ci-reproduce-on-gcp-vm

name	ci-reproduce-on-gcp-vm
description	Reproduce CI test failures on a GCP VM matching the CI environment. Use when a CI job fails and the issue cannot be reproduced locally (e.g., kernel-dependent BPF verifier failures, kernel version-specific bugs).

Overview

CI runs Felix tests on GCP VMs using specific Ubuntu image families. The local dev machine may have a different kernel, so some failures only reproduce on the CI kernel. This skill creates a GCP VM matching the CI environment, runs the failing test, and cleans up.

Prerequisites

• gcloud CLI authenticated with access to the tigera-dev project
• The calico repo checked out locally with the failing branch

Step 1: Identify the CI Image Family

Check felix/.semaphore/fv-prologue to find the image family for the failing CI job. The mapping is based on FELIX_TEST_GROUP:

Test group pattern	IMAGE_FAMILY	Ubuntu version
22.04	ubuntu-2204-lts	22.04 Jammy
24.04	ubuntu-2404-lts-amd64	24.04 Noble
26.04	ubuntu-2604-lts-amd64	26.04

For example, the bpf-24.04-ipt-with-ut test group uses ubuntu-2404-lts-amd64.

If in doubt, read felix/.semaphore/fv-prologue and .semaphore/vms/vm-bootstrap.sh for the latest mappings.

Step 2: Create the VM

zone=us-central1-a
vm_name=<user>-debug
image_family=ubuntu-2404-lts-amd64  # from Step 1

gcloud config set project tigera-dev
gcloud --quiet compute instances create "${vm_name}" \
  --zone=${zone} \
  --image-family=${image_family} \
  --image-project=ubuntu-os-cloud \
  --machine-type=n4-highcpu-4 \
  --boot-disk-size=20G \
  --boot-disk-type=hyperdisk-balanced

The machine type and disk size above match CI defaults (see felix/.semaphore/fv-prologue).

Step 3: Wait for SSH and Install Dependencies

The VM bootstrap in CI is done by .semaphore/vms/vm-bootstrap.sh. Replicate its key steps:

ssh_cmd="gcloud --quiet compute ssh --zone=${zone} ubuntu@${vm_name} --"

# Wait for SSH
for i in $(seq 1 10); do
  ${ssh_cmd} echo "SSH ready" && break
  sleep 2
done

# Install prerequisites
${ssh_cmd} "sudo apt-get update -y && sudo apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends apt-transport-https ca-certificates curl software-properties-common"

# Add Docker repo (DEB822 format, matching .semaphore/vms/vm-bootstrap.sh)
${ssh_cmd} "sudo install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings && curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg -o /tmp/docker.gpg && sudo mv /tmp/docker.gpg /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc && sudo chmod 0644 /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc"
${ssh_cmd} "ubuntu_codename=\$(. /etc/os-release && echo \"\${UBUNTU_CODENAME:-\$VERSION_CODENAME}\") && printf '%s\n' 'Types: deb' 'URIs: https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu' \"Suites: \${ubuntu_codename}\" 'Components: stable' 'Architectures: amd64' 'Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.asc' | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.sources > /dev/null"
${ssh_cmd} "sudo apt-get update -y"

# Install Docker and tools — pin versions to match CI (see .semaphore/vms/vm-bootstrap.sh)
# Noble (24.04): docker-ce=5:27.5.1-1~ubuntu.24.04~noble
# Jammy (22.04): docker-ce=5:20.10.14~3-0~ubuntu-jammy
# If unsure, omit the version pin to get the latest.
${ssh_cmd} "sudo apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends docker-ce docker-ce-cli docker-buildx-plugin containerd.io git make iproute2 wireguard"

# Post-install setup
${ssh_cmd} "sudo usermod -a -G docker ubuntu"
${ssh_cmd} 


 
 


 

Step 4: Clone Repo and Checkout Branch

# Get the current branch name
branch=$(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)
remote_url=$(git remote get-url origin)

${ssh_cmd} "git clone ${remote_url} calico && cd calico && git checkout ${branch}"

If the remote is an SSH URL and the VM doesn't have SSH keys, use the HTTPS URL instead:

# Convert [e-mail]:user/repo.git to https://github.com/user/repo.git
https_url=$(echo "${remote_url}" | sed 's|[e-mail]:|https://github.com/|')
${ssh_cmd} "git clone ${https_url} calico && cd calico && git checkout ${branch}"

Step 5: Run the Failing Test

Check the kernel version first to confirm it differs from local:

${ssh_cmd} "uname -r"

Then run the specific test. Common patterns:

# BPF unit test (e.g., verifier loadability)
${ssh_cmd} "cd calico/felix && make FOCUS=TestPrecompiledBinariesAreLoadable ut-bpf"

# Specific BPF unit test
${ssh_cmd} "cd calico/felix && make FOCUS=TestNATNodePortNoFWD ut-bpf"

# Felix FV test
${ssh_cmd} "cd calico/felix && make fv GINKGO_FOCUS='TestName'"

# BPF FV test
${ssh_cmd} "cd calico/felix && make fv-bpf GINKGO_FOCUS='TestName'"

The first run will be slow (pulls Docker build images). Subsequent runs are faster.

Step 6: Clean Up

Always delete the VM when done:

gcloud --quiet compute instances delete ${vm_name} --zone=${zone}

Reference: CI Configuration Files

File	Purpose
felix/.semaphore/fv-prologue	Maps test groups to image families, sets env vars
.semaphore/vms/vm-bootstrap.sh	VM startup script (Docker install, sysctl, IPv6)
.semaphore/vms/run-tests-on-vms	Orchestrates VM creation and test execution
.semaphore/vms/configure-test-vm	Per-VM configuration after bootstrap
.semaphore/semaphore.yml.d/blocks/20-felix.yml	Felix CI job definitions and test groups