuration
file. This option will overwrite the configuration option.
--force-new-ctest-process
Run child CTest instances as new processes.
By default CTest will run child CTest instances within the same
process. If this behavior is not desired, this argument will
enforce new processes for child CTest processes.
--schedule-random
Use a random order for scheduling tests.
This option will run the tests in a random order. It is
commonly used to detect implicit dependencies in a test suite.
--submit-index
Legacy option for old Dart2 dashboard server feature. Do not
use.
--timeout <seconds>
Set the default test timeout.
This option effectively sets a timeout on all tests that do not
already have a timeout set on them via the TIMEOUT <#
prop_test:TIMEOUT> property.
--stop-time <time>
Set a time at which all tests should stop running.
Set a real time of day at which all tests should timeout.
Example: 7:00:00 -0400. Any time format understood by the curl
date parser is accepted. Local time is assumed if no timezone
is specified.
--print-labels
Print all available test labels.
This option will not run any tests, it will simply print the
list of all labels associated with the test set.
--no-tests=<action>
Regard no tests found either as error (when <action> is set to
error) or ignore it (when <action> is set to ignore).
If no tests were found, the default behavior of CTest is to
always log an error message but to return an error code in
script mode only. This option unifies the behavior of CTest by
either returning an error code if no tests were found or by
ignoring it.
Added in version 3.26.
This option can also be set by setting the CTEST_NO_TESTS_ACTION
<#envvar:CTEST_NO_TESTS_ACTION> environment variable.
VIEW HELP
To print version details or selected pages from the CMake
documentation, use one of the following options:
-version [<file>], --version [<file>], /V [<file>]
Show program name/version banner and exit. The output is
printed to a named <file> if given.
-h, -H, --help, -help, -usage, /?
Print usage information and exit.
Usage describes the basic command line interface and its
options.
--help <keyword> [<file>]
Print help for one CMake keyword.
<keyword> can be a property, variable, command, policy,
generator or module.
The relevant manual entry for <keyword> is printed in a
human-readable text format. The output is printed to a named
<file> if given.
Changed in version 3.28: Prior to CMake 3.28, this option
supported command names only.
--help-full [<file>]
Print all help manuals and exit.
All manuals are printed in a human-readable text format. The
output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-manual <man> [<file>]
Print one help manual and exit.
The specified manual is printed in a human-readable text format.
The output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-manual-list [<file>]
List help manuals available and exit.
The list contains all manuals for which help may be obtained by
using the --help-manual option followed by a manual name. The
output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-command <cmd> [<file>]
Print help for one command and exit.
The cmake-commands(7) <#manual:cmake-commands(7)> manual entry
for <cmd> is printed in a human-readable text format. The
output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-command-list [<file>]
List commands with help available and exit.
The list contains all commands for which help may be obtained by
using the --help-command option followed by a command name. The
output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-commands [<file>]
Print cmake-commands manual and exit.
The cmake-commands(7) <#manual:cmake-commands(7)> manual is
printed in a human-readable text format. The output is printed
to a named <file> if given.
--help-module <mod> [<file>]
Print help for one module and exit.
The cmake-modules(7) <#manual:cmake-modules(7)> manual entry for
<mod> is printed in a human-readable text format. The output is
printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-module-list [<file>]
List modules with help available and exit.
The list contains all modules for which help may be obtained by
using the --help-module option followed by a module name. The
output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-modules [<file>]
Print cmake-modules manual and exit.
The cmake-modules(7) <#manual:cmake-modules(7)> manual is
printed in a human-readable text format. The output is printed
to a named <file> if given.
--help-policy <cmp> [<file>]
Print help for one policy and exit.
The cmake-policies(7) <#manual:cmake-policies(7)> manual entry
for <cmp> is printed in a human-readable text format. The
output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-policy-list [<file>]
List policies with help available and exit.
The list contains all policies for which help may be obtained by
using the --help-policy option followed by a policy name. The
output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-policies [<file>]
Print cmake-policies manual and exit.
The cmake-policies(7) <#manual:cmake-policies(7)> manual is
printed in a human-readable text format. The output is printed
to a named <file> if given.
--help-property <prop> [<file>]
Print help for one property and exit.
The cmake-properties(7) <#manual:cmake-properties(7)> manual
entries for <prop> are printed in a human-readable text format.
The output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-property-list [<file>]
List properties with help available and exit.
The list contains all properties for which help may be obtained
by using the --help-property option followed by a property name.
The output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-properties [<file>]
Print cmake-properties manual and exit.
The cmake-properties(7) <#manual:cmake-properties(7)> manual is
printed in a human-readable text format. The output is printed
to a named <file> if given.
--help-variable <var> [<file>]
Print help for one variable and exit.
The cmake-variables(7) <#manual:cmake-variables(7)> manual entry
for <var> is printed in a human-readable text format. The
output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-variable-list [<file>]
List variables with help available and exit.
The list contains all variables for which help may be obtained
by using the --help-variable option followed by a variable name.
The output is printed to a named <file> if given.
--help-variables [<file>]
Print cmake-variables manual and exit.
The cmake-variables(7) <#manual:cmake-variables(7)> manual is
printed in a human-readable text format. The output is printed
to a named <file> if given.
LABEL MATCHING
Tests may have labels attached to them. Tests may be included or
excluded from a test run by filtering on the labels. Each individual
filter is a regular expression applied to the labels attached to a
test.
When -L is used, in order for a test to be included in a test run, each
regular expression must match at least one label. Using more than one
-L option means "match all of these".
The -LE option works just like -L, but excludes tests rather than
including them. A test is excluded if each regular expression matches
at least one label.
If a test has no labels attached to it, then -L will never include that
test, and -LE will never exclude that test. As an example of tests
with labels, consider five tests, with the following labels:
o test1 has labels tuesday and production
o test2 has labels tuesday and test
o test3 has labels wednesday and production
o test4 has label wednesday
o test5 has labels friday and test
Running ctest with -L tuesday -L test will select test2, which has both
labels. Running CTest with -L test will select test2 and test5, because
both of them have a label that matches that regular expression.
