TestLink/Admin Guide

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This page was marked as inactive and is retained for historical reference. We no longer do manual testing. All the test cases were moved to automated tests.

Admin Guide

As an Admin, you will have access to all needed options to create new users, test cases, test plans, platforms, specifications and the like. You also should be able to add an issue tracker like Bugzilla, Redmine, etc.

Manage your profile

On the top left of the screen, near your login name, there is a My Settings icon that lets you manage your login, e-mail address and locale. By changing the locale, you will change the user interface language. The workflow we are using will let you access the tests in the locale chosen here.

This is also the place where you can manage your password and reset it. Under the password area, a button lets you generate an API key (it could be used to connect to other applications). And under this area, an history of your connection is listed.

Next to your login name, the role that has been attributed to you, appears between square brackets.

Users/Roles

Below your logout button (right of your "My Settings" one) you will find a button with a head. Hovering your mouse pointer over it will show the quick help Users/Roles. Here you can create new users, change them, or export them. The same goes for View Roles. You can also update Assign Test Project roles and Assign Test Plan roles.

Creating a new user

Say, you want to create a new tester for a test. You need to

1. click on the Users/Roles button
2. click on Create
3. fill in the required fields (Login, First Name, Last Name, Password and Email)
4. assign the Role to him/her (in this case Tester)
5. set the Locale to his/her language
6. click on Save

Now you have created your first tester for TestLink. You are also able to create other users for all needed roles here like "Test Designer" , "Senior Tester" or "Leader". You will find a short overview about each role on the [User Guide].

Changing your user's role

Now you want to change a user's role (maybe (s)he did constantly a good job and you want to reward him/her with a better position). You need to

1. click on the Users/Roles button
2. click on the user's login name
3. choose a different role there (e.g. Senior Tester or Test Designer)
4. click on Save.

Your tester is now a Senior Tester (or Test Designer if you have chosen this role).

Disabling a user

It seems not possible to delete a user (or better: the author -- tha -- of this text) has not found an easy way to do it via web interface nor with MySQL/MariaDB which comes with Bitnami's TestLink VM) via TestLink's web interface, but you can disable it in the Users/Roles interface. To do this

1. click on the Users/Roles icon
2. click on the red circle with the white cross of the user name (Disable User)

Your user is disabled now.

Creating a Test Project

To get your tester something to test, you will first need to create a test project. To do this

1. login with your admin user (you need admin rights to create a test project)
2. you will see the header Test Project and below it Test Project Management
3. click on that link
4. you will see a button labelled Create on the right
5. after clicking this button you will see a screen where you are able to inherit test cases and other stuff from an existing test project (Create from existing Test Project) or to create a completely new test project
6. You need to fill all required fields (though only Name and Prefix (used for Test case ID) are required, it is recommend to add a description about your test project there)
7. click on Create

Your first test project is ready to be filled with live.

Creating a Test Specification

In order to create Test Cases, you will need to create a Test Specification first. To do this

1. click on Test Specification below the header of the same name
2. click on the name of the Test Project on the bottom left
3. click on the toothed wheel icon on the top right (if you hoover your mouse pointer over it, it will show Actions as quick help). Right to the header Test Suite Operations, a green circle with a white cross (quickhelp: Create), two blue "A"s (Sort alphabetically), an icon with a green arrow pointing to a door (Import), something like a clipboard (Test Spec Document (HMTL) on new window), and an icon for a MS Word™ document (Download Test Spec Document (Pseudo Word)) are now visible.
4. Click on the Create icon
5. enter a name for the Test Suite and details to the field Details (e.g. "Writer" as name with a description á la "Test Suite for Writer")
6. click on Save

Your first test suite is created. Now you can create test cases for it.

Exporting Test Specification

If you want to import e.g. the English test specifications to translate them in your language, you can

1. switch the test project on the top right to "EN LibreOffice"
2. go to "Test Specification" in the bottom frame with the header "Test Specification"
3. click on the toothed wheel ("Action")
4. click on the third sign from the right ("Export All Test Suites")
5. you can (de)select the options in the next frame to your likings
6. click on "Export"
7. choose to save it on your hard disk in the next dialog
8. you can either rename this file, so that it does not contain any space or special characters in the file name or leave it as it is. It is your decision.

Importing Test Specification

To import the test specification to your language (say, for translating them to your language):

1. switch back to the Desktop
2. change the language back to your language at the top right
3. switch to the test specification again
4. click on the toothed wheel
5. click on the third button from the left ("Import")
6. choose the file, which you have saved on your hard disk
7. click "Upload file"
8. Wait, until the process is finished.

Now you can happily start translating the test specification.

Translating Test Specification

Now that you have imported the English test specification, you are now able to translate them into your language. To do this,

1. expand the tree of your imported test specification (it is named "LibreOffice 00")
2. click on the first file on the left
3. click on the toothed wheel on the right
4. click on "Edit"
5. translate "Test Case Title", "Summary" and "Preconditions"
6. click on "Save" at the left bottom of the right side
7. Now you will see the "Step actions" and "Expected results" below your newly translated "Preconditions". Click on the first entry.
8. Translate the text on the left and then the one on the right
9. click on "Save"
10. click on the next entry
11. translate it as well and save it
12. click on the last entry and translate it
13. click on "Save & exit" to finish your work.

