How to Setup Selenium Grid For Parallel Execution In Different Browsers

Ramit DhamijaJuly 25th, 2019Last Updated: July 16th, 2019

0 241 10 minutes read

Selenium is by far the most used web automation testing tools. One of the reasons behind this huge popularity is Selenium’s automated cross browser testing capabilities. Selenium automation testing can help you test on all major browsers, all major operating systems, and even on mobile device browsers. You can get a huge browser coverage in all your functional tests ensuring the perfect experience for a wide range of your potential users.

But there is a challenge. You can load only so many different browsers on your local machine. For example, if you have a windows machine, you cannot test on Safari browsers, similarly, if you have a Mac machine you won’t be able to test on IE or Edge browsers. In addition, running tests on a single machine was a time-consuming process. If you have multiple computers, why test on a single one at a time?

The ideal scenario would be to test on a network of interconnected machines having different browser environments running multiple tests cases concurrently, in parallel, and reducing the overall testing time by multiple folds. And here I am also including time taken for cross browser testing as well.

And that is exactly what Selenium Grid is built for. Unlike Selenium WebDriver which allows you to perform automated cross browser testing in a sequential manner, a Selenium Grid setup will allow you to run test cases in different browsers/ browser versions, simultaneously.

What Is Selenium Grid?

Before we start with Selenium Grid setup, it is necessary to realize the basics of a Selenium Grid.

So, the Selenium Grid basically allow us to run our automated tests on different operating systems against different browsers. And that too in a parallel manner. Selenium automation testing tool will help you with faster automated cross browser testing, along with efficient utilization of in-house hardware.

Selenium Grid is comprised of two concepts:

Hub: It is the center of the Selenium Grid setup architecture that manages the network of the test machines. There is only one hub in a network which is assigned to a test of DesiredCapabilities(operating system, browser, browser versions) and then the hub finds the test that matches the given configurations.
Node: Nodes are the test machines that execute the test that was earlier loaded on the hub. There can be multiple nodes configured with a different operating system and different browsers. It is not mandatory for the node to run on the same platform on which the hub is running.

Infrastructure to configuring a Selenium Grid setup for parallel execution involves just two steps:

Creating a hub.
Defining the nodes and connecting to that hub.

Using Command Prompt For Selenium Grid Setup

The first step of a Selenium Grid setup would be to create a hub. You would have to make sure that your system has Java Runtime Environment (JRE) or better yet Java Development Kit (JDK) installed. Though most people recommend going for the latest JDK, I prefer an earlier tried and tested versions like JDK SE 08 or 09. You can go for the latest one if you wish. Here are the next steps –

Download and extract Selenium Standalone server JAR files. You can download them from here.
Next, open a command prompt or terminal and navigate to the directory where the Selenium Standalone Server jar file is saved.
Run the command “java -jar selenium-server-standalone-3.141.59.jar -role hub”. This command would launch a Selenium Grid hub on port 4444 by default. You can also check the same by directing to http://localhost:4444/grid/console.

Since the hub has already been created, the next step to Selenium Grid setup for parallel execution would involve launching a node. You start with going to the other machines where we want to setup nodes. Again, these machines should have a JDK/JRE setup.

In the node machine, open a command prompt or terminal and navigate to the directory where you have saved the browser driver files.

Enter the below command in order to configure Chrome driver in your Selenium Grid setup for parallel execution.

“java -Dwebdriver.chrome.driver="C:\chromedriver.exe" -jar 
selenium-server-standalone-3.141.59.jar -role webdriver -hub 
http://10.0.0.22:4444/grid/register -port 4546”

In the above command I have used my machine IP along with the port 4444 where the hub is actually running. I have also selected the port 4546 where I want my node to get registered. You can opt for any free port for registering the node.

Similarly, you can register other nodes for other browsers. For example, here’s how you can configure Firefox(Gecko) driver and Internet Explorer driver to your Selenium Grid setup for parallel execution.