Because the matching works with regular expressions, take note that
running CTest with -L es will match all five tests. To select the
tuesday and wednesday tests together, use a single regular expression
that matches either of them, like -L "tue|wed".
LABEL AND SUBPROJECT SUMMARY
CTest prints timing summary information for each LABEL and subproject
associated with the tests run. The label time summary will not include
labels that are mapped to subprojects.
Added in version 3.22: Labels added dynamically during test execution
are also reported in the timing summary. See Additional Labels <#
additional-labels>.
When the PROCESSORS <#prop_test:PROCESSORS> test property is set, CTest
will display a weighted test timing result in label and subproject
summaries. The time is reported with sec*proc instead of just sec.
The weighted time summary reported for each label or subproject j is
computed as:
Weighted Time Summary for Label/Subproject j =
sum(raw_test_time[j,i] * num_processors[j,i], i=1...num_tests[j])
for labels/subprojects j=1...total
where:
o raw_test_time[j,i]: Wall-clock time for the i test for the j label or
subproject
o num_processors[j,i]: Value of the CTest PROCESSORS <#
prop_test:PROCESSORS> property for the i test for the j label or
subproject
o num_tests[j]: Number of tests associated with the j label or
subproject
o total: Total number of labels or subprojects that have at least one
test run
Therefore, the weighted time summary for each label or subproject
represents the amount of time that CTest gave to run the tests for each
label or subproject and gives a good representation of the total
expense of the tests for each label or subproject when compared to
other labels or subprojects.
For example, if SubprojectA showed 100 sec*proc and SubprojectB showed
10 sec*proc, then CTest allocated approximately 10 times the CPU/core
time to run the tests for SubprojectA than for SubprojectB (e.g. so if
effort is going to be expended to reduce the cost of the test suite for
the whole project, then reducing the cost of the test suite for
SubprojectA would likely have a larger impact than effort to reduce the
cost of the test suite for SubprojectB).
BUILD AND TEST MODE
CTest provides a command-line signature to configure (i.e. run cmake
on), build, and/or execute a test:
ctest --build-and-test <path-to-source> <path-to-build>
--build-generator <generator>
[<options>...]
[--build-options <opts>...]
[--test-command <command> [<args>...]]
The configure and test steps are optional. The arguments to this
command line are the source and binary directories. The
--build-generator option must be provided to use --build-and-test. If
--test-command is specified then that will be run after the build is
complete. Other options that affect this mode include:
--build-and-test
Switch into the build and test mode.
--build-target
Specify a specific target to build. The option can be given
multiple times with different targets, in which case each target
is built in turn. A clean will be done before building each
target unless the --build-noclean option is given.
If no --build-target is specified, the all target is built.
--build-nocmake
Run the build without running cmake first.
Skip the cmake step.
--build-run-dir
Specify directory to run programs from.
Directory where programs will be after it has been compiled.
--build-two-config
Run CMake twice.
--build-exe-dir
Specify the directory for the executable.
--build-generator
Specify the generator to use. See the cmake-generators(7) <#
manual:cmake-generators(7)> manual.
--build-generator-platform
Specify the generator-specific platform.
--build-generator-toolset
Specify the generator-specific toolset.
--build-project
Specify the name of the project to build.
--build-makeprogram
Specify the explicit make program to be used by CMake when
configuring and building the project. Only applicable for Make
and Ninja based generators.
--build-noclean
Skip the make clean step.
--build-config-sample
A sample executable to use to determine the configuration that
should be used. e.g. Debug, Release etc.
--build-options
Additional options for configuring the build (i.e. for CMake,
not for the build tool). Note that if this is specified, the
--build-options keyword and its arguments must be the last
option given on the command line, with the possible exception of
--test-command.
--test-command
The command to run as the test step with the --build-and-test
option. All arguments following this keyword will be assumed to
be part of the test command line, so it must be the last option
given.
--test-timeout
The time limit in seconds
DASHBOARD CLIENT
CTest can operate as a client for the CDash <https://www.cdash.org>
software quality dashboard application. As a dashboard client, CTest
performs a sequence of steps to configure, build, and test software,
and then submits the results to a CDash <https://www.cdash.org> server.
The command-line signature used to submit to CDash <https://www.cdash
.org> is:
ctest -D <dashboard> [-- <dashboard-options>...]
ctest -M <model> -T <action> [-- <dashboard-options>...]
ctest -S <script> [-- <dashboard-options>...]
ctest -SP <script> [-- <dashboard-options>...]
Options for Dashboard Client include:
-D <dashboard>, --dashboard <dashboard>
Execute dashboard test.
This option tells CTest to act as a CDash client and perform a
dashboard test. All tests are <Mode><Test>, where <Mode> can be
Experimental, Nightly, and Continuous, and <Test> can be Start,
Update, Configure, Build, Test, Coverage, and Submit.
If <dashboard> is not one of the recognized <Mode><Test> values,
this will be treated as a variable definition instead (see the
dashboard-options further below).
-M <model>, --test-model <model>
Sets the model for a dashboard.
This option tells CTest to act as a CDash client where the
<model> can be Experimental, Nightly, and Continuous. Combining
-M and -T is similar to -D.
-T <action>, --test-action <action>
Sets the dashboard action to perform.
This option tells CTest to act as a CDash client and perform
some action such as start, build, test etc. See Dashboard Client
Steps for the full list of actions. Combining -M and -T is
similar to -D.
-S <script>, --script <script>
Execute a dashboard for a configuration.
This option tells CTest to load in a configuration script which
sets a number of parameters such as the binary and source
directories. Then CTest will do what is required to create and
run a dashboard. This option basically sets up a dashboard and
then runs ctest -D with the appropriate options.
-SP <script>, --script-new-process <script>
Execute a dashboard for a configuration.
This option does the same operations as -S but it will do them
in a separate process. This is primarily useful in cases where
the script may modify the environment and you do not want the
modified environment to impact other -S scripts.
The available <dashboard-options> are the following:
-D <var>:<type>=<value>
Define a variable for script mode.
Pass in variable values on the command line. Use in conjunction
with -S to pass variable values to a dashboard script. Parsing
-D arguments as variable values is only attempted if the value
following -D does not match any of the known dashboard types.
