Structuring multiple boards in environment config

[nlabriet]

I am setting up a lab with 8 different hardware that are similar from a LabGrid point-of-view. Beside these 8 boards, I have 8 helper hardware (1 for each board) that are exactly the same (BeagleBone Black).

My goal is to provide an environment file to my colleagues so they are able to work on any board.

The environment file looks like this:

targets:
  board1:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: board1
    drivers:
      - ModbusCoilDriver: {}
      - ModbusCoilDriver:
          name: power
          bindings:
            coil: power
      - DigitalOutputPowerDriver:
          bindings:
            output: power
      - SerialDriver: {}
      - UBootDriver:
          autoboot: Type password
          interrupt: e
          prompt: '=> '
          bootstring: Starting kernel ...
          boot_commands:
            usb: run usbbootcmd
      - ShellDriver:
          prompt: 'user@localhost:~# '
          login_prompt: '[^ ]+ login: '
          username: user
          password: password
      - SSHDriver: {}
      - UBootStrategy: {}
  board2:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: board2
    drivers:
      - ModbusCoilDriver: {}
      - ModbusCoilDriver:
          name: power
          bindings:
            coil: power
      - DigitalOutputPowerDriver:
          bindings:
            output: power
      - SerialDriver: {}
      - UBootDriver:
          autoboot: Type password
          interrupt: e
          prompt: '=> '
          bootstring: Starting kernel ...
          boot_commands:
            usb: run usbbootcmd
      - ShellDriver:
          prompt: 'user@localhost:~# '
          login_prompt: '[^ ]+ login: '
          username: user
          password: password
      - SSHDriver: {}
      - UBootStrategy: {}
# Repeat the last 28 lines for the remaining 6 boards
  board1-bbb:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: board1-bbb
    drivers:
      - ModbusCoilDriver: {}
      - DigitalOutputPowerDriver: {}
      - SSHDriver: {}
  board2-bbb:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: board2-bbb
    drivers:
      - ModbusCoilDriver: {}
      - DigitalOutputPowerDriver: {}
      - SSHDriver: {}
# Repeat the last 8 lines for the remaining 6 bbb boards

I can reduce the repetition using yaml syntax

targets:
  board1:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: board1
    drivers: &linux
    - ModbusCoilDriver: {}
    - ModbusCoilDriver:
      name: 'power'
      bindings:
        coil: 'power'
    - DigitalOutputPowerDriver:
      bindings:
        output: 'power'
    - SerialDriver: {}
    - UBootDriver:
      autoboot: "Type password"
      interrupt: 'e'
      prompt: '=> '
      bootstring: 'Starting kernel ...'
      boot_commands:
        usb: run usbbootcmd
    - ShellDriver:
      prompt: 'user@localhost:~# '
      login_prompt: '[^ ]+ login: '
      username: 'user'
      password: 'password'
    - SSHDriver: {}
    - UBootStrategy: {}
  board2:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: board2
    drivers: *linux
# Repeat the last 5 lines for the remaining 6 boards
  board1-bbb:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: board1-bbb
    drivers: &bbb
    - ModbusCoilDriver: {}
    - DigitalOutputPowerDriver: {}
    - SSHDriver: {}
  board2-bbb:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: board2-bbb
    drivers: *bbb
# Repeat the last 5 lines for the remaining 6 bbb boards

One way that seems more intuitive and reduce repetition is for RemotePlace to support a list:

targets:
  linux:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name:
        - board1
        - board2
        - board3
        - board4
        - board5
        - board6
        - board7
        - board8
    drivers:
    - ModbusCoilDriver: {}
    - ModbusCoilDriver:
      name: 'power'
      bindings:
        coil: 'power'
    - DigitalOutputPowerDriver:
      bindings:
        output: 'power'
    - SerialDriver: {}
    - UBootDriver:
      autoboot: "Type password"
      interrupt: 'e'
      prompt: '=> '
      bootstring: 'Starting kernel ...'
      boot_commands:
        usb: run usbbootcmd
    - ShellDriver:
      prompt: 'user@localhost:~# '
      login_prompt: '[^ ]+ login: '
      username: 'user'
      password: 'password'
    - SSHDriver: {}
    - UBootStrategy: {}
  bbb:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name:
        - board1-bbb
        - board2-bbb
        - board3-bbb
        - board4-bbb
        - board5-bbb
        - board6-bbb
        - board7-bbb
        - board8-bbb
    drivers:
    - ModbusCoilDriver: {}
    - DigitalOutputPowerDriver: {}
    - SSHDriver: {}

Another way is for the environment configuration file to use Jinja2 as a preprocessor, like the exporter configuration file:

