Month: April 2020

Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

Test Local And Internal Servers Before Deployment Using Wildnet

Some testing teams set up their own staging environment to test internal servers but as there is no public access which makes it difficult to perform local testing on remote devices. So how would you test your app which can be accessed through your internal network? We launched a feature called Wildnet, that enables you to test private or internal servers using pCloudy. You can test your privately hosted apps on any Android or iOS devices and implement continuous testing to ensure reduced release cycle.
 
Some times testers want to test their internal servers to protecting unsecured data and credentials, hide new features, and general security. But if an app hasn’t been made public, it should not delay testing across environments. When the Wildnet feature is enabled, a secure connection is created between your machine and pCloudy remote devices so you can perform testing even if the devices are connected remotely.

Let’s see how you can test local or private servers using Wildnet.

Prerequisite:
 
User should be registered on pCloudy platform
Executables can be downloaded from below links
 
Linux :
https://content.pcloudy.com/executables/utilities/WildNet_Executables/pCloudyWildNetLinux_v1
 
Windows :
https://content.pcloudy.com/executables/utilities/WildNet_Executables/pCloudyWildNetWindows_v1.exe
 
OSX :
https://content.pcloudy.com/executables/utilities/WildNet_Executables/pCloudyWildNetMac_v1
 
Manual Process to enable Wildnet
 
1. Run the below mentioned executable command on the terminal:
 
For Windows:
.\pCloudyWildNetWindows -i Emailadress –k accesskey -u URL
 
For Mac:
./pCloudyWildNetOSX -i Emailadress –k accesskey -u URL
 
For Linux
./pCloudyWildNetLinux -i Emailadress –k accesskey -u URL
 
Example:
./Win-Wildnet -i sample@test.com -k pass123 -u https://app.pcloudy.com
 
Note: Please use below mentioned URL for-
 
Public cloud(India): https://device.pcloudy.com
 
Public cloud(US) : https://us.pcloudy.com
 
Private cloud: https://private-cloud.pcloudy.com
 
Wildnet Example

Note:

  • This feature will work on all platforms.
  • Once “Wildnet” is enabled, the user can connect more than one device.

    • User will get authenticated as shown in the below screenshot
     
    Test Local Wildnet enabled

    This is how users can initiate Wildnet.
    2. Go to the Device page in pCloudy platform, connect the device and click on Enable Wildnet as shown in the screenshot:
     
    Device page

    Open any local URL that you wish to test and enjoy local testing on pCloudy platform.
     
    Local testing

    3. To disable the service simply run ctrl+c to exit
     
    Wildnet disable

    Activating Wildnet for Appium Automation
     
    1. Run the below mentioned executable command on the terminal:
    For Windows:
    .\pCloudyWildNetWindows -i Emailadress –k accesskey -u URL
     
    For Mac:
    ./pCloudyWildNetOSX -i Emailadress –k accesskey -u URL
     
    For Linux
    ./pCloudyWildNetLinux -i Emailadress –k accesskey -u URL
     
    Example:
    ./Win-Wildnet -i sample@test.com -k pass123 -u https://app.pcloudy.com
     
    Note: Please use below mentioned URL for
     
    Public cloud(India): https://device.pcloudy.com
     
    Public cloud(US): https://us.pcloudy.com
     
    Private cloud: https://private-cloud.pcloudy.com
     
    Wildnet Example

    Note:

  • This feature will work on all platforms.
  • Once “Wildnet” is enabled ,you can connect more than one device.

    • User will get authenticated as shown in the below screenshot
     

    Test Local Wildnet enabled

    2. Once the user is successfully authenticated, they need to add the capability mentioned below, in the Appium automation script.
     
    capabilities.setCapability( “pCloudy_WildNet”, true);
     
    3. Once the capability is added, users can perform local testing on pCloudy devices and verify the execution in live view page.
     
