Abstract

The purpose of this page is to provide a very "top level" explanation of the QA ISO testing process to help those not currently testing QA ISO images to do so.

Testing QA ISO images is an important, pervasive, and a required step in the release process and everyone can help.

Definition

QA ISO image testing ca be defined as scheduled testing done on specific ISO images of short availability for quality assurances (QA) purposes, i.e. to make sure the product is fit for purpose and mistakes are eliminated, using specific use case testing procedures.

Purpose

The purpose of QA ISO testing is to validate the ISO images are installable but also to find as many bugs as possible throughout the release cycle. We perform this testing at multiple milestones so that bugs are found and reported as early as possible during the cycle to give more time to fix them. Testing is required throughout the cycle because new bugs may be introduced as changes are made.

These tests may include, but are not limited to:

• validate the ISO installed and the OS is operational
• confirm key applications work
• check that specific settings are correct.

For more information about this see the QA testing milestone wiki page.

Image Availability

The QA ISO images are only available during specific milestones (i.e. alpha1, alpha2, beta1, etc) from the QA ISO Testing wiki page.

(see the 12.04 LTS 'Precise Pangolin' schedule

These images will only be available for a few days at each milestone and all images need at least a single test performed or the next ISO image may not be available. Therefore it is critical for many testers to be involved to guarantee that all images are tested!

Testers are encouraged to sign up for particular tests (e.g. Ubuntu Studio 64 bit images) and receive emails when images are available.

Test Location

Ubuntu Studio specific QA ISO images can be found at the Ubuntu Studio QA ISO image page. Test reports are also filed at this page.

Again, testers are highly encouraged to sing up for specific tests for immediate notification of image availability. Testers signed up for tests will also receive links and additional download instructions in each email.

Process

Describing the process in broad terms, to test a QA ISO image a tester will download an ISO image, mount the image in VM or burn the image and install on spare hardware, and perform various tests.

Get Involved

procedure outline - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/ISO/Procedures

virtual box instructions - https://wiki.ubuntu.com/Testing/VirtualBox

ask on irc channel - #ubuntustudio-devel

contact - scottalavender@gmail.com