--group <group>
Specify what group you'd like to submit results to
Submit dashboard to specified group instead of default one. By
default, the dashboard is submitted to Nightly, Experimental, or
Continuous group, but by specifying this option, the group can
be arbitrary.
This replaces the deprecated option --track. Despite the name
change its behavior is unchanged.
-A <file>, --add-notes <file>
Add a notes file with submission.
This option tells CTest to include a notes file when submitting
dashboard.
--tomorrow-tag
Nightly or Experimental starts with next day tag.
This is useful if the build will not finish in one day.
--extra-submit <file>[;<file>]
Submit extra files to the dashboard.
This option will submit extra files to the dashboard.
--http-header <header>
Added in version 3.29.
Append HTTP header when submitting to the dashboard.
This option will cause CTest to append the specified header when
submitting to the dashboard. This option may be specified more
than once.
--http1.0
Submit using HTTP 1.0.
This option will force CTest to use HTTP 1.0 to submit files to
the dashboard, instead of HTTP 1.1.
--no-compress-output
Do not compress test output when submitting.
This flag will turn off automatic compression of test output.
Use this to maintain compatibility with an older version of
CDash which doesn't support compressed test output.
Dashboard Client Steps
CTest defines an ordered list of testing steps of which some or all may
be run as a dashboard client:
Start Start a new dashboard submission to be composed of results
recorded by the following steps. See the CTest Start Step
section below.
Update Update the source tree from its version control repository.
Record the old and new versions and the list of updated source
files. See the CTest Update Step section below.
Configure
Configure the software by running a command in the build tree.
Record the configuration output log. See the CTest Configure
Step section below.
Build Build the software by running a command in the build tree.
Record the build output log and detect warnings and errors. See
the CTest Build Step section below.
Test Test the software by loading a CTestTestfile.cmake from the
build tree and executing the defined tests. Record the output
and result of each test. See the CTest Test Step section below.
Coverage
Compute coverage of the source code by running a coverage
analysis tool and recording its output. See the CTest Coverage
Step section below.
MemCheck
Run the software test suite through a memory check tool. Record
the test output, results, and issues reported by the tool. See
the CTest MemCheck Step section below.
Submit Submit results recorded from other testing steps to the software
quality dashboard server. See the CTest Submit Step section
below.
Dashboard Client Modes
CTest defines three modes of operation as a dashboard client:
Nightly
This mode is intended to be invoked once per day, typically at
night. It enables the Start, Update, Configure, Build, Test,
Coverage, and Submit steps by default. Selected steps run even
if the Update step reports no changes to the source tree.
Continuous
This mode is intended to be invoked repeatedly throughout the
day. It enables the Start, Update, Configure, Build, Test,
Coverage, and Submit steps by default, but exits after the
Update step if it reports no changes to the source tree.
Experimental
This mode is intended to be invoked by a developer to test local
changes. It enables the Start, Configure, Build, Test,
Coverage, and Submit steps by default.
Dashboard Client via CTest Command-Line
CTest can perform testing on an already-generated build tree. Run the
ctest command with the current working directory set to the build tree
and use one of these signatures:
ctest -D <mode>[<step>]
ctest -M <mode> [-T <step>]...
The <mode> must be one of the above Dashboard Client Modes, and each
<step> must be one of the above Dashboard Client Steps.
CTest reads the Dashboard Client Configuration settings from a file in
the build tree called either CTestConfiguration.ini or
DartConfiguration.tcl (the names are historical). The format of the
file is:
# Lines starting in '#' are comments.
# Other non-blank lines are key-value pairs.
<setting>: <value>
where <setting> is the setting name and <value> is the setting value.
In build trees generated by CMake, this configuration file is generated
by the CTest <#module:CTest> module if included by the project. The
module uses variables to obtain a value for each setting as documented
with the settings below.
Dashboard Client via CTest Script
CTest can perform testing driven by a cmake-language(7) <#manual:cmake-
language(7)> script that creates and maintains the source and build
tree as well as performing the testing steps. Run the ctest command
with the current working directory set outside of any build tree and
use one of these signatures:
ctest -S <script>
ctest -SP <script>
The <script> file must call CTest Commands <#ctest-commands> commands
to run testing steps explicitly as documented below. The commands
obtain Dashboard Client Configuration settings from their arguments or
from variables set in the script.
DASHBOARD CLIENT CONFIGURATION
The Dashboard Client Steps may be configured by named settings as
documented in the following sections.
CTest Start Step
Start a new dashboard submission to be composed of results recorded by
the following steps.
In a CTest Script, the ctest_start() <#command:ctest_start> command
runs this step. Arguments to the command may specify some of the step
settings. The command first runs the command-line specified by the
CTEST_CHECKOUT_COMMAND variable, if set, to initialize the source
directory.
Configuration settings include:
BuildDirectory
The full path to the project build tree.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_BINARY_DIRECTORY <#
variable:CTEST_BINARY_DIRECTORY>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: PROJECT_BINARY_DIR <#
variable:PROJECT_BINARY_DIR>
SourceDirectory
The full path to the project source tree.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_SOURCE_DIRECTORY <#
variable:CTEST_SOURCE_DIRECTORY>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR <#
variable:PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR>
CTest Update Step
In a CTest Script, the ctest_update() <#command:ctest_update> command
runs this step. Arguments to the command may specify some of the step
settings.
Configuration settings to specify the version control tool include:
BZRCommand
bzr command-line tool to use if source tree is managed by
Bazaar.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_BZR_COMMAND <#
variable:CTEST_BZR_COMMAND>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: none
BZRUpdateOptions
Command-line options to the BZRCommand when updating the source.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_BZR_UPDATE_OPTIONS <#
variable:CTEST_BZR_UPDATE_OPTIONS>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: none
CVSCommand
cvs command-line tool to use if source tree is managed by CVS.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_CVS_COMMAND <#
variable:CTEST_CVS_COMMAND>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: CVSCOMMAND
CVSUpdateOptions
Command-line options to the CVSCommand when updating the source.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_CVS_UPDATE_OPTIONS <#
variable:CTEST_CVS_UPDATE_OPTIONS>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: CVS_UPDATE_OPTIONS
GITCommand
git command-line tool to use if source tree is managed by Git.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_GIT_COMMAND <#
variable:CTEST_GIT_COMMAND>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: GITCOMMAND
The source tree is updated by git fetch followed by git reset
--hard to the FETCH_HEAD. The result is the same as git pull
except that any local modifications are overwritten. Use
GITUpdateCustom to specify a different approach.
