DevTestOps Insights by Pankaj

Automating API Testing and Integration with Postman and Jenkins

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Pankaj Suryavanshi
·

3 min read

Table of contents

Introduction 🌐

API testing is a crucial part of ensuring the reliability and functionality of applications. Postman simplifies API testing, and when integrated with Jenkins, it becomes a powerful combination for automating your testing workflows. In this blog, we'll guide you through the process of running a Postman collection in a Jenkins Freestyle project using Newman commands.

Prerequisites 🛠️

Before we dive in, ensure you have the following prerequisites:

  1. Postman Collection: Have a Postman collection exported & ready for testing.

  2. Jenkins: Ensure Jenkins is installed and running on your machine.

  3. Newman: Install Newman globally by running npm install -g newman.

Steps to Run Postman Collection in Jenkins 🚀

Step 1: Create a Freestyle Project in Jenkins 🏗️

  1. Open Jenkins and click on "New Item."

  2. Enter a project name (e.g., "API_Testing_Project") and choose "Freestyle project." Click "OK."

Step 2: Configure Source Code Management (Optional) ⚙️

  1. If your Postman collection is in a version control system, configure the source code management section in your Jenkins project. Otherwise, skip this step.

Step 3: Add a Build Environment - Provide Node & npm to PATH 🌐

  1. In your Jenkins project, go to the "Build Environment" section.

  2. Check the option for "Provide Node & npm bin/ folder to PATH."

  3. The step "Provide Node & npm bin/ folder to PATH" in Jenkins is typically used to ensure that the Node.js and npm (Node Package Manager) binaries are available in the system's PATH environment variable during the execution of a Jenkins job.

Step 4: Add a Build Step & Write the Newman Command ✍️

  1. In your Jenkins project, go to the "Build" section.

  2. Click "Add build step" and choose "Execute shell" (Linux) or "Execute Windows batch command" (Windows).

  3. Replace /path/to/your/Postman_collection.json with the actual path to your Postman collection file.

newman run /path/to/your/Postman_collection.json

Step 5: Save and Build 💾

  1. Save your Jenkins project configuration.

  2. Click "Build Now" to trigger the build.

Step 6: View Results 👀

Once the build is complete, you can view the results in the Jenkins console output. Newman will provide details about the API tests, including any failures or errors.

Additional Considerations 🔄

  1. Environment Variables: If your Postman collection uses environments, you might need to specify them in the Newman command. For example:

     newman run /path/to/your/Postman_collection.json -e /path/to/your/Postman_environment.json

  2. HTML Reports: Generate HTML reports for a more comprehensive view:

     newman run /path/to/your/Postman_collection.json -r htmlextra

    This requires the newman-reporter-htmlextra package, which you can install using npm install -g newman-reporter-htmlextra.

  3. Integrating with Jenkins Plugins: Explore Jenkins plugins that enhance integration with Postman and Newman, providing more features and reporting options.

Conclusion 🎉

Running a Postman collection in a Jenkins Freestyle project using Newman commands is a straightforward process. By following these steps, you can automate your API testing and ensure the reliability of your applications in a continuous integration environment. Happy testing! 🚀

APIsPostmanAPI TESTING