Integrate Your Test Suite with BrowserStack

BrowserStack supports out of the box integration with WebdriverIO. All you need is a few changes in your existing WebdriverIO config file and you’re good to go!

Prerequisites

Node.js 8.11.2+ installed on your system.
An existing WebdriverIO based automation test suite.

Looking for a starter project? Get started with our WebdriverIO sample project.

Integration steps

Set BrowserStack credentials

Saving your BrowserStack credentials as environment variables makes it easier to run your test suite from your local or CI environment.

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Install BrowserStack WDIO service

Use either of the following ways to install BrowserStack WDIO service to your project:

      
            NPM
          
            Packagejson
          
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npm install @wdio/browserstack-service --save-dev
"devDependencies": {
  "@wdio/browserstack-service": "^7",
}

Update your WebdriverIO config file

Update your configuration file with the following parameters to run tests on BrowserStack.
At the end of this step, you will have a sample configuration file with BrowserStack capabilities to use in your project.

Add BrowserStack service

Add browserstack to the services list in your configuration file. if you’re using our sample repo, the test.conf.js configuration file in your preferred project folder(android/iOS) has to be changed.

Set app to be tested

The app property determines the app to be tested. You can upload an Android app (.apk or .aab file) or an iOS app (.ipa file) from your local filesystem.

Supported method	Description
path(Recommended)	SDK uploads the app using the specified relative or absolute path. Eg: `app: ./SampleApp.apk`.

Note: Check out how to create IPA files for iOS app testing on BrowserStack.

Other acceptable app property values

You can use BrowserStack REST API to upload your app.

Following is a sample response that is generated when you upload an app using any of the mentioned methods:

 {
    "app_url":"bs://f7c874f21852ba57957a3fdc33f47514288c4ba4", 
    "custom_id":"SampleApp",
    "shareable_id":"exampleuser/SampleApp"
 }

The following table explains the other acceptable app property values:

Supported method	Description
app_url	Uploaded app’s `app_url` is a valid value for `app` property. Eg: `app: bs://45e1c1473b17b7643aed1761f51cb5cdf3d3e334`
custom_id	If you’ve defined a `custom_id` while uploading your app, the same value can be used as `app` property value. Eg: `app: CalculatorApp`
shareable_id	If you wish to test an app uploaded by someone else from your organization, a `shareable_id` can be used as the `app` property value. Eg: `app: exampleuser/CalculatorApp`

Check out how to specify the application under test to understand the above options better.

Select Android or iOS devices from a list of 150+ available combinations

Use one of our sample apps to run your first Appium test on BrowserStack App Automate. Choose from the options below:

Do you want to dynamically configure platforms?

To dynamically configure platforms across different tests, you can comment out the platforms capability while still passing platform-specific capabilities.

Configure maxInstances to set the number of parallels

You can create multiple threads for parallel execution by adding maxInstances capability. The maxInstances number represents the maximum number of devices that should be created in parallel in BrowserStack.
Example: maxInstances: 4

Enable BrowserStack Local

Test apps with local/staging API servers

True

False

Test apps locally with local/staging API servers

BrowserStack’s Local Testing feature connects with locally hosted API servers to run your apps

Learn more

BrowserStack Local supports all advanced use cases and restricted networks. Contact our support team for assistance in configuring BrowserStack Local for your enterprise.

BrowserStack Reporting

You can leverage BrowserStack’s extensive reporting features using the capabilities:

buildIdentifier	Description	Generated build name on dashboard
${BUILD_NUMBER} (Default)	If build is triggered locally, an incremental counter is appended. If build is triggered with CI tools, CI generated build number is appended.	bstack-demo 1 bstack-demo CI 1395
${DATE_TIME}	The timestamp of run time is appended to the build.	bstack-demo 29-Nov-20:44

Advanced use cases for Build name

Custom formatting of build name

Prefix buildIdentifier with desired characters, for example, # or : in your test.conf.js file.

exports.config = {
  //..
  services: [
      ['browserstack', {
          buildIdentifier: '#${BUILD_NUMBER}',
          // ..
      }]
  ],
  //...
  commonCapabilities: {
    'bstack:options': {
      buildName: 'bstack-demo',
    }
  }
};

Re-run tests in a build

You can re-run selected tests from a build using any of the following options:

Option 1: Set the build name as a combination of buildName and buildIdentifier, as seen on the dashboard in your test.conf.js file. (We shouldn’t set any value for buildIdentifier to achieve it) :

commonCapabilities: {
  'bstack:options': {
    buildName: 'bstack-demo 123',
  }
}

Option 2: Set the buildIdentifier as the build number or time of the required build as seen on the dashboard:

exports.config = {
  //..
  services: [
      ['browserstack', {
          buildIdentifier: '123',
          // ..
      }]
  ],
  //...
  commonCapabilities: {
    'bstack:options': {
      buildName: 'bstack-demo',
    }
  }
};

Do you want to enable/disable auto-marking of test status and session?

