Device setup¶

Available methods¶

The following methods can be used to add, update and delete device types and devices in LAVA.

Note

Only one method is required - choose the option that works best for you.

Admin interface¶

The LAVA admin interface is a web-based graphical interface accessible through your browser. It provides easy to use forms for managing device types and devices. A user with admin permission is required to access it. To access it, navigate to /admin/lava_scheduler_app/.

Command line¶

One of the following tools can be used for managing device types and devices from the command line:

lavacli¶

The lavacli utility is the recommended command line tool for interacting with the LAVA server. Refer to lavacli for usage details and setup steps.

lava-server¶

The lava-server manage command offers a suite of sub-commands for managing LAVA server. Because it interacts directly with the database and system configuration files, it must be executed as root on the server itself.

Create device type¶

A device type can be created using one of the following methods. For detailed usage of the methods, refer to Available methods.

From admin interface¶

Navigate to /admin/lava_scheduler_app/devicetype/add/ in your browser.
Input device type Name which is the only required field. It must match exactly the device type name provided in device specific setup guide (e.g., docker, qemu, avh).

Via command line¶

lavaclilava-server

lavacli device-types add <device-type>

lava-server manage device-types add <device-type>

Create device¶

Add device¶

A device can be created using one of the following methods. For detailed usage of the methods, refer to Available methods.

From admin interface¶

Navigate to /admin/lava_scheduler_app/device/add/ in your browser.
Provide the following information:
- hostname: unique identifier for the device
- device-type: the device type name provided in device setup guide
- worker host: the worker that this device is attached to

Via command line¶

lavaclilava-server

lavacli devices add --type <device-type> --worker <worker> <hostname>

lava-server manage devices add \
    --device-type <device-type> \
    --worker <worker> \
    <hostname>

Add device configuration¶

Before a device can accept jobs, it requires a device configuration that defines its specific characteristics. The device configuration is a Jinja2 template file that extends a base device type template and can override or add device specific configurations. For example, serial connection command and power reset, off, and on commands.

The device configuration file must be placed at /etc/lava-server/dispatcher-config/devices/<hostname>.jinja2 on the LAVA server. It can be copied or uploaded to this location using one of the following methods. For detailed usage of the methods, refer to Available methods.

Before running the command below:

Replace the <hostname> with the actual device hostname.
Create the device configuration file <hostname>.jinja2. Refer to device specific setup guides for examples.

lavaclilava-server

lavacli devices dict set <hostname> <hostname>.jinja2

cp <filename> /etc/lava-server/dispatcher-config/devices/<hostname>.jinja2
chown lavaserver:lavaserver /etc/lava-server/dispatcher-config/devices/<hostname>.jinja2

Change device health¶

After a device configuration file added, now it is time to put the device online by changing its health using one of the following methods. For detailed usage of the methods, refer to Available methods.

From admin interface¶

Navigate to /admin/scheduler/device/<hostname> in your browser.
Find the Status section, change the Health field to either Unknown or Good.

Via command line¶

Replace <health> with either UNKNOWN or GOOD.

lavaclilava-server

lavacli devices update --health <health> <hostname>

lava-server manage devices update --health <health> <hostname>

A device in unknown health is already ready to accept and run test jobs. If a health check job is configured, the device will be tested automatically. A successful health check run sets the device health to Good, while a failed run sets it to Bad.

For more information about device state and health, refer to device state and health.

Hardware setup¶

Power control¶

LAVA needs to control power to the device to automate power on, off, and reset operations. Common options include:

USB or GPIO controlled relay
PDU (Power Distribution Unit)

Configure your power control scripts and note the commands for power on, power off, and reset operations.

Serial console¶

LAVA communicates with the device through a serial connection. You will need to connect the device's serial console to the LAVA worker (e.g., via USB-to-TTL adapter).

Configure ser2net on the worker to expose the serial port over telnet by adding an entry to /etc/ser2net.yaml:

connection: &device-01
  accepter: telnet(rfc2217),tcp,2001
  enable: on
  connector: serialdev,/dev/serial/by-id/<your-serial-device>,115200n81,local
  options:
    banner: \r\nser2net port \p device \d [\B] \r\n\r\n
    telnet-brk-on-sync: true
    kickolduser: true
    max-connections: 2

Tip

Always use paths in /dev/serial/by-id/ to ensure stable device naming across reboots.
Setting max-connections: 2 allows both LAVA and you to connect to the serial console simultaneously for debugging.

Restart or reload ser2net service:

sudo systemctl restart ser2net.service