pytest-xdist/docs/distribution.rst

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.. _parallelization:
Running tests across multiple CPUs
==================================
To send tests to multiple CPUs, use the ``-n`` (or ``--numprocesses``) option::
pytest -n auto
This can lead to considerable speed ups, especially if your test suite takes a
noticeable amount of time.
With ``-n auto``, pytest-xdist will use as many processes as your computer
has physical CPU cores.
Use ``-n logical`` to use the number of *logical* CPU cores rather than
physical ones. This currently requires the `psutil <https://pypi.org/project/psutil/>`__ package to be installed;
if it is not or if it fails to determine the number of logical CPUs, fall back to ``-n auto`` behavior.
Pass a number, e.g. ``-n 8``, to specify the number of processes explicitly.
Use ``-n 0`` to disable xdist and run all tests in the main process.
To specify a different meaning for ``-n auto`` and ``-n logical`` for your
tests, you can:
* Set the environment variable ``PYTEST_XDIST_AUTO_NUM_WORKERS`` to the
desired number of processes.
* Implement the ``pytest_xdist_auto_num_workers``
`pytest hook <https://docs.pytest.org/en/latest/how-to/writing_plugins.html>`__
(a ``pytest_xdist_auto_num_workers(config)`` function in e.g. ``conftest.py``)
that returns the number of processes to use.
The hook can use ``config.option.numprocesses`` to determine if the user
asked for ``"auto"`` or ``"logical"``, and it can return ``None`` to fall
back to the default.
If both the hook and environment variable are specified, the hook takes
priority.
Parallelization can be configured further with these options:
* ``--maxprocesses=maxprocesses``: limit the maximum number of workers to
process the tests.
* ``--max-worker-restart``: maximum number of workers that can be restarted
when crashed (set to zero to disable this feature).
The test distribution algorithm is configured with the ``--dist`` command-line option:
.. _distribution modes:
* ``--dist load`` **(default)**: Sends pending tests to any worker that is
available, without any guaranteed order. Scheduling can be fine-tuned with
the `--maxschedchunk` option, see output of `pytest --help`.
* ``--dist loadscope``: Tests are grouped by **module** for *test functions*
and by **class** for *test methods*. Groups are distributed to available
workers as whole units. This guarantees that all tests in a group run in the
same process. This can be useful if you have expensive module-level or
class-level fixtures. Grouping by class takes priority over grouping by
module.
* ``--dist loadfile``: Tests are grouped by their containing file. Groups are
distributed to available workers as whole units. This guarantees that all
tests in a file run in the same worker.
* ``--dist loadgroup``: Tests are grouped by the ``xdist_group`` mark. Groups are
distributed to available workers as whole units. This guarantees that all
tests with same ``xdist_group`` name run in the same worker. If a test has
multiple groups, they will be joined together into a new group,
the order of the marks doesn't matter. This works along with marks from fixtures
and from the pytestmark global variable.
.. code-block:: python
@pytest.mark.xdist_group(name="group1")
def test1():
pass
class TestA:
@pytest.mark.xdist_group("group1")
def test2():
pass
This will make sure ``test1`` and ``TestA::test2`` will run in the same worker.
.. code-block:: python
@pytest.fixture(
scope="session",
params=[
pytest.param(
"chrome",
marks=pytest.mark.xdist_group("chrome"),
),
pytest.param(
"firefox",
marks=pytest.mark.xdist_group("firefox"),
),
pytest.param(
"edge",
marks=pytest.mark.xdist_group("edge"),
),
],
)
def setup_container():
pass
@pytest.mark.xdist_group(name="data-store")
def test_data_store(setup_container):
...
This will generate 3 new groups: ``chrome_data-store``, ``data-store_firefox`` and ``data-store_edge`` (the markers are lexically sorted before being merged together).
Tests without the ``xdist_group`` mark are distributed normally as in the ``--dist=load`` mode.
* ``--dist worksteal``: Initially, tests are distributed evenly among all
available workers. When a worker completes most of its assigned tests and
doesn't have enough tests to continue (currently, every worker needs at least
two tests in its queue), an attempt is made to reassign ("steal") a portion
of tests from some other worker's queue. The results should be similar to
the ``load`` method, but ``worksteal`` should handle tests with significantly
differing duration better, and, at the same time, it should provide similar
or better reuse of fixtures.
* ``--dist no``: The normal pytest execution mode, runs one test at a time (no distribution at all).