mOSdat
Multi-OS Desktop App Testing Framework
Automated testing infrastructure using Proxmox VMs to validate desktop applications across Linux distributions, Windows desktops, display servers, and GPU configurations.
Supersedes the archived electron-linux-testing Vagrant prototype (Jan 2026).
Install
pip install -e .
mosdat --help
Typical local development:
python -m pytest -q
mosdat validate examples/rocketchat.toml
mosdat list-vms examples/rocketchat.toml
Run via Docker
A Dockerfile is provided for containerized execution:
# Build locally
docker build -t mosdat:dev .
# Run help
docker run --rm mosdat:dev
# Run with a config file
docker run --rm -v $(pwd)/myconfig.toml:/app/myconfig.toml mosdat:dev \
functional /app/myconfig.toml --vms ubuntu2404
To use Docker images from the registry (when published):
# Pull from registry (forward-looking; not yet published)
docker pull ghcr.io/jeanfbrito/mosdat:latest
# Run the smoke test scenario
docker run --rm ghcr.io/jeanfbrito/mosdat:latest \
functional examples/rocketchat.toml --vms ubuntu2404 --test rocketchat-smoke-linux
Overview
Testing desktop apps properly requires real environments — different distros, display servers, Windows releases, and GPU configurations. Containers can't do this. Manual testing doesn't scale.
mOSdat uses Proxmox to orchestrate VMs, drive real desktops over VNC/SSH, pass through NVIDIA GPUs via VFIO when needed, and collect reproducible artifacts for triage.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ mOSdat │
│ │
│ ┌─────────┐ ┌──────────────┐ ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ mosdat │───▶│ Proxmox │───▶│ Test VMs │ │
│ │ CLI │ │ Orchestrator│ │ ┌───────┐ ┌───────┐ │ │
│ └─────────┘ └──────────────┘ │ │Fedora │ │Ubuntu │ ... │ │
│ │ │ │+GPU │ │+GPU │ │ │
│ │ │ │+Wayland│ │+X11 │ │ │
│ ▼ │ └───────┘ └───────┘ │ │
│ ┌──────────────┐ └─────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │ Results │ │ │
│ │ Report │◀──────────────────┘ │
│ └──────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Features
GPU Passthrough — Real NVIDIA GPUs via VFIO, not emulated
Display Server Matrix — Native Wayland, X11, XWayland, and misconfigured environments
Linux + Windows VMs — Shared scenario runner for Linux desktops plus Windows 10/11 functional coverage
Full Pipeline — Build from git ref → deploy to VM → run tests → collect results
Accessibility-first UI Automation — Use AT-SPI role/name targeting on Linux when available, with VLM localization as fallback
VLM Functional Testing — Drive real desktops through Proxmox VNC, with VLM localize/verify steps that work across X11, Wayland, and Windows
Live Triage Dashboard — Watch current and historical functional runs, stale/dead runs, failures, screenshots, and step timelines from a LAN web UI
Author Workbench + Agent API — Create reusable VLM test flows from a browser or via mosdat author, including manual coordinate picking, hover, left/right click, type, key, wait, shell, launch, draft-step JSON editing, validation, and YAML export
Preflight, Replay, Doctor — Validate scenario/VM readiness, replay cached VLM checks, and diagnose VM health without rerunning a full matrix
Reproducible — Same VM snapshot, same test sequence, consistent results
Common Workflows
Recommended authoring workflow: Author routines first (shared/routines/), then compose scenarios that call them. See docs/AUTO-AUTHORING.md.
Run a functional VLM smoke test:
mosdat functional examples/rocketchat.toml --vms ubuntu2404 --test rocketchat-smoke-linux
Build a Rocket.Chat Electron PR, deploy it, and verify the tested app contains the expected symbol:
