Automating the Creation and Deployment of New Robot Framework Libraries

This Bachelor’s thesis documents the improvement project of the test automation framework made for Nokia Solutions and Networks. The aim of this thesis was to improve time-consuming processes related to the test automation framework usage by automating some of them. The creation process of new Robot Framework test automation libraries was chosen to be the target improvement, since it included a significant number of manual tasks. Robot Framework is a generic cross-platform test automation framework, and it is widely used throughout the company. The primary objective of this thesis project was to study options for carrying out the improvement of the Robot Framework library creation process, and to finally develop an implementation for an automated system. The goal of the automated system was to create a new Robot Framework library into the version control system and to generate all needed Jenkins jobs for the new library with minimal user input and effort. The project automation was based on Jenkins, which is an open source automation server software. The project was divided into smaller sections, which were then divided into subtasks. The two main sections of this project were: creating a template for new libraries with the Cookiecutter tool, and setting up a Jenkins Pipeline to serve as the basis for the automation system. Cookiecutter is a software project templating tool. Testing of the solutions was conducted at all development stages using both unit tests and manual testing. The system created as the result of this thesis project succeeded well in filling the requirements set for the test automation framework improvement. The system is designed to be easily modifiable, reusable and extendable for future use