Requires Perl 5.x available on system path.

1. Open the terminal window (on Windows OS, cmd.exe).
2. If you did not set your environment to persist the path to Dakota executables and testing helpers, execute the commands described in Set Environment.
3. Change directory to the test/ directory in the Dakota install directory, e.g., cd /apps/dakota/6.4/test.
4. Run a fast (FastTest) or slower, but portable (AcceptanceTest) set of tests.  AcceptanceTests have been vetted to pass on all supported platforms/configurations.  The full set of tests active in a build should PASS or DIFF.
   

   # Unix
   cd /apps/dakota/6.4/test
   # minimal set of fast-running tests that should NOT FAIL (may DIFF, depending on platform / compiler)
   dakota_test.perl --label-regex=FastTest
   # test suite that should PASS on any supported platform (NO DIFF or FAIL)
   dakota_test.perl --label-regex=AcceptanceTest
   # run all Dakota tests active in this build (should PASS or DIFF)
   dakota_test.perl --label-regex=dakota_
   
   # Windows
   cd C:\dakota\6.4\test
   # minimal set of fast-running tests that should NOT FAIL (expect many DIFF due to MSVC / ifort)
   perl.exe dakota_test.perl --label-regex=FastTest
   # test suite that should PASS even on Windows
   perl.exe dakota_test.perl --label-regex=AcceptanceTest
   # run all Dakota tests active in this build (should PASS or DIFF)
   perl.exe dakota_test.perl --label-regex=dakota_
   
   

5. Examine the generated difference file(s) dakota_diffs.out.  A successful build should include PASS and DIFF, with associated small numerical differences.  If these files contain DIFF with large abberations, or FAIL, there may be an issue with the build.
6. For Dakota distributions with MPI support, running on platforms with MPI support, you can repeat the above tests with the --parallel option and examine dakota_pdiffs.out.