Selenium Grid & Docker container Implementation

Selenium Grid & Docker container Implementation
  • KiwiQAKiwiQA
  • May 12, 2016

Share blog

What is Docker?

Docker is a lightweight container (read: a scaled-down VM) that provides a fast and programmatic way to run distributed applications. Selenium Grid is distributed system of nodes for running tests. Instead of running your grid across multiple machines or VMs, you can run them all on a single large machine using Docker. The two are practically destined for each other.

What is Selenium Grid?

Selenium Grid is a great way to speed up your tests by running them in parallel on multiple machines. However, rolling your own grid also means maintaining it. Setting up the right browser / OS combinations across many virtual machines (or – even worse – physical machines) and making sure each is running the Selenium Server correctly is a huge pain.

 

Also Read: What Do You Need to Know About Selenium Testing?

 

How to run selenium grid with Docker:

You can check at below link to see information.

  1. https://docs.docker.com/compose/install/
  2. https://docs.docker.com/installation/
  • Here’s an overview of what we’re going to do:
    1. Create Docker images for your Selenium Grid hub and node(s)
    2. Add Java to the hub to run the Selenium server jar
    3. Add Java, plus Firefox and Xvfb to the node
    4. Create a docker-compose.yml file to define how the images will interact with each other
    5. Start docker-compose and scale out to as many nodes as you need – or that your machine can handlet

Create a base image for your selenium server and the hub

let’s make a base Dockerfile we can use for both:

FROM ubuntu

ENV VERSION 2.44.0

RUN apt-get update -qqy 
&& apt-get -qqy --no-install-recommends install 
software-properties-common 
&& rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
RUN add-apt-repository -y ppa:webupd8team/java

RUN echo debconf shared/accepted-oracle-license-v1-1 select true | debconf-set-selections
RUN echo debconf shared/accepted-oracle-license-v1-1 seen true | debconf-set-selections

RUN apt-get update -qqy 
&& apt-get -qqy --no-install-recommends install 
oracle-java7-installer 
&& rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

RUN wget http://selenium-release.storage.googleapis.com/${VERSION%.*}/selenium-server-standalone-${VERSION}.jar

Let’s Build and Tag it

docker build -t selenium/base .

The Grid is basically a single hub connected to any number of different nodes. So, our hub image should look something like this:

FROM selenium/base

EXPOSE 4444

ADD start_grid.sh /var/start_grid.sh
RUN chmod 755 /var/start_grid.sh

CMD ["/bin/bash", "/var/start_grid.sh"]

And in the same directory as the Dockerfile, your run.sh script:

java -jar selenium-server-standalone-${VERSION}.jar -role hub

Install specific version of Firefox

we need a single Dockerfile for all of our nodes. In this example, every node will be a copy of this Dockerfile. It follows the same format as above – start from our selenium/base image and install necessary apps: Firefox, Xvfb, etc. However, there’s one catch here. we need to install a specific version of Firefox. specifying a specific version of Firefox in our Dockerfile is a good rule of thumb:

FROM selenium/base

ENV FIREFOX_MINOR 34.0.5

RUN apt-get update -qqy 
&& apt-get -qqy --no-install-recommends install 
firefox 
xvfb 
bzip2 
&& rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*

RUN [ -e /usr/bin/firefox ] && rm /usr/bin/firefox
ADD https://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/${FIREFOX_MINOR}/linux-x86_64/en-US/firefox-${FIREFOX_MINOR}.tar.bz2 /tmp/
RUN apt-get install -q -y libdbus-glib-1-2
RUN tar -xvjf /tmp/firefox-${FIREFOX_MINOR}.tar.bz2 -C /opt/
RUN chmod -R +x /opt/firefox/
RUN ln -s /opt/firefox/firefox /usr/bin/firefox

ADD register-node.sh /var/register-node.sh
RUN chmod 755 /var/register-node.sh

CMD ["/bin/bash", "/var/register-node.sh"]