# for idx in range (0, 8)
targets:
  board{{ 1 + idx }}:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: board{{ 1 + idx }}
    drivers: &linux
    - ModbusCoilDriver: {}
    - ModbusCoilDriver:
      name: 'power'
      bindings:
        coil: 'power'
    - DigitalOutputPowerDriver:
      bindings:
        output: 'power'
    - SerialDriver: {}
    - UBootDriver:
      autoboot: "Type password"
      interrupt: 'e'
      prompt: '=> '
      bootstring: 'Starting kernel ...'
      boot_commands:
        usb: run usbbootcmd
    - ShellDriver:
      prompt: 'user@localhost:~# '
      login_prompt: '[^ ]+ login: '
      username: 'user'
      password: 'password'
    - SSHDriver: {}
    - UBootStrategy: {}
  board{{ 1 + idx }}-bbb:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: board{{ 1 + idx }}-bbb
    drivers: &bbb
    - ModbusCoilDriver: {}
    - DigitalOutputPowerDriver: {}
    - SSHDriver: {}
# endfor

I like the 'RemotePlace list' better because it emphasis the role and make it easy to assign boards to another role, should this be needed in the future.

What do you think about this?

How does you environment file look like and how do you maintain/share it?

[Bastian-Krause]

I'd suggest using templating in this case, see labgrid's environment configuration docs:

targets:
  main:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: !template $LG_PLACE
    drivers:
      - ModbusCoilDriver: {}
      - ModbusCoilDriver:
          name: power
          bindings:
            coil: power
      - DigitalOutputPowerDriver:
          bindings:
            output: power
      - SerialDriver: {}
      - UBootDriver:
          autoboot: Type password
          interrupt: e
          prompt: '=> '
          bootstring: Starting kernel ...
          boot_commands:
            usb: run usbbootcmd
      - ShellDriver:
          prompt: 'user@localhost:~# '
          login_prompt: '[^ ]+ login: '
          username: user
          password: password
      - SSHDriver: {}
      - UBootStrategy: {}
  bbb:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: !template "$LG_PLACE-bbb"
    drivers:
      - ModbusCoilDriver: {}
      - DigitalOutputPowerDriver: {}
      - SSHDriver: {}

Then select a board via..

$ export LG_PLACE=board1

[nlabriet]

I like the template based on the place. It works well for my boards even when using tokens.
And I will be able to use an environment file for each role (only one 1 for now).

But I can not access the -bbb places. I think it's because when I acquire board1-bbb, then it's considered as a board.
Since #1163 I've separated the boards and the side hardware.

Here is the error:

(labgrid-venv) labgrid$ export LG_ENV=~/board-template.yaml
(labgrid-venv) labgrid$ export LG_PLACE=board-1-bbb
(labgrid-venv) labgrid$ labgrid-client lock
Selected role linux from configuration file
acquired place board-1-bbb
(labgrid-venv) labgrid$ labgrid-client power on
Selected role linux from configuration file
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/labgrid/labgrid-venv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/labgrid/remote/client.py", line 1878, in main
    args.func(session)
  File "/home/labgrid/labgrid-venv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/labgrid/remote/client.py", line 725, in power
    target = self._get_target(place)
  File "/home/labgrid/labgrid-venv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/labgrid/remote/client.py", line 669, in _get_target
    target = self.env.get_target(self.role)
  File "/home/labgrid/labgrid-venv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/labgrid/environment.py", line 49, in get_target
    target = target_factory.make_target(role, config, env=self)
  File "/home/labgrid/labgrid-venv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/labgrid/factory.py", line 159, in make_target
    self.make_driver(target, driver, name, args)
  File "/home/labgrid/labgrid-venv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/labgrid/factory.py", line 138, in make_driver
    d = cls(target, name, **args)
  File "<attrs generated init labgrid.driver.serialdriver.SerialDriver>", line 11, in __init__
    self.__attrs_post_init__()
  File "/home/labgrid/labgrid-venv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/labgrid/driver/serialdriver.py", line 28, in __attrs_post_init__
    super().__attrs_post_init__()
  File "/home/labgrid/labgrid-venv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/labgrid/driver/consoleexpectmixin.py", line 18, in __attrs_post_init__
    super().__attrs_post_init__()
  File "/home/labgrid/labgrid-venv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/labgrid/driver/common.py", line 24, in __attrs_post_init__
    super().__attrs_post_init__()
  File "/home/labgrid/labgrid-venv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/labgrid/binding.py", line 55, in __attrs_post_init__
    target.bind(self)
  File "/home/labgrid/labgrid-venv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/labgrid/target.py", line 427, in bind
    return self.bind_driver(bindable)
  File "/home/labgrid/labgrid-venv/lib/python3.8/site-packages/labgrid/target.py", line 378, in bind_driver
    raise NoSupplierFoundError(
labgrid.exceptions.NoSupplierFoundError: no supplier matching {'NetworkSerialPort', 'SerialPort'} found in Target(name='linux', env=Environment(config_file='/home/labgrid/board-template.yaml')) (errors: [NoResourceFoundError(msg="no <class 'labgrid.resource.serialport.NetworkSerialPort'> resource found in Target(name='linux', env=Environment(config_file='/home/labgrid/board-template.yaml'))", filter=None, found=None), NoResourceFoundError(msg="no <class 'labgrid.resource.base.SerialPort'> resource found in Target(name='linux', env=Environment(config_file='/home/labgrid/board-template.yaml'))", filter=None, found=None)])

