Caveats/setup notes for running pytest with Jenkins on Windows 2012 R2 server

I've been writing test code in Python for the last few weeks.  Although it's been great to have Perl and Java as my predominant testing languages, it is nice to try a new scripting language on for size.

I first used Python on Linux and this last week - due to testing requirements - I needed to use it on Windows.

Python Installation :

Installing Python is pretty straightforward. Go to python.org. and download it. Installation is very easy.

After the install, I needed to add the Python to the System Path.

Pip and Pytest Installation :

Pip seemed a little different to install -vs- Linux. With Linux I could install with yum and call pip directly. To use Pip on Windows I had to call it through Python first

Installing Pytest then required me calling Python to call pip and then install PyTest. See below:

python -m pip install pytest

With Pytest installed I needed to incorporate it into my Python test class:

1) Import PyTest in the Python script using : import pytest.
2) Use an assert statement for test results.
3) Place the test statements in a test method (def testSomething(): )  For the tests to work correctly with JUnit output I needed to put the asserts in a test method.
4) Create JUnit output for Jenkins. When I did run my basic test class without outputting to an XML file it seemed to work just fine, but if I wanted to get results to Jenkins I needed to get an XML file for Jenkins to read.
5) Once I solved the above issues I needed to make sure a JUnit XML file was created. This is how I called it below:

python -m pytest scripts\CheckMSIBuildStatus.py --junitxml=results.xml

Running a java test class in a maven project on the command line

Sometimes I need to write a quick one-off Java test class against a developer's maven project or class within a maven project.

Easy to do locally on my Mac but my Mac is not a production environment.

In this case this necessitates that I run this test class on a remote machine (UNIX or Windows) where I'd rather not setup a full development environment and most likely have command line access.

Given a minimal production environment the requirements are : I can compile the developer's class, supporting classes and libraries, my test class, and then test the resulting service; in this case a small micro service the developer created.

Pre-requisites, in my case, needed on the remote machine are :

1) Java

2) GIT

3) Maven

4) If needed, the service deployed and running under systemd. 

Once I have the first three components installed, I clone the GIT repository and then try to build the maven project, usually with a mvn clean install -Dmaven.test.skip=true.

If I have any dependencies to this project, I try to use a library manager referenced in a settings.xml file under .m2 (like Artifactory) to make the project compile.

If this succeeds, I try to compile my stand-alone test class. Since I'd rather not run the developer's unit integration tests I run this command :

mvn install -DskipTests

This allows my class to compile. If this works I then I run this command :

mvn exec:java -Dexec.mainClass="com.[path to my test class].[my test class name]" -Dexec.classpathScope=test -e

Running this command allowed me to launch the Java driver program that then - in this case - created a new instance of the developer's monitor class that would run in it's own Thread through Runnable, which I could subsequently test.