ARM is pleased to announce the BETA release of the ARM SBSA/SBBR test suite. The suite is split across two repos:
In 2014, ARM and its partners came together and created the key to the success of ARM servers: the Server Base System Architecture (SBSA) and Server Base Boot Requirements (SBBR). These specifications require a minimum set of hardware and firmware implementations that ensure OSes and platforms interoperate. The latest versions are SBSA v3.1 and SBBR v1.0, they are available at developer.arm.com. No click through license is required.
To help test whether system implementations are compliant to these specifications, ARM started developing the test suites. The SBSA test suite covers the validation of the Processing Element (PE) properties, defined system components and the rules for PCI Express integration based on the PCI Express Specification and the standard OS drivers with no quirks enabled. The SBBR test suite covers the UEFI testing based in the UEFI Self-Certifying Tests (SCT), ACPI and SMBIOS testing based in Firmware Test Suite (FWTS). These tests are provided as open source via the Apache v2 License. They are built on top of a Platform Adaptation Layer for which ARM supports one based on UEFI and Power State Coordination Interface (PSCI) and Silicon Providers can also port to a bare metal environment. Note, the UEFI SCT is not currently open source due to historical reasons. ARM will work with the UEFI Forum to find a solution.
In the meantime, ARM is also collecting feedback from the partners on the requirements and justifications for any changes needed to the existing SBSA and SBBR Specifications.
Ultimately, we want to reach the point where the passing of these tests would provide significant confidence that the customers would get the ARM servers and they just work out of the box with the operating environment of their choosing.
SBSA/SBBR Specifications set the foundation for the interoperability between the various operating environments (e.g., Windows, Linux, hypervisors) and the platforms with hardware from many different silicon providers. The compliance tests are provided to assist the OEMs and ODMs in validating the conformance to these specifications.
We welcome the partners to make use of this BETA release and provide feedback to ARM. Collectively we can work together to improve these tests and be ready for the official release later in the year.