And our register-node.sh script:

#!/bin/bash
xvfb-run --server-args=":99.0 -screen 0 2000x2000x16 -ac" 
java -jar selenium-server-standalone-${VERSION}.jar 
-role node 
-hub http://$HUB_1_PORT_4444_TCP_ADDR:4444/grid/register 
-browser browserName=firefox

Define Your selenium Grid network with Docker compose

Once we have these files created, let’s make a docker-compose.yml file in the same directory as our selenium_grid folder. The contents of the file should be as follows:

hub:
  image: selenium_grid/hub
  ports:
    - "4444:4444"
firefox:
  image: selenium_grid/firefox
  links:
    - hub
  expose:
    - "5555"

Docker compose-Up

From here, all we have to do is start it up:

#!/bin/bash
docker-compose up -d
docker-compose scale firefox=5

You should now have a Selenium Grid consisting of one hub and five Firefox nodes. (You can see them running here: http://<boot2docker_ip>:4444/grid/console)

Docker compose-Up & down

Want to scale your grid up or down? It’s easy: just type docker-compose scale firefox=20. Too much? Scale it back down size with docker-compose scale firefox=10.

Let’s stop everything. And for good measure, let’s completely remove the images too:

docker-compose stop
docker-compose rm

From here, there are a lot of possibilities for setting up your Grid and integrating it with other Continuous Integration systems.

Article Original Source: https://www.conductor.com/nightlight/running-selenium-grid-using-docker-compose/

Stay updated with our newsletter

Subscribe to our newsletter for some hand-picked insights and trends! Join our community and be the first to know about what's exciting in software testing.

Our Blogs

(Re)discover the QA & software testing world with our blogs

Welcome to the testing tales that explore the depths of software quality assurance. Find valuable insights, industry trends, and best practices for professionals and enthusiasts.

Test Automation Strategy: Key Practices for Successful Implementation
Latest Blog. April 29, 2024

Test Automation Strategy: Key Practices for Successful Implementation

With cutting-edge technologies, software development becomes an integral part of the market industry. Though software development is a manual process, recently, with the integration of automation, time and accuracy have both improved in the development process. So, automation in testing is highly beneficial in checking the quality of the developed software and overall functionality and […]

Read More
Salesforce Performance Testing Best Practices for Optimal CRM Efficiency
Latest Blog. April 25, 2024

Salesforce Performance Testing Best Practices for Optimal CRM Efficiency

The Salesforce CRM platform is utilized by multiple businesses to balance customer relationships and automate business processes. Efficient salesforce implementation requires approachable testing practices for verifying efficiency & reliability. Performance testing for CRM systems is necessary throughout the development process. The following blog outlines the comprehensive range of salesforce performance testing best practices for optimal […]

Read More
Ultimate Guide to System Integration Testing: Strategies and Best Practices
Latest Blog. March 29, 2024

Ultimate Guide to System Integration Testing: Strategies and Best Practices

System integration testing plays a crucial role in the SDLC process. It aims to bridge the gap between the system testing & unit testing. The procedure involves a combination of software modules and testing them as a group. It ensures the function seamlessly together. The testing verifies that all the components are working together and […]

Read More
Dynamics 365 Testing Best Practices: Your Essential Guide
Latest Blog. March 28, 2024

Dynamics 365 Testing Best Practices: Your Essential Guide

Dynamics 365 testing is part of a cloud-based platform that is mainly related to Microsoft business applications. It combines the advantages of relationship management and resource planning. It also helps in other ways, such as Sales, Marketing, Customer Services, Finance, Operation, and other features on a single platform. The use of Dynamic 365 is important […]

Read More

Get in touch

Let’s accomplish (in)credible projects together.

Fill out and submit the form below, we will get back to you with a plan.

Don’t hesitate, mate. SAY HELLO

ISO Certifications

CRN: 22318-Q15-001
CRN:22318-ISN-001
CRN:22318-IST-001