Configuring Firefox(Gecko) driver in Selenium Grid setup:

“java -Dwebdriver.gecko.driver="C:\geckodriver.exe" -jar 
selenium-server-standalone-3.141.59.jar -role webdriver -hub 
http://10.0.0.22:4444/grid/register -port 5566”

Configuring IE(Internet Explorer) driver in Selenium Grid setup:

“java -Dwebdriver.ie.driver="C:\IEDriverServer.exe" -jar 
selenium-server-standalone-3.141.59.jar -role webdriver -hub 
http://10.0.0.22:4444/grid/register -port 4547”

Note: Please make sure that you select different ports for different nodes to connect with the single hub running on port 4444. Also, before running your test on IE, make sure that the browser zoom is exactly 100% otherwise it might show an error.

You can notice by above commands that we are running our first node for chrome driver on port 4546, the second node for firefox driver is running on port 5566, and the third node for IE browser is running on port 4547. Here is the output screenshot for further reference:

Now, that we have our Selenium Grid setup configured, your next step is to perform Selenium automation testing for your cross browser testing suite.

Execute Automation Testing With Selenium Grid For Parallel Execution

It is time for some automated cross browser testing! I will be running an automation script demonstrating the Selenium Grid for parallel execution. This script would run parallelly on Chrome, Firefox, and Internet Explorer which are registered on different ports and attached to a single hub.

Here is the sample code I used to perform automation testing with Selenium Grid for parallel execution in different browsers.

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package DemoAutomation;
  
import java.net.MalformedURLException;
import java.net.URL;
import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
  
import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.Platform;
import org.openqa.selenium.WebDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.ie.InternetExplorerDriver;
import org.openqa.selenium.remote.CapabilityType;
import org.openqa.selenium.remote.DesiredCapabilities;
import org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver;
import org.testng.annotations.AfterMethod;
import org.testng.annotations.BeforeMethod;
import org.testng.annotations.DataProvider;
import org.testng.annotations.Parameters;
import org.testng.annotations.Test;
  
  
public class Selenium_MultiBrowser_Test 
{
    WebDriver driver;
    String nodeURL;
     
    @Parameters({"Port"})
    @BeforeMethod()
    public void setUp(String Port) throws MalformedURLException
    {           
        if(Port.equalsIgnoreCase("4546"))
        {
            nodeURL = "http://10.0.0.22:4546/wd/hub";
            System.out.println("Chrome Browser Initiated");
            DesiredCapabilities capabilities = DesiredCapabilities.chrome();            
            capabilities.setBrowserName("chrome");
            capabilities.setPlatform(Platform.WINDOWS);
             
            driver = new RemoteWebDriver(new URL(nodeURL),capabilities);
             
            driver.get("https://www.apple.com/");
            driver.manage().window().maximize();
            driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
        }
         
        else
            if(Port.equalsIgnoreCase("5566"))
            {
                nodeURL = "http://10.0.0.22:5566/wd/hub";
                System.out.println("Firefox Browser Initiated");
                DesiredCapabilities capabilities1 = DesiredCapabilities.firefox();
                capabilities1.setBrowserName("firefox");
                capabilities1.setPlatform(Platform.WINDOWS);
                 
                driver = new RemoteWebDriver(new URL(nodeURL),capabilities1);   
                 
                driver.get("https://www.apple.com/");
                driver.manage().window().maximize();
                driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
            }
         
        else
             
        if(Port.equalsIgnoreCase("4547"))
        {
            nodeURL = "http://10.0.0.22:4547/wd/hub";
            System.out.println("Internet Browser Initiated");
            DesiredCapabilities capabilities2 = DesiredCapabilities.internetExplorer();
            capabilities2.setBrowserName("internet explorer");
            capabilities2.setCapability(InternetExplorerDriver.INTRODUCE_FLAKINESS_BY_IGNORING_SECURITY_DOMAINS, true);
            capabilities2.setCapability(InternetExplorerDriver.IGNORE_ZOOM_SETTING, true);
            capabilities2.setCapability(CapabilityType.ACCEPT_SSL_CERTS, true);
            capabilities2.setCapability("ignoreProtectedModeSettings", true);
            capabilities2.setCapability("nativeEvents", false);
            capabilities2.setCapability(InternetExplorerDriver.INITIAL_BROWSER_URL, "");
            capabilities2.setCapability(InternetExplorerDriver.LOG_LEVEL, "DEBUG");
              
