DevOps Testing Tools

Artem Golubev

What is DevOps testing?

With the introduction of Agile, significant changes have been observed in the testing sphere. Testing approaches and methodologies have evolved, with faster and more collaborative testing strategies, tools, and technologies introduced to the ecosystem. DevOps testing is an automated process that enables continuous and rapid quality delivery of software, spanning every phase of the software development lifecycle (SDLC). DevOps testing is crucial as it helps resolve issues by introducing tools, practices, and mindsets that bridge the gap between development, QA, and operations teams.

What is CI/CD in DevOps testing?

1. Continuous Integration (CI) is a fundamental unit in Agile and DevOps software development. It involves frequently merging developers' code into a shared code repository early in the development process. The primary goal of this approach is to integrate code into the main codebase frequently, with each commit being vetted in an automated pipeline. This process helps provide a quick feedback loop. CI is a crucial component of the continuous framework methodology, as it not only builds the code but also performs unit and integration testing to ensure the code is of high quality and meets the required business requirements.
2. Continuous Delivery (CD) follows Continuous Integration and is the stage where the code built in the previous step is pushed to production. This process moves the build through stages like QA, staging, pre-prod, etc., and automatically tests and verifies the code before being pushed. Code changes, including updates, new features, and bug fixes produced during continuous integration, are deployed to specific code repositories like GitHub. Automation is a critical aspect of continuous delivery, as with automated tools like Selenium, testRigor, Cypress, etc., and processes, teams can ensure that software is consistently tested, integrated, and deployed to production environments.

DevOps testing tools every QA engineer should know of

Jenkins

Jenkins is an automation server that enables developers to automate building, testing, and deployment of software applications. It can be used to set up and run various types of automated tests, such as unit tests, integration tests, and acceptance tests. Jenkins can be integrated with many other testing tools, such as Selenium and testRigor. By using Jenkins as part of a DevOps toolchain, developers can automate the testing process, ensuring that any code changes are thoroughly tested before being deployed to production. This helps improve the quality and reliability of software applications, as well as accelerate the development and delivery of new features.

Git

• Track changes to their codebase over time.
• Create and manage multiple branches for different features and versions.
• Merge changes from multiple contributors and collaborate with others in real time.
• Work together efficiently, with each developer working on their own copy of the code, making changes and testing them locally before pushing those changes to a shared repository where they can be reviewed, tested, and integrated into the main codebase.
• Manage code history, resolve conflicts, and track issues and bugs with a powerful set of tools and commands.

Docker

• Can quickly deploy and scale applications in any environment, knowing that the code will run.
• Can ship code faster, standardize application operations, seamlessly move code, and save money by improving resource utilization.
• Obtain a single object that can reliably run anywhere.
• Gain full control by using Docker's easy, simple, and straightforward syntax.

Kubernetes

• There is flexibility to utilize on-premises, hybrid, or public cloud infrastructure.
• It becomes effortless to move workloads to wherever they are most needed.
• Clustering together groups of hosts that are running Linux containers, and efficiently managing those clusters.
• Hosting cloud-native applications is most suitable that require rapid scaling, such as real-time data streaming through Apache Kafka.

Maven

Maven is a build management tool used for automating the build and deployment process. It runs tests every time software changes and deployment occurs in different environments. Maven projects do not need to store third-party binary libraries in source control, reducing undue stress on developer checkouts and builds. With Maven, adding a new dependency is quick. Modern IDEs like Eclipse and IntelliJ allow you to do so without manually editing a project's pom.xml file. This XML file contains information about the project, such as project dependencies, plugins, goals, build profiles, etc.

Azure DevOps

• Opting for Azure DevOps services entitles users to use Cloud Services, enabling a smooth transition to the cloud at their own pace.
• Azure Repos, a part of Azure DevOps, offers a range of version control tools for managing code, including Distributed Version Control with Git and Centralized Version Control with Team Foundation Version Control (TFVC).
• Azure Pipeline features are also available for seamless continuous integration and delivery.

How testRigor simplifies DevOps testing:

• testRigor offers pre-populated scripts that enable integration with CI/CD tools on any platform, either macOS, Linux, or Windows. It integrates with a plethora of CI/CD systems like Jenkins, CircleCI, and many others.
• A Git repo can be easily integrated with a testRigor test suite by using the built-in CI/CD integration feature. As discussed, a pre-populated script can be modified as per the test suite authentication token, and the suite is retested every time a commit is made in the Git repo. Refer here for details.
• Docker can also be easily integrated with testRigor. Docker allows testRigor to establish declarative, versioned images for deployment. Docker Compose lets testRigor test locally without the need to build, checkout, and start all dependencies. PR-initiated integration/smoke testing can also be performed.
• Kubernetes clusters are used for several projects to achieve zero-downtime deployment, which can be easily integrated with testRigor.
• testRigor also enables integration with Azure DevOps by using the Integrations options under Settings. Entering the details of the Azure DevOps project and saving enables the integration of testRigor with Azure DevOps.
• Jira, a crucial tool throughout the DevOps lifecycle, can be easily integrated with testRigor. It integrates with code and version control tools like Bitbucket, GitHub, and GitLab, documentation and knowledge management tools like Confluence, and monitoring and operating tools like Opsgenie.

In conclusion, DevOps testing plays a critical role in the software development lifecycle, ensuring faster and continuous delivery of high-quality software. By understanding and utilizing the various tools and practices associated with DevOps testing, QA engineers can bridge the gap between development, QA, and operations teams, resulting in improved efficiency and collaboration throughout the entire process. Integrating tools like testRigor further simplifies the DevOps testing process, making it easier for organizations to adopt and maintain a robust DevOps culture.