GITInitSubmodules
If set, CTest will update the repository's submodules before
updating.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_GIT_INIT_SUBMODULES <#
variable:CTEST_GIT_INIT_SUBMODULES>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable:
CTEST_GIT_INIT_SUBMODULES
GITUpdateCustom
Specify a custom command line (as a semicolon-separated list) to
run in the source tree (Git work tree) to update it instead of
running the GITCommand.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_GIT_UPDATE_CUSTOM <#
variable:CTEST_GIT_UPDATE_CUSTOM>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: CTEST_GIT_UPDATE_CUSTOM
GITUpdateOptions
Command-line options to the GITCommand when updating the source.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_GIT_UPDATE_OPTIONS <#
variable:CTEST_GIT_UPDATE_OPTIONS>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: GIT_UPDATE_OPTIONS
HGCommand
hg command-line tool to use if source tree is managed by
Mercurial.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_HG_COMMAND <#
variable:CTEST_HG_COMMAND>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: none
HGUpdateOptions
Command-line options to the HGCommand when updating the source.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_HG_UPDATE_OPTIONS <#
variable:CTEST_HG_UPDATE_OPTIONS>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: none
P4Client
Value of the -c option to the P4Command.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_P4_CLIENT <#
variable:CTEST_P4_CLIENT>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: CTEST_P4_CLIENT
P4Command
p4 command-line tool to use if source tree is managed by
Perforce.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_P4_COMMAND <#
variable:CTEST_P4_COMMAND>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: P4COMMAND
P4Options
Command-line options to the P4Command for all invocations.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_P4_OPTIONS <#
variable:CTEST_P4_OPTIONS>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: CTEST_P4_OPTIONS
P4UpdateCustom
Specify a custom command line (as a semicolon-separated list) to
run in the source tree (Perforce tree) to update it instead of
running the P4Command.
o CTest Script variable: none
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: CTEST_P4_UPDATE_CUSTOM
P4UpdateOptions
Command-line options to the P4Command when updating the source.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_P4_UPDATE_OPTIONS <#
variable:CTEST_P4_UPDATE_OPTIONS>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: CTEST_P4_UPDATE_OPTIONS
SVNCommand
svn command-line tool to use if source tree is managed by
Subversion.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_SVN_COMMAND <#
variable:CTEST_SVN_COMMAND>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: SVNCOMMAND
SVNOptions
Command-line options to the SVNCommand for all invocations.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_SVN_OPTIONS <#
variable:CTEST_SVN_OPTIONS>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: CTEST_SVN_OPTIONS
SVNUpdateOptions
Command-line options to the SVNCommand when updating the source.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_SVN_UPDATE_OPTIONS <#
variable:CTEST_SVN_UPDATE_OPTIONS>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: SVN_UPDATE_OPTIONS
UpdateCommand
Specify the version-control command-line tool to use without
detecting the VCS that manages the source tree.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_UPDATE_COMMAND <#
variable:CTEST_UPDATE_COMMAND>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: <VCS>COMMAND when
UPDATE_TYPE is <vcs>, else UPDATE_COMMAND
UpdateOptions
Command-line options to the UpdateCommand.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_UPDATE_OPTIONS <#
variable:CTEST_UPDATE_OPTIONS>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: <VCS>_UPDATE_OPTIONS
when UPDATE_TYPE is <vcs>, else UPDATE_OPTIONS
UpdateType
Specify the version-control system that manages the source tree
if it cannot be detected automatically. The value may be bzr,
cvs, git, hg, p4, or svn.
o CTest Script variable: none, detected from source tree
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: UPDATE_TYPE if set,
else CTEST_UPDATE_TYPE
UpdateVersionOnly
Specify that you want the version control update command to only
discover the current version that is checked out, and not to
update to a different version.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_UPDATE_VERSION_ONLY <#
variable:CTEST_UPDATE_VERSION_ONLY>
UpdateVersionOverride
Specify the current version of your source tree.
When this variable is set to a non-empty string, CTest will
report the value you specified rather than using the update
command to discover the current version that is checked out. Use
of this variable supersedes UpdateVersionOnly. Like
UpdateVersionOnly, using this variable tells CTest not to update
the source tree to a different version.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_UPDATE_VERSION_OVERRIDE <#
variable:CTEST_UPDATE_VERSION_OVERRIDE>
Additional configuration settings include:
NightlyStartTime
In the Nightly dashboard mode, specify the "nightly start time".
With centralized version control systems (cvs and svn), the
Update step checks out the version of the software as of this
time so that multiple clients choose a common version to test.
This is not well-defined in distributed version-control systems
so the setting is ignored.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_NIGHTLY_START_TIME <#
variable:CTEST_NIGHTLY_START_TIME>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: NIGHTLY_START_TIME if
set, else CTEST_NIGHTLY_START_TIME
CTest Configure Step
In a CTest Script, the ctest_configure() <#command:ctest_configure>
command runs this step. Arguments to the command may specify some of
the step settings.
Configuration settings include:
ConfigureCommand
Command-line to launch the software configuration process. It
will be executed in the location specified by the BuildDirectory
setting.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_CONFIGURE_COMMAND <#
variable:CTEST_CONFIGURE_COMMAND>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: CMAKE_COMMAND <#
variable:CMAKE_COMMAND> followed by PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR <#
variable:PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR>
LabelsForSubprojects
Specify a semicolon-separated list of labels that will be
treated as subprojects. This mapping will be passed on to CDash
when configure, test or build results are submitted.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_LABELS_FOR_SUBPROJECTS <#
variable:CTEST_LABELS_FOR_SUBPROJECTS>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable:
CTEST_LABELS_FOR_SUBPROJECTS
See Label and Subproject Summary.
CTest Build Step
In a CTest Script, the ctest_build() <#command:ctest_build> command
runs this step. Arguments to the command may specify some of the step
settings.
