INTEGRATION OF AUTOMATION TEST SUITES IN CI/CD PIPELINES

H ow to quickly set up a
CI/CD P ipeline to un R

A utomated ests T

I ntroduction
In ontinuous integration, developers keep integrating their
C

developed code in a common and shared repository. n I

C ontinuous delivery or “ ontinuous eployment” the codes

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that are merged by the developers are continuously

delivered to the live environment.

Why do you need continuous testing in such a

system?

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 T he development team works in parallel and the team
members keep integrating their code in the repository
T his keeps updating the master branch regularly nd .A

so there arises a need to continue testing the code to

keep the software quality t has to be ensured that the
.I

testing goes on at the same pace .

M anual testing will not be a good choice in such a

scenario utomated testing though can promise you
.A

successful testing in pipeline CI/CD .

S ince the model supports the parallel testing of the

CI

code it helps in early identification of problems .

Why utomate esting in

A T /
CI CD ?

In the testing has to keep up with the code development

CI, .

B uilds has to be tested regularly for any changes and

modifications o keep up the pace and deal with the regular
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testing requirements automation testing is preferred in the

,

CI model .

T esting tages in ontinuous

S C

I ntegration/ ontinuous elivery

C D M odel
T he testing process goes through the following stages in the
CI/CD model :

Develop the development team develops the code as

:

per the requirements .

Writing tests fter code is developed the tests are

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written for that code .

Local esting he local testing of the code is done to

T :T

ensure the quality of the code .

Rebase and esolve conflict in the model the

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developers keep updating the branches with the code .

This process is called rebasing hese codes need to

“ ”. T

be tested and the code is passed back to the

developers to fix the defects
Commit When the code passes the test it is
: ,

committed .

Build he source code is combined and deployed to

:T

many testing environments .

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U AT: D eveloped code is deployed to a test server.

M erge: if the commit under test if passed it is merged
with the master branch
roduction deployment after merging the code is
P :

passed on for the production.

This process is repeated for every build.

Where D oes utomation esting

A T Fall in his
T

/
CI CD P ipeline?

Automated tested is done when the build is completed and

code is read7y to be deployed. t this stage, the automated
A

unit tests, integration tests and U tests can be conducted.

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Tests can also be parallel done to fasten testing speed.

Tools Used for /

CI CD

J enkins: Jenkins is a commonly used testing tool for

continuous integration. It is open-source and free of
cost.
Travis osted by it ub, ravis is a free and
CI: H G H T CI

open-source testing tool for continuous integration

approach.
Gitlab vailable in both paid and free versions, itlab
:A G

has its own cloud-based methodology. itlab can be

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supported by multiple platforms.

Bamboo amboo is a popular testing tool for
:B

continuous integration provided by . amboo is a JIRA B

good option for companies using . JIRA

B est P ractices
Incremental changes: following an incremental
approach is always beneficial. reaking down the
B

complex functionalities into smaller ones can help

accomplish the testing task faster. t also helps inI

finding the root cause of the defects (if found) easily.

Identify what can be automated: utomating A

everything may seem to be an easier approach, but it is

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not a viable and a smarter thing to do. dentify and pick

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what should be automated to get maximum benefit.

P arallel ests: running the test cases in parallel is a
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big thumps up. xecuting the test cases in parallel can

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save you a lot of time and initiates more efficient and

timely testing. part from the parallel execution of test
A

cases, scaling the size of the servers plays an equally

important role to increase the speed of the testing.

S etting up the CI/CD pipeline for automated

testing
S etup continuous integration (CI) servers

Setup a build server/ continuous integration (CI) server. You

can opt for continuous integration (CI) server. After setting
up the server, set up the first build. build contains:
A

A pplicationʼs source code link

C ommand to build the application
T his is set up whenever a change is done to the source
code.

S etup test suites

S etup the test suite to test your build. separate build is set
A

for your test suites.

A dd a deployment step

T he deployment has to be linked to the test suite so that

whenever your build passes all the tests the changes are
deployed to production.

P ractices to avoid
D uplication o not duplicate test scenarios as it will
:D

slow down the test pipelines. o waits for the feedback

N

if the test time crosses a limit and hence the complete

testing process becomes of no use.
L imited automation: onʼt just go on automating
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everything, be wise in what to automate and what not.

O nly s owning test pipelines: ecause of regular
QA B

changes, the tests start failing after a specific commit.

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S o developers should monitor automation pipelines so

that they can fix bugs as in when they come .

Benefits

Here are few benefits of using automated testing in CI/CD

model :

Low Cost: since the testing takes place in parallel with

the development the bugs are found earlier and are
,

fixed at an early stage t saves a lot of cost of finding

.I

and fixing bugs at a later stage .

F aster elease ycles utomation testing logically

R C :A

increases the speed of testing and hence increasing the

complete software process and speeding the release
cycle .

H igh uality the constant updates and automated

Q :

regression and parallel tests make sure that the code is

bug free and compatible with multiple environments t
- .I

also ensures higher customer satisfaction .

R isk eduction supports regular addition testing

R : CI ,

and fixing of bugs his reduces the risk of finding bugs

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at a later stage drastically .

B etter With regular bug fixation businesses

ROI:

ensures a higher quality product in reduced time and

hence promising better ROI

Conclusion

CI/CD model is a very popular and helpful model in software

development utomation testing adds to its value by
.A

enhancing the testing of the software ut any faulty .B

practice can increase your work and can decrease the

efficiency of the complete process o be very wise while
.S

setting up and performing automation testing in CI/CD

model .

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