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group: unassigned
info: To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/ux/technical-writing/#assignments
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# End-to-end Testing

## What is end-to-end testing?

End-to-end testing is a strategy used to check whether your application works
as expected across the entire software stack and architecture, including
integration of all micro-services and components that are supposed to work
together.

## How do we test GitLab?

We use [Omnibus GitLab](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/omnibus-gitlab) to build GitLab packages and then we
test these packages using the [GitLab QA orchestrator](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-qa) tool, which is
a black-box testing framework for the API and the UI.

### Testing nightly builds

We run scheduled pipelines each night to test nightly builds created by Omnibus.
You can find these nightly pipelines at `https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/nightly/pipelines`
(need Developer access permissions). Results are reported in the `#qa-nightly` Slack channel.

### Testing staging

We run scheduled pipelines each night to test staging.
You can find these nightly pipelines at `https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/staging/pipelines`
(need Developer access permissions). Results are reported in the `#qa-staging` Slack channel.

### Testing code in merge requests

#### Using the `package-and-qa` job

It is possible to run end-to-end tests for a merge request, eventually being run in
a pipeline in the [`gitlab-qa-mirror`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-qa-mirror/) project,
by triggering the `package-and-qa` manual action in the `test` stage (not
available for forks).

**This runs end-to-end tests against a custom CE and EE (with an Ultimate license)
Omnibus package built from your merge request's changes.**

Manual action that starts end-to-end tests is also available in merge requests
in [Omnibus GitLab](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/omnibus-gitlab).

Below you can read more about how to use it and how does it work.

#### How does it work?

Currently, we are using _multi-project pipeline_-like approach to run QA
pipelines.

```mermaid
graph LR
    A1 -.->|1. Triggers an omnibus-gitlab-mirror pipeline and wait for it to be done| A2
    B2[`Trigger-qa` stage<br>`Trigger:qa-test` job] -.->|2. Triggers a gitlab-qa-mirror pipeline and wait for it to be done| A3

subgraph "gitlab-foss/gitlab pipeline"
    A1[`test` stage<br>`package-and-qa` job]
    end

subgraph "omnibus-gitlab pipeline"
    A2[`Trigger-docker` stage<br>`Trigger:gitlab-docker` job] -->|once done| B2
    end

subgraph "gitlab-qa-mirror pipeline"
    A3>QA jobs run] -.->|3. Reports back the pipeline result to the `package-and-qa` job<br>and post the result  on the original commit tested| A1
    end
```

1. Developer triggers a manual action, that can be found in GitLab merge
   requests. This starts a chain of pipelines in multiple projects.

1. The script being executed triggers a pipeline in
   [Omnibus GitLab Mirror](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/build/omnibus-gitlab-mirror)
   and waits for the resulting status. We call this a _status attribution_.

1. GitLab packages are being built in the [Omnibus GitLab Mirror](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/build/omnibus-gitlab-mirror)
   pipeline. Packages are then pushed to its Container Registry.

1. When packages are ready, and available in the registry, a final step in the
   [Omnibus GitLab Mirror](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/build/omnibus-gitlab-mirror) pipeline, triggers a new
   GitLab QA pipeline (those with access can view them at `https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-qa-mirror/pipelines`). It also waits for a resulting status.

1. GitLab QA pulls images from the registry, spins-up containers and runs tests
   against a test environment that has been just orchestrated by the `gitlab-qa`
   tool.

1. The result of the GitLab QA pipeline is being
   propagated upstream, through Omnibus, back to the GitLab merge request.

Please note, we plan to [add more specific information](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/quality/team-tasks/-/issues/156)
about the tests included in each job/scenario that runs in `gitlab-qa-mirror`.

#### With Pipeline for Merged Results

In a Pipeline for Merged Results, the pipeline runs on a new ref that contains the merge result of the source and target branch.
However, this ref is not available to the `gitlab-qa-mirror` pipeline.

For this reason, the end-to-end tests on a Pipeline for Merged Results would use the head of the merge request source branch.

```mermaid
graph LR

A["a1b1c1 - branch HEAD (CI_MERGE_REQUEST_SOURCE_BRANCH_SHA)"]
B["x1y1z1 - master HEAD"]
C["d1e1f1 - merged results (CI_COMMIT_SHA)"]

A --> C
B --> C

A --> E["E2E tests"]
C --> D["Pipeline for merged results"]
 ```

##### Running custom tests

The [existing scenarios](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-qa/blob/master/docs/what_tests_can_be_run.md)
that run in the downstream `gitlab-qa-mirror` pipeline include many tests, but there are times when you might want to run a
test or a group of tests that are different than the groups in any of the existing scenarios.

