Automated setup of test environments

Companies are creating software for many different purposes. This software needs to be tested. For this purpose, a test environment is used. The setup of the test environ-ment – on-site or cloud-based takes a certain amount of time and resources from the company. The traditional method to do the setup is to create a template which will be cloned to all of the test servers and afterwards all configuration is done manually. Commit has many projects each year where a test environment is used. The setup of test environments takes a lot of resources in the company and because of this there is a need to find a way to automatize the setup process. The solution needs to be easy to use for each team member at Commit. The research type used in this work was action research which is a suitable method for improving an already existing process. The thesis will be most beneficial to Commit, which will get a faster process and a proper documentation for starting up their virtualized test environments. The thesis in-cludes general information about test environments and test processes at Commit. A short comparison between on-site and cloud-based test environments is also presented. Selection of the tool for automating the setup process will be made based on criteria presented. In a company like Commit the added value of setting up the test environ-ment with the revised process is high