TestLink Tutorial: A Layman’s Guide to TestLink Test Management Tool (Tutorial #1)

This comprehensive tutorial will guide you through the process of getting started with TestLink, the most popular open-source test management tool.

Discover how to quickly set up and start using TestLink Test Management Tool with these in-depth TestLink Tutorials.

Editors’ Note – If you are still using MS Excel spreadsheets for tracking test cases and execution, now is the perfect time to switch to a Test Management tool. That’s why we have chosen the widely popular open-source TestLink Test Management Tool. Give it a try!

We have divided this series of TestLink Tutorials into 4 parts:

Here is the list of all the tutorials in this series:

TestLink Tutorial #1) Introduction to TestLink, installation, and creating Test Plan and Test Cases
TestLink Tutorial #2) Requirements management, Test execution, and generating test reports
TestLink Tutorial #3) Updating test case execution status remotely (via Selenium WebDriver code using TestLink API – Advanced concepts)
TestLink Tutorial #4) Test Metrics, Keyword Management, Custom Fields, and Test Report Charts

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Let’s begin with the first part of this series.

Introduction to TestLink

TestLink is a widely used web-based open-source test management tool that integrates both Requirements Specification and Test Specification. Users can create test projects and document test cases using this tool. It also supports multiple users/testers with different roles and can generate Test Report and Test Plan Documents within minutes. TestLink supports manual and automated execution of test cases and can generate test reports in various formats such as HTML, MS Word, and Excel.

Additionally, TestLink allows integration with popular Defect Tracking systems like Mantis, BugZilla, Jira, Youtrack, and TRAC. It provides the ability to link specific bug tickets with test cases and supports multiple Test projects. Since TestLink is a web-based tool, multiple users can access its functionality simultaneously with their assigned roles.

Benefits of TestLink

• Supports Multiple Projects
• Easy Test Cases import or export
• Seamless integration with defect management tools
• Automated Test case execution through XML-RPC
• Effortless test case filtering with keywords, version, and Testcase ID
• Provision to provide credentials to multiple users and assign roles
• Ability to assign test cases to multiple users
• Easy generation of Test plan and Test reports in various formats

TestLink Installation

UPDATE: You can install the cloud version of TestLink by following the steps on this page.

Prerequisites:

1. Apache Webserver
2. PHP
3. MySQL

Note: If you have a System Admin assigned for your project, you can ask the sysadmin to install TestLink for your project and skip directly to the “Creating a Test Project” step. Installing it yourself can provide valuable experience, though. 🙂

To install TestLink, you need to install Apache web server, PHP, and MySQL server. If your system or server already has Apache, PHP, and MySQL installed, you can proceed with the installation of TestLink as mentioned in the “Installation of TestLink” section below.

Otherwise, follow the step-by-step instructions below to install Apache, PHP, and MySQL first.

Apache Installation

Follow these steps to install the Apache web server:

Step #1: Download Apache from here.

Step #2: Extract the Zip file to C:/

Step #3: Copy the C:Apache24bin path and append it to the path environment variable.

Step #4: Open Command Prompt (Run as administrator)

cd to C:/Apache24/bin and run the following commands one by one:

httpd -k install

httpd -k start

PHP Installation

Follow these steps to install PHP and configure it with Apache:

Step #1: Download PHP from this page (thread is safe).

Extract it to C:php

Step #2: Rename php.ini-development to php.ini

Step #3: Add C:php to the path environment variable.

Step #4: Edit php.ini and add/edit the following lines:

display_errors =On
log_erros = On
doc_root = C:/Apache24/htdocs
extension_dir = “C:/php/ext”

Step #5: Edit httpd.conf and add/edit the following lines:

LoadModule php5_module “C:/php/php5apache2_4.dll”
AddType application/x-httpd-php .php .html .php4 .php5

At the end of httpd.conf file, add:
PHPIniDir “C:/php”

Step #6: Create a file named phpinfo.php inside C:/Apache24/htdocs and add the following line inside the file:
<?php phpinfo();?>

Step #7: Copy php-mysql.dll in C:/php/ext and put it inside C:/Windows/System32

Step #8: Restart Apache

MySQL Installation

Follow these steps to install MySQL:

Step #1: Download MySQL from this page and install it.

Step #2: Create a Database named “TestLink” in your MySQL server.

Step #3: In php.ini, uncomment the MySQL extension and set the date time zone as “PRC”.

TestLink Installation

Follow these steps to install TestLink on the Apache web server:

Step #1: Download TestLink from this page.

Step #2: Extract the package, rename it to “testlink”, and place it inside “C:/Apache24/htdocs”

Step #3: Edit config.inc.php and edit the following lines:

$tlCfg->log_path = ‘C:/Apache24/htdocs/testlink/logs/’;
$tlCfg->config_check_warning_mode = ‘SILENT’;
$g_repositoryPath = ‘C:/Apache24/htdocs/testlink/upload_area’;

Save the changes and open http://localhost:80/testlink in your browser. Click the “Next” button until the installation is completed.