    The most important advantage of Wildnet is that you can be confident about the application as you can rectify all the defects prior to delivery. Try it yourself. Use Wildnet to find more bugs and defects in your internal server before deploying it to production.

    Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    What’s New In pCloudy 5.6?

    pCloudy is committed to delivering the best solutions in mobile app testing and therefore we come up with product updates at regular intervals. This time we are thrilled to announce the release of pCloudy 5.6 with exciting new features to make app testing simpler than ever. Our customers trust us because we believe in exceeding their expectations and add new useful features to enhance the platform’s capabilities. For those who are new to pCloudy, it is a cloud-based continuous testing platform designed to enrich your apps. In this new version of pCloudy, we have addressed the concerns of our users and added new features like Wildnet, Capability configurator, Object spy, and more. Let’s know more about all these features.

    Wildnet

    An application server is accessible only from within your lab and if you want to test your mobile application with that server, you are forced to work within that lab. If you move with the device in hand outside the lab, you will not have access to that server. How do you test such kind of setup using pCloudy? Because if you are using pCloudy, that means the devices are outside your network. The answer is Wildnet.
    wildnet ss
    This feature enables our users to test private or internal servers on any Android or iOS devices present on pCloudy. For this, you just need to download the executables for OS (Mac, Linux, Windows) on your local machine, Then fetch the user name and API access key for your pCloudy account settings and use it in the terminal to build a link between a device in pCloudy and your internal staging server. To connect a booked device to your internal staging server, you need to click on the Wildnet icon as shown in the picture below.

    Object Spy

    While creating automation test cases you need the object names of the objects that are available in your application. For example, if your app is launched on a device and you want to click on a particular button, you have to mention the object name in the script to perform that action in the app. Earlier testers used to extract the object name using Appium desktop, but now they don’t need Appium desktop for that. pCloudy now has an inbuilt object spy through which you can run the inspector sessions directly on Android and iOS devices. One big advantage is that its bilateral view which makes it easy for users to click on any element on one side and view the details another side. Also, the generated code can be copied for future use.
     
    object spy ss
    In the picture above you can see on the right side we have the object inspector where you will get all the attributes and values for any application. You can select any attribute and perform an action using the tap, send keys, clear and the more option. Following the action, an XPath will be generated which can be used in the automation script.

    Data-Persistence

    This feature will enable System-admins of our Private and On-Premises cloud to delete older reports based on pre-defined settings. To use this feature, system administrators will have to go to control settings in their pCloudy account and under Infrastructure Management there is an option for Data-Persistence. Whenever any user tests an app on any device in pCloudy, certain artifacts are generated in the form of test reports. Each report will have videos, logs, screenshots, and other elements. These artifacts take up a lot of space so now system admin can delete the older data using the data persistence feature.
    data per
    As shown in the pic, the system admin can select the date, time and the number of days for which the data has to be deleted. This will help in managing the limited space provided for every team account.

    Capability Configurator

    In an automation script, we have to include certain capabilities like device name, platform version, etc., to execute the test cases. But now you won’t have to gather the capabilities from different sources, capability configurator will generate the desired capabilities directly using certain filters.
    capability
    As you can see in the pic, you just need to go to the Devices page in pCloudy and click on the Capabilities tab. Under the capabilities tab, you can choose the parameters like OS, Automation type, Device location, Device name, etc., and the capabilities generated can be copied and pasted directly into the Appium script.

    More updates

    iOS is a close operating system, and there are many restrictions for testing apps on Apple devices. In pCloudy 5.6, you will have two more functions on iOS devices; close app and lock/unlock the device. The close app function will enable pCloudy users to close any launched application on a connected iOS device using the soft button. The second function will allow any connected iOS device on pCloudy to be locked and unlocked. These two functions will enhance user interaction on iOS devices by saving time and effort. One more new update is that pCloudy now supports Appium 1.15.1 which is one of the latest stable versions of Appium. This will make it easier to perform test automation on iOS 13 devices in pCloudy.

