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docs/envtest.md

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+---
+title: Envtest Integration Tests
+type: docs
+weight: 9
+---
+
+This document describes what `envtest` integration tests are, why they are valuable for testing Kubernetes controllers,
+and how to write them.
+
+## What is `envtest`?
+
+`envtest` is a binary that runs an instance of `kube-apiserver` and `etcd`, enabling integration testing of Kubernetes
+controllers and its interaction against the Kubernetes control plane. It is part of the [Kubebuilder](https://book.kubebuilder.io/) project,
+and the `envtest` docs can be [found here](https://book.kubebuilder.io/reference/envtest.html).
+
+The Achilles SDK provides a Go wrapper around `envtest`, making it easy to programmatically start, stop, and integrate controllers being tested against 
+the test environment.
+
+## Why Use `envtest`?
+
+The bulk of the implementation of any Kubernetes controller, regardless of business logic, reduces down to CRUD operations 
+against the Kubernetes API server. Therefore, a controller's core correctness can be exercised as asserting that the
+controller instantiates the expected Kubernetes state (i.e. child objects) in response to changes in the declared state (i.e. parent objects).
+
+Furthermore, the Kubernetes API server imposes a number of constraints that only surface at runtime when the client (i.e. the controller) sends the request to the server.
+
+Examples of these constraints include:
+
+1. RBAC control: Is your controller configured with the correct Kubernetes RBAC for CRUDing the resources it needs to?
+2. Core API semantics
+   1. Does your controller respect [Kubernetes naming constraints](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/overview/working-with-objects/names/)?
+   2. Does your controller send updates correctly? For example, does it specify the [`metadata.resourceVersion`](https://kubernetes.io/docs/reference/using-api/api-concepts/#resource-versions) of the objects it reads and writes?
+3. Update semantics: Is your controller serializing Go structs to YAML correctly?
+
+Lastly, Kubernetes controllers are dynamic processes that communicate asynchronously with the kube-apiserver. The actual
+state instantiated by the controller and the kube-apiserver are _eventually consistent_, meaning that the actual state
+eventually converges to the desired state.  It is difficult to faithfully reproduce an eventually consistent environment
+without running these asynchronous processes in your test environment.
+
+## How to write `envtest` integration tests
+
+### Exercise a Single Controller Per Test
+
+We recommend writing a single `envtest` integration test for each controller you write. This test should only exercise
+a single controller's logic, and should not test the interaction between multiple controllers.
+
+If your controller interacts with other controllers or other APIs, your test should _mock_ the behavior of those external
+systems, similar to classical unit testing methodology. For instance, if your controller creates a Deployment object
+and waits until that Deployment becomes ready, you would insert test logic that emulates the Kubernetes control plane
+processing the Deployment and setting its status to `Ready` or `Failed`.
+
+### Setting Up Your Test
+
+We use the [Ginkgo](https://onsi.github.io/ginkgo/) testing framework to write our tests. Ginkgo is a BDD-style testing
+framework that allows us to write tests in a behavior-driven format.
+
+We use the [Gomega](https://onsi.github.io/gomega/) matcher library to write assertions in our tests. It's especially
+useful for ergonomically making asynchronous assertions, required in eventually consistent systems.  In most cases you'll
+use the `Eventually` matcher to assert that a condition will eventually be true, and the `Consistently`
+matcher to assert that a condition will remain true for a period of time.
+
+To get started, install the `ginkgo` CLI:
+
+```shell
+go install github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2/ginkgo@latest
+```
+
+If ginkgo is already installed, make sure you are running ginkgo v2. If you are running v1, upgrade to ginkgo v2 by following [this guide](https://github.com/onsi/ginkgo/blob/ver2/docs/MIGRATING_TO_V2.md#upgrading-to-ginkgo-20). 
+
+Next, create a new test suite by running:
+
+```shell
+cd /path/to/your/controller/package
+ginkgo bootstrap .
+```
+
+This will create a `*_suite_test.go` file, which will contain the setup for the test suite.
