Avocado-framework

Hello everyone,

This is another Avocado release announcement: 98.0 is now available!

Release Notes
=============

Since we host the release notes alongside our official documentation, please refer to the following link for the complete information about this release:

https://avocado-framework.readthedocs.io/en/98.0/releases/98_0.html

Installing Avocado
==================

Instructions are available in our documentation on how to install either with packages or from source:

https://avocado-framework.readthedocs.io/en/98.0/guides/user/chapters/installing.html

RPM packages for the current Fedoras (35 and 36) and EL 8 (Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS Stream, etc) will be available on those distributions' "avocado" module, on the "latest" stream. The installation should be straightforward, and you can find instructions here:

https://avocado-framework.readthedocs.io/en/98.0/guides/user/chapters/installing.html#fedora

Also, updated Python source and binary packages are available on PyPI:

https://pypi.org/project/avocado-framework/

Avocado-VT
==========

This Avocado release is compatible with Avocado-VT 98.0, also released Today.

Happy hacking and testing!

Hello everyone,

This is another Avocado release announcement: 97.0 is now available!

Release Notes
=============

Since we host the release notes alongside our official documentation,
please refer to the following link for the complete information about
this release:

https://avocado-framework.readthedocs.io/en/97.0/releases/97_0.html

Installing Avocado
==================

Instructions are available in our documentation on how to install
either with packages or from source:

https://avocado-framework.readthedocs.io/en/97.0/guides/user/chapters/installing.html

RPM packages for the current Fedoras (34, 35 and 36) and EL 8 (Red Hat
Enterprise Linux, CentOS Stream, etc) will be available on those
distributions' "avocado" module, on the "latest" stream. The
installation should be straightforward, and you can find instructions
here:

https://avocado-framework.readthedocs.io/en/97.0/guides/user/chapters/installing.html#fedora

Also, updated Python source and binary packages are available on PyPI:

https://pypi.org/project/avocado-framework/

Avocado-VT
==========

This Avocado release may work with the latest Avocado-VT code, but that
combination was not supported. The next Avocado release (98.0) will
have a matching Avocado-VT release, and compatibility will be guaranteed.

Happy hacking and testing!

Users/Test Writers
==================

* Plugins can now have a builtin priority in relation to other plugins
of the same type that will affect its :ref:`execution order
<plugins_execution_order>`. This is in addition to the configurable
``plugins.$type.order`` settings.

* Avocado will now print a more descriptive list of tests that
finished with a particular status at the end of the job (``FAIL``
and ``ERROR`` by default).

Bug Fixes
=========

* Python logging streams other than the ones in the ``avocado.*``
namespace will now be saved to the ``debug.log`` files when set with
``--store-logging-stream`` option.

Utility APIs
============

* The :mod:`avocado.utils.cloudinit` now allows for a finer grained
usage of the functionality in
:class:`avocado.utils.cloudinit.PhoneHomeServer`.

* The :mod:`avocado.utils.network.ports` fixed some wrong premises
regarding the availability of open ports for different protocols
(such as a free TCP versus a free UDP port).

Internal Changes
================

* Modernization of Python code with a switch to f-strings.

* A :class:`avocado.core.nrunner.Task`'s set of requirements are now
*called *dependencies** instead.

* The dependencies of a :class:`avocado.core.nrunner.Task` are now
tracked on the more suitable
:class:`avocado.core.task.runtime.RuntimeTask`.

* SRPMs for packit builds are now built in COPR.

---

Users/Test Writers
==================

* A large part of the legacy runner has been removed. The
``--loader`` options to ``avocado list``, for instance, is longer
available. The ``nrunner`` architecture and runner implementation
has been the default one since version 91.0, and the remaining parts
of the legacy runner will be removed soon.

* A script that provides the features of the legacy
``--external-runner`` feature has been added. It's built on the Job
API and ``nrunner`` architecture.

* Test writers can now access a test's status while the ``tearDown``
method is being run.

* Result plugins such as ``json`` and ``xunit`` now contain more accurate
values reflecting Avocado's concepts of a test's ID and name.

* Support was added for ``Coverage.py`` when running
``avocado-instrumented`` tests (currently limited to the
``ProcessSpawner``).

* By setting the ``spawner.podman.avocado_spawner_egg`` configuration
users can now control the exact Avocado package that will be
automatically deployed within Podman containers.

Bug Fixes
=========

* A default value was added to the Spawner's attribute that tracks the
job's output directory, avoiding ``NoneType`` errors when it's not
explicitly set.

* A crash when using the Podman spawner, after changes to the output
dir handling, has fixed.

Misc Changes
============

* ``RuntimeTask`` instances are now comparable, and should now be
unique when representing requirements, preventing having duplicates.

* The order of the ``RuntimeTask``s are now defined in a dependency
graph, in accordance with BluePrint 004.

Internal Changes
================

* ``setup.py test`` now returns a non-zero error code when failures
occur.

* RHEL 9 Beta has been added to some CI checks, and Ubuntu has been
updated from 18.04 to 21.10.

* Pylint was updated to 2.12.2, along with many changes to conform to
the checks performed by that version.

* Many parts of Avocado, including most "optional plugins", are now
PEP420 compliant.

* Improvements to the contributor guide.

* CI checks running on Cirrus-CI have been moved to GitHub Actions.

* Packit builds have been added for CentOS Stream 8 and 9.

---

For more information, please check out the complete
`Avocado changelog
<https://github.com/avocado-framework/avocado/compare/94.0...95.0>`_.

Users/Test Writers
==================

* The Podman Spawner now deploys Avocado inside a container using
Python eggs. This is a significant change from previous versions in
the sense that all test types supported by Avocado's ``nrunner``
architecture in the default installation are now supported on a
container (this includes ``avocado-instrumented``, ``tap``, etc).

* A results plugin for `Beaker <https://beaker-project.org>`_ is
now available and works out of the box without any manual
configuration needed.

* The ``AVOCADO_VERSION`` and ``AVOCADO_TEST_WORKDIR`` are now
available to ``exec-test`` tests run under the ``nrunner``
architecture.

* ``nrunner`` task identifiers can now be configured as a format
string that utilizes the attributes of the runnable. This allows
users to define how test results will be named and presented.

* The ``--output-check-record`` has been dropped for the legacy
runner. A similar feature is planned to be added to the ``nrunner``
architecture.

Bug Fixes
=========

* Objects that could not be serialized as JSON were causing crashes
during job runs.

Utility APIs
============

* mod:`avocado.utils.network` removed deprecated modules and methods.

* mod:`avocado.utils.vmimage` now uses https://cloud.debian.org for
obtaining Debian Cloud images.

Misc Changes
============

* A Blue Print for a new architecture responsible for handling the
tasks dependencies has been approved

* More work towards the elimination of root logger usage

Internal Changes
================

* Spanwers now better cooperate with runners with regards to the
output directory, avoiding duplicate directories and unnecessary
data copies.

* CodeCoverage CI jobs will run only once (on Python 3.10)

* The ``selftests/check.py`` script now allows for the inclusion
(``--select``) or exclusion (``--skip``) of major test groups to be
run

* The import style used throughout Avocado has switched from relative
to absolute imports