7 Steps to Set Up a Selenium Automation Testing Environment – A Comprehensive Guide 2023

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Steps to Set Up a Selenium Automation Testing Environment

Selenium Automation Testing Environment: In the rapidly evolving software development industry, automated testing has emerged as an indispensable component of the development lifecycle. With the ability to detect issues early on and expedite testing cycles, automation testing has become an essential tool for developers. Among the plethora of automation testing tools available, Selenium has garnered significant popularity due to its flexibility, ease of use, and open-source nature.

However, configuring a Selenium automation testing environment can be daunting, particularly for novice developers. In this article, we will present a comprehensive guide comprising seven critical steps to establish a Selenium automation testing environment from the ground up. Irrespective of your level of expertise, whether a beginner or a seasoned developer, this guide will provide valuable insights to streamline your testing process and set you on the path to successful Selenium automation testing.

7 Steps to Set Up a Selenium Automation Testing Environment

Selenium with Java is the most commonly used combination worldwide, hence we will use this combination to set up the Selenium Automation Testing Environment in this blog.

Here are the seven steps to set up a Selenium automation testing environment:

1.   Install Java Development Kit (JDK)

The first step is to download and install the Java Development Kit (JDK) on your computer. Make sure to select the appropriate version that is compatible with your operating system. JDK includes the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and development tools required to develop, compile and run Java programs.

To install JDK, follow these steps:

  1. Go to the Oracle JDK download page (https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase-downloads.html).
  2. Select the appropriate version of JDK for your operating system and download the installer.
  3. Run the installer and follow the installation instructions.

Once installed, set the JAVA_HOME environment variable to the JDK installation directory. This is required for your operating system to locate the Java executable files.

Here’s an example of setting the JAVA_HOME environment variable on a Windows system:

  1. Open Control Panel > System and Security > System > Advanced system settings.
  2. Click the Environment Variables button.
  3. In the System Variables section, click the New button.
  4. Enter “JAVA_HOME” in the Variable name field.
  5. Enter the path to the JDK installation directory in the Variable value field. For example, C:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.8.0_281
  6. Click OK to save the environment variable.

After installing JDK and setting the JAVA_HOME environment variable, you can verify the installation by opening a command prompt and typing “java -version” to see the installed version of Java. If the command is not recognized, check that the JAVA_HOME environment variable is correctly set.

2. Download and Install Eclipse

Eclipse is an open-source integrated development environment (IDE) widely used for Java development. It provides features such as code editing, debugging, and version control, making it an ideal IDE for developing Selenium tests. To install Eclipse, follow these steps:

  1. Go to the Eclipse download page (https://www.eclipse.org/downloads/) and select the appropriate version of Eclipse for your operating system.
  2. Download the installer and run it.
  3. Choose “Eclipse IDE for Java Developers” as the package to install and select the appropriate version.
  4. Choose the installation directory and start the installation.
  5. Once installed launch Eclipse.

After launching Eclipse, you can create a new Java project by selecting “File” > “New” > “Java Project” from the menu. Give your project a name and select the appropriate JDK version. You can also configure Eclipse to work with Selenium by installing the Selenium plugin. To install the plugin, follow these steps:

  1. Open Eclipse and select “Help” > “Eclipse Marketplace” from the menu.
  2. In the search bar, enter “Selenium” and press Enter.
  3. Select “Selenium IDE” from the search results and click “Install”.
  4. Follow the installation wizard to complete the installation.

After installing the Selenium plugin, you can use the Selenium IDE to record and play back Selenium tests. Additionally, you can use Eclipse to write, debug, and execute Selenium tests using the Selenium WebDriver API.

3. Download Selenium WebDriver

A WebDriver is a tool that allows Selenium to control the browser. Each browser has a specific WebDriver, so you need to download and install the appropriate WebDriver for the browser you want to automate.

To download and install a WebDriver, follow these steps:

  1. Go to the official Selenium website (https://www.selenium.dev/downloads/) and download the latest version of the WebDriver for your browser. For example, if you want to automate Chrome, download the ChromeDriver.
  2. Extract the downloaded file to a directory of your choice.
  3. Add the directory to your system PATH environment variable so that your operating system can locate the WebDriver executable file.

Here’s an example of setting the PATH environment variable on a Windows system:

  1. Open Control Panel > System and Security > System > Advanced system settings.
  2. Click the Environment Variables button.
  3. In the System Variables section, scroll down and click the Path variable.
  4. Click the Edit button.
  5. Click the New button and enter the path to the directory containing the WebDriver executable file. For example, C:\WebDriver\chromedriver_win32
  6. Click OK to save the environment variable.

After installing the WebDriver and adding it to your system PATH environment variable, you can create a new Selenium test project in Eclipse and write a simple test to verify that everything is set up correctly.

