2 | © by Xantaro
Quote from RFC 1925
RFC 1925 – The Twelve Networking Truths
“It is more complicated than you think.”
3 | © by Xantaro
NETWORK TESTING Typical Software Qualification in Networking
PLAN BUILD Here be Dragons
4 | © by Xantaro
INTRODUCING THE ROBOT FRAMEWORK
§ Robot Framework § is a generic test automation framework
§ uses keywords to describe human readable test scenarios, which translate to actions performed during the test
§ allows to perform a repeatable test scenario
§ provides a set on included test libraries and integrated reporting functions
§ can be extended with own libraries written in python or java
§ Originally developed at Nokia Networks, nowadays sponsored by the Robot Framework Foundation § hosted on github
§ written in python, supporting Jython (JVM) and IronPython
5 | © by Xantaro
GENERIC EXAMPLE FOR TEST CASES
§ Example from Robot Documentation:
http://robotframework.org/robotframework/latest/RobotFrameworkUserGuide.html
name of testcase
keywords
variables
6 | © by Xantaro
NETWORK TEST CASE EXAMPLE
§ Example for a testcase written with Xantaro Robot Library
§ This tests runs on the DUT gelsenkirchen and checks the status of BFD sessions
7 | © by Xantaro
STRUCTURING TEST CASES
§ Directories can be used in robot to create high level test structures
§ Global settings may be inherited to subtests
§ Robot framework may be started against an individual test file or against a directory § In the later case, all robot test
cases in this directory and any subdirectory are executed
8 | © by Xantaro
NETWORK TEST CASE RESULT OVERVIEW
§ The integrated reporting functionality of robot provides an easy overview of the testing results
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NETWORK TEST CASE RESULT DETAILS
§ Details about failed result can be seen when diving into the details § this allows to quickly identify failed test cases
§ All results for passed and failed tests are logged and can later on be checked when the test finished
10 | © by Xantaro
TESTING COMPLEX SCENARIOS
§ Testing often involved generating packets at high scale
§ Different methods exists from open source to commercial tools § open source tools typically good for generating packets up to certain scale § in many cases, more intelligence is needed
► https://www.xantaro.net/en/tech-blogs/scalability-testing-with-ixias-ixnetwork/
§ Testing of complex scenarios is often difficult due to lack of hardware § special testing tools can help to simulate this
11 | © by Xantaro
WHAT IS XANTARO AIMING FOR?
§ We have seen that software upgrades require intensive testing before they can be rolled out
§ So far we used automation only for our lab infrastructure
§ The testing on the DUT was more or less manual
§ By using the robot framework we want to § create reusable network setups that mimic the topologies and functionalities used in our customer networks
§ support our customers with automatic tests of new software releases in our XT3Lab
► automatic turnup of testing devices
► automatic installation of target software release
► automatic execution of robot test plan, e.g. during the night to increase lab device productivity