Parallel Execution of Appium Tests using Selenium Grid

Selenium Grid

Selenium-Grid allows running your tests on different machines against different (browsers/devices) in parallel. That is, running multiple tests at the same time against different machines running different browsers and operating systems.

When to use selenium grid:

Generally speaking, there are two reasons why you might want to use Selenium-Grid.

To run your tests on multiple devices having different configurations or running different mobile operating systems like ANDROID/IOS.
To reduce the time it takes for the test suite to complete a test pass.

Prerequisites for Selenium Grid Configuration

Ensure that Java is already installed in your machine and configured
Ensure selenium/Appium is configured properly
Know the path of Selenium-Standalone Jar

Start Selenium Grid Server

Open terminal
Navigate to the location/folder in terminal using the command
cd /Users/Desktop/SeleniumGrid
Then start the grid using the command

 Java –jar selenium-standalone-server-3.7.0.jar –role hub

JSON Files

JSON files are required to read data from a configuration file related to different devices.

Below mentioned are the sample JSON files.

To create JSON file --->open any text editor --->add below mentioned data—and save ---> rename file to .json as extension

Sample JSON file For Device 1 : (File name:- nodeConfigDevice1.json)

{
  "capabilities": [
    {
      "browserName": "Samsung S9",
      "version": "8.0.1",
      "maxInstances": 1,
      "platform": "ANDROID",
      "deviceName": "b112212"
    }
  ],
  "configuration": {
    "cleanUpCycle": 2000,
    "timeout": 30000,
    "proxy": "org.openqa.grid.selenium.proxy.DefaultRemoteProxy",
    "host": "127.0.0.1",
    "port": 4723,
    "maxSession": 1,
    "register": true,
    "registerCycle": 10000,
    "hubPort": 4444,
    "hubHost": "127.0.0.1"
  }
}

Sample For Device 2:- (File Name:-NodeConfigDevice2.json)

{
  "capabilities": [
    {
      "browserName": "Pixel 2XL",
      "version": "9.0",
      "maxInstances": 1,
      "platform": "ANDROID",
      "deviceName": "192.168.0.23:5555"
    }
  ],
  "configuration": {
    "cleanUpCycle": 2000,
    "timeout": 30000,
    "proxy": "org.openqa.grid.selenium.proxy.DefaultRemoteProxy",
    "host": "127.0.0.1",
    "port": 4723,
    "maxSession": 1,
    "register": true,
    "registerCycle": 10000,
    "hubPort": 4444,
    "hubHost": "127.0.0.1"
  }
}

Parallel device execution

Create a sample.xml file for parallel device execution

<suite name="SmokeSuite" verbose="1" parallel="tests" thread-count="5">
    <!-- <listeners> <listener class-name="org.uncommons.reportng.HTMLReporter" 

  /> <listener class-name="org.uncommons.reportng.JUnitXMLReporter" /> </listeners> -->
    <tests>
        <test name="run on device 1">
            <classes>
                <parameter name="port" value="4723" />
                <parameter name="device" value="8775bef9"></parameter>
                <class name="BDD_OwnersAPP.desiredCapabilities"></class>
            </classes>
        </test>
        <test name="run on device 2">
            <classes>
                <parameter name="port" value="4725"></parameter>
                <parameter name="device" value="192.168.56.101:5555 "></parameter>
                <parameter name="bp" value="4728"></parameter>
                <class name="BDD_OwnersAPP.desiredCapabilities"></class>
            </classes>
        </test>
    </tests>
</suite>

Sample Java code to read .xml file:

@Parameters({
    "port",
    "device"})

public void forDeviceOne() throws MalformedURLException, InterruptedException {

    String port = "";

    String device = "";

    final File appDir = new File("/Users/path/to/the/app");

    final File app = new File(appDir, "Test_App.apk");

    final DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();

    capabilities.setCapability("deviceName", "Samsung S9+");

    capabilities.setCapability("udid", "b112121");

    capabilities.setCapability("udid", device);

    capabilities.setCapability("platformVersion", "8.0.1");

    capabilities.setCapability("platformName", "Android");

    capabilities.setCapability("app", app.getAbsolutePath());

    capabilities.setCapability("appPackage", "com.test.app");

    capabilities.setCapability("appActivity", "com.test.app.Activity");

    driver = new AndroidDriver < MobileElement > (new URL("http://127.0.0.1:" + port + "/wd/hub"), capabilities);

    wait = new WebDriverWait(driver, 20);

    System.out.println("Initialize: " + driver);

}

Procedure to Start Grid and Appium Server for parallel execution:

To start Selenium Grid please follow above-mentioned steps & ensure corresponding devices on which you are trying to start the scripts are connected Note:- Here the scripts are running simultaneously at 2 places i.e. (Real device) & (Emulator)
Now start the Appium server for device 1
Open a new terminal and type in below mentioned commands to start the server

appium -a 127.0.0.1 -p 4726 --bootstrap-port 4729 -U b112212 --nodeconfig /Users/Desktop/nodeConfigDevice1.json
                                                              OR
appium -p 4726 --nodeconfig /Users//Desktop/nodeConfigDevice1.json

Now start the Appium server for device 2

Open a new terminal and type in below mentioned commands to start the server

appium -a 127.0.0.1 -p 4723 --bootstrap-port 4729 -U 192.168.0.23:5555 --nodeconfig /Users/Desktop/nodeConfigDevice2.json
                                                              OR
appium -p 4723 --nodeconfig /Users//Desktop/nodeConfigDevice2.json

Run the test Script

Below mentioned is the command in the selenium grid to ensure that data is cleared before the start of every scenario:

appium -a 127.0.0.1 -p 4723 --full-reset --bootstrap-port 4728 -U b112212 --nodeconfig /Users/Desktop/nodeConfigDevice1.json

Full Reset Capability:

It stops the app and clears app data and uninstalls the app before the start of each scenario.

No Reset Capability

It does not stops the app and does not clear the app data and doesn't even uninstall the app.
Refer to the link for Reset capability reference.