             
            capabilities2.setPlatform(Platform.WINDOWS);
             
            driver = new RemoteWebDriver(new URL(nodeURL),capabilities2);
             
            driver.get("https://www.apple.com/");
            driver.manage().window().maximize();    
            driver.manage().timeouts().implicitlyWait(10, TimeUnit.SECONDS);
        }
    }
     
    @Test
    public void appleSite() throws InterruptedException
    {
        try
        {
         
        driver.findElement(By.xpath("//*[@id=\'ac-globalnav\']/div/ul[2]/li[3]")).click();
        Thread.sleep(2000);
  
        driver.findElement(By.cssSelector("#chapternav > div > ul > li.chapternav-item.chapternav-item-ipad-air > a > figure")).click();
        Thread.sleep(2000);
  
        driver.findElement(By.linkText("Why iPad")).click();
        Thread.sleep(2000);
        }
         
        catch(Exception e)
        {
            System.out.println(e.getMessage());
        }
    }
  
     
    @AfterMethod()
    public void tearDown()
    {
            driver.quit();
            System.out.println("Browser Closed");
    }
}

Above is the java class file that is configured with the XML file which includes the values of parameters passed in the java file and also helps in creating a suite of different classes that would run in a parallel manner.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE suite SYSTEM "http://testng.org/testng-1.0.dtd">
<suite thread-count="3" name="BlogSuite" parallel="tests">
  
<test name="Chrome Test">
<parameter name="Port" value="4546"/>
    <classes>
      <class name="DemoAutomation.Selenium_MultiBrowser_Test"/>
       
    </classes>
  </test> 
   
  <test name="Firefox Test">
<parameter name="Port" value="5566"/>
    <classes>
      <class name="DemoAutomation.Selenium_MultiBrowser_Test"/>
       
    </classes>
  </test> 
   
   
  <test name="Internet Explorer Test">
<parameter name="Port" value="4547"/>
    <classes>
      <class name="DemoAutomation.Selenium_MultiBrowser_Test"/>
       
    </classes>
  </test> 
   
   
  </suite>

Output Screen:

In the above code, I have used DesiredCapabilities class that would help you set properties for the Selenium WebDriver. These properties can be used to configure instances of browser such as BrowserName and BrowserVersion on which you want your script to run on.

Note: However, the script would only run on the browser and browser version that is currently installed on the test machine. Suppose, if you try running your test on Chrome 72 and you only have Chrome 74 installed on your test machine, then your script would show an error. This same scenario occurs while you opt for the different operating system compared to the operating system of your test machines.

In addition, it is quite expensive to invest in new Mac and Windows environments every time a new OS is launched.

So, if you wish to perform automated cross browser testing on different browsers, browser versions and operating systems then I would recommend you to look for a tool that offers Selenium Grid setup on-cloud, such as LambdaTest.

Running Automated Tests On LambdaTest Selenium Grid Cloud

Let’s try running our same test case on LambdaTest Selenium Grid. You can use LambdaTest Desired Capabilities Generator for configuring the desiredcapabilities object. This would save you a lot of your time spent in Selenium Grid setup when done manually.

With LambdaTest, you only need to create a Remote Server, add your LambdaTest username, access key, and the Grid URL in your script, and then you are good to go.

Below is the Java code in the TestNG framework that would be more beneficial in this scenario:

package lambdatest;
import java.net.MalformedURLException;
import java.net.URL;
  
import org.openqa.selenium.By;
import org.openqa.selenium.JavascriptExecutor;
import org.openqa.selenium.remote.DesiredCapabilities;
import org.openqa.selenium.remote.RemoteWebDriver;
import org.testng.annotations.AfterTest;
import org.testng.annotations.BeforeTest;
import org.testng.annotations.Test;
  
  
public class SampleTest {
   public String username = "enteryourusernamehere";
  public String accesskey = "enteryourkeyhere";
  public RemoteWebDriver driver = null;
  public String gridURL = "@hub.lambdatest.com/wd/hub";
  boolean status = false;
  