You have translated your first test specification.

Creating a Test Case

To create a test case

1. click on your newly created Test Suite
2. click on the toothed wheel icon on the top right. Now you will see two rows on the top right: one for Test Suite Operations and one for Test Case Operations.
3. click on the Create sign in the second row
4. enter a name in Test Case Title (e.g. "Writer start"), a description to Summary and explain what is needed as Preconditions
5. enter a number for the test duration (e.g. "2" for two minutes)
6. Leave the fields "Status", "Importance" and "Execution type" for now. They will be handled later in this guide.
7. You can set Keywords to define which module is concerned by the test. Set it (or them, if you need more then one keyword)
8. Click on "Create"
9. after this you will get the a button labelled Create step
10. click on it
11. enter the step(s) for the test on the left below Step actions
12. enter the expected results on the right below "Expected Results
13. If you want to create further steps for this test, click on Save. If you want to finish your test creation here, click Save & exit.

Your first test case is created.

If you have a test document that eases the test case (e.g. with data preset so the tester don't have to spend time to fill the document), attach it to the test at the bottom of the screen.

Assigning Users to a Test Case

To be able to test something for a tester, you will first to assign one or more test cases to them. To do this,

1. click on Assign Test Case Execution below the Test Plan contents on the right side of the main window
2. click on the triangle before one of the test specification on the bottom left of the next side to expand it
3. click on one of the test cases

You are now able to do either a bulk assignment (meaning, that you are able to assign test cases to more than one tester) in the top of the right window pane, or you can use the field below, right of your test case(s) to assign it to a tester.

1. click in the field right to the test case and select your tester(s)
2. click on Save

Now your tester will be able to test something after (s)he logged in in his/her account.

Creating a Platform

As LibreOffice is used on different operating systems and hardware, it may be useful to create these platforms. To do this

1. click on Platform Management below the Test Project header
2. click on the Create platform icon
3. enter a name right to Platform (e.g. Windows) and a short description in the field below (e.g. All Windows related tests)
4. click on Save

Your first platform is now ready to be connected to test cases.

Setting the Urgency of a Test Case

Say, you want your testers test your really hot new feature for a test case or test a fix for a really annoying bug or a security fix as soon as possible. To do this, you just need to raise the urgency of a test case from its default Medium setting to High. It is also possible to lower the urgency of a test case to Low. But keeping our first case here, we want to raise the urgency of a test case. To do this,

1. click on Set Urgent Test below the header Test Plan contents
2. click on the triangle in front of your test suite on the left pane. If you have only one test suite created by now, click on this instead.
3. You will now see your test case(s) on the right with radio buttons for the different urgency levels (High, Medium and Low)
4. click on the radio button in front of your test case where you want to raise it.
5. Click the Set urgency for individual test cases icon

You have raised the urgency of the test case(s) now.

Creating Builds

As we provide several versions of LibreOffice each year, it is possible to create Test Suites for each build which we want to test. If you want to create a Test Suite for e.g. our "fresh" line (the upcoming 5.3.2), you will

1. go back to the main site of TestLink
2. click on Builds / Releases on the right below Test Plan
3. click on Create
4. enter e.g. 5.3.x.y as a title
5. enter a description below
6. add a Release date
7. click on Save

Your first build is created now and you are now able to select between the different builds during your test run as a (senior) tester.

Open Questions

• There seems no easy way to integrate a BTS (Bug Tracking System) like Bugzilla or Redmine without the risk to open a security hole on your system. TestLink's documentation mentions an entry to its custom_config.inc.php and adding it to your test plan. While it would be possible (for someone with access to the server where TestLink is installed) to add the needed entry to this php file, others may not have this possibility. And adding e.g. Bugzilla via web interface means, you need to

1. copy their example, adopting to your needs, but also add an user name and his/her password to that example before you save it.
2. The author of their documentation mentions that this would only work, if your Bugzilla is not using HTTPS but HTTP.

Maybe someone more knowledgeable than the author of this article has found a different solution for this problem. TestLink's documentation mentions a special user for your BTS with the ability to read your RDBMS' data, which may not be possible to create without access to the used BTS -- apart from security considerations.

• You will find that it is often mentioned that you are able to export a test report (or whatever else) to the OpenOffice format should be possible. It is -- however -- not shown in our TestLink version nor in Bitnami's. And also exporting a test report to Pseudo Word and -- after downloading it to your hard disk -- opening it in LibreOffice shows only an I/O error. A file $File_name.doc (where $File_name.doc is just a placeholder for the actual file) shows that this is only an HTML file with long lines. Interestingly, using lynx $File_name.doc opens it in LibreOffice but - alas - you will see the I/O error message anyway ...
• TestLink's documentation is rather old. To find out how things work is rather a question of trial & error, searching TestLink's and/or Bitnami's forums, or using a search engine to find a solution for a problem. It would be helpful to find better (OS neutral) instructions somewhere and collect them for further use.