Installation planning for DevOps Test Integrations and APIs Agent

HCL DevOps Test Virtualization (Test Virtualization) and HCL DevOps Test Integrations and APIs Agent (Test Integrations and APIs Agent) are available in the HCL DevOps Test Virtualization (Test Virtualization) package on the HCL® License & Delivery portal.

Product offerings

Start the installation by specifying installation repositories for the respective offering in Installation Manager. The steps that are described in this topic apply to the installation of both Test Virtualization and Test Integrations and APIs Agent.

Hardware and software requirements

For a list of hardware and software requirements for Test Virtualization or Test Integrations and APIs Agent, see System Requirements for DevOps Test Virtualization 2024.03 (11.0.1).

Review the license information

Before you install Test Integrations and APIs Agent, you must review the license information. You must know the license type that you have purchased to select the mode to install the agent. See Licenses for DevOps Test Virtualization.

Installation planning

Note: When you use the stand-alone installer, you cannot directly upgrade Test Integrations and APIs Agent from any of the earlier versions to the latest version. You must uninstall the existing version and then install the latest version.

Test Integrations and APIs Agent employs a decoupled, plug-in architecture to provide maximum flexibility for the messaging transport software that you are testing. This architecture also allows the application to load and execute additional components, such as functions, at run time.

The program code for each transport is contained in one or more JAR files that must reside in the Test Virtualization or Test Integrations and APIs Agent plug-ins directory. You can make the libraries on which the transports depend available to the application by using Library Manager. See Working with Library Manager. At run time, Test Virtualization or Test Integrations and APIs Agent loads each available plug-in, making these available from the appropriate menus.

Functions are loaded dynamically as well on a per-project basis. At the root of each project is a folder named classes that contains one or more JAR or CLASS files. The files that conform to the functions interface are made available from within the function action in test sequences.

Note the following network connectivity and deployment requirements:

Each computer that runs a test engine instance must have an agent on it to manage these processes, launching the processes when required and shutting them down at the end.
Each computer that runs an agent must be able to connect to the database.

Library Manager settings

Library Manager settings are preserved during the uninstall or reinstall process. After the installation of Test Virtualization or Test Integrations and APIs, run Library Manager at the end of the process and confirm that the settings are correct.

After installation, you must configure the Agent.config file. For example, for Test Virtualization Control Panel and IBM® Engineering Test Management settings. Copy this file before uninstalling so that you can copy over the values.

Preserving the configuration file

Upgrading the Test Virtualization or Test Integrations and APIs Agent software or uninstalling an older version to move to a newer version (when the upgrade is not applicable) overwrites the existing Agent.config file. If there are settings in the Agent.config file that must be preserved, for example, Test Virtualization Control Panel domains and environments settings, copy the existing Agent.config file to a temporary location before upgrading. After the upgrade or uninstallation of the software has completed, overwrite the new Agent.config file with the old Agent.config file.