Ranorex Forum

Hi All,
Has anyone tried automating installer testing using Ranorex? IF so can you give me some idea
Thanks,
Rajee

Hi,

What exactly do you want to test? Please provide us with more details about your problem.

SW installers are desktop apps like any others. So if you want to go trough all installation steps, simply do it as with any other desktop app. You can use either recordings or code modules, to achieve your goal.

Our automated build/test process uses Ranorex to guide the application through its installer. It also uninstalls the application as well. It doesn't thoroughly 'test' the installer as such, it just lightly exercises it during a test run to make sure it works as expected.

I can specify the steps exactly:
On a VM(VM Ware) 1 :
1. we have to revert VM snapshot to a snapshot where we have the released version of the software installed
2. run the patch for the installer
3. copy the folder to a shared drive or push it to git(to speed up the copying process)

On a VM(VM Ware) 2 :
1. we have to revert VM snapshot to a snapshot where the software is not installed at all
2. run the complete installer
4. Compare the folders and files installed in VM 1 (step 3)

**********
If we are not using the VM..... we have to do everything in a single machine
1. install released version of the software
2. install the patch and copy it to a location as expected values
3. uninstall the software completely from COntrol Panel > Remove Programs)
4. now install the new installer
5. copy the files as actual
6. compare step 2 files and step 5 files - should match

Thanks,
Rajee

Hi,

I'm afraid that performing such test on two separate VMs and compare folders in each other VM, will be too difficult with Ranorex. You see, this would require running two instances of Ranorex test on two separate machines and it may be difficult to synchronize them. There is no "out of the box" solution for this in Ranorex. BTW, most of the the steps (VM snapshot handling or copying files) would be best to do via continuous integration system, for example Jenkins. At least I'm doing all WM configuration steps and copying files/folders via Jenkins job.

In fact, unless you specifically want to perform installation steps like human (i.e. via Ranorex clicks), you may be able to achieve entire scenario with just CI steps and no Ranorex steps may be required? Of course, it would require extensive use of command line (for copying files/folder or running installer from command line) and a 3rd party tool for comparing folders (with command line support).