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saucectl Common Use Cases

The initial installation and setup of saucectl generates a config.yml file based on the framework and region you select during setup. By default, saucectl will look for this file each time you engage the CLI in order to determine where to find your tests and how and where to run them.

The configuration file is flexible enough to allow for any customizations and definitions that are required for any of the supported frameworks. The following sections describe some of the most common configurations. For information about configuring individual framework projects, see:

Setting an Alternative Configuration File​

Run the following command to configure saucectl to use any configuration file you choose:

saucectl run -c ./path/to/{config-file}.yml

If you are using multiple frameworks or need to configure different sets of tests to run separately, it might be useful to have individual configuration files that you can simply direct saucectl to reference as necessary.

YAML Required

While you can use multiple files of different names or locations to specify your configurations, each file must be a *.yml and follow the saucectl syntax outlined in the configuration reference doc for your framework (see links above). If you are less comfortable with YAML, any of a wide variety of free online YAML/JSON validator tools may be helpful.

Run Tests Against a Local App​

If you plan to run tests against a local app server / app running on localhost (either on your host machine or in a CI pipeline), there are specific workflows you must follow.

Need to Access Custom Node Modules?

If you have third party, or custom modules that are required test dependencies, you can utilize the npm configuration property to include those packages during test execution.

Including Project Descriptors​

The metadata parameter in the configuration file allows you to provide additional information about your project that helps you distinguish it in the various environments in which it is used and reviewed, and also helps you apply filters to easily isolate tests based on metrics that are meaningful to you, as shown in the following example:

sauce:
  metadata:
    build: RC 10.4.a
    tags:
      - e2e
      - release team
      - beta
      - featurex

Concurrency​

You can configure saucectl to run test suites in parallel up to the concurrency specified in the config file.

sauce:
  concurrency: 10

If needed, you can also override the file setting at runtime by specifying a concurrency value as an inline parameter of the saucectl run command:

saucectl run --ccy 10

A setting of 10 runs up to 10 test suites at the same time. If the test has more suites than that, excess suites are queued and run in order as currently running suites complete and new slots are available.

When running on Sauce Cloud, the maximum concurrency that you can use is defined by your account settings.

Sauce Connect​

saucectl supports using Sauce Connect to establish a secure connection when running your tests on Sauce Labs. To do so:

  1. Download and launch Sauce Connect.
  2. Provide the tunnel identifier in your config file:
config.yml tunnel setting
sauce:
  tunnel:
    id: my_tunnel_id
Choose the Correct Tunnel Identifier

When you launch a tunnel, you can accept the tunnel identifier name that Sauce Labs generates for your account (e.g., <$SAUCE_USERNAME>_tunnel_id) or specify a name in the launch command:

./sc -u $SAUCE_USERNAME -k $SAUCE_ACCESS_KEY -i <tunnel_name>

saucectl expects this tunnel_name value in the tunnel.name property of your config file.

Check out our working example of this use case using Sauce Connect and GitHub Actions.

Setting up a Proxy​

If you need to go through a proxy server, you can set it through the following variables:

  • HTTP_PROXY: Proxy to use to access HTTP websites
  • HTTPS_PROXY: Proxy to use to access HTTPS websites
note

At this time, these proxy settings are not supported for Playwright.

Saucectl​

saucectl supports going through a proxy to access Sauce Labs API.

Set HTTP_PROXY and HTTPS_PROXY environment variables as specified above. All requests will go through the specified proxy server.

note

Authenticated proxies are also supported.

Integrating saucectl in Your CI Pipeline​

You can incorporate your saucectl tests as part of your CI pipeline workflow. Observe these key principles to ensure flawless execution, regardless of which CI tool you use.

  • Understand the current automation framework in the stack
  • Understand your organization's preferred CI tool
  • Ensure you have appropriate administrator permissions
  • Successfully run tests with saucectl on their own before launching from your CI pipeline

saucectl provides instructions for integrating with the following CI tools:

Tailoring Your Test File Bundle​

The saucectl command line bundles your root directory (rootDir parameter of config.yml) and transmits it to the Sauce Labs cloud, then unpacks the bundle and runs the tests. This functionality is partly what allows Sauce Control to operate in a framework-agnostic capacity. However, you can and should manage the inclusion and exclusion of files that get bundled to optimize performance and ensure security.

Excluding Files from the Bundle​

The .sauceignore file allows you to designate certain files to be excluded from bundling.

Add any files that are not direct test dependencies to .sauceignore to reduce the size of your bundle, improve test speed, and protect sensitive information.

Examples of what can be included in .sauceignore:

# .sauceignore

# Ignore node_modules
node_modules/

# Ignore all log files
*.log

# Ignore executables/binaries
*.exe
*.bin
**/*/bin

# Ignore media files
*.png
*.jpeg
*.jpg
*.mp4

# Ignore documentation
*.rst
*.md

# Ignore sensitive data
credentials.yml

Sometimes it's easier to do the inverse: Including files for the bundle.

# Ignore all files by default.
/*

# Re-include files we selectively want as part of the payload by prefixing the lines with '!'.
!/node_modules
!/cypress
!cypress.config.js

# Since the whole '/cypress' folder is now included, this would also include any
# subdirectories that potentially contain auto-generated test artifacts from
# the local dev environment.
# It'd be wasteful to include them in the payload, so let's ignore those subfolders.
/cypress/videos/
/cypress/results/
/cypress/screenshots/

Including Node Dependencies​

The default .sauceignore file lists node_modules/ so locally installed node dependencies are excluded from the bundle. If your tests require node dependencies to run, you can either:

Remove "node_modules" from .sauceignore​

Delete or comment out node_modules/ in your .sauceignore file to bundle your node dependencies. For example,

# Do NOT exclude node_modules from bundle
# node_modules/

Node dependencies can increase your bundle by potentially hundreds of megabytes, so consider including only the required dependencies rather than the entire node_modules directory. The following sections provide some methods for limiting the scope of dependencies you must include.

Install "devDependencies" Only​

Consider only installing NPM devDependencies if your tests do not require all prod dependencies.

# Only install dev dependencies
npm install --only=dev

saucectl run

Uninstall Nonessential Dependencies​

If your standard install includes dependencies that aren't needed to run your tests, uninstall them prior to bundling.

# Install node dependencies
npm ci # or "npm install"

# Remove unneeded dependencies
npm uninstall appium
npm uninstall express

saucectl run

Install Essential Dependencies Individually​

If you know that your tests require only specific dependencies, install them individually instead of running npm install or npm ci.

# Install individual dependencies
npm install cypress-xpath
npm install @cypress/react

saucectl run

Set NPM Packages in config.yml​

You can avoid installing or uninstalling dependencies prior to each bundling operation by defining a default set of NPM packages to install in your sauce configuration file using the npm parameter, as shown in the following example:

npm:
  registry: https://registry.npmjs.org
  packages:
    lodash: "4.17.20"
    "@babel/preset-typescript": "7.12"
    "@cypress/react": "^5.0.1"

Alternatively, you can let saucectl selectively include already installed dependencies from the node_modules folder.

npm:
  dependencies:
    - lodash
caution

This feature is highly experimental.