To run the test suite (as root): $ cd iptables/tests/shell # ./run-tests.sh Test files are executable files with the pattern <> , where N is the expected return code of the executable. Since they are located with `find', test-files can be spreaded in any sub-directories. You can turn on a verbose execution by calling: # ./run-tests.sh -v And to run test suite for pariticular test files: # ./run-tests.sh Also, test-files will receive the environment variable $XT_MULTI which contains the path to the old iptables (xtables-legacy-multi) or new iptables (xtables-nft-multi) binary being tested.