Selenium & Python automated testing for a base Joomla install

Using the Selenium IDE extension in Chrome

First, I recorded individual tests in Chrome using Selenium IDE extension

Then I added Python driver for Selenium, as pip was already installed:

pip install -U selenium

Then install pytest

sudo apt install python-logilab-common

sudo apt-get install pytest

I now needed to install Browser specific files:

Chrome: https://developer.chrome.com/docs/chromedriver/downloads

Edge: https://developer.microsoft.com/en-gb/microsoft-edge/tools/webdriver?form=MA13LH&ch=1

Firefox: https://github.com/mozilla/geckodriver/releases

Safari: https://webkit.org/blog/6900/webdriver-support-in-safari-10/

So to install Firefox:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-mozilla-security/ppa

sudo apt-get update

sudo apt-get install firefox

And to install ChromeDriver:

cd /usr/local/bin

wget https://chromedriver.storage.googleapis.com/2.35/chromedriver_linux64.zip

unzip chromedriver_linux64.zip

However, ChromeDriver still needs Chrome to be installed, so:

sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list

Add at the bottom of the file

deb [arch=amd64] https://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main

sudo wget https://dl.google.com/linux/linux_signing_key.pub

sudo apt-key add linux_signing_key.pub

which gives OK

sudo apt update

sudo apt install google-chrome-stable

Run Selenium Server, which I have in the below Bash script:

#!/bin/bash

# Runs the Selenium Server so run in background mode

java -Xms40m -Xmx256m -jar /home/pgroom/selenium-server-standalone-3.141.59.jar &

Then export the Selenium IDE tests that I created at the beginning of this post, as Python files and copy them to the server. Put them in Joomla home/tests/system and make them owned by www-data:www-data.

Check they run ok via

pytest <name of test.py>

This gave no errors but also does not do any tests. This is because this is a Ubuntu Server without a GUI i.e. headless so it cannot access a browser other than via a virtual X Server, as per below:

Install X-Virtual Frame Buffer (to mimic a GUI)

sudo apt-get install xvfb

pip install PyVirtual Display

The :40 is a display number so does not need to be 40 per se.

sudo nohup Xvfb :40 -ac &

export DISPLAY=:40

Check by doing

env | grep DISPLAY

There are two options for running the tests in headless mode. One is using ChromeOptions (which is commented out below) and the other is using PyVirtualDisplay. Thank you to Oren Nahum (https://blog.testproject.io/2018/02/20/chrome-headless-selenium-python-linux-servers/) for the PyVirtualDisplay code that worked a treat.

For clarity, running the Selenium Server, X Virtual Frame Buffer and setting the DISPLAY are only necessary if a remote website is being tested. If the website is local to the machine then these are not necessary.

Final script for the default Joomla installation

import pytest

import time

import json

from selenium import webdriver

from selenium.webdriver.common.by import By

from selenium.webdriver.common.action_chains import ActionChains

from selenium.webdriver.support import expected_conditions

from selenium.webdriver.support.wait import WebDriverWait

from selenium.webdriver.common.keys import Keys

from selenium.webdriver.common.desired_capabilities import DesiredCapabilities

# Code for ChromeOptions as an alternative to pyvirtualdisplay

# chrome_options = webdriver.ChromeOptions()

# chrome_options.add_argument('--headless')

# chrome_options.add_argument('--no-sandbox') # required when running as root user. otherwise you would get no sandbox errors.

# driver = webdriver.Chrome(driver_path='/usr/local/bin/chromedriver', chrome_options=chrome_options, service_args=['--verbose', '--log-path=/tmp/chromedriver.log'])

# Code for pyvirtualdisplay as an alternative to ChromeOptions

from pyvirtualdisplay import Display

display = Display(visible=0, size=(1024, 768))

display.start()

class test_uatchromedesktoptests():

# Full page web tests

print("DESKTOP WEB TESTS")

print("")

# Check to see Getting Started is still on the Home Page

driver = webdriver.Chrome(executable_path='/usr/local/bin/chromedriver', service_args=['--verbose', '--log-path=/tmp/chromedriver.log'])

driver.get('<URL of test web site>')

print("Test 1 - UAT Chrome Desktop text exist")

driver.set_window_size(1294, 694)

assert ("Getting Started" in driver.page_source)

print("Passed - found Getting Started on the page")

print("")