  @BeforeTest
  @org.testng.annotations.Parameters(value={"browser","version","platform"})
  public void setUp(String browser, String version, String platform) throws Exception {
     DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
      capabilities.setCapability("browserName", browser);
      capabilities.setCapability("version", version);
      capabilities.setCapability("platform", platform); // If this cap isn't specified, it will just get the any available one
      capabilities.setCapability("build", "Selenium Grid");
      capabilities.setCapability("name", "Sample Test");
      capabilities.setCapability("network", true); // To enable network logs
      capabilities.setCapability("visual", true); // To enable step by step screenshot
      capabilities.setCapability("video", true); // To enable video recording
      capabilities.setCapability("console", true); // To capture console logs
      try {
          driver = new RemoteWebDriver(new URL("https://" + username + ":" + accesskey + gridURL), capabilities);
      } catch (MalformedURLException e) {
          System.out.println("Invalid grid URL");
      } catch (Exception e) {
          System.out.println(e.getMessage());
      }
  }
  
  @Test
  public void testSimple() throws Exception {
     try {
             
            driver.get("https://www.apple.com/");
            driver.manage().window().maximize();
             
            driver.findElement(By.xpath("//*[@id=\'ac-globalnav\']/div/ul[2]/li[3]")).click();
            Thread.sleep(2000);
  
            driver.findElement(
            By.cssSelector("#chapternav > div > ul > li.chapternav-item.chapternav-item-ipad-air > a")).click();
            Thread.sleep(2000);
  
            driver.findElement(By.linkText("Why iPad")).click();
            Thread.sleep(2000);
           
      } catch (Exception e) {
          System.out.println(e.getMessage());
      }
  }
   
  
  @AfterTest
  public void tearDown() throws Exception {
     if (driver != null) {
          ((JavascriptExecutor) driver).executeScript("lambda-status=" + status);
          driver.quit();
      }
  }
}

Now, we would run this Java class file with the XML file that contains the value of parameters passed in the Java file and also helps in creating a suite of different classes, using which, we can perform automation testing with Selenium Grid for parallel execution on different configurations.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE suite SYSTEM "http://testng.org/testng-1.0.dtd">
<suite thread-count="3" name="BlogSuite" parallel="tests">
  
  <test name="FirefoxTest">
  <parameter name="browser" value="firefox"/>
  <parameter name="version" value="62.0"/>
  <parameter name="platform" value="WIN8"/>
    <classes>
      <class name="lambdatest.SampleTest"/>
    </classes>
  </test> 
  
  <test name="ChromeTest">
  <parameter name="browser" value="chrome"/>
  <parameter name="version" value="70.0"/>
  <parameter name="platform" value="WIN10"/>
    <classes>
      <class name="lambdatest.SampleTest"/>
    </classes>
  </test> 
  
  <test name="SafariTest">
  <parameter name="browser" value="safari"/>
  <parameter name="version" value="11.0"/>
  <parameter name="platform" value="macos High Sierra"/>
    <classes>
      <class name="lambdatest.SampleTest"/>
    </classes>
  </test> 
  
</suite>

Output Screen:

Now, we have successfully executed automation testing with Selenium Grid for parallel execution on different browsers along with different operating systems without any hassle of creating a hub and launching the nodes on different ports. While the test is running on a Selenium Grid, you can see the live video streaming of your tests and various other details such as commands which includes the screenshot of each command passed by your script and also the logs and exceptions raised.

You can also create your own team and run your automated cross browser compatibility testing scripts as a team. These test results would be visible to each member added in a team. In addition through our single click integration, your teammates can log any bug found during their cross browser testing session directly to various project management platforms like Jira, Trello, Asana, Mantis, GitHub, etc. In addition, LambdaTest also integrates with CI/CD platforms that are complementary to your automation testing tools like CircleCI, Jenkins, TravisCI, etc. Check out all of the LambdaTest integrations.

Conclusion

Selenium Grid setup, if done manually, could be challenging. If the main purpose of Selenium Grid is to run tests in parallel and test on a different configuration, you can perform the same on LambdaTest without investing time and resources on creating Selenium Grid hub and Selenium Grid nodes. So, give it a try once by running your automated tests on this online Grid and let us know in the comment box about your feedback using LambdaTest. Happy Testing!