For example, when we [dequarantine](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/engineering/quality/guidelines/debugging-qa-test-failures/#dequarantining-tests)
a flaky test we first want to make sure that it's no longer flaky.
We can do that using the `ce:custom-parallel` and `ee:custom-parallel` jobs.
Both are manual jobs that you can configure using custom variables.
When clicking the name (not the play icon) of one of the parallel jobs,
you are prompted to enter variables. You can use any of [the variables
that can be used with `gitlab-qa`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-qa/blob/master/docs/what_tests_can_be_run.md#supported-gitlab-environment-variables)
as well as these:

| Variable | Description |
|-|-|
| `QA_SCENARIO` | The scenario to run (default `Test::Instance::Image`) |
| `QA_TESTS` | The test(s) to run (no default, which means run all the tests in the scenario). Use file paths as you would when running tests via RSpec, e.g., `qa/specs/features/ee/browser_ui` would include all the `EE` UI tests. |
| `QA_RSPEC_TAGS` | The RSpec tags to add (no default) |

For now [manual jobs with custom variables don't use the same variable
when retried](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/31367), so if you want to run the same test(s) multiple times,
specify the same variables in each `custom-parallel` job (up to as
many of the 10 available jobs that you want to run).

#### Using the `review-qa-all` jobs

On every pipeline during the `test` stage, the `review-qa-smoke` job is
automatically started: it runs the QA smoke suite against the
[Review App](../review_apps.md).

You can also manually start the `review-qa-all`: it runs the full QA suite
against the [Review App](../review_apps.md).

**This runs end-to-end tests against a Review App based on [the official GitLab
Helm chart](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/charts/gitlab/), itself deployed with custom
[Cloud Native components](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/build/CNG) built from your merge request's changes.**

See [Review Apps](../review_apps.md) for more details about Review Apps.

## How do I run the tests?

If you are not [testing code in a merge request](#testing-code-in-merge-requests),
there are two main options for running the tests. If you simply want to run
the existing tests against a live GitLab instance or against a pre-built Docker image
you can use the [GitLab QA orchestrator](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-qa/tree/master/README.md). See also [examples
of the test scenarios you can run via the orchestrator](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-qa/blob/master/docs/what_tests_can_be_run.md#examples).

On the other hand, if you would like to run against a local development GitLab
environment, you can use the [GitLab Development Kit (GDK)](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-development-kit/).
Please refer to the instructions in the [QA README](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/tree/master/qa/README.md#how-can-i-use-it)
and the section below.

### Running tests that require special setup

Learn how to perform [tests that require special setup or consideration to run on your local environment](running_tests_that_require_special_setup.md).

## How do I write tests?

In order to write new tests, you first need to learn more about GitLab QA
architecture. See the [documentation about it](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-qa/blob/master/docs/architecture.md).

Once you decided where to put [test environment orchestration scenarios](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-qa/tree/master/lib/gitlab/qa/scenario) and
[instance-level scenarios](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/tree/master/qa/qa/specs/features), take a look at the [GitLab QA README](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/tree/master/qa/README.md),
the [GitLab QA orchestrator README](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-qa/tree/master/README.md), and [the already existing
instance-level scenarios](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-foss/tree/master/qa/qa/specs/features).

### Consider **not** writing an end-to-end test

We should follow these best practices for end-to-end tests:

- Do not write an end-to-end test if a lower-level feature test exists. End-to-end tests require more work and resources.
- Troubleshooting for end-to-end tests can be more complex as connections to the application under test are not known.

Continued reading:

- [Beginner's Guide](beginners_guide.md)
- [Style Guide](style_guide.md)
- [Best Practices](best_practices.md)
- [Testing with feature flags](feature_flags.md)
- [Flows](flows.md)
- [RSpec metadata/tags](rspec_metadata_tests.md)

## Where can I ask for help?

You can ask question in the `#quality` channel on Slack (GitLab internal) or
you can find an issue you would like to work on in
[the `gitlab` issue tracker](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues?label_name%5B%5D=QA&label_name%5B%5D=test), or
[the `gitlab-qa` issue tracker](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-qa/-/issues?label_name%5B%5D=new+scenario).
