Introduction
============

The aim of this document is to provide the information needed to test a
server on-site using the Canonical Server Test Suite and then submit the
results of that testing to Canonical to meet the requirements for Server
Hardware Certification. Testing may be done with or without an Internet
connection.


Understanding the Certification Process
=======================================

The workflow for testing SUTs is described in detail in the rest of this
document. An overview is presented in the following flowchart:

.. image:: ../images/certification-process-flowchart-portrait.png
           :alt: This flowchart outlines the certification process from
                 hardware creation through certificate issuing.
           :width: 100%


The highlights of this process are:

#. Set up your MAAS server and connect it to the test LAN.
   This process is covered in :doc:`../Environment_Setup_Guide/Environment_Setup_Guide`.

#. Create an entry on |c3_link| (C3 for short)
   for the SUT, as described in more detail shortly, in :doc:`create-hardware-entry`. 
   If an entry already exists for your specific
   configuration (not just the model), you should use the existing entry.

#. Use MAAS to deploy the SUT, as described in the upcoming section,
   :ref:`install-ubuntu`.

#. Check the SUT's configuration. (The ``canonical-certification-precheck``
   script, described in :doc:`run-certification-tests`, is key to this check.)

#. Run the test suite on the SUT, as described in :doc:`run-certification-tests` 
   and :doc:`perform-iso-install-tests`.

#. Submit the test results to C3. This may be done semi-automatically
   when running the tests, or can be done manually, as described in
   :doc:`manually-upload-test-results`.

#. If desired, you can request a certificate, as described in :doc:`request-certificate`.