Configuration settings include:
DefaultCTestConfigurationType
When the build system to be launched allows build-time selection
of the configuration (e.g. Debug, Release), this specifies the
default configuration to be built when no -C option is given to
the ctest command. The value will be substituted into the value
of MakeCommand to replace the literal string
${CTEST_CONFIGURATION_TYPE} if it appears.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_CONFIGURATION_TYPE <#
variable:CTEST_CONFIGURATION_TYPE>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable:
DEFAULT_CTEST_CONFIGURATION_TYPE, initialized by the
CMAKE_CONFIG_TYPE <#envvar:CMAKE_CONFIG_TYPE> environment
variable
LabelsForSubprojects
Specify a semicolon-separated list of labels that will be
treated as subprojects. This mapping will be passed on to CDash
when configure, test or build results are submitted.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_LABELS_FOR_SUBPROJECTS <#
variable:CTEST_LABELS_FOR_SUBPROJECTS>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable:
CTEST_LABELS_FOR_SUBPROJECTS
See Label and Subproject Summary.
MakeCommand
Command-line to launch the software build process. It will be
executed in the location specified by the BuildDirectory
setting.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_BUILD_COMMAND <#
variable:CTEST_BUILD_COMMAND>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: MAKECOMMAND,
initialized by the build_command() <#command:build_command>
command
UseLaunchers
For build trees generated by CMake using one of the Makefile
Generators <#makefile-generators> or the Ninja <#
generator:Ninja> generator, specify whether the
CTEST_USE_LAUNCHERS feature is enabled by the CTestUseLaunchers
<#module:CTestUseLaunchers> module (also included by the CTest
<#module:CTest> module). When enabled, the generated build
system wraps each invocation of the compiler, linker, or custom
command line with a "launcher" that communicates with CTest via
environment variables and files to report granular build warning
and error information. Otherwise, CTest must "scrape" the build
output log for diagnostics.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_USE_LAUNCHERS <#
variable:CTEST_USE_LAUNCHERS>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: CTEST_USE_LAUNCHERS
CTest Test Step
In a CTest Script, the ctest_test() <#command:ctest_test> command runs
this step. Arguments to the command may specify some of the step
settings.
Configuration settings include:
ResourceSpecFile
Specify a resource specification file.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE <#
variable:CTEST_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable:
CTEST_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE
See Resource Allocation for more information.
LabelsForSubprojects
Specify a semicolon-separated list of labels that will be
treated as subprojects. This mapping will be passed on to CDash
when configure, test or build results are submitted.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_LABELS_FOR_SUBPROJECTS <#
variable:CTEST_LABELS_FOR_SUBPROJECTS>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable:
CTEST_LABELS_FOR_SUBPROJECTS
See Label and Subproject Summary.
TestLoad
While running tests in parallel (e.g. with -j), try not to start
tests when they may cause the CPU load to pass above a given
threshold.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_TEST_LOAD <#
variable:CTEST_TEST_LOAD>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: CTEST_TEST_LOAD
TimeOut
The default timeout for each test if not specified by the
TIMEOUT <#prop_test:TIMEOUT> test property or the --timeout
flag.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_TEST_TIMEOUT <#
variable:CTEST_TEST_TIMEOUT>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: DART_TESTING_TIMEOUT
To report extra test values to CDash, see Additional Test Measurements
<#additional-test-measurements>.
CTest Coverage Step
In a CTest Script, the ctest_coverage() <#command:ctest_coverage>
command runs this step. Arguments to the command may specify some of
the step settings.
Configuration settings include:
CoverageCommand
Command-line tool to perform software coverage analysis. It
will be executed in the location specified by the BuildDirectory
setting.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_COVERAGE_COMMAND <#
variable:CTEST_COVERAGE_COMMAND>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: COVERAGE_COMMAND
CoverageExtraFlags
Specify command-line options to the CoverageCommand tool.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_COVERAGE_EXTRA_FLAGS <#
variable:CTEST_COVERAGE_EXTRA_FLAGS>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: COVERAGE_EXTRA_FLAGS
These options are the first arguments passed to CoverageCommand.
CTest MemCheck Step
In a CTest Script, the ctest_memcheck() <#command:ctest_memcheck>
command runs this step. Arguments to the command may specify some of
the step settings.
Configuration settings include:
MemoryCheckCommand
Command-line tool to perform dynamic analysis. Test command
lines will be launched through this tool.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_COMMAND <#
variable:CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_COMMAND>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: MEMORYCHECK_COMMAND
MemoryCheckCommandOptions
Specify command-line options to the MemoryCheckCommand tool.
They will be placed prior to the test command line.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_COMMAND_OPTIONS <#
variable:CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_COMMAND_OPTIONS>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable:
MEMORYCHECK_COMMAND_OPTIONS
MemoryCheckType
Specify the type of memory checking to perform.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_TYPE <#
variable:CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_TYPE>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: MEMORYCHECK_TYPE
MemoryCheckSanitizerOptions
Specify options to sanitizers when running with a
sanitize-enabled build.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_SANITIZER_OPTIONS <#
variable:CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_SANITIZER_OPTIONS>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable:
MEMORYCHECK_SANITIZER_OPTIONS
MemoryCheckSuppressionFile
Specify a file containing suppression rules for the
MemoryCheckCommand tool. It will be passed with options
appropriate to the tool.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_SUPPRESSIONS_FILE <#
variable:CTEST_MEMORYCHECK_SUPPRESSIONS_FILE>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable:
MEMORYCHECK_SUPPRESSIONS_FILE
Additional configuration settings include:
BoundsCheckerCommand
Specify a MemoryCheckCommand that is known to be command-line
compatible with Bounds Checker.
o CTest Script variable: none
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: none
PurifyCommand
Specify a MemoryCheckCommand that is known to be command-line
compatible with Purify.
o CTest Script variable: none
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: PURIFYCOMMAND
ValgrindCommand
Specify a MemoryCheckCommand that is known to be command-line
compatible with Valgrind.
o CTest Script variable: none
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: VALGRIND_COMMAND
ValgrindCommandOptions
Specify command-line options to the ValgrindCommand tool. They
will be placed prior to the test command line.
o CTest Script variable: none
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable:
VALGRIND_COMMAND_OPTIONS
DrMemoryCommand
Specify a MemoryCheckCommand that is known to be a command-line
compatible with DrMemory.
o CTest Script variable: none
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: DRMEMORY_COMMAND
DrMemoryCommandOptions
Specify command-line options to the DrMemoryCommand tool. They
will be placed prior to the test command line.
o CTest Script variable: none
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable:
DRMEMORY_COMMAND_OPTIONS
CudaSanitizerCommand
Specify a MemoryCheckCommand that is known to be a command-line
compatible with cuda-memcheck or compute-sanitizer.
o CTest Script variable: none
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: CUDA_SANITIZER_COMMAND
CudaSanitizerCommandOptions
Specify command-line options to the CudaSanitizerCommand tool.
