Using Grid2 to run tests on multiple machines/browsers

Grid allows you to :

• Scale by distributing tests on several machines (parallel execution)
• Manage multiple environments from a central point, making it easy to run the tests against a vast combination of browsers / OS.
• Minimize the maintenance time for the grid by allowing you to implement custom hooks to leverage virtual infrastructure for instance.

Setup:

• Download the latest selenium-server-standalone-*.jar from http://code.google.com/p/selenium/downloads/list.
• Start the Hub - open CMD and run: 
• java -jar selenium-server-standalone-*.jar -role hub
• Start the nodes - open CMD and run:
• java -jar selenium-server-standalone-*.jar -role node  -hub http://localhost:4444/grid/register

It is easier to create *.bat files to run the server. Also bat files can be scheduled to run on desired time on remote machines. Just create a *.txt file and rename it to *.bat:

cd c:\selenium-server (location of your server)
java -jar selenium-server-standalone-*.jar -role hub

Using Grid2 in tests:

DesiredCapabilities capability = new DesiredCapabilities();
capability.setBrowserName("firefox");
driver = new RemoteWebDriver(
    new URL("http://<IP of your remote machine>:4444/wd/hub"),
capability);

More info: http://code.google.com/p/selenium/wiki/Grid2

Webdriver: TestNG + Eclipse + Java

In the beginning it was enough to Run my tests from Eclipse just by clicking Run button. After some time I realized that I need to run tests with different setup - e.g. different users/passwords, different channels, different browsers, run particular classes/methods in groups etc. I found TestNG is what I need and even more. With TestNG it is possible to:

• parametrize tests
• run tests in separate sets grouped by classes or methods
• run tests in multiple threads
• generate test reports
• use annotations
• and more..

The installation and getting started with testng is very well described on their site testng.org - shortly:

1. Open Eclipse
2. Help > Install New Software...
3. Add http://beust.com/eclipse repository and complete the proccess
4. Window > Show View > Other.. select Java > TestNG > OK
5. Create a new TestNG class for existing package (test): right-click on the package > New > TestNG class (name it TestExample)
6. Copy the following code to the class

package test;

import org.testng.annotations.BeforeTest;
import org.testng.annotations.Test;
import org.testng.annotations.Parameters;
 
public class TestExample {

 @BeforeTest

 @Parameters({"usrName", "pwd"})

 public void setUp(String usrName, String pwd) {

   // code that will be executed before tests
 }

 @Test

 public void test1() {

      // test1 steps
      System.out.println("test1 passed");

 }

 @Test

 public void test2() {

      // test2 steps
      System.out.println("test2 passed");

 }

}

     7. Modify the XML configureation (testng.xml by default) as follows

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<suite name="Suite" parallel="false">
 <test name="TestName" preserve-order="true">
      <parameter name="usrName"  value="test"/>
      <parameter name="pwd"  value="1234"/>
     <classes>
                  <class name="test.TestExample">
                        <methods>
                              <include name="test1" />
                              <include name="test2" />
                        </methods>
                  </class>
            </classes>
   </test>
</suite>

    8. Run testng.xml

Console results:

[TestNG] Running:
  C:\workspace\webdriver\testng.xml

test1 passed
test2 passed

===============================================
Suite
Total tests run: 2, Failures: 0, Skips: 0
===============================================

TestNG results:

Getting Started with Webdriver (Java + Eclipse)

WebDriver is a tool for writing automated tests of websites. It aims to mimic the behaviour of a real user, and as such interacts with the HTML of the application. More info here.

Eclipse installation

1. Download Eclipse (I use Eclipse Classic - don't really know what is the difference between all of them)
2. Extract the archive to a folder (e.g. c:\eclipse)
3. Run Eclipse.exe (I would recommend to create a shortcut and put it to the desktop or taskbar)
4. Create a new Java Project - File/Add/Java Project. Name the project (e.g. webdriver) and accept the rest of the defaults

Webdriver setup

1. Download the latest selenium-java-<newest version>.zip here
2. Unzip the files into the project that you just created. I would suggest to create a folder under the project root called /lib (my example: c:\workspace\webdriver\lib\)
3. Back in Eclipse, right click on your project in the Package Explorer and choose Properties -> Java Build Path
4. Choose the Libraries tab and click Add External Jars...
5. Select all the jars that you just unzipped into the /lib/ folder and click OK

Create a new test with Webdriver

1. Add a new Package - File/New/Package (name it e.g. test)
2. Select a new package and add a new class - File/New/Class. Give the class name (e.g. Test) and accept the other defaults, but make sure that public static void main(String[] args) checkbox is enabled. 
3. Copy the following code into your Eclipse project and Run the test!

package test;

import org.openqa.selenium.By;

import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;

import org.openqa.selenium.WebElement;

import org.openqa.selenium.firefox.FirefoxDriver;

public class Test {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver();

        driver.get("http://www.google.com");

        WebElement element = driver.findElement(By.name("q"));

        element.sendKeys("webdriver how to find elements");

        element.submit();

        System.out.println("Test passed!");

    }

}

As the result Google page should be opened in new FireFox window. The code in Eclipse should look like this: