How To Get Started With Zalenium Docker Grid (Video)

Hey! It's Joe.

In a previous post, I defined what Zalenium is.

Now, with this video, I’ll cover how to actually get started with it.

I'll show you how to install Zalenium. We’ll also take a look at the Zalenium dashboard functionality, and how to use the Selenium IDE runner to run some tests against a Zalenium Selenium Grid.

You have two open-source solutions that can get you up and running with test automation really quickly, out of the box with no cost. Some really cool solutions. Check it out and let me know what you think.

How to Install Zalenium

First, make sure Docker is up and running.

Go to a terminal or command line and run a few commands to get Zalenium installed and running.

• The first command will pull Selenium down for you: docker pull elgalu/selenium
• Next, run the command to pull Zalenium down:  docker pull dosel/zalenium
• Then, start up Zalenium:docker run –rm -ti –name zalenium -p 4444:4444 \     -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \     -v /tmp/videos:/home/seluser/videos \     –privileged dosel/zalenium start

Notice how fast it is to get up and running. (You’ll know it's running when you receive the message.) Zalenium is now ready.

Zalanium Dashboard

All right. Now let's take a look at the Dashboard.

If you go to the dashboard once it’s been installed, you'll receive a message that says “Waiting for the dashboard to be ready…it will load automatically after the first videos are ready.”

Let’s run a quick test and then take a look at the results within Zalenium.

Run Selenium IDE Test against Zalenium Grid

I'm going to use a test script I created in a previous post, and then I'll run against Zalenium.

All this script does is go to my test page, types in my name, chooses an operating system from the dropdown menu and returns the value of an operating system.

Open up a new terminal or command line and select the Selenium IDE Runner command to run the demo script against the Zalenium instance:

selenium-side-runner –server http://localhost:444/wd/hub JoeDemo.side

Hit Enter and see what happens.

Now, return to the Zalenium dashboard and see what it looks like.

Selenium Test Playback Video

One of the coolest features of Zalenium is the automatic test replay.

It also captures the logs automatically so you can look at the Selenium and browser driver logs.

When you select the test run it will show information about each run, including the day it ran, on what platform, the screen dimensions and where it was run from.

Pretty awesome stuff, right out of the box.

Zalenium and Selenium IDE Together – Great Combination

So if you're looking to run your test against Selenium Grid and don't want to have to manage it yourself, Zalenium is a great solution.

Even better, pairing it with the Selenium IDE runner yields a pretty cool end-to-end solution out of the box that will get you started automating your tests right away with minimal effort.