[Bastian-Krause]

If you want to interact with "board1" and labgrid-client, I'd probably do:

$ export LG_ENV=~/board-template.yaml
$ export LG_PLACE=board-1
$ labgrid-client lock
acquired place board1
$ labgrid-client ssh true
Selected role main from configuration file

And with "board1-bbb" and labgrid-client:

$ labgrid-client -p board1-bbb lock
acquired place board1-bbb
$ labgrid-client -p board1-bbb ssh true
Selected role main from configuration file

[nlabriet]

Right this works when setting export LG_PLACE=board-1, but it doesn't when reserving board-1, using a token and export LG_PLACE=+

$ labgrid-client -p board-1-bbb lock
RemotePlace board-1-bbb not found in configuration file

[nlabriet]

It works well for my boards even when using tokens.

I was wrong, it doesn't work for tokens. But with the following patch, it does (I will work on it and submit a PR):

diff --git a/labgrid/remote/client.py b/labgrid/remote/client.py
index 52b39f2..8116c36 100755
--- a/labgrid/remote/client.py
+++ b/labgrid/remote/client.py
@@ -1346,7 +1346,7 @@ def find_role_by_place(config, place):
         resources, _ = target_factory.normalize_config(role_config)
         remote_places = resources.get('RemotePlace', {})
         remote_place = remote_places.get(place)
-        if remote_place:
+        if remote_place or '+' in remote_places:
             return role
     return None

With this I can successfully use the following environment file:

targets:
  board1-bbb:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: board1-bbb
    drivers: &bbb
      - ModbusCoilDriver: {}
      - DigitalOutputPowerDriver: {}
      - SSHDriver: {}
  board2-bbb:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: board2-bbb
    drivers: *bbb
  main:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: !template $LG_PLACE
    drivers:
      - ModbusCoilDriver: {}
      - ModbusCoilDriver:
          name: power
          bindings:
            coil: power
      - DigitalOutputPowerDriver:
          bindings:
            output: power
      - SerialDriver: {}
      - UBootDriver:
          autoboot: Type password
          interrupt: e
          prompt: '=> '
          bootstring: Starting kernel ...
          boot_commands:
            usb: run usbbootcmd
      - ShellDriver:
          prompt: 'user@localhost:~# '
          login_prompt: '[^ ]+ login: '
          username: user
          password: password
      - SSHDriver: {}
      - UBootStrategy: {}

[Bastian-Krause]

With #1208, what's left in this issue that's not solved then?

[nlabriet]

This syntax is not supported by #1208:
name: !template "$LG_PLACE-bbb"

But it can be tricky (do we allow "prefix-$LG_PLACE-suffix"?) and I am happy with using yaml syntax to repeat the boardX-bbb configuration has it should not need to be changed.

[Bastian-Krause]

I see. How exactly would "using yaml syntax to repeat the boardX-bbb configuration" look like?

[nlabriet]

I use this for the bbb:

  board1-bbb:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: board1-bbb
    drivers: &bbb
    - ModbusCoilDriver: {}
    - DigitalOutputPowerDriver: {}
    - SSHDriver:
        connection_timeout: 180.0
  board2-bbb:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: board2-bbb
    drivers: *bbb
  board3-bbb:
    resources:
      RemotePlace:
        name: board3-bbb
    drivers: *bbb

and so on

[Bastian-Krause]

Ah nice, I was not aware that this works already. If I remember correctly, yaml merge (<<) is currently not supported, but this works, too.

[solbjorg]

We have a similar setup with identical targets that we then support with templating in our config, but it currently adds a bit of friction to track what LG_PLACE is set to across sessions, which this would go some ways to solving. It looks like the linked PR would solve the issue, any hopes of getting it merged?