They will be placed prior to the test command line.
o CTest Script variable: none
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable:
CUDA_SANITIZER_COMMAND_OPTIONS
CTest Submit Step
In a CTest Script, the ctest_submit() <#command:ctest_submit> command
runs this step. Arguments to the command may specify some of the step
settings.
Configuration settings include:
BuildName
Describe the dashboard client platform with a short string.
(Operating system, compiler, etc.)
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_BUILD_NAME <#
variable:CTEST_BUILD_NAME>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: BUILDNAME
CDashVersion
Legacy option. Not used.
o CTest Script variable: none, detected from server
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: CTEST_CDASH_VERSION
CTestSubmitRetryCount
Specify a number of attempts to retry submission on network
failure.
o CTest Script variable: none, use the ctest_submit() <#
command:ctest_submit> RETRY_COUNT option.
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable:
CTEST_SUBMIT_RETRY_COUNT
CTestSubmitRetryDelay
Specify a delay before retrying submission on network failure.
o CTest Script variable: none, use the ctest_submit() <#
command:ctest_submit> RETRY_DELAY option.
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable:
CTEST_SUBMIT_RETRY_DELAY
CurlOptions
Deprecated since version 3.30: Use TLSVerify instead.
Specify a semicolon-separated list of options to control the
Curl library that CTest uses internally to connect to the
server.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_CURL_OPTIONS <#
variable:CTEST_CURL_OPTIONS>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: CTEST_CURL_OPTIONS
Possible options are:
CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER_OFF
Disable the CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER curl option.
CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST_OFF
Disable the CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYHOST curl option.
DropLocation
Legacy option. When SubmitURL is not set, it is constructed
from DropMethod, DropSiteUser, DropSitePassword, DropSite, and
DropLocation.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_DROP_LOCATION <#
variable:CTEST_DROP_LOCATION>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: DROP_LOCATION if set,
else CTEST_DROP_LOCATION
DropMethod
Legacy option. When SubmitURL is not set, it is constructed
from DropMethod, DropSiteUser, DropSitePassword, DropSite, and
DropLocation.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_DROP_METHOD <#
variable:CTEST_DROP_METHOD>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: DROP_METHOD if set,
else CTEST_DROP_METHOD
DropSite
Legacy option. When SubmitURL is not set, it is constructed
from DropMethod, DropSiteUser, DropSitePassword, DropSite, and
DropLocation.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_DROP_SITE <#
variable:CTEST_DROP_SITE>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: DROP_SITE if set, else
CTEST_DROP_SITE
DropSitePassword
Legacy option. When SubmitURL is not set, it is constructed
from DropMethod, DropSiteUser, DropSitePassword, DropSite, and
DropLocation.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_DROP_SITE_PASSWORD <#
variable:CTEST_DROP_SITE_PASSWORD>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: DROP_SITE_PASSWORD if
set, else CTEST_DROP_SITE_PASWORD
DropSiteUser
Legacy option. When SubmitURL is not set, it is constructed
from DropMethod, DropSiteUser, DropSitePassword, DropSite, and
DropLocation.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_DROP_SITE_USER <#
variable:CTEST_DROP_SITE_USER>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: DROP_SITE_USER if set,
else CTEST_DROP_SITE_USER
IsCDash
Legacy option. Not used.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_DROP_SITE_CDASH <#
variable:CTEST_DROP_SITE_CDASH>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: CTEST_DROP_SITE_CDASH
ScpCommand
Legacy option. Not used.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_SCP_COMMAND <#
variable:CTEST_SCP_COMMAND>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: SCPCOMMAND
Site Describe the dashboard client host site with a short string.
(Hostname, domain, etc.)
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_SITE <#variable:CTEST_SITE>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: SITE, initialized by
the site_name() <#command:site_name> command
SubmitURL
The http or https URL of the dashboard server to send the
submission to.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_SUBMIT_URL <#
variable:CTEST_SUBMIT_URL>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: SUBMIT_URL if set, else
CTEST_SUBMIT_URL
SubmitInactivityTimeout
The time to wait for the submission after which it is canceled
if not completed. Specify a zero value to disable timeout.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_SUBMIT_INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT <#
variable:CTEST_SUBMIT_INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable:
CTEST_SUBMIT_INACTIVITY_TIMEOUT
TLSVersion
Added in version 3.30.
Specify a minimum TLS version allowed when submitting to a
dashboard via https:// URLs.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_TLS_VERSION <#
variable:CTEST_TLS_VERSION>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: CTEST_TLS_VERSION
Changed in version 3.31: The default is TLS 1.2. Previously, no
minimum version was enforced by default.
TLSVerify
Added in version 3.30.
Specify a boolean value indicating whether to verify the server
certificate when submitting to a dashboard via https:// URLs.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_TLS_VERIFY <#
variable:CTEST_TLS_VERIFY>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: CTEST_TLS_VERIFY
Changed in version 3.31: The default is on. Previously, the
default was off. Users may set the CMAKE_TLS_VERIFY <#
envvar:CMAKE_TLS_VERIFY> environment variable to 0 to restore
the old default.
TriggerSite
Legacy option. Not used.
o CTest Script variable: CTEST_TRIGGER_SITE <#
variable:CTEST_TRIGGER_SITE>
o CTest <#module:CTest> module variable: TRIGGER_SITE if set,
else CTEST_TRIGGER_SITE
SHOW AS JSON OBJECT MODEL
Added in version 3.14.