Here’s an example of a simple test that opens a Chrome browser and navigates to the Selenium homepage:

Selenium

If the test runs successfully, you have set up a Selenium automation testing environment using Eclipse and a WebDriver.

4. Download Browser Drivers

Browser drivers allow Selenium WebDriver to interact with different browsers. Each browser requires a specific driver to run Selenium tests. The driver acts as a bridge between the Selenium commands and the browser. You need to download the appropriate driver for the browser you want to automate.

5. Create a New Java Project

Create a new Java project in Eclipse by selecting “File” > “New” > “Java Project.” Give your project a name and select the appropriate JDK version.

To create a new Java project in Eclipse, follow these steps:

  1. Open Eclipse and click File > New > Java Project.
  2. In the New Java Project dialog box, enter a project name, such as “SeleniumTestProject.”
  3. Choose the JRE version you want to use. If you have installed a recent version of the JDK, choose the default JRE.
  4. Click Next.
  5. In the Libraries tab, add the Selenium and WebDriver libraries to the project’s classpath. To do this, click the Add External JARs button and navigate to the location where you downloaded the Selenium and WebDriver JAR files.
  6. Click Finish to create the project.

Here’s an example of adding the Selenium and WebDriver libraries to a new Java project:

  1. Download the latest version of Selenium and WebDriver libraries from the official Selenium website (https://www.selenium.dev/downloads/).
  2. In Eclipse, right-click the project and select Properties.
  3. In the Properties dialog box, click Java Build Path on the left-hand side.
  4. Click the Libraries tab and then click the Add External JARs button.
  5. Navigate to the location where you downloaded the Selenium and WebDriver JAR files and select them.
  6. Click OK to add the JAR files to the project’s classpath.

After creating a new Java project and adding the Selenium and WebDriver libraries to the classpath, you can start writing your Selenium test code in Eclipse.

6. Configure Selenium WebDriver

Once you have created a new Java project and added the Selenium and WebDriver libraries to the classpath, you need to configure the WebDriver to use the desired browser. Here’s how you can configure the WebDriver for different browsers:

Chrome Browser: To use the Chrome browser with Selenium, you need to download the ChromeDriver executable file and set the system property to the location of the file. Here’s an example:

// Set the path to the chromedriver executable file

System.setProperty(“webdriver.chrome.driver”, “C:\\WebDriver\\chromedriver_win32\\chromedriver.exe”);

// Create a new instance of the Chrome driver

WebDriver driver = new ChromeDriver();

Firefox Browser: To use the Firefox browser with Selenium, you need to download the geckodriver executable file and set the system property to the location of the file. Here’s an example:

// Set the path to the geckodriver executable file

System.setProperty(“webdriver.gecko.driver”, “C:\\WebDriver\\geckodriver-v0.28.0-win64\\geckodriver.exe”);

// Create a new instance of the Firefox driver

WebDriver driver = new FirefoxDriver();

Safari Browser: To use the Safari browser with Selenium, you need to enable the Safari driver in the Safari Develop menu. Here’s how to do it:

  1. Open Safari and go to Preferences > Advanced.
  2. Check the box next to the “Show Develop menu in the menu bar.”
  3. In the Safari Develop menu, click “Allow Remote Automation.”

Here’s an example of creating a new instance of the Safari driver in Selenium:

// Create a new instance of the Safari driver

WebDriver driver = new SafariDriver();

Edge Browser: To use the Edge browser with Selenium, you need to download the EdgeDriver executable file and set the system property to the location of the file. Here’s an example:

// Set the path to the EdgeDriver executable file

System.setProperty(“webdriver.edge.driver”, “C:\\WebDriver\\edgedriver_win64\\msedgedriver.exe”);

// Create a new instance of the Edge driver

WebDriver driver = new EdgeDriver();

After configuring the WebDriver for the desired browser, you can start writing your Selenium test code using the WebDriver API to interact with the browser and automate your testing.

7. Write and Run a Test

Write a simple test case to interact with a web page using Selenium WebDriver. Once the test case is written, run it to ensure that Selenium is properly configured and interacting with the browser as expected.

That’s it! By following these seven steps, you can set up a Selenium automation testing environment from scratch and begin automating your testing process. Remember to keep your code clean and maintainable to ensure successful and efficient testing. Happy testing!

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Here’s an example of a Selenium test program that runs on the LambdaTest Selenium grid:

the LambdaTest Selenium

LambdaTest

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Conclusion

Setting up a Selenium automation testing environment may seem like a daunting task at first, but by following these seven steps, you can quickly and easily set up your environment and start automating your testing. Selenium is a powerful tool for automating testing and can save developers time and effort in the testing process. We hope that this guide has helped get you started with Selenium automation testing.

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