# Check can find and click on Home button.

print("Test 2 - UAT Chrome Desktop Home button exist")

menuhome = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("body.site > div#top > div.container > nav.navigation > div.nav-collapse > ul.nav > li.item-101 > a")

print(menuhome.text)

print("Passed - found Menu -> Home on the page")

print("")

# Check can find and click on Joomla button

print("Test 3 - UAT Chrome Desktop Joomla button exist")

joomlabtn = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("body.site > div#top > div.container > div.row-fluid > main#content > div.item-page > ul.tags > li.tag-2 > a.label")

print(joomlabtn.text)

print("Passed - found Joomla button on the page")

print("")

# Check can find and click on Joomla link under Popular Tags

print("Test 4 - UAT Chrome Desktop Joomla under Popular Tags exist")

populartags = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("body.site > div#top > div.container > div.row-fluid > div#aside > div.well > div.tagspopular > ul > li > a")

print(populartags.text)

print("Passed - found Popular Tags -> Joomla on the page")

print("")

# Check can find and click on Getting Started under Latest Articles

print("Test 5 - UAT Chrome Desktop Getting Started under Latest Articles exist")

gettingstarted = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("body.site > div#top > div.container > div.row-fluid > div#aside > div.well > ul.latestnews > li > a > span")

print(gettingstarted.text)

print("Passed - found Latest Articles -> Getting Started on the page")

print("")

# Check can enter "CMS" in Search box and get 0 results as a result

print("Test 6 - UAT Chrome Desktop 0 results for CMS in Search Box exist")

searchentry = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("body.site > div#top > div.container > header.header > div.header-inner > div.header-search > div.search > form.form-inline > input#mod-search-searchword93.inputbox")

searchentry.send_keys('CMS')

searchentry.send_keys(Keys.ENTER)

assert ("results" in driver.page_source)

searchresults = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("body.site > div#top > div.container > div.row-fluid > main#content > div.search > form#searchForm > div.searchintro > p > strong > span.badge")

print(searchresults.text)

print("Passed - found 0 results for CMS in Search Box on the page")

print("")

# Check can login in using Username and Password

# Then check get an User Menu with links to "Your Profile", "Submit an Article", "Site Administrator", "Template Settings" and "Site Settings"

print("Test 7 - UAT Chrome Desktop Logged in and get an User Menu with links")

username = driver.find_element_by_id("modlgn-username")

password = driver.find_element_by_id("modlgn-passwd")

username.send_keys("username") # CHANGE THIS TO ACTUAL USERNAME

password.send_keys("password") # CHANGE THIS TO ACTUAL PASSWORD

driver.find_element_by_name("Submit").click()

assert ("Your Profile" in driver.page_source)

assert ("Submit an Article" in driver.page_source)

assert ("Site Administrator" in driver.page_source)

assert ("Template Settings" in driver.page_source)

assert ("Site Settings" in driver.page_source)

print("Passed - Logged in and found Your Profile etc on the page")

print("")

# Then check that the name in the Name box is "Super User"

print("Test 8 - UAT Chrome Desktop Logged in -> User Menu -> Your Profile -> Name -> Super User")

yourprofile = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("body.site > div#top > div.container > div.row-fluid > div#aside > div.well > ul.nav > li.item-102 > a").click()

assert ("Super User" in driver.page_source)

print("Passed - Selected User Menu -> Your Profile -> Name results in Super User")

print("")

# Finally check can log out and the User Menu disappears

print("Test 9 - UAT Chrome Desktop Logged Out -> back to Login")

logout = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("body.site > div#top > div.container > div.row-fluid > div#aside > div.well > form#login-form > div.logout-button > input.btn").click()

assert ("Login Form" in driver.page_source)

print("Passed - Logged out back to Login prompt")

print("")

driver.quit()

class test_uatchromemobiletests():

# Mobile web tests

print("MOBILE WEB TESTS")

print("")

# Check to see Getting Started is still on the Home Page

driver = webdriver.Chrome(executable_path='/usr/local/bin/chromedriver', service_args=['--verbose', '--log-path=/tmp/chromedriver.log'])

driver.get('<URL of test web site>')

print("Test 11 - UAT Chrome Mobile text exist")

driver.set_window_size(514, 662)

assert ("Getting Started" in driver.page_source)

print("Passed - found Getting Started on the page")

print("")

