How can I run TestNG Selenium tests remotely?

Question

I have Java project with TestNG tests and Selenium WebDriver. At the moment, I can run them locally from my IDE only.

How can I implement a system that allows me to run a test with a post/get request on server?

For example, a page with button: on button click, a test should start executing on server, with all WebDriver manipulations, and when it's finished, I would receive an answer.

At first, I tried to call my testng.xml from command line. It worked, but it looks like command line is not, what I can use remotely with simple FirefoxDriver, so I started researching the "RemoteWebDriver" feature.

Then I downloaded " selenium-server-standalone-3.4.0 " and started the server and the node, but each time the script ends with an exception:

org.openqa.selenium.WebDriverException: The path to the driver executable must be set by the webdriver.gecko.driver system property

I added a required property, but it still doesn't work(the same problem). Here's a piece of code, which causes the exception:

@Test
public static void main() throws Exception {
    URL server = new URL("http://127.0.0.1:4444/wd/hub");
    DesiredCapabilities capabilities = DesiredCapabilities.firefox();
    System.out.println("Connecting to " + server);
    WebDriver driver = new RemoteWebDriver(server, capabilities);
    System.setProperty("webdriver.gecko.driver", "geckodriver.exe");
    driver.get("http://www.google.com");
    driver.quit();
}

As you see, the system property is set (geckodriver.exe exists in directory and works fine with FirefoxDriver, but doesn't work with RemoteWebDriver).

I don't understand, what I'm doing wrong, and not even sure, that I'm working in right direction. Can you help me,please?

Tried adding parameter, proposed by @ekostadinov. Here's how I start hub and node:

java -Dwebdriver.gecko.driver="geckodriver.exe" -jar lib\selenium-server-standalone-3.4.0.jar -role hub

java -jar lib\selenium-server-standalone-3.4.0.jar -role node  -hub http://localhost:4444/grid/register

Still doesn't work, but exception is different:

org.openqa.selenium.SessionNotCreatedException: Unable to find a matching set of capabilities

Update

Changed this

DesiredCapabilities capabilities = DesiredCapabilities.firefox();

To this

DesiredCapabilities capabilities = new DesiredCapabilities();
capabilities.setBrowserName("firefox");

And it worked. Thanks everyone, who helped!

Answer 1

There is no need to

implement a system that allows me to run a test with a post/get request on server

except in the case, you really want to. Continuous_integration servers do all this and much more for you, out of the box. For example Jenkins (very suitable for JAVA based solutions) provides very convenient Selenium plugin , which helps you to manage the Grid.

One thing to note here - you should pass additional parameters when starting the Hub on your server, like so:

 java -Dwebdriver.chrome.driver="/full/path/to/chromedriver" -Dwebdriver.gecko.driver="/full/path/to/geckodriver" -jar selenium-server-standalone-3.4.0.jar -role hub

Answer 2

Try moving this line of code above where you instantiate the driver:

System.setProperty("webdriver.gecko.driver", "geckodriver.exe");

Like this

@Test
    public static void main() throws Exception {
    URL server = new URL("http://127.0.0.1:4444/wd/hub");
    DesiredCapabilities capabilities = DesiredCapabilities.firefox();
    System.out.println("Connecting to " + server);
    System.setProperty("webdriver.gecko.driver", "geckodriver.exe");        
    WebDriver driver = new RemoteWebDriver(server, capabilities);
    driver.get("http://www.google.com");
    driver.quit();
}

Also make sure the geckodriver is in the same directory where you are starting the hub/node.