FAQ

Do I need a Raspberry Pi to run tests?
No. On non-RPi hosts the framework switches to dummy interfaces and logs a warning. You can author and debug suites on a PC or in CI/CD; swap in hardware later with the same tests.

How do I run only specific tests?
Create a smaller folder with just the desired files (e.g., hil_tests_subset/) and point the runner to it with --test-dir hil_tests_subset. Filenames still need to start with test_.

Where is the HTML report stored?
By default at ./html_report/report.html. Change it with --html, including paths served by lighttpd/nginx (e.g., public_html). A styles.css is written next to the HTML file.

Can I maintain multiple hardware setups?
Yes. Keep multiple YAML files (e.g., configs/lab.yaml, configs/prod.yaml) and invoke the runner with the matching --config. Pair each with its own test folder if needed using --test-dir.

What if YAML parsing fails?
The runner aborts before executing tests and prints the parsing error. Fix the syntax or path; this prevents partial runs on misconfigured hardware.

How do I log extra details in reports?
Use TEST_INFO_MESSAGE("step description") inside your tests. Messages appear in the console, optional text log, and the HTML report.

Can I publish reports to public_html? Yes. Pass --html ./public_html or --html ./public_html/hil_report.html. The runner creates subfolders as needed; copy both report.html and styles.css if your web server reads from a different location.

How do I see low-level protocol traces? Run with --debug to emit [DEBUG] messages to the console, text logs, and HTML reports. Without the flag those entries are suppressed so routine runs stay compact.

How do I confirm which version of the runner executed my job? Use hiltests --version; the value comes from the installed package when available or from the checked-out pyproject.toml when running from source.