'''THIS PAGE IS OBSOLETE, please use https://wiki.ubuntu.com/QATeam/Testdrive'''

In order to work on and actively improve Ubuntu, fixes need to be built, tested and integrated into the current development release. (Fixes for stable release follow their own policy.)

On these page we'll discuss measures to safely run and test using the active development release, what to do when you run into problems and alternative ways to test and run development releases.

Using TestDrive

TestDrive is a unique, Ubuntu tool for "test-driving" daily development snapshots of Ubuntu (desktop, server, netbook, Kubuntu, etc) by incrementally syncing and running it in a virtual machine. TestDrive provides a simple mechanism for any technical or non-technical Ubuntu user to test and provide feedback on the current Ubuntu release under development.

Installing TestDrive

Ubuntu users of 10.04 (and later) can install TestDrive directly from the archive, from the Software Center or the command line.

sudo apt-get install testdrive

TestDrive for the command line

You can then sync and launch various Ubuntu flavors, either from the command line:

testdrive

Syncing ISO's

To start testing the new release, we simply need to sync any of the ISO's we want to test. Once the ISO's is synced, we can run it in a Virtual Machine, as detailed below.

The sync process, is detailed in the following image:

 1. First, we select the ISO we want to test, to be able to synchronize it.
 1. Second, we click on the Sync button to start the synchronization.

The synchronization process will look as follows:

Running ISO's

Once the sync process is complete, a new ISO will appear to be cached.

 3. Shows the cached ISO. This means that there's an ISO that can be launched.
 4. Click on Launch to run the ISO in a Virtual Machine.

NOTE: Please note that new Ubuntu Development Release ISO's are updated daily, which means you will have to sync everyday the ISO you intend to launch, if you want to have the latest ISO.

The running ISO will look like:

CategoryUbuntuDevelopment