+Inside of this file, we scaffold a new `envtest` IT with the following Go code:
+
+```golang
+package mycontroller_test // we recommend using a different package than your controller package so your test exercises only the public interface of the controller package
+
+import (
+	"context"
+	"path"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/fgrosse/zaptest"
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
+	"github.snooguts.net/reddit/achilles-sdk/pkg/fsm/metrics"
+	"github.snooguts.net/reddit/achilles-sdk/pkg/logging"
+	libratelimiter "github.snooguts.net/reddit/achilles-sdk/pkg/ratelimiter"
+	"github.snooguts.net/reddit/achilles-sdk/pkg/test"
+	"go.uber.org/zap"
+	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/runtime"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/client"
+	ctrllog "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/log"
+	ctrlzap "sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/log/zap"
+	"sigs.k8s.io/controller-runtime/pkg/manager"
+
+	"github.snooguts.net/reddit/mycontroller/internal/controllers/mycontroller"
+	"github.snooguts.net/reddit/mycontroller/internal/controlplane"
+	libtest "github.snooguts.net/reddit/mycontroller/internal/test"
+	ctrlscheme "github.snooguts.net/reddit/mycontroller/pkg/scheme"
+)
+
+var (
+	ctx        context.Context
+	scheme     *runtime.Scheme
+	log        *zap.SugaredLogger
+	testEnv    *test.TestEnv
+	testClient client.Client
+)
+
+func TestMyController(t *testing.T) {
+	RegisterFailHandler(Fail)
+
+	log = zaptest.LoggerWriter(GinkgoWriter).Sugar() // wires up the controller output to the Ginkgo test runner so logs show up in the shell output
+	ctrllog.SetLogger(ctrlzap.New(ctrlzap.WriteTo(GinkgoWriter), ctrlzap.UseDevMode(true)))
+
+	RunSpecs(t, "mycontroller Suite")
+}
+
+var _ = BeforeSuite(func() {
+	// default timeouts for "eventually" and "consistently" Ginkgo matchers
+	SetDefaultEventuallyTimeout(40 * time.Second)
+	SetDefaultEventuallyPollingInterval(200 * time.Millisecond)
+	SetDefaultConsistentlyDuration(3 * time.Second)
+	SetDefaultConsistentlyPollingInterval(200 * time.Millisecond)
+
+	ctx = logging.NewContext(context.Background(), log)
+	rl := libratelimiter.NewDefaultProviderRateLimiter(libratelimiter.DefaultProviderRPS)
+
+	// add test CRD schemes
+	scheme = ctrlscheme.MustNewScheme()
+
+	// fetch external CRDs.
+    // TODO: this is optional. You only need this if your controller makes use of
+    // other codebases' resources.
+	externalCRDDirectories, err := test.ExternalCRDDirectoryPaths(map[string][]string{
+		"github.com/some/other/repo/apis/v1alpha1": {
+			path.Join("config", "crd", "bases"),
+		},
+	}, libtest.RootDir())
+	Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+
+	testEnv, err = test.NewEnvTestBuilder(ctx).
+		WithCRDDirectoryPaths(
+			append(externalCRDDirectories,
+				// enumerate all directories containing CRD YAMLs
+				filepath.Join(libtest.RootDir(), "manifests", "base", "crd", "bases"),
+			)).
+		WithScheme(scheme).
+		WithLog(log.Desugar()).
+		WithManagerSetupFns(
+			func(mgr manager.Manager) error {
+				return mycontroller.SetupController(
+					ctx,
+					controlplane.Context{
+						Metrics: metrics.MustMakeMetrics(scheme, prometheus.NewRegistry()),
+					},
+					mgr,
+					rl,
+				) // wires up controller being tested to the kube-apiserver
+			},
+		).
+		WithKubeConfigFile("./"). // test suite will output a kubeconfig file located in the specified directory
+		Start()                   // start invokes the `envtest` binary to start the `kube-apiserver` and `etcd` processes on the host
+	Expect(err).ToNot(HaveOccurred())
+	testClient = testEnv.Client
+})
+
+// AfterSuite tears down the test environment by terminating the `envtest` processes once the test finishes
+// Without this, the host will have orphaned `kube-apiserver` and `etcd` processes that will require manual cleanup
+var _ = AfterSuite(func() {
+	By("tearing down the test environment", func() {
+		if testEnv != nil {
+			Expect(testEnv.Stop()).To(Succeed())
+		}
+	})
+})
+
+```
+
+Now, you can set up envtests in `_test.go` files, just like other Go tests. Here's an example:
+
+```golang
+package mycontroller_test
+
+import (
+	. "github.com/onsi/ginkgo/v2"
+	. "github.com/onsi/gomega"
+)
+
+// TODO: Put your env tests here.