    To sum up

    The new features added to the platform will help our users to perform live testing on remote devices. Features like the latest Appium support and better user interaction on the iOS devices will empower our users to speed up automation. We are working on some new features, based on our customer feedback, which will be included in the next release. So stay connected for more updates.

    Suyash Dubey | Posted on | 2 min Read

    5 Ways To Create Better App Experience For Your Users With Remote Testing

    As the world battles with turbulent, uncertain times, most of the workforce across the globe is working remotely. Organizations have acknowledged the importance of remote working as it helps in maintaining business continuity. But in some scenarios, it is difficult to maintain business continuity or distribute resources within the teams while the team is working remotely.
     
    For instance, if you have some physical device infrastructure to test your app on multiple mobile devices, how would you do it? How would you share the devices with other testers and developers in your team working from different locations? Most importantly, how will you make sure that the app works smoothly on all the popular devices? We will address these issues in this blog, so buckle up for some interesting insights into the remote testing advantages that can ensure a better app experience for your users.

    1. Abate device fragmentation and ensure better app compatibility with remote testing

     
    Device fragmentation is any testers Achilles heel as it limits their potential of extensive testing. Testing from a physical device lab at this global lockdown situation is not feasible, and testing on a few devices won’t yield good results. But this issue can be rectified by testing on a device cloud. In pCloudy, users can test on multiple devices based on the popularity of devices in a particular region and its penetration to get the optimum device coverage.
     
    Both manual and automation testing can be performed with unlimited parallel test runs remotely on hundreds of real devices. This is also convenient for globally distributed teams, as the users won’t have to wait for the devices to be available for testing.

    2. Deliver Better Quality App with Rapid Automation

     
    Enterprises can ensure better quality apps without missing out on any deliveries by leveraging remote devices for automation testing. pCloudy helps in speeding up automation testing with codeless scripting and test orchestration using integrated tools like Jenkins. Capability configurator is a feature in pCloudy that generates the desired capability based on a set of filters, which saves time and effort while performing test automation. Integration with popular automation and collaboration tools like Appium, Espresso, Jira, etc., makes it convenient for users to perform automated testing on remote devices.
     
    Mobile device lab

    3. Better collaboration and continuous feedback

     
    In pCloudy, users can manage teams and distribute credits among themselves. The user management feature allows managers to become the system administrator and create teams to allocate the credits to the members according to the task assigned. This helps in user and task as the hierarchy is maintained to distribute workload systematically.
     
    Once the tests are complete, detailed test reports are generated automatically, which can be easily shared across the team. The progressive reports also show the tests failed, passed, and those with errors. This helps in focusing only on the tests that failed and doing a root cause analysis to rectify the issues. Continuous access to a range of devices available for remote testing will provide stability to your CI/CD pipeline.

    4. Assured data privacy and security

     
    Enterprise-grade security gives assurance to our users that their data is safe on the cloud platform. Our data centers comply with internationally recognized security standards like ISO27001, SOC2, and SSAE-16. Keeping your security issues in concern, we have another useful feature called Wildnet. This feature enables you to test your internal sites or apps on your local network, keeping all your data and information secure.

    5. Advanced features to improve manual testing

     
    Take advantage of next-gen features like Certifaya, an AI-powered autonomous testing bot to save time and effort. FollowMe is another feature that enables the user to run a test on multiple devices in parallel. This will save your resources while reducing the testing time by multifold. Apart from this, there are many features in pCloudy, like taking screenshots, recording the test video, cross-browser testing, etc. that will make manual app testing a piece of cake.

    In a Nutshell

     
    Remote testing is convenient, and it will help you save big bucks while you deliver a better quality app in less time. Continuous access to numerous devices helps in accelerating automation testing, as the app can be tested on multiple devices in parallel. All these advantages of remote testing make it the optimum choice for enterprises.