k5test is a library for setting up self-contained Kerberos 5 environments, and running Python unit tests inside those environments. It is based on the file of the same name found alongside the MIT Kerberos 5 unit tests.

k5test can be used to set up a self-contained MIT krb5 or Heimdal environment. This is useful for testing applications without having to manipulate existing Kerberos realms, or having to set up a full Kerberos deployment by hand.

To set up a realm, use the k5test.K5Realm class. The constructor accepts several useful arguments for controlling which parts get set up; refer to the inline documentation for more information.

Instead of having test cases inherit from unittest.TestCase, inherit from k5test.KerberosTestCase, which will automatically set up a Kerberos 5 environment, before the test case, and tear it down afterwards.

Additionally, several decorators are defined. the k5test.gssapi_extension_test(extension_name, human_readable_name) decorator (which requires python-gssapi) allows you to skip tests with installations that don't support a particular GSSAPI extension. The the k5test.krb_minversion_test(target_version, problem_name) decorator allows you to skip tests when running a version of krb5 less that the required version. The k5test.krb_plugin_test(plugin_type, plugin_name) decorator allows you to skip tests for installations that don't have a particular plugin installed.