Jenkins: An Introduction to Continuous Integration

Jenkins, a well known, popular continuous integration tool had a humble begining. It was known as Hudson server back then and was renamed as Jenkins by the open source community.

Jenkins is popularly used to implement continuous integration in projects.


Download and Install Jenkins

1. Install tomcat in the local system
2. Download the latest version on jenkins war from Jenkins Home page
3. Do a hot deployment on the tomcat.
4. Navigate to localhost:8080/jenkins.

Configure Jenkins Security

Jenkins has different configurations for security - authentication and authorisation.
Navigate Manage Jenkins-->Configure Global Security
1. LDAP
2. Jenkins Own User db
3. Unix User group.

Depending on the environment select anyone of the security realm and configure users and roles.

Configure Plugins
Jenkins has rich set of plugins that comes built in with it. Also there are umpteen number of external plugins that is part of the Jenkins.

These plugins are easy to configure and install.
Navigate Manage Jenkins-->Manage Plugins

1. Depending upon the Projects technical stack we can choose the compatible plugins and install them.

Coming up next in the series
1. Configure win-slave
2. Creation of jobs

Test Automation Framework

Automation!!!!! framework!!! maintainence!!!!!!ROI!!!! …. These are the terms generally heard by many automation specialists in their day to day activity. In this post I would like to discuss on what exactly these terms mean and I appreciate additional information from the fellow bloggers on this topic
First, Automation as name suggests automation in testing jargon means zero manual intervention. Many testers are mislead by this techinal word and think that anything and everything can be automated and they can happily take rest thinking that automation is taking care of everything. This kind of thinking is wrong. Let me explain what automation is all about.  Automation is duplicating the manual testing work through a tool. It has got some rules to be followed else it will be a headache for a tester
The basic thumb rules for automation are .. 100%  Automation is not possible – practically. Rule number two.. Automation should only be done when the product attained stability in terms of functionality, perfomance and behaviour. Rule number three automation should be done only when there are many  regression cycles.
These three rules are very important in determining whether one can proceed to automate an appliation.
Coming to Framework, a term thats used very frequently has a very important role to play in automation. Framework  actually means  the strategy, method, rules or policy that are proposed for automation. It doesnt mean any files, folder structure etc. Framework  may vary depending on the type of tools the tester use.  Designing a Framework means designing a strategy, rules, method  before proceeding to developing scripts.  Generally framework can be categorized into 3 types
 1. Keyword Driven
2. DataDriven
3. Hybrid Framework
Keyword Driven Framework deals with keywords. Keywords are functions used to perform an action. For Example
Login
Navigate
Validate
Logout
The above mentioned functions are keywords that are used to perform series of actions. This is the essence of Keyword driven framework
DataDriven Framework deals with loads of data. In this framework a data driver file exists that inputs data to the script. This data can be test data or object data(Object properties). The whole framework depends on data driver script
Hybrid Framework is a combination of keyword and data driven framework. It uses keywords and data driver scripts.
Now the important aspect of Automation is maintainence time. What is the time required to maintain and fix the scripts for errors. Maintainence time of the scripts should be a minimum as possible so that the lapse in execution is prevented. For  minimal maintainence the framework should be foolproof.  Maintainence is dependent on Framework.
Let us take a scenario to explain the dependency. Let us say after first cycle of regression of some 70 scripts, the login page changed and now has 3 text inputs instead of two.  Now if your framework cant handle this change with minimum changes then the maintainence and fix time for the 70 scripts will increase many folds thereby pushing forward the release cycle.  Seeing the other side of this if the framework handles this change with minimum code change, maintainence time would be lesser than it would be in the earlier case.
Now coming the term most managers use knowingly or unknowingly is ROI. ROI is  Return on Investment.
 Companies spend lot of money on Automation tool and obviously look for returns from that tool. In my opinion, I may be wrong, ROI is linked with time. One cant expect ROI immediately after buying the tool.

