Manage Test Automation Servers

Add, modify and delete a Test Automation Server

Squash can connect to two different types of test automation servers: Squash Orchestrator to automate tests with Squash Orchestrator and Jenkins to automate tests with Squash TF.

To add and configure a test automation server, go to the Administration workspace, then click on Servers > Test automation servers.

When you create a server, you must set the server's Name, Type, and URL (the URL should be as short as possible).

Warning

Deleting a test automation server associated with at least one project or execution deletes the links to the results and execution reports, as well as the automation script associations with the test cases. However, you can still access automated test cases executions. This action cannot be undone.

Configure a Squash Orchestrator test automation server

Configure the connection to Squash Orchestrator

For Squash to communicate with Squash Orchestrator, the following URLs must be configured:

• Receptionist URL: it is the URL entered when adding the server in Squash. It is used to launch automated tests with Squash Orchestrator;
• Observer URL: it is used to retrieve Squash Orchestrator information. If this URL is not configured, the receptionist URL is used;
• Event bus URL: event bus allows the passage of subscription and publication information to various services of Squash Orchestrator. If this URL is not configured in Squash, the receptionist URL is used;
• Killswitch URL: killswitch allows to cancel an in-progress workflow. If this URL is not configured, the receptionist URL is used.

There are two main types of deployment configuration:

• Squash Orchestrator is installed behind a reverse proxy: receptionist URL, observer URL, event bus URL, and killswitch URL are identical and communicate with Squash via the same port.
  Example:
  • Receptionist URL: https://mysquashorchestrator.com
  • Observer URL: https://mysquashorchestrator.com
  • Event bus URL: https://mysquashorchestrator.com
  • Killswitch URL: https://mysquashorchestrator.com
• Squash Orchestrator is not installed behind a reverse proxy: receptionist URL, observer URL, event bus URL, and killswitch URL are different. Default exposed ports are 7774 for the receptionist, 7775 for the observer, 38368 for the event bus, and 7776 for the killswitch. The base URL can also differ.
  Example:
  • Receptionist URL: http://127.0.0.1:7774
  • Observer URL: http://127.0.0.1:7775
  • Event bus URL: http://127.0.0.1:38368
  • Killswitch URL: http://127.0.0.1:7776

Learn more

To learn more about Squash Orchestrator installation and configuration, visit the installation guide.

For the server to work, an authentication token, generated from Squash Orchestrator, is needed.

Info

With Squash Orchestrator, there must be a token for the automated test to execute correctly from Squash. Even if the automation server does not require you to authenticate yourself, you must still enter any value for the token in Squash. The token can be configured at project level.

Consultation page of a Squash Orchestrator test automation server

Trouble shooting - Accessibility of Squash Orchestrator

It is possible to check that the connection to the Squash Orchestrator (from the server hosting Squash TM) works correctly by querying it, for example by asking for the list of execution environments:

curl --header "Authorization: bearer <token>" <Observer URL>/channels

where

• <token> is the Squash Orchestrator authentication token.
• <Observer URL> is the Observer URL.

The response should be something like the following:

{"apiVersion":"v1","code":200,"details":{"items":[{"apiVersion":"opentestfactory.org/v1alpha1","kind":"Channel","metadata":{"channelhandler_id":"907f43e2-b5a0-4594-a1c7-31f6bf667b38","name":"dummy.example.com","namespaces":"default"},"spec":{"tags":["ssh","linux"]},"status":{"currentJobID":null,"lastCommunicationTimestamp":"2022-09-16T12:18:01.640489","phase":"IDLE"}}]},"kind":"Status","message":"Known channels","metadata":{},"reason":"OK","status":"Success"} 

---

The Squash TM Docker image does not contain curl. You can use wget instead:

 docker exec <Squash TM container> wget --header="Authorization: bearer <token>" -O - <Observer URL>/channels

where

• <Squash TM container> is the name of the container.
• <token> is the Squash Orchestrator authentication token.
• <Observer URL> is the Observer URL.

The response should be something like the following:

Connecting to 172.17.0.1:7775 (172.17.0.1:7775)
writing to stdout
-                    100% |********************************|   464  0:00:00 ETA
written to stdout
{"apiVersion":"v1","code":200,"details":{"items":[{"apiVersion":"opentestfactory.org/v1alpha1","kind":"Channel","metadata":{"channelhandler_id":"907f43e2-b5a0-4594-a1c7-31f6bf667b38","name":"dummy.example.com","namespaces":"default"},"spec":{"tags":["ssh","linux"]},"status":{"currentJobID":null,"lastCommunicationTimestamp":"2022-09-16T12:18:01.640489","phase":"IDLE"}}]},"kind":"Status","message":"Known channels","metadata":{},"reason":"OK","status":"Success"}

Define a default execution environment

Executions environments in Squash Orchestrator can be declared through ssh or an agent.
The characteristics of each execution environment are indicated with tags: OS, browser…

Learn more

For more information on environment tags use cases, please see Pilot automated tests from Squash TM.

The Environments block lists the available environments with their tags. It can be used to define default environment tags.

The Available environments table contains the list of environments with their tags.
This information is returned in real time by Squash Orchestrator. Displayed environments depend on the token configured in the Authentication policy and its permissions on each environment.

The Default environment tags field can be used to filter the Available environments table: only the environments having all the tags present in that field will be listed.

When running automated tests, these tags are offered by default to the user (he/she can modify them) to target an execution environment that matches the selected values.

Learn more

Token and default environment tags can also be defined on the projects linked to the Squash Orchestrator test automation server. In this case, the project's values are selected by default when running automated tests. To learn more, visit the page Associate a Squash Orchestrator test automation server to a project.

Associate environment variables and define their default value

Environment variables can be used to define various settings such as credentials, environment type (e.g. production or pre-production), Git branch, the browser for testing… Unlike the environment tags that are returned by Squash Orchestrator, environment variables must be created in Squash.

Learn more

For more information on environment variables use cases, please see Pilot automated tests from Squash TM.

The Environment variables block allows you to associate environment variables previously created in Administration > Entities > Environment variables, and to define their default value.

To associate an environment variable with the test automation server, click on and select the variable(s) to associate.

Once the environment associated, it is possible to define a default value. This value can be redefined at the project level. Depending on the environment variable type, different characters are authorized. When running automated tests, this value is offered by default to the user, but they can modify it.

To dissociate one or multiple environment variables from a test automation server, click on .

Set up an additional configuration for the automated execution server

Warning

Additional configuration management is available with Squash Ultimate license and Squash TM Premium plugin.

The additional configuration allows data to be sent directly from Squash to the orchestrator when a workflow is created (hooks, environment variables, resources, etc.).

To do this, a dedicated space is available for declaring a YAML or JSON script with colouring and syntax checking.

Click in the field to edit a script. Several buttons then appear above the script, allowing you to:

• confirm the changes made, you can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Alt+S;
• cancel changes made since the last save and return to read-only mode;
• check the script syntax.

The button displays a help panel for writing additional configuration scripts, showing examples of hooks, metadata, resources, and variables.

Learn more

To learn more about additional workflow configuration, consult the Squash Orchestrator documentation.

Configure a Squash TF test automation server

When you add a Jenkins automation server, the checkbox Select manually the server when the execution of the automated tests starts (this implies this server is a master server) enables you to choose the execution server at the start of the tests when using master servers with secondary servers.

For the server to work, you also must enter credentials: Jenkins login and password.

Consultation page of a Jenkins test automation server