When the --show-only=json-v1 command line option is given, the test
information is output in JSON format. Version 1.0 of the JSON object
model is defined as follows:
kind The string "ctestInfo".
version
A JSON object specifying the version components. Its members
are
major A non-negative integer specifying the major version
component.
minor A non-negative integer specifying the minor version
component.
backtraceGraph
JSON object representing backtrace information with the
following members:
commands
List of command names.
files List of file names.
nodes List of node JSON objects with members:
command
Index into the commands member of the
backtraceGraph.
file Index into the files member of the backtraceGraph.
line Line number in the file where the backtrace was
added.
parent Index into the nodes member of the backtraceGraph
representing the parent in the graph.
tests A JSON array listing information about each test. Each entry is
a JSON object with members:
name Test name.
config Configuration that the test can run on. Empty string
means any config.
command
List where the first element is the test command and the
remaining elements are the command arguments.
backtrace
Index into the nodes member of the backtraceGraph.
properties
Test properties. Can contain keys for each of the
supported test properties.
RESOURCE ALLOCATION
CTest provides a mechanism for tests to specify the resources that they
need in a fine-grained way, and for users to specify the resources
available on the running machine. This allows CTest to internally keep
track of which resources are in use and which are free, scheduling
tests in a way that prevents them from trying to claim resources that
are not available.
When the resource allocation feature is used, CTest will not
oversubscribe resources. For example, if a resource has 8 slots, CTest
will not run tests that collectively use more than 8 slots at a time.
This has the effect of limiting how many tests can run at any given
time, even if a high -j argument is used, if those tests all use some
slots from the same resource. In addition, it means that a single test
that uses more of a resource than is available on a machine will not
run at all (and will be reported as Not Run).
A common use case for this feature is for tests that require the use of
a GPU. Multiple tests can simultaneously allocate memory from a GPU,
but if too many tests try to do this at once, some of them will fail to
allocate, resulting in a failed test, even though the test would have
succeeded if it had the memory it needed. By using the resource
allocation feature, each test can specify how much memory it requires
from a GPU, allowing CTest to schedule tests in a way that running
several of these tests at once does not exhaust the GPU's memory pool.
Please note that CTest has no concept of what a GPU is or how much
memory it has. It does not have any way of communicating with a GPU to
retrieve this information or perform any memory management, although
the project can define a test that provides details about the test
machine (see Dynamically-Generated Resource Specification File).
CTest keeps track of a list of abstract resource types, each of which
has a certain number of slots available for tests to use. Each test
specifies the number of slots that it requires from a certain resource,
and CTest then schedules them in a way that prevents the total number
of slots in use from exceeding the listed capacity. When a test is
executed, and slots from a resource are allocated to that test, tests
may assume that they have exclusive use of those slots for the duration
of the test's process.
The CTest resource allocation feature consists of at least two inputs:
o The resource specification file, described below, which describes the
resources available on the system.
o The RESOURCE_GROUPS <#prop_test:RESOURCE_GROUPS> property of tests,
which describes the resources required by the test.
When CTest runs a test, the resources allocated to that test are passed
in the form of a set of environment variables as described below. Using
this information to decide which resource to connect to is left to the
test writer.
The RESOURCE_GROUPS property tells CTest what resources a test expects
to use grouped in a way meaningful to the test. The test itself must
read the environment variables to determine which resources have been
allocated to each group. For example, each group may correspond to a
process the test will spawn when executed.
Note that even if a test specifies a RESOURCE_GROUPS property, it is
still possible for that to test to run without any resource allocation
(and without the corresponding environment variables) if the user does
not pass a resource specification file. Passing this file, either
through the --resource-spec-file command-line argument or the
RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE argument to ctest_test() <#command:ctest_test>, is
what activates the resource allocation feature. Tests should check the
CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_COUNT environment variable to find out whether or
not resource allocation is activated. This variable will always (and
only) be defined if resource allocation is activated. If resource
allocation is not activated, then the CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_COUNT
variable will not exist, even if it exists for the parent ctest
process. If a test absolutely must have resource allocation, then it
can return a failing exit code or use the SKIP_RETURN_CODE <#
prop_test:SKIP_RETURN_CODE> or SKIP_REGULAR_EXPRESSION <#
prop_test:SKIP_REGULAR_EXPRESSION> properties to indicate a skipped
test.
Resource Specification File
The resource specification file is a JSON file which is passed to CTest
in one of a number of ways. It can be specified on the command line
with the ctest --resource-spec-file option, it can be given using the
RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE argument of ctest_test() <#command:ctest_test>, or
it can be generated dynamically as part of test execution (see
Dynamically-Generated Resource Specification File).
If a dashboard script is used and RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE is not specified,
the value of CTEST_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE <#
variable:CTEST_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE> in the dashboard script is used
instead. If --resource-spec-file, RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE, and
CTEST_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE <#variable:CTEST_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE> in the
dashboard script are not specified, the value of
CTEST_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE <#variable:CTEST_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE> in the
CMake build is used instead. If none of these are specified, no
resource spec file is used.
The resource specification file must be a JSON object. All examples in
this document assume the following resource specification file:
{
"version": {
"major": 1,
"minor": 0
},
"local": [
{
"gpus": [
{
"id": "0",
"slots": 2
},
{
"id": "1",
"slots": 4
},
{
"id": "2",
"slots": 2
},
{
"id": "3"
}
],
"crypto_chips": [
{
"id": "card0",
"slots": 4
}
]
}
]
}
The members are:
version
An object containing a major integer field and a minor integer
field. Currently, the only supported version is major 1, minor
0. Any other value is an error.
local A JSON array of resource sets present on the system. Currently,
this array is restricted to being of size 1.
Each array element is a JSON object with members whose names are
equal to the desired resource types, such as gpus. These names
must start with a lowercase letter or an underscore, and
subsequent characters can be a lowercase letter, a digit, or an
underscore. Uppercase letters are not allowed, because certain
platforms have case-insensitive environment variables. See the
Environment Variables section below for more information. It is
recommended that the resource type name be the plural of a noun,
such as gpus or crypto_chips (and not gpu or crypto_chip.)
