beakerlib

TLDR

Create a basic test script

$ rlJournalStart && rlPhaseStart FAIL "Setup" && rlRun "command" && rlPhaseEnd && rlJournalEnd

Run a command and assert success

$ rlRun "[command]" 0 "Command should succeed"

Run a command and expect failure

$ rlRun "[command]" 1 "Command should fail with exit code 1"

Assert a file exists

$ rlAssertExists [path/to/file]

Assert strings are equal

$ rlAssertEquals "Test value" "[actual]" "[expected]"

Log informational message

$ rlLog "Informational message"

Backup and restore a file

$ rlFileBackup [path/to/file] && rlRun "[modify file]" && rlFileRestore

SYNOPSIS

Test scripts source BeakerLib and use its functions:

$ source /usr/share/beakerlib/beakerlib.sh

BeakerLib is a shell-level integration testing library used primarily for testing RPM packages and system components. It provides functions for organizing tests into phases, running commands with assertions, managing files and services, and generating structured test reports.
Tests are organized as journals containing phases. Each phase groups related assertions and logs. The library handles setup/cleanup, result collection, and report generation automatically.
BeakerLib is designed for the Beaker test framework used in Red Hat and Fedora quality assurance, but can be used standalone for any shell-based integration testing. Tests produce logs in multiple formats including HTML and JUnit XML.

FUNCTIONS

rlJournalStart

Initialize test journal; must be called first.

rlJournalEnd

Finalize journal and generate report.

rlPhaseStart type name

Start a test phase (FAIL, WARN, or pass type).

rlPhaseEnd

End the current test phase.

rlRun command [expectedexit] [comment_]

Run command and check exit code.

rlAssertEquals comment value1 value2

Assert two values are equal.

rlAssertExists path

Assert file or directory exists.

rlAssertNotExists path

Assert file or directory does not exist.

rlAssertGrep pattern file

Assert pattern exists in file.

rlLog message

Log an informational message.

rlFileBackup file...

Backup files for later restoration.

rlFileRestore

Restore previously backed up files.

rlServiceStart / rlServiceStop

Start or stop a system service.

CAVEATS

BeakerLib is primarily designed for RHEL/Fedora ecosystem; availability varies on other distributions. The shell-based approach can be slower than compiled test frameworks. Complex assertions require multiple function calls. The library must be sourced at the start of each test script.

HISTORY

BeakerLib was developed at Red Hat as part of the Beaker integration testing infrastructure, originally designed for testing RHEL packages and system components. It grew from internal tools in the mid-2000s and was open-sourced along with Beaker. The library continues to be maintained as part of Red Hat's quality engineering toolchain.