[Samba] ntvfs file server and selftest background

[Andrew Bartlett]

On Mon, 2016-12-05 at 08:47 +0000, Rowland Penny via samba wrote:
> On Mon, 05 Dec 2016 21:30:20 +1300
> Andrew Bartlett <abartlet at samba.org> wrote:
> 
> > 
> > On Mon, 2016-12-05 at 08:12 +0000, Rowland Penny via samba wrote:
> > > 
> > > On Mon, 05 Dec 2016 21:07:48 +1300
> > > Andrew Bartlett <abartlet at samba.org> wrote:
> > > 
> > > 
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > 
> > > > It is a lot of work to change the situation, even more so
> > > > without
> > > > loss
> > > > of important tests.  A number of tests, particularly for
> > > > spoolss
> > > > but
> > > > also of the cifs proxy (which in turn tests kerberos
> > > > delegation),
> > > > use
> > > > the ntvfs file server.
> > > 
> > > OK, but how can you be sure that something you are testing
> > > against
> > > ntvfs actually works with s3fs ? 
> > 
> > The spoolss tests are testing the (very odd) rpc call-back
> > functionality that requires the spoolss server to make a reverse
> > call
> > to the client to deliver the notifications.  The ntvfs file server
> > helps provide one of the layers involved, to allow the smbtorture
> > process to listen as an smb server and then provide a specail RPC
> > interface.
> > 
> > As we don't otherwise implement the client side of this protocol,
> > the
> > means used to implement it are not important, we are testing the
> > server against a instrumented mock implementation.
> > 
> > This isn't the only reason that part of the codebase is used, but I
> > hope I can clarify at least this one for you.
> > 
> > Thanks,
> > 
> > Andrew Bartlett
> > 
> 
> Sorry, but no, it doesn't clarify anything. What you didn't say is
> whether anything will actually make the rpc call in the real world.
> If
> nothing ever will, then there is no point in testing it. What I am
> trying to get at, using ntvfs in testing, then moving to s3fs in
> production, is a like test running an engine fitted with a
> carburettor, then fitting fuel injection in production without
> further
> testing, just how are you supposed to be sure it will work correctly
> ?
> 
> I thought the whole idea behind testing, is to actually test what
> will
> be used, or am I wrong ?

Don't worry, the smbd file server is also extensively tested. 

Andrew Bartlett

-- 
Andrew Bartlett                       http://samba.org/~abartlet/
Authentication Developer, Samba Team  http://samba.org
Samba Developer, Catalyst IT          http://catalyst.net.nz/services/samba