Step #4: Now you can log in to TestLink by accessing http://localhost:80/testlink.
Username: admin
Password: admin

Note: If you want screenshots for these installation steps, please check this installation guide.

Creating a Test Project

A Test Project is a project created for a specific product/project. It contains Test plans, Test suites, Test cases, and Builds. You can maintain multiple projects in TestLink.

Here is how you can create a Test Project:

Step #1: Creating a new Test Project requires “admin” rights. Login with the admin user.

Step #2: When logging in for the first time, it will navigate directly to the Test project creation page. Otherwise, select the “Test Project Management” link on the main page and click on the “Create” button.

Step #3: The Test Project section will open. Click on the “Create” button.

Step #4: Enter the Test Project name, description, and all the required fields, and click on the “Create” button.

The Test Project should be created successfully.

Creating a Test Plan

The Test Plan document contains complete information about the scope of testing, milestones, test suites, and test cases. Once you’ve created a Test Project, the next step is to create a Test Plan.

Here is how you can create a Test Plan:

Step #1: Click on the “Test Plan Management” link on the desktop page.

Step #2: Click on the “Create” button on the test plan management page.

Step #3: Enter all the required details on the page.

Step #4: Click on the “Create” button. It will be saved.

Build Creation

A build is a specific release of the software.

Here is how you can create a build:

Step #1: Click on “Builds/Releases” as shown in the figure.

Step #2: Click on the “Create” button.

Step #3: Enter the details about the build as shown in the figure below and click on the “Create” button.

The build should be created and saved.

Creating a Testsuite

A Testsuite is a collection of test cases that may validate/test the same component. This section explains how to create a testsuite. Follow the steps below to create a testsuite.

Step #1: Click on the “Test Specification” link on the Desktop. It will navigate to the Test specification page of the Project.

Step #2: Click on the settings icon on the right-side panel. It will display a series of testsuite operations.

Step #3: Click on the “Create” button for the Testsuite.

Step #4: The Testsuite specification page will open. Fill in the details related to the Testsuite and click the “Create Testsuite” button.

The testsuite will be created and appear on the left-side folder tree structure.

Creating a Testcase

A Testcase contains a sequence of test steps to test a specific scenario, with an expected result. This section explains how to create a testcase along with test steps. Follow the steps below to create Test cases.

Step #1: Click on the Testsuite folder on the left-side tree structure

Step #2: Click on the settings icon in the right-side panel. A list of Test case operations will be displayed on the right-side panel.

Step #3: Click on the Test case “Create” button. It will open the Test case specification page.

Step #4: Enter the details in the Test case specification page.

Step #5: After entering the details, click on the “Create” button to save the test case.

Step #6: Now click on the “Create steps” button in the test case. It will show the test case step editor.

Step #7: Start adding the Test steps as shown in the picture.

Step #8: Click the “Save” button to add further steps, or click the “Save & exit” button to save the step and exit from the editor.

Finally, the test case you just created will look like this:

Assigning a Testcase to a Test Plan

In order to execute a Test case, it should be assigned to a Test Plan. This section describes how to assign a Test case to a Test Plan. Follow the steps below to assign a Test case to a Test Plan.

Step #1: Click on the settings icon on the Test case panel. It will display the list of operations.

Step #2: Click on the “Add to TestPlans” button.

Step #3: Click on the checkbox of the Test Plan to which you want to assign the Test case. Then click on the “Add” button.

The Test case will be successfully added to the Test Plan.

That’s all for today.

Recap of what we learned in this tutorial:

• TestLink provides various integrated functionalities such as documenting and executing test cases, generating Test reports and Test plans.
• Multiple users with multiple roles can be defined in TestLink.
• It is a web-based test management tool, allowing easy access for authorized users.
• Test reports can be easily generated in HTML, MS DOC, or Excel format.
• Test suites & Test cases can be exported and imported for reuse in other projects.

With its useful features, TestLink has been the most popular open-source test management tool for a long time.

About the author: Thanks to Anitha Eswari for her contribution to these useful tutorials. She is currently working as a senior test engineer with expertise in manual and automation testing and various test management tools.

What’s Next?

In the 2nd and 3rd parts of this series, we will cover requirements management, mapping test cases to requirements, manual test execution, defect linking, and test report generation. In the advanced part, we will explore how to use Selenium WebDriver to automate test case updates using TestLink API, which can save time and resources, crucial factors for project success. 🙂

List of All Tutorials:

TestLink Tutorial #1
Tutorial #2
Tutorial #3
Tutorial #4

As always, we are here to help. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below.