Working with Jenkins Plugins

Jenkins plugins are essential for enhancing the functionality of the Jenkins CI/CD tool. They serve as the building blocks that allow Jenkins to expand beyond its basic setup, offering over 2,000 community-contributed tools to customize your automation.

• Plugins bridge the gap between Jenkins and the rest of your tech stack, connecting it to tools like GitHub, Docker, Slack, and AWS to create a unified workflow.
• You can easily search, install, and update plugins directly through the Jenkins Dashboard, allowing you to add complex features with just a few clicks.

Jenkins Plugins Workflow

1. Test Execution Integration

• Integrates with tools like Selenium, Cucumber, TestNG, and JUnit.
• Automatically generates and publishes test reports.

2. Reporting

• Provides detailed insights into test results with plugins like Allure and HTML Publisher.
• Visualizes build trends, pass/fail ratios, and test execution details.

3. CI/CD Integration

• Accelerates feedback loops.
• Identifies defects early by integrating tools like Git and Maven.

4. Notification and Collaboration

• Sends automated alerts using email or communication tools like Slack and Microsoft Teams.
• Accessing Plugins in Jenkins

Key Plugins for Test Automation

The following are the key plugins used for Test Automation:

1. JUnit Plugin

• Publishes test results from JUnit or other xUnit test frameworks.
• Displays test reports in the Jenkins UI and tracks test pass/fail history across builds.

2. TestNG Results Plugin

• Publishes and displays results for TestNG-based tests.
• Includes detailed reports on passed, failed, and skipped tests.

3. Maven Integration Plugin

• Automates building and testing for Maven projects.
• Manages the build lifecycle, dependencies, and report generation.

4. HTML Publisher Plugin

• Allows Jenkins to publish and display custom HTML reports, such as those generated by frameworks like Selenium or JUnit.
• Useful for visualizing test automation results.

5. Allure Report Plugin

• Integrates with Allure to generate detailed and visually appealing reports for various test frameworks, including JUnit, TestNG, and Selenium.
• Provides insights into test execution, including duration, environment, and failure analysis.

Plugin Purpose

• JUnit Plugin Parses test results from JUnit and displays pass/fail statistics in Jenkins.
• TestNG Plugin Integrates TestNG results with Jenkins, showing method-level execution statistics.
• Maven Integration Simplifies the creation of Maven-based Jenkins jobs.
• HTML Publisher Publishes HTML reports generated by automation frameworks.
• Allure Reports Generates visually appealing and detailed test execution reports.
• Cucumber Reports Publishes JSON-based Cucumber reports in an easy-to-read HTML format.
• Git Plugin Integrates Jenkins with Git repositories.
• Email Extension Sends email notifications based on test results or build statuses.

How to Use Jenkins Plugins

Publishing Cucumber Reports

Objective: Generate a readable report from Cucumber's JSON output.

Step 1: Install the Cucumber Reports Plugin

• Install Cucumber Reports Plugin:
• Navigate to Available Plugins and search for "Cucumber Reports."

• Install the plugin.

Step 2: Configure Jenkins Job

• Firstly check the cucumber project run locally as expected

• Add a build step to execute your Cucumber project.

• Copy the project from existing project which you are already created:

• Updates the goal as per our requirement:

• Ensure the test runner generates a cucumber.json file.

Step 3: Post-Build Actions

• Select Cucumber Reports.

• After that save the project and build the project.

Step 4: Run the Job

• View the generated report in the Jenkins dashboard.

Output

• A detailed HTML report showing:
• Passed, failed, and skipped steps.

• Execution time for each step.
• Overall test summary.

Integrating jenkins with TestNG

Objective: Visualize TestNG execution results in Jenkins.

Step 1: Install TestNG Results Plugin:

• Search for "TestNG Results" in Available Plugins and install it.

Step 2: Configure Job

• Execute TestNG tests and ensure the results are saved in XML format in locally first

• Create a new project in jenkins.

• Use the same as last we used copy the project using the last project configuration which we used.

Use this Repository URL for the Project: Repository

• Update the Repository URL in the Jenkins project configuration

• The goals and options of the project is like these:

Step 3: Post-Build Action

• Select Publish TestNG Results.

• Provide the path to the TestNG results file.

Step 4: Run Job

• View method-level statistics and overall execution details.

Output:

• Execution trends and test statuses displayed in Jenkins.
• Here are the testNG results :

3. Publishing HTML Reports

Objective: Display custom HTML reports generated by automation frameworks.

Step 1: Install HTML Publisher Plugin:

• Search for "HTML Publisher" and install the plugin.

Step 2: Configure Job

• Create a new job

• Copy the same project which we last used:

We used all configuration of the last project only we change the report template with the HTML publisher:

• Select Publish HTML Reports.
• Provide the directory and file path.

• Ensure your automation framework generates an HTML report.
• Specify the report directory and file name (e.g., target/surefire-reports/index.html).

Step 3: Run Job

• Access the HTML report from the Jenkins dashboard.

Output

• Fully formatted HTML reports, accessible via Jenkins.