MTB Trail Ride at Narsapur, Medak

This is my first MTB Trail ride at Narsapur forest area, Medak. I did the trail with my Rockrider 5.0.

The alarm in my cell rang and I woke up with a sudden jerk. I was alone in my flat and for a moment the environment was like the horror movie of RGV. The time was 3:45 AM and it is time for MTB ride at Narsapur. I got to know about this ride from facebook and TBA(where I bought RR5.0), I immediately voted in and was ready with all the pre-requisites like 5 star bars, helmet, glove, tubes and puncture kit. I removed the front tyre of my bike and loaded the bike in my car and left to the TBA shop at Kondapur, Hyderabad. It was 4:20 AM and to my surprise I was the first to come. I switched off the engine opened the tinted glass to half and took a short nap. It was around 4:40 AM when I heard another car came to screaching halt beside mine. I was too lazy to look who was there and went to sleep. After 10mins I woke up and realized that some more came and were waiting for the organiser (Krishnendu Basu). He came after five minutes and after all the checking and introduction we loaded the bikes into TATA ACE and left to Narsapur near Medak. I was the only person in the entire group of 12 riding Rockrider 5.0. I was apprehensive about this as my bike didnt have front shocks which is very much necessary for MTB rides.

The clock clicked around 6:00 AM and we reached the destination. We waited for the rest of the group to join and started the ride at about 6:40 AM. I was literally scared to hell when I was riding on the muddy, rocky terrain. I was very uncomfortable at the begining and cursed myself for opting in though I didnot show the emotions on my face  . I was riding slowly and was trailing behind the main group with only one rider behind me. As the time passed by I gained confidence and started peddling hard. I gained good speeds at the cost of my wrists. They started paining. We turned back at around 10:30 AM and returned to the starting point. Here I had a fall... There was a hard left and I tried to bend my cycle(like people do with their bikes), I was at good speed and the front tyre slipped and I fell. The left shoe sole gave away and luckily nothing happened to my already paining wrists. Thanks to the gloves. We reached TBA at 1:00 PM . Overall it was pretty good experience

Tadikalapudi Trek

14 members from Deccan Trekkers have successfully completed DT's trek in Thadikkalpudi hill range.
This was my second trek with DeccanTrekkers and was prepared thoroughly for it. I had previous experience of Valley of Flowers trek but soon I found that past experience is not much of use when it comes to this trek.


DAY 1

First, I need to buy a sleeping mat which I should say is handy when there is night camp. The sleeping mat, I would say is an industrial scrap costing around 50/- a meter. I bought it at Autopack traders in Fatehnagar, thanks to my colleague who accompanied me to the shop.
I started to pack on the evening of our journey and it took around 1hr to pack my things and the heaviest of them was 8 litres of water ( for 2 days!)

We (14 of us) took Machilipatnam Exp from Secunderabad.

DAY 2

We reached Tadikalapudi at 4.15 in the morning. We rested at the station for a while before we started off to trek.
We started our walk from the station at dawn around 6 AM and kept walking through lovely cotton and paddy fields. I saw the orange morning sun - something which I hadn't seen in a while :) .
We walked couple of hills and came to a hill where the actual path starts. It looked puny to us, but no one had an idea of what it had in store for us. We met one of the villagers on a bullock cart (which was in itself a rare instance - the first and the last time we ever saw humans in the trek!) who suggested to us to take a path a little further away to cross the hill. We ignored his suggestion, and took the nearest 'route' right in front of us. By the time we reached the peak, I started sweating heavily and we all needed rest. So much for this 'tiny' hill!

