Blog: SIG Node CI Subproject Celebrates Two Years of Test Improvements

Authors: Sergey Kanzhelev (Google), Elana Hashman (Red Hat) Ensuring the reliability of SIG Node upstream code is a continuous effort that takes a lot of behind-the-scenes effort from many contributors. There are frequent releases of Kubernetes, base operating systems, container runtimes, and test infrastructure that result in a complex matrix that requires attention and steady investment to “keep the lights on. ” In May 2020, the Kubernetes node special interest group (“SIG Node”) organized a new subproject for continuous integration (CI) for node-related code and tests. Since its inauguration, the SIG Node CI subproject has run a weekly meeting, and even the full hour is often not enough to complete triage of all bugs, test-related PRs and issues, and discuss all related ongoing work within the subgroup. Over the past two years, we’ve fixed merge-blocking and release-blocking tests, reducing time to merge Kubernetes contributors’ pull requests thanks to reduced test flakes. When we started, Node test jobs only passed 42% of the time, and through our efforts, we now ensure a consistent >90% job pass rate. We’ve closed 144 test failure issues and merged 176 pull requests just in kubernetes/kubernetes. And we’ve helped subproject participants ascend the Kubernetes contributor ladder, with 3 new org members, 6 new reviewers, and 2 new approvers. The Node CI subproject is an approachable first stop to help new contributors get started with SIG Node. There is a low barrier to entry for new contributors to address high-impact bugs and test fixes, although there is a long road before contributors can climb the entire contributor ladder: it took over a year to establish two new approvers for the group. The complexity of all the different components that power Kubernetes nodes and its test infrastructure requires a sustained investment over a long period for developers to deeply understand the entire system, both at high and low levels of detail. We have several regular contributors at our meetings, however; our reviewers and approvers pool is still small.