The primary goal of CI/CD (Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery) in API testing is to automate the verification process, ensuring that APIs are functional and ready for production before deployment. With continuous integration, we can automatically execute functional tests whenever modifications are made to API definitions, allowing for the early detection of potential issues.
Apidog supports integration with various CI/CD platforms, including Jenkins, GitLab, and GitHub Actions. You can find integration code snippets in the CI/CD module of automated testing in Apidog. By adding these snippets to your CI/CD workflow, you can seamlessly incorporate Apidog automated testing into your existing CI/CD processes.
This article primarily focuses on integrating Apidog automated testing with Jenkins, detailing the specific steps involved.
Step 1: Install Jenkins
You can refer to the official Jenkins documentation for installation instructions tailored to different operating systems.
Once installed, you can acce ss the Jenkins visual interface through http://{your-public-IP}:8080.
Configure Jenkins for Apidog CLI Command Execution
Configure Node.js Environment
Install the NodeJS Plugin
From the Jenkins management page, click on “Manage Jenkins,” then select “Manage Plugins” to enter the plugin management page.
Under the “Available” tab, search for the NodeJS plugin, install it, and restart Jenkins.
Configure NodeJS and Global npm Packages.
After the NodeJS plugin is installed, return to the “Manage Jenkins” page and select “Tools” to access the global configuration tools page.
Locate the NodeJS module, click “Add NodeJS,” then enter a NodeJS alias (e.g., nodejs18), select a NodeJS version (must be greater than v14.20.1), and enter Apidog-cli in “Global npm packages to install.”
Check the “Install automatically” option to ensure the package is installed during the build process; then save your settings.
Create a Continuous Integration Pipeline
There are two methods to build a pipeline in Jenkins to achieve continuous integration: Pipeline and Freestyle Project. Below are the details for both methods.
1: Building a Pipeline
Create a Pipeline Project: On the Jenkins homepage, click “New Item,” enter a project name, select “Pipeline,” and click “OK.”
2. Configure the Pipeline:
In the project configuration page, locate the “Pipeline” option and select “Pipeline script” from the “Definition” dropdown menu.
Enter the following Pipeline script from Apidog in the Script box and save the configuration.
pipeline {
agent any
tools {nodejs "nodejs18"}
stages {
stage('Install Apidog CLI') {
steps {
sh 'npm install -g apidog-cli'
}
}
stage('Running Test Scenario') {
steps {
sh 'apidog run --access-token $APIDOG_ACCESS_TOKEN -t 605067 -e 1629989 -n 1 -r html,cli'
}
}
}
}This Pipeline script is available in the CI/CD module in Apidog Automated Testing.
The above Pipeline script can be simplified to something like this by removing the script that installs the Apidog CLI so that you don't need to install apidog-cli every time you perform a build, thus reducing build time and resource consumption. This is because the NodeJS and global npm packages (i.e. apidog-cli) are preconfigured in the Global Tools configuration, which ensures that the installed tools can be used directly during the build process.
pipeline {
agent any
tools {nodejs "nodejs18"}
stages {
stage('Running Test Scenario') {
steps {
sh 'apidog run --access-token $APIDOG_ACCESS_TOKEN -t 605067 -e 1629989 -n 1 -r html,cli'
}
}
}
}If you are using the newer version of the CI/CD command, which has a variable on the command line. You need to replace the variable $APIDOG_ACCESS_TOKEN with your actual available Access Token in your code. you can also add an environment variable called $APIDOG_ACCESS_TOKEN in Jenkins' “Dashboard -> Manage Jenkins -> System” and set its value to your Access Token. in Jenkins' “Dashboard -> Manage Jenkins -> System” and set its value to your Access Token, so that the system will be able to read your Access Token when executing the pipeline.
3. Execute the Build
On the project page, click “Build Now” to start the execution pipeline.
You can view the progress and results of a build in the Build History.
Building a Freestyle Project
- Create a Freestyle Project
On the Jenkins homepage, click “New Item,” enter the project name, select “Freestyle project,” and click “OK.”
2. Configure Build Environment
In the project configuration page, under the “Build Environment” section, check “Provide Node & npm bin/ folder to PATH,” and select the NodeJS version you configured earlier (e.g., nodejs18).
3. Add Build Steps
After setting the build environment, navigate to the “Build Steps” section, click “Add build step,” and select “Execute Shell” (or “Execute Windows Batch Command” if on a Windows server).
Paste the Apidog CLI commands into the provided field and save your settings.
4. Execute the Build
Click "Build Now" on the project page to start the build process.
Step 4: Sending Build Results to Third-Party Applications
The results of CI builds can be sent to third-party applications, such as Feishu or DingTalk. To configure notifications, go to Apidog’s Project Settings -> Notification Settings -> External Notification, where you can set up the desired notification events.
Frequently Asked Questions
- If there is a file in the interface that needs to be uploaded, how do I get that file at build time?
You can upload the required files to the machine running the CLI (i.e. the host where Jenkins is running) beforehand, e.g. this image file: images.jpg, by copying down the path to it.
Navigate to the API in Apidog that needs the file upload and click the “Bulk Edit” button.
Enter the file path to the uploaded file in the "Parameter Value" field, so that it automatically retrieves the actual file during the build.
In addition, you can put the path to the file in the “Initate value” of the environment variable.
Then in “Bulk Edit”, you can refer to the file path by variable, so that you can also get the actual file by the file path when you build it.
2. How to set up a timed build in Jenkins?
Apidog currently supports the use of timed tasks, please refer to the “Running Functional Tests Regularly” module in the help file, which is more friendly and convenient.
If you want to set up timed tasks in Jenkins, you can do it by configuring the “Build Triggers” of the project, and use Unix-like cron expressions to specify the time and frequency of the build.
On the Jenkins project configuration page, find the “Build Triggers” module, check the “Build periodically” option, and in the text box that appears, enter a cron expression to define the build time and frequency. In the text box that appears, enter a cron expression to define the time and frequency of the build, we won't go into details about the use of corn expressions here.
Conclusion
This guide outlines how to integrate Apidog automated testing with Jenkins. Regardless of the chosen build method, ensure that the Apidog CLI is installed beforehand, either by automatic installation during the build or by pre-installation on the Jenkins host (using the command npm install -g Apidog-cli).