Having climbed down this hill, which in itself was an ordeal with lots of thorns (trousers protected me from the thorns) , we then reached the plains and our walk became easier. We reached the base of a taller mountain around 8 and settled for breakfast near a stream. A hundred grams of corn flakes with soya milk was all we had for breakfast
We then started our ascent through the pass between a couple of hills. Our mission was the head of the stream, where we were planning to cool off with a possible bath and a swim. The ascent was smooth at first, and then became rocky. Climbing became difficult, but I was able to manage rather well, usually among the first few in the group. We crisscrossed the stream, and the weather was also perfect during this time (still morning at around 10 AM).
Somehow, in the next half hour or so, we lost the stream, and the land became kindof barren, with just dry grass and fewer trees. Combined with the hotter sun (the season being almost summer), trekking became difficult with more dehydration. I started sweating more.....

A word has to be said about our leaders. None in the group had any idea where we were going, and simply followed Ravi and Raghu. Both these guys knew this place (this was their third trip here) and often asked the group to rest while they ventured out in the sun to explore routes when they were not sure of the path to take. And yet, they continued to climb with ease! Where did these guys get their stamina from???

The group as a whole started taking more frequent breaks till lunch. Then came the search for a lunch point. We couldn't find a single area with a shade for around half an hour. Then came two smaller such areas, where we split in two and accommodated ourselves. Five chapathis with rajma and channa masala was our lunch. We stayed there for an hour and half (a few even slept).
Thinking we would all be energized post lunch, we resumed our trek - only to rest in another ten minutes :) . We had reached the peak of a 400m high hill and agreed to find the nearest decent plain area to retire for the night. Ten minutes later we found a good spot; but Ravi was still reluctant. "Our original resting point is atop that peak", and he pointed to the top of a adjacent hill 600m tall ("peak 2075" - which measured 2075 feet)! To reach there, we had to descend the peak we were on and ascend the other one.

"Come on guys, it's just 1 km!" Yeah.. if we jump down straight, break our heads and then climb up straight! Otherwise, easily more than 2-3 kms, if we were to properly get down and then up. The group managed to convince Ravi to calm himself down and rest for the night :) . We then prepared the spot - flattened the grass, spread out our sleeping mats atop plastic sheets, and prepared a fire for dinner after collecting dried wood, and removing all the grass off a 2m wide circle. (The last thing we wanted in that scorching heat was a forest fire that we triggered).

I was so tired that I felt asleep. I really had a good sleep though it lasted only for an hour or so...

After sunset, we began our dinner prep - a pack of noodles each for most people on a kadai.People left with so little water that initially we had to share maggie among us. We were really meticulous in using water for maggie.
Some of them had chapati and rajma masala.We noticed a couple of forest fires - one, on peak 2075, was composed of two magnificently bright lines tapering towards each other, and the other on our peak (the fire itself was not visible, but the fumes were). This was what really scared us - we did not know if and when this fire would hit us, and were told to pack up our stuff and be ready to start descending if we actually saw the fire. However, I and most others slept rather soundly, believing that it wouldn't hit us. It was my birthday ( I mean, my bday vanished in thin air as the coming day is 1st of March, where did 29th Feb go...)

DAY 3

Sure enough, as the night got cold, the forest fires disappeared - and when we awoke the next day at 5 AM, they were no longer there. We started our descent at 530 AM - the descent was tougher than the ascent since we usually do not use our hands during descent for grip (we would be on all fours throughout the descent if we did :) ) and had to rely on trees, and consequently I fell down twice. Thankfully we reached the base by 730 AM well before the shadows left.
We moved on near the breakfast point, and after freshening up, walked towards the station. We were there by 11 AM and took a passenger train to Bhadrachalam by 12. We were there at Bhadrachalam Road by 1230 AM, and took a dorm. Most of us were truly relieved to see a town with facilities that we usually take for granted :) . After a good lunch, most of us went to the Ram temple there (35 kms away from the station), Badrachalam. After idling around for the rest of the day, we had dinner and boarded the train to Secunderabad.

I am looking forward for the next trip and this time probably a hillstation

Moi First Post

Hi all.....

This is my first post in Blogger.com............ hurray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!