+var _ = Describe("mycontroller", Ordered, func() {
+	It("should work", func() {
+		Eventually(func(g Gomega) {
+			g.Expect(true).To(Equal(true))
+		}).Should(Succeed())
+	})
+})
+
+```
+
+When executing this test via `go test`, the `envtest` binary will start the `kube-apiserver` and `etcd` processes on the host.
+The controller being tested will be wired up to the `kube-apiserver` and will be able to interact with the Kubernetes control plane.
+
+### Writing Your Test
+
+`envtest` ITs should be expressed in a behavioral manner, which is higher level than how you might express a unit test.
+For controller automation, the general structure of a test would be to mimic how an actor would use the custom resource:
+
+1. Actor (human or program) creates the custom resource
+2. Test asserts that the controller processes the custom resource and performs the expected actions:
+   1. Creates expected child resources
+   2. Updates the custom resource's status
+   3. Performs expected actions against other integrated external systems (e.g. issues a request to a REST API)
+3. Actor updates the custom resource
+4. Test asserts that the controller processes the update and performs the expected actions
+5. Actor deletes the custom resource
+6. Test asserts that the controller performs expected cleanup actions
+
+Here is an example of a test that exercises the controller's behavior when a custom resource is created:
+
+```golang
+var _ = Describe("MyController", func() {
+    Context("when a MyResource is created", func() {
+        It("should create a MyChildResource", func() {
+            By("creating a MyResource", func() {
+                myResource := &mycontroller.MyResource{
+                    ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{
+                        Name:      "my-resource",
+                        Namespace: "default",
+                    },
+                    Spec: mycontroller.MyResourceSpec{
+                        // fill in the spec fields
+                    },
+                }
+                Expect(orchClient.Create(ctx, myResource)).To(Succeed())
+            })
+
+            By("waiting for the MyChildResource to be created", func() {
+                expected := &mycontroller.MyChildResource{
+                    // fill in expected state
+                }
+
+                Eventually(func(g Gomega) {
+                    actual := &mycontroller.MyChildResource{}
+                    g.Expect(orchClient.Get(ctx, client.ObjectKey{Name: "my-child-resource", Namespace: "default"}, actual)).To(Succeed())
+                    g.Expect(actual).To(Equal(expected))
+                }).Should(Succeed())
+            })
+        })
+    })
+})
+```
+
+Notice that we use an "Eventually" assertion. Because Kubernetes is an eventually consistent system, the test assertion
+must poll for the expected state, with a user-configured timeout and polling interval.
+
+`envtest` ITs can also exercise controller failures modes by emulating conditions under which your controller will error
+out.
+
+To see a full example of a `envtest` IT, refer to the [Achilles Federation controller test](https://github.snooguts.net/reddit/achilles/blob/f5f453b25216fd25f68c22b453345eb6777efbf0/orchestration-controller-manager/internal/controllers/federation/federation_reconciler_test.go).
+
+### Running Your Test
+
+To run your test, execute the following command:
+
+```shell
+go test ./path/to/your/controller/package
+```
+
+### Debugging Your Test
+
+Controllers are more difficult to debug that single-threaded in-memory tests, both because of the asynchronous nature of
+the controller and control plane, and because `envtest` runs the control plane as an out-of-band process (rather than embedded
+in the test process).
+
+That being said, we have some extremely helpful methods for debugging controllers.
+
+#### Manually Interact with the Envtest Control Plane
+
+By calling `.WithKubeConfigFile(/path/to/kubeconfig)` in your envtest builder, the test suite will output a kubeconfig file that you can
+use to interact with the control plane using `kubectl`. As long as the test suite is still running, the envtest control plane
+will be accessible via `kubectl`.
+
+The recommended workflow is to execute the test in a debugger and pause the test execution at the point where you want to
+inspect the control plane. Then, pass the kubeconfig to `kubectl` to inspect the state of the control plane:
+
+```shell
+kubectl --kubeconfig /path/to/kubeconfig get pods -A
+```
+
+This allows the test author to inspect arbitrary state on the control plane, which is much more efficient than
+instrumenting the test logic or controller logic to output all relevant state.
+
+#### Run the Tests in a Debugger
+
+Running tests in an interactive debugger allows you to pause the test execution and inspect the _in-memory_ state
+of the controller, the control plane, and the test environment.
+
+If using Jetbrains GoLand, you can set breakpoints in your test code and run the test with the debugger. The test will pause
+at the breakpoint, and you can inspect the state of the controller, the control plane, and the test environment.