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Computer Systems Laboratory Newsletter
October 1991
THE NIST POSIX TESTING PROGRAM
What is POSIX?
For the past several years, the National Institute of Standards
and Technology's Computer Systems Laboratory (NIST/CSL) has
collaborated with vendors, users, and voluntary standards
organizations to advance the implementation and use of the
standard on Portable Operating System Interface for Computer
Environments (POSIX). First adopted as a Federal Information
Processing Standard (FIPS) in 1988 and revised in 1990, FIPS 151-
1, POSIX, adopts the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers (IEEE) Standard 1003.1-1988 which defines an interface
to an operating system environment.
FIPS 151-1 is for use in the acquisition of new operating system
environments by federal agencies where POSIX-like interfaces are
required. FIPS 151-1 permits federal agencies to exercise more
effective control over the production, management, and use of
information resources by promoting the portability of computer
applications at the source code level. POSIX is part of an open
systems environment which should reduce the cost of information
systems by making it easier and less expensive to maintain and
transfer information technology applications. Copies of FIPS
151-1 are available from the National Technical Information
Service (NTIS), 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161,
(703) 487-4650.
The Importance of Testing
Agencies require assurance, however, that POSIX products conform
to the requirements of FIPS 151-1. Testing for conformance to
standards becomes increasingly important as standards become more
complex and interrelated. Organizations need an independent,
objective means of ascertaining that products conform to
standards and interoperate with other products as intended.
Tests are an important factor in user acceptance and in the
development of dependable POSIX products; compliance with FIPS
151-1 provides increased assurance that a computer program
written for one machine will run on other computers.
The NIST POSIX Conformance Test Suite
NIST/CSL developed the POSIX Conformance Test Suite (NIST-PCTS)
to test conformance of POSIX products to FIPS 151-1. The NIST-
PCTS adheres to the guidelines of IEEE 1003.3 Draft 10.0,
"Standards for Test Methods for Measuring Conformance to POSIX,"
or where assertions were incorrectly stated, the NIST-PCTS was
changed to align with those updated assertions in Draft 11.0.
The current version of the test suite is NIST-PCTS:151-1 (Version
1.1) dated 9-28-90, available from NTIS. Also required is the
latest "patch" from NIST/CSL.
The POSIX Testing Program
How is a vendor product tested for conformance to POSIX? The
vendor typically buys the NIST-PCTS from NTIS and conducts the
initial tests. Once satisfied that the product is conformant,
the vendor contracts with a testing laboratory which has been
accredited by NIST's National Voluntary Laboratory Accreditation
Program (NVLAP) to conduct POSIX conformance testing. The
laboratory then forwards test results to NIST/CSL, which
evaluates the results and issues a Certificate of Validation for
successful tests. The certificate assists federal agencies by
verifying that the product has met the FIPS 151-1 standard for
the tested configuration.
Accredited POSIX Testing Laboratories
The NIST POSIX Testing Program began with the announcement of the
following seven accredited POSIX testing laboratories (APTLs) on
May 1, 1991. Laboratories are accredited for a period of one
year, with accreditation renewable annually.
Applications Software Incorporated
1656 Gryc Court
Mendota Heights, MN 55118
(612) 456-5364
DataFocus Incorporated
12500 Fair Lakes Circle, Suite 160
Fairfax, VA 22033-3821
(703) 631-6770
Hewlett-Packard Company
Hewlett-Packard POSIX Conformance Test Center
250 Apollo Drive
Chelmsford, MA 01824
(508) 256-6600
Mindcraft, Inc.
410 Cambridge Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94306
(415) 323-9000
National Computing Centre Ltd
Oxford Road
Manchester, M1 7ED, ENGLAND
+44 61 228-6333
PERENNIAL
4699 Old Ironsides Drive, Suite 210
Santa Clara, CA 95054
(408) 748-2900
UniSoft Corporation
6121 Hollis Street
Emeryville, CA 94608-2092
(415) 420-6400
NIST POSIX Validated Products
As of September 17, 1991, NIST/CSL has issued Certificates of
Validation for the following products (listed in alphabetical
order by product supplier):
A/UX Version 2.0.1, Release 1/30/91 for the Macintosh
IIci, IIfx, and IIsi (Product Supplier, Apple Computer
Inc. - APTL, Mindcraft, Inc.)
EP/IX Version 1.3.1, Release 3/21/91 for the Control
Data 4000 Model 4330-250 and Model 4680 (Product
Supplier, Control Data Corporation - APTL, Applications
Software Incorporated)
DG/UX Version 4.32 for the AViion AV/400/4000 Model
AV/410: DG/UX Version 5.4 for the AViion 5000 Model
AV/5240, the AViion 400/4000 Model AV/4100 and Model
AV/412 (Product Supplier, Data General Corporation -
APTL, Mindcraft, Inc.)
ULTRIX Version 2.4, Release 5/31/91 for the VAXstation
II Model GPX and the DECstation Model 3100 (Product
Supplier, Digital Equipment Corporation - APTL,
Mindcraft, Inc.)
AIX Version 3 Release 1 for the RISC System/6000 Model
530 and Model 320 (Product Supplier, International
Business Machines Inc. - APTL, Mindcraft, Inc.)
SCO UNIX System V/386 Version 3.2 for the Data General
Corporation Walkabout/SX Model G2763 (APTL, Mindcraft,
Inc.) and the Zenith Data Systems Supersport Laptop
Model Supersport SX (APTL, DataFocus Inc.) (Product
Supplier, Santa Cruz Operation)
CTOSII Version 3, Release 3 for the UNISYS B-Series
Model NGEN (Product Supplier, UNISYS Corporation -
APTL, DataFocus Inc.)
Availability of POSIX Information
CSL maintains a register called the "NIST POSIX Testing
Laboratories and Validated Products" which lists current APTLs
and POSIX products. As additional products are validated, they
are added to the register. NIST/CSL publishes the register in
its quarterly Validated Processor List, the current version of
which is NISTIR 4690 dated October 1991. You may order this
document from NTIS, (703) 487-4650, order number PB91-937300,
price $17.00 paper, $8.00 microfiche. Subscriptions are also
available at $68.00 per year; call (703) 487-4630 for this
service.
POSIX Electronic Mail File Service
NIST/CSL's Software Engineering Group also provides an electronic
mail (email) file service. You can receive the most recent
information on the NIST POSIX Testing Program by sending
specially formatted email messages to posix@nist.gov. The
automatic mail file server program will read the message and
return the requested document as the body of one or more email
messages.
To use the service, you must be able to send and receive email
via the Internet. For most email systems, you will send an email
message to posix@nist.gov (mail posix@nist.gov). When the email system
responds with "Subject:" you may type anything. The next line should be a
basic command for the email server to send you whatever document you want
(send register). After you issue your send command and a carriage return, the
next line should simply have a period and a carriage return, signalling the
end of your email message. Your email system will probably respond with EOT
for the end of transmission. The mail server program reads the message and
figures out what to send and where to send it.
Each of the available documents is referenced by the short names listed below.
You may request more than one file at a time (send policy register). All the
files are plain 7-bit ASCII text.
These are the available NIST POSIX Conformance Testing documents:
register -a register of accredited labs and tested implementations
(5905 bytes)
policy - "NIST POSIX Testing Policy General Information" (27396
bytes)
required -"NIST POSIX Testing Policy Certificate of Validation
Requirements - #1-FIPS 151-1" (135093 bytes)
For More Information
Contact Jim Hall, NIST, CSL, Room B266, Technology Building, Gaithersburg, MD
20899, email:hall@swe.ncsl.nist.gov or phone (301) 975-3273.