Testing with IBM® DevOps Deploy

You can run functional test scripts remotely with the HCL DevOps Test UI (Test UI) - Functional Test plugin for IBM® DevOps Deploy (Deploy).

The Deploy plugin for Test UI includes steps for running functional test scripts remotely on Deploy agent computers. Test UI integration with Deploy is supported for Java Scripting and Simplified Scripting in the Eclipse IDE. Test scripts recorded in the Visual Studio IDE are not supported.

Compatibility

This plugin requires Deploy version 6.1 or later and Test UI version 9.1 or later.

Installing plugins in Deploy

  1. Download the installation files for the DevOps Test UI - Functional Test plugin DTUI-FunctionalTest-DD-HCL-7.0 from the HCL® License & Delivery portal.
  2. Load the plugin in Deploy.
    1. For automation plugins, click Settings> Automation Plugins, then click Load Plugin.
    2. For source plugins, click Settings> Source Config Plugins, then click Load Plugin.
    3. Enter the path to the compressed plugin file, and then click Submit.

The plugin is listed on either the Automation Plugins pane or the Source Config Plugins pane. After the plugin is installed, it is available immediately.

Input properties for running a functional test step

Run a test using Test UI.

Table 1. Input properties for running a functional test step
Name Type Description Required
Iteration Count String Number of dataset iterations to be run. No
Log Format Enumeration
  • xml
  • html
  • text
  • TPTP
 Format of script execution logs. No
Project Directory String Fully qualified path to the Functional Test project directory. Yes
Script Name String Name of the script to be executed. Yes
User Arguments String Additional user arguments for playback. No
Disconnected Mode Boolean
The option to run the test through an agent in the background. The options are as follows:
  • True: Runs the test through an agent, and the test run continues even when the screen is locked or the agent is disconnected.
  • False: Runs the test, but the test run stops when the screen is locked or the agent is disconnected.
 No

Running functional tests

Use this plugin to continuously initiate the launch of functional tests from Deploy. Before you begin:

  • Install the Deploy agent and connect it to the Deploy server. For details, see the documentation.
  • Install Test UI on the Deploy agent computer and apply a valid license.
  • Enable the functional testing environment (for example, Java) on the Deploy agent. If you intend to test a web-based application, enable any browser supported by Test UI, that is, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome. For information about enabling the functional testing environment, see Preparing the functional test environment.
  • Configure the application to be tested (AUT) on the Deploy agent. For details, see Configuring applications for testing.
  • If you have stored the functional test scripts within a folder, the value of the Script Name input property should be folder name.script name, for example, Mytests.app1test.

As a tester, you might have a large number of regression tests to be run against the latest builds of a product. Instead of manually running the tests against every new build, you can install the latest build on an Deploy Agent computer and let it automatically start the tests for you.

After deploying the Test UI - Functional Test plugin on the Deploy server, create a component and its processes, applications and its processes, environments, and resources.

After deployment, the Deploy plugin for Test UI is available on the Deploy server. The plugin for Test UI includes only a single step: Run a DevOps Test UI - Functional Test.The component process runs a functional script that is part of a Test UI project previously stored on an Deploy agent.

To create a workflow, do the following tasks:

  1. Click the component process. The Tools view displays the available plugin steps.
  2. From DevOps Test UI - Functional Test, drag the Run a DevOps Test UI - Functional Test step into the design space.
  3. Specify the properties for the step. For information about the properties, see Input properties for running a functional test step.
  4. After configuring the properties, save the step.
Note:
  • You must compile the functional test scripts in the Eclipse IDE before running them on Deploy.
  • The Deploy output variable called TestResult contains the overall playback result of the test scripts. This variable helps you view the test results on Deploy itself rather than on the test computer where the scripts are run.
  • If the execution of a Test UI script is dependent on an external .jar file, make sure you place the .jar file in the customization folder. Adding references to the file under project properties (which is what you normally do when playing scripts from the Test UI IDE) will not suffice.