# Check can find and click on Home button.

print("Test 12 - UAT Chrome Mobile Home button exist")

menuhome = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("body.site > div#top > div.container > nav.navigation > div.nav-collapse > ul.nav > li.item-101 > a")

print(menuhome.text)

print("Passed - found Menu -> Home on the page")

print("")

# Check can find and click on Joomla button

print("Test 13 - UAT Chrome Mobile Joomla button exist")

joomlabtn = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("body.site > div#top > div.container > div.row-fluid > main#content > div.item-page > ul.tags > li.tag-2 > a.label")

print(joomlabtn.text)

print("Passed - found Joomla button on the page")

print("")

# Check can find and click on Joomla link under Popular Tags

print("Test 14 - UAT Chrome Mobile Joomla under Popular Tags exist")

populartags = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("body.site > div#top > div.container > div.row-fluid > div#aside > div.well > div.tagspopular > ul > li > a")

print(populartags.text)

print("Passed - found Popular Tags -> Joomla on the page")

print("")

# Check can find and click on Getting Started under Latest Articles

print("Test 15 - UAT Chrome Mobile Getting Started under Latest Articles exist")

gettingstarted = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("body.site > div#top > div.container > div.row-fluid > div#aside > div.well > ul.latestnews > li > a > span")

print(gettingstarted.text)

print("Passed - found Latest Articles -> Getting Started on the page")

print("")

# Check can enter "CMS" in Search box and get 0 results as a result

print("Test 16 - UAT Chrome Mobile 0 results for CMS in Search Box exist")

searchentry = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("body.site > div#top > div.container > header.header > div.header-inner > div.header-search > div.search > form.form-inline > input#mod-search-searchword93.inputbox")

searchentry.send_keys('CMS')

searchentry.send_keys(Keys.ENTER)

assert ("results" in driver.page_source)

searchresults = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("body.site > div#top > div.container > div.row-fluid > main#content > div.search > form#searchForm > div.searchintro > p > strong > span.badge")

print(searchresults.text)

print("Passed - found 0 results for CMS in Search Box on the page")

print("")

# Check can login in using Username and Password

# Then check get an User Menu with links to "Your Profile", "Submit an Article", "Site Administrator", "Template Settings" and "Site Settings"

print("Test 17 - UAT Chrome Mobile Logged in and get an User Menu with links")

username = driver.find_element_by_id("modlgn-username")

password = driver.find_element_by_id("modlgn-passwd")

username.send_keys("username") # CHANGE THIS TO ACTUAL USERNAME

password.send_keys("password") # CHANGE THIS TO ACTUAL PASSWORD

driver.find_element_by_name("Submit").click()

assert ("Your Profile" in driver.page_source)

assert ("Submit an Article" in driver.page_source)

assert ("Site Administrator" in driver.page_source)

assert ("Template Settings" in driver.page_source)

assert ("Site Settings" in driver.page_source)

print("Passed - Logged in and found Your Profile etc on the page")

print("")

# Then check that the name in the Name box is "Super User"

print("Test 18 - UAT Chrome Mobile Logged in -> User Menu -> Your Profile -> Name -> Super User")

yourprofile = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("body.site > div#top > div.container > div.row-fluid > div#aside > div.well > ul.nav > li.item-102 > a").click()

assert ("Super User" in driver.page_source)

print("Passed - Selected User Menu -> Your Profile -> Name results in Super User")

print("")

# Finally check can log out and the User Menu disappears

print("Test 19 - UAT Chrome Mobile Logged Out -> back to Login")

logout = driver.find_element_by_css_selector("body.site > div#top > div.container > div.row-fluid > div#aside > div.well > form#login-form > div.logout-button > input.btn").click()

assert ("Login Form" in driver.page_source)

print("Passed - Logged out back to Login prompt")

print("")

driver.quit()

You might be wondering why the same tests were run for both the desktop and mobile display sizes. In practice, I have found it is best to split the two types as the layouts are usually significantly different. This means that the same css elements are often referenced in different ways between the desktop and mobile renditions of the site.

Well that covers everything I did to get Selenium up and running with Joomla. I have done posts on Docker, Ansible and Php & Curl. I hope that you found this article useful and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Thanks

Pete