Please note that the names gpus and crypto_chips are just
examples, and CTest does not interpret them in any way. You are
free to make up any resource type you want to meet your own
requirements.
The value for each resource type is a JSON array consisting of
JSON objects, each of which describe a specific instance of the
specified resource. These objects have the following members:
id A string consisting of an identifier for the resource.
Each character in the identifier can be a lowercase
letter, a digit, or an underscore. Uppercase letters are
not allowed.
Identifiers must be unique within a resource type.
However, they do not have to be unique across resource
types. For example, it is valid to have a gpus resource
named 0 and a crypto_chips resource named 0, but not two
gpus resources both named 0.
Please note that the IDs 0, 1, 2, 3, and card0 are just
examples, and CTest does not interpret them in any way.
You are free to make up any IDs you want to meet your own
requirements.
slots An optional unsigned number specifying the number of
slots available on the resource. For example, this could
be megabytes of RAM on a GPU, or cryptography units
available on a cryptography chip. If slots is not
specified, a default value of 1 is assumed.
In the example file above, there are four GPUs with ID's 0 through 3.
GPU 0 has 2 slots, GPU 1 has 4, GPU 2 has 2, and GPU 3 has a default of
1 slot. There is also one cryptography chip with 4 slots.
RESOURCE_GROUPS Property
See RESOURCE_GROUPS <#prop_test:RESOURCE_GROUPS> for a description of
this property.
Environment Variables
Once CTest has decided which resources to allocate to a test, it passes
this information to the test executable as a series of environment
variables. For each example below, we will assume that the test in
question has a RESOURCE_GROUPS <#prop_test:RESOURCE_GROUPS> property of
2,gpus:2;gpus:4,gpus:1,crypto_chips:2.
The following variables are passed to the test process:
CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_COUNT
The total number of groups specified by the RESOURCE_GROUPS <#
prop_test:RESOURCE_GROUPS> property. For example:
o CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_COUNT=3
This variable will only be defined if ctest(1) has been given a
--resource-spec-file, or if ctest_test() <#command:ctest_test>
has been given a RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE. If no resource
specification file has been given, this variable will not be
defined.
CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_<num>
The list of resource types allocated to each group, with each
item separated by a comma. <num> is a number from zero to
CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_COUNT minus one. CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_<num>
is defined for each <num> in this range. For example:
o CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_0=gpus
o CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_1=gpus
o CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_2=crypto_chips,gpus
CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_<num>_<resource-type>
The list of resource IDs and number of slots from each ID
allocated to each group for a given resource type. This variable
consists of a series of pairs, each pair separated by a
semicolon, and with the two items in the pair separated by a
comma. The first item in each pair is id: followed by the ID of
a resource of type <resource-type>, and the second item is
slots: followed by the number of slots from that resource
allocated to the given group. For example:
o CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_0_GPUS=id:0,slots:2
o CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_1_GPUS=id:2,slots:2
o CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_2_GPUS=id:1,slots:4;id:3,slots:1
o CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_2_CRYPTO_CHIPS=id:card0,slots:2
In this example, group 0 gets 2 slots from GPU 0, group 1 gets 2
slots from GPU 2, and group 2 gets 4 slots from GPU 1, 1 slot
from GPU 3, and 2 slots from cryptography chip card0.
<num> is a number from zero to CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_COUNT minus
one. <resource-type> is the name of a resource type, converted
to uppercase. CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_<num>_<resource-type> is
defined for the product of each <num> in the range listed above
and each resource type listed in CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_<num>.
Because some platforms have case-insensitive names for
environment variables, the names of resource types may not clash
in a case-insensitive environment. Because of this, for the
sake of simplicity, all resource types must be listed in all
lowercase in the resource specification file and in the
RESOURCE_GROUPS <#prop_test:RESOURCE_GROUPS> property, and they
are converted to all uppercase in the
CTEST_RESOURCE_GROUP_<num>_<resource-type> environment variable.
Dynamically-Generated Resource Specification File
Added in version 3.28.
A project may optionally specify a single test which will be used to
dynamically generate the resource specification file that CTest will
use for scheduling tests that use resources. The test that generates
the file must have the GENERATED_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE <#
prop_test:GENERATED_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE> property set, and must have
exactly one fixture in its FIXTURES_SETUP <#prop_test:FIXTURES_SETUP>
property. This fixture is considered by CTest to have special meaning:
it's the fixture that generates the resource spec file. The fixture may
have any name. If such a fixture exists, all tests that have
RESOURCE_GROUPS <#prop_test:RESOURCE_GROUPS> set must have the fixture
in their FIXTURES_REQUIRED <#prop_test:FIXTURES_REQUIRED>, and a
resource spec file may not be specified with the --resource-spec-file
argument or the CTEST_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE <#
variable:CTEST_RESOURCE_SPEC_FILE> variable.
JOB SERVER INTEGRATION
Added in version 3.29.
On POSIX systems, when running under the context of a Job Server
<https://www.gnu.org/software/make/manual/html_node/Job-Slots.html>,
CTest shares its job slots. This is independent of the PROCESSORS <#
prop_test:PROCESSORS> test property, which still counts against CTest's
-j parallel level. CTest acquires exactly one token from the job
server before running each test, and returns it when the test finishes.
For example, consider the Makefile:
test:
+ctest -j 8
When invoked via make -j 2 test, ctest connects to the job server,
acquires a token for each test, and runs at most 2 tests concurrently.
On Windows systems, job server integration is not yet implemented.
SEE ALSO
The following resources are available to get help using CMake:
Home Page
https://cmake.org
The primary starting point for learning about CMake.
Online Documentation and Community Resources
https://cmake.org/documentation
Links to available documentation and community resources may be
found on this web page.
Discourse Forum
https://discourse.cmake.org
The Discourse Forum hosts discussion and questions about CMake.
Copyright
2000-2024 Kitware, Inc. and Contributors
3.31.10 January 26, 2026 ctest(1)
cmake 3.31.10 - Generated Tue Jan 27 18:46:44 CST 2026