Guide for running acceptance tests for a Terraform provider. Use this when asked to run an acceptance test or to run a test with the prefix `TestAcc`, when a test fails with missing environment variables, or when diagnosing a failing or suspiciously passing acceptance test.
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An acceptance test is a Go test function with the prefix TestAcc.
Before running: acceptance tests create real infrastructure against the provider's live API, which may incur cost. Confirm the configured credentials point at a test account before proceeding.
To run a focused acceptance test named TestAccFeatureHappyPath:
Run go test -run=TestAccFeatureHappyPath -timeout 60m with the
following environment variables:
TF_ACC=1Default to non-verbose test output. Always pass an explicit -timeout:
go test kills any test run after 10 minutes by default, and acceptance
tests routinely exceed that.
The acceptance tests may require additional environment variables for specific providers. To discover which ones:
PreCheck / testAccPreCheck function and search the
test files: grep -rn "os.Getenv" --include="*_test.go"..env.example for
documented test setup.Configure method shows how credentials are resolved;
use the provider-configuration skill (if available) to understand a
credential provider chain.Set the variables for the single test invocation
(EXAMPLE_API_KEY=... TF_ACC=1 go test ...) rather than exporting them
into the shell profile, and never write secret values into files inside
the repository.
To diagnose a failing acceptance test, use these options, in order. These options are cumulative: each option includes all the options above it.
-count=1 option to ensure that go test does
not use a cached result.go test output. Use the -v option.TF_LOG=debug.TF_ACC_WORKING_DIR_PERSIST=1.A passing acceptance test may be a false negative. To "flip" a passing
acceptance test named TestAccFeatureHappyPath:
If a test run is interrupted, real resources may be left behind; run the
provider's sweepers if it registers them (see the provider-test-patterns
skill's sweeper reference, if available). For writing or restructuring
tests, use the provider-test-patterns skill.
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