Managing Testing Tools for DevOps

Code Testing in DevOps

A central theme to all DevOps teams is testing. No matter where you are in the DevOps lifecycle, you will see a place for automated testing. Through automation, you can run tests continuously. 

In the Waterfall project management deployment model, testing is a phase or event that happens after code is written. With DevOps, testing is at every stage of the program. Issues in the code, environment, and data flow are caught quickly and can be retested immediately.

In addition to the testing tools built into many of the DevOps tools on this list, you will also find standalone testing tools. The most popular Testing Tools for DevOps are:

• Selenium (https://www.selenium.dev/) - the leading Open Source testing tool for DevOps
• Appium (http://appium.io/) - Open Source Testing Tools specifically designed for mobile apps
• SoapUI (https://www.soapui.org/) - testing tools for SOAP and REST APIs 
• Vagrant (https://www.vagrantup.com/) - testing tool for Virtual Machines
• Buddy (https://buddy.works/) - a very easy to use testing tool that can be set up in minutes
• TestRail (https://www.gurock.com/testrail/) - scalable web-based test case management

All of the tools above have common integration with your DevOps environment. They will work with the following:

• Integrate with Git repositories for code testing
• Will work with Docker and other Containers
• Execute with concurrent pipelines to speed up testing
• Can scale with virtual RAM and CPU
• Will work with Cloud and Local DevOps environments

The goal with each of these DevOps testing tools is to continually monitor your code, your network, and your security. Issues are immediately identified when they occur and will then be reported back to the DevOps team.

Code Management in DevOps

There are tools you will use to manage your code. GitHub and GitLab are two popular code repository services, but there are many others. The goal for any code repository is to two-fold:

• Store code for the team
• Validate that the code works

Storing code for a team to work with makes sense. You want your team to share code easily with each other. 

Many test scripts to validate code check-in must be run in tandem with code check-in for an effective CI/CD model to execute as many tests as possible. Code management tools let you create these. The goal is to ensure from the “get-go” that the code and environment are continuously approved. 

Any errors in code by a single developer will be immediately returned. The code the developer is working on will not be confirmed until the code passes all tests. The benefit of this model is that other developers on the team can be assured that the code they are working is reliable and that the code itself is already validated before it goes to deployment.

Code Deployment in DevOps

Central to the DevOps cycle is deployment. Deployment is the stage when the developer hands the code to the operations team. There are many tools you can use to manage this stage, but two leading DevOps test tools are:

• Jenkins (https://www.jenkins.io/)
• CruiseControl (http://cruisecontrol.sourceforge.net/)

Both tools come equipped with extensive integration with testing. At this critical stage, you want to make sure the container with the packaged code does work. Leveraging the testing in deployment tools is a final step to validate that the code will work in production and to open the gates for dozens of successful deployments each day. 

Team Communication

Communication on any team is critical. As you might expect, testing in the DevOps world also requires effective communication. For your team, there are two ways in which information from systems and tools can interact with the team:

• Sprint Tracking
• Communication

Tools such as Jira (https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira) from Atlassian are designed for Agile and DevOps teams to sprint forward. An often unlooked component to Jira is the integration the tool has with other agents. Jenkins, test management, and QA tools can be connected to Jira through plugins. Rules can be written so that when specific tasks are updated, then automatic testing and QA tests can run before the task can be closed.

Besides, you can extend communication tools such as Slack and Microsoft Teams with plugins. For instance, packages can be sent to Jenkins directly from the chat window in Slack. Confirmation for the action will be sent back by Jenkins to Slack. The result is that the whole team knows that Jenkins has completed the work without sending a single email message.

Preparing to get certified as a DevOps professional? Try answering these DevOps Engineer MCQs and assess your understanding of the concepts!

Next Steps

As can be seen, testing should be all stages of your DevOps lifecycle. From team formation through to network management. There are many more testing tools apart from DevOps, listed above. Now is the time to experiment and see which agents work best for you and your teams. The goal is always the same: CI/CD.

Simplilearn can provide you with job preparation for using these testing tools through our Blended Learning programs in DevOps. If you are a DevOps engineer or aspire to become one, you should prepare from the DevOps Certification Training Course or just the DevOps Engineer Master's Program and leverage testing tools to their full potential.