The sessionName and sessionStatus are the names of your test sessions and status of your test sessions respectively. They are automatically picked from your test class/spec names and statuses. They do not need to be set manually when using the BrowserStack SDK. To override the sessionName and sessionStatus capabilities, use the following in your browserstack.yml file:

You can configure local testing to start without initializing the BrowserStack binary, or even with an existing binary using a local identifier

testContextOptions:
    skipSessionName: true
    skipSessionStatus: true

Use additional debugging features

By default, BrowserStack provides prettified session logs, screenshots on every failed selenium command, and a video of the entire test. Additionally, you can enable the following features:

Use App Percy Visual Testing

App Percy is an all-in-one visual testing and review platform enabling teams to automate visual tests, detect visual bugs, and provide valuable insights into UI changes.

Note: percyCaptureMode takes effect only if you set percy to true. If you set the capture mode to manual, ensure you use the Percy Screenshot function in your test script.

Update configuration file with selected capabilities

Copy the following code snippet and add it to your configuration file of your test suite.

Copy

Use our Capability Generator to select from a comprehensive set of options you can use to customize your tests.

You can also pass regular expressions (regex) in deviceName and platformVersion capabilities if your device selection is more flexible. Check out how to use regular expressions to specify device attributes.

Run your test suite

Your test suite is now ready to run on BrowserStack. Use the commands defined in your package.json file to run the tests.

To find out the location of the BrowserStack SDK log files, refer to BrowserStack SDK Log Files. If you are looking for more information, see FAQ documentation.

After you run your test, visit the App Automate dashboard to view your test results.

Advanced features and use cases

Here’s a list of features and capabilities you may find useful.

Accept insecure certificates

The acceptInsecureCerts capability suppresses warning about self-signed certificates usually found in staging environments.

Capability	Expected values
`acceptInsecureCerts`	A boolean. Default is `False`. `True` if you want to accept all SSL certificates.

Change device orientation

The deviceOrientation capability changes the default mobile screen orientation for your tests on BrowserStack infra.

If the parameter is set at the root level, its applicable to all the devices in the test.
If you wish to apply it to a specific device, set it at the platform level which has the device details.

Capability	Description	Expected values
`deviceOrientation`	Set the orientation of your app before beginning your test	A string. Default orientation is `portrait`. Supported orientations: `portrait` and `landscape`.

Simulate IP geolocation

The geoLocation capability lets you test your app across different countries.

Note that this capability is supported on the Enterprise plan only. You can contact sales to get an Enterprise plan for your account.

Capability	Description	Expected values
`geoLocation`	Set the country code you want your test to detect	A string. An ISO 2 country code `FR` for France, `CN` for China Check out the complete list of 45+ countries we support.

Simulate network conditions

The networkProfile capability lets you test your app under different network conditions.

Capability	Description	Expected values
`networkProfile`	Set the network profile to start the test with	A string. `2g-gprs-good`, `4g-lte-advanced-lossy` Check out the complete list of all pre-defined network profiles under `device features` section.

Others

Following are a few additional links to documentation pages that might help with your test scenarios:

Troubleshooting

Here’s a list of troubleshooting options you may find useful.

Resigned Apps and Third-Party Library Integration Issues

Uploading an unsigned version of an Android app will require us to sign it with our certificates before installing it on our devices. In the same manner, any uploaded .aab files will be converted into a universal APK and signed with our certificates.
If BrowserStack resigns the apps, third-party library integrations such as Google Firebase services, Google Maps SDK, Facebook SDK, etc., may not function properly if the use of API keys is restricted based on the SHA-1 certificate fingerprint of the app’s signing key.
To prevent this issue, it’s recommended to sign the APK with your own certificates before uploading it to BrowserStack.

Disabling Re-Signing for iOS Apps

If you upload an iOS app, we will re-sign the app with our own provisioning profile to be able to install your app on our devices during test execution.
However, if your app is signed using the Apple Developer Enterprise Program, you can disable this behavior to test features such as push notifications on BrowserStack devices.

Capability	Expected values
`resignApp`	A boolean. To disable re-signing, set the `browserstack.resignApp` capability to `false` in your Appium test scripts.

Next steps

Once you have successfully integrated your test suite with BrowserStack, you might want to check the following:

Generate a list of capabilities that you want to use in tests
Find information about your Projects, Builds and Sessions using our REST APIs
Set up your CI/CD: Jenkins, Bamboo, TeamCity, Azure, CircleCI, TravisCI.

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