Skip to content

CI/CD for Test Automation

Tests running only locally are useless for the team. CI/CD automates execution, produces reports, and provides feedback on every change. Jenkins (self-hosted, parameterized builds), GitHub Actions (cloud, YAML workflows), and Selenoid (Docker browser farm) form the standard infrastructure stack.

Key Facts

  • Jenkins: self-hosted, parameterized builds, credentials store, Allure plugin built-in
  • GitHub Actions: secrets.NAME for encrypted secrets, vars.NAME for config, if: always() for artifacts
  • Selenoid: Docker-based browser farm, lightweight vs Selenium Grid, built-in video/VNC
  • Docker Compose for E2E: app + Selenoid + test runner in isolated network
  • depends_on: condition: service_healthy ensures app is ready before tests start
  • Schedule nightly runs: Jenkins cron or GH Actions schedule trigger

Patterns

GitHub Actions Workflow

name: Tests
on:
  push:
    branches: [main]
  pull_request:
    branches: [main]
  schedule:
    - cron: '0 2 * * *'  # nightly at 2 AM

jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-python@v5
        with:
          python-version: '3.11'
      - run: pip install -r requirements.txt
      - name: Run tests
        env:
          FRONTEND_URL: ${{ vars.FRONTEND_URL }}
          TEST_USERNAME: ${{ secrets.TEST_USERNAME }}
        run: pytest tests/ --alluredir=allure-results
      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
        if: always()  # upload even on failure
        with:
          name: allure-results
          path: allure-results

Jenkins Pipeline

pipeline {
    agent any
    parameters {
        string(name: 'ENV', defaultValue: 'dev')
        choice(name: 'BROWSER', choices: ['chrome', 'firefox'])
    }
    stages {
        stage('Test') {
            steps {
                sh "pytest tests/ --browser=${params.BROWSER} --alluredir=allure-results"
            }
        }
        stage('Report') {
            steps {
                allure includeProperties: false, results: [[path: 'allure-results']]
            }
        }
    }
}

Selenoid (Docker Browser Farm)

services:
  selenoid:
    image: aerokube/selenoid:latest
    ports: ["4444:4444"]
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
      - ./browsers.json:/etc/selenoid/browsers.json

capabilities = {
    "browserName": "chrome",
    "selenoid:options": {"enableVNC": True, "enableVideo": True},
}
driver = webdriver.Remote(
    command_executor="http://selenoid:4444/wd/hub",
    desired_capabilities=capabilities,
)

Docker Compose for E2E

services:
  app:
    build: .
    ports: ["3000:3000"]
    healthcheck:
      test: curl -f http://localhost:3000/health
  selenoid:
    image: aerokube/selenoid:latest
    volumes: ["/var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock"]
  tests:
    build: { context: ., dockerfile: e2e/Dockerfile }
    depends_on:
      app: { condition: service_healthy }
    environment:
      BASE_URL: http://app:3000
      SELENOID_URL: http://selenoid:4444/wd/hub

Android Emulator in CI

# macOS runner for hardware acceleration
runs-on: macos-latest
steps:
  - uses: reactivecircus/android-emulator-runner@v2
    with:
      api-level: 29
      arch: x86_64
      script: ./gradlew connectedAndroidTest

Gotchas

  • if: always() on artifact upload - without it, test results are lost on failure
  • Jenkins credentials store is more secure than plain env vars - use credentials('id') syntax
  • Selenoid needs browsers.json config with specific Chrome/Firefox image versions
  • Android emulator on CI: use macOS runner (hardware acceleration); Linux works but slower

See Also