[envTest]: How to handle result.RequeueAfter ?

[guettli]

How to handle result.RequeueAfter in envTests?

I noticed that my envTests fail, when I use result.RequeuAfter instead of Requeue: true.

Do you use a global variable, and the use RequeueAfter: requeueDuration.

Then you could run the envTest with the global variable requeueDuration set to a different value.

Imagine there is a good answer to this question. Where could this answer be documented?

related Slack thread #controller-runtime

[camilamacedo86]

I was thinking about this... Unlike Requeue: true, which immediately requeues, RequeueAfter relies on a duration-based requeue, which might not be properly simulated in tests. In an envtest, waiting for RequeueAfter might exceed test timeouts or just make things a bit unreliable.

Maybe a valid approach here could be to inject or override the requeue time to something shorter for the test, something like this:

func TestReconcile(t *testing.T) {
    // Override requeue duration for faster testing
    requeueDuration = 100 * time.Millisecond
    defer func() { requeueDuration = 30 * time.Second }() // Reset after test

    // Setup your test env and reconcile logic
}

Did you try something like that? Curious if this helps or if you're seeing a different issue.

Another approach, though not as clean, could be:

func (r *MyReconciler) Reconcile(ctx context.Context, req ctrl.Request) (ctrl.Result, error) {
    if testMode {
        return ctrl.Result{Requeue: true}, nil
    }
    return ctrl.Result{RequeueAfter: requeueDuration}, nil
}

func TestReconcile(t *testing.T) {
    testMode = true
    defer func() { testMode = false }()
}

However, would it make sense for controller-runtime to default RequeueAfter to time.Millisecond * 100 when running tests, to avoid long waits? I would love it if we could try this approach.

I also noticed in the controller-runtime test code (here) that seems to use fakeClient but I could not find a solution using EnvTest.

[sbueringer]

However, would it make sense for controller-runtime to default RequeueAfter to time.Millisecond * 100 when running tests, to avoid long waits? I would love it if we could try this approach.

Frankly no. I don't think it's a good idea if controller-runtime messes with RequeueAfter in tests. Folks should be able to do that in their test code. It's not super complicated.

[guettli]

I agree that the code of controller-runtime needs no update for that.

But maybe it would make sense to document a "best practice". For example storing the defaultRequeueAfter on the ReconcileType of that resource. This avoids a global variable.

But where could that be documented?

[camilamacedo86]

Hi @sbueringer

Thank you for your reply., So, I think the current options are:

• Option A: Ensure that your tests are prepared with timeouts to wait for the requeueAfter
• Option B: Change the default time for requeueAfter for the tests as described in the examples: [envTest]: How to handle result.RequeueAfter ? #3090 (comment)
• Option C: Use fakeClient Reconcile as in the controller-runtime test code (here)

And we have no opportunities to improve so far.
So, could we not close this one?