Using the Eggplant Functional Connection List
The Connection List shows you the names and other relevant information about system under test (SUT) connections defined in your Eggplant Functional application. You can add, edit, delete, and establish connections to SUTs in this window.
Connection List Contents
The columns in the Connection List can be customized. Go to Connection > Customize Columns to select which columns to display.
Default Columns
The following columns display by default in the Connection List:
Status: Indicates the availability of the SUT, denoted by a color-coded dot. Go to Connection > Check Availability for status updates. The Connection List status colors are shown below. The Cloud category refers to Eggplant Automation Cloud SUTs.
Cloud | Device | WebDriver | Color | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Blue | Available | |||
Green check | Active | |||
Green | Connected | |||
Gray | Unavailable | |||
Yellow | Unknown | |||
Partial Yellow | Connecting | |||
Partial Green | Connecting | |||
Red | Error | |||
Eggplant Automation Cloud connections only | Reserved |
You can have multiple connected SUTs at any given time. However, you can have only one Active SUT. The Active SUT is a SUT with an open connection that has the current focus from Eggplant Functional. It's where scripts and commands are sent. As the table shows, the Connection List represents the Active SUT with a check mark on top of the designated green icon.
If you are running a script that switches between SUTs, you can save execution time by keeping both (or all) connections open rather than disconnecting and reconnecting with each switch. The connection process itself requires measurable time, but switching between connections (that is, making a different connection the active connection) is much faster.
For information about making connections, see Opening a Connection with a SUT.
Name: Refers to the display name a SUT sends to Eggplant Functional. Before Eggplant Functional connects to a SUT, the Name column displays the same information as the Host column.
To insert the name of a SUT into a script quickly, drag it from the Connection List to the Script Editor. To insert a connection property list into the script, Alt-drag (Option-drag on Mac) the SUT to the Script Editor.
Host: Displays the SUT’s host name or IP address.
If the name in the Host field contains the word tutorial, it means the SUT is a fake SUT that you can use when you are following an Eggplant Functional tutorial. For information about Eggplant Functional tutorials, see Tutorials.
Port: Displays the number of the port on which the SUT listens for connections.
Activity: Displays a running description of your VNC connection.
Optional Columns
The following columns can be added to the Connection List window:
Column Name | Description |
---|---|
Type | Displays the type of connection. |
Color | Displays the setting you choose in the Color Depth menu. |
SSH Host | Displays the host name or IP address of the computer that hosts an SSH tunnel for the SUT’s secure connections. |
SSH User | Displays the account name with which the SUT user logs into an SSH host. |
Manufacturer | Displays the manufacturer name of the connected device as specifed in Eggplant Automation Cloud. |
Model | Displays the model of the connected device if recorded in Eggplant Automation Cloud. |
OS | Displays the operating systems of the connected device as specified in Eggplant Automation Cloud. |
OS Version | Displays the version of operating systems as specified in Eggplant Automation Cloud. |
Meta-Tags | Displays the user-defined information associated with a SUT tag (custom field) in Eggplant Automation Cloud. For example, when editing a SUT, if you added a SUT tag called Location and defined the Location information, then it'll be displayed as: Location=Leatherhead under the Meta-Tags column in the Connection List window. |
Adding or Editing a SUT in the Connection List
For frequently used SUTs in Eggplant Functional, you can save the connection details in the Connection List so that you can easily make connections either from the Connection List or from within scripts.
If you are new to Eggplant Functional, you might want to visit Getting Started with Eggplant Functional for information about setting up your SUT environments, and Creating Your First SUT Connection for details on saving your first connection details in the Connection List.
After you've saved SUTs, the Connection List displays SUT details in a table:
To add a new connection, click the Add button at the bottom of the Connection List. To edit an existing connection, select it in the list, then click the Edit button. Both the New Connection and Edit Connection dialog boxes include the same fields for entering SUT information.
Eggplant Functional provides the option for you to create a SUT that you can use for testing when you are following an Eggplant Functional tutorial. See Creating a Tutorial SUT below for more information. For information about Eggplant Functional tutorials, see Tutorials.
The New Connection window in Eggplant Functional
Some of the fields in the New Connection dailog box only apply for certain connections. If a field does not apply for a specific connection type, its text box will be inactive and you will not be permitted to enter values in the field.
The fields in the New Connection dialog box are described below.
Field Name | Description |
---|---|
Server (IP Address, Hostname, or Android Device) | Enter the SUT's IP address or hostname. |
Port | The port number used to connect to the SUT. |
Password | The password required for VNC, RDP, and Citrix connections. |
Username | The username for VNC, RDP, and Citrix connections. |
Display Name | Enter a name for this connection as you want it to appear in the Connection List. You can then use this name to reference the specific connection or device from your scripts when using the connect command. Note The Server information is used as the default Display Name. |
Connection Type | The type of connection you are making. Depending on the chosen connection, you may be presented with further connection-specific options which are documented in sub-sections below. Connection types include: - VNC Automatic: Detects and assigns the appropriate VNC connection type. - VNC Standard (3.8); VNC Legacy (3.3): Different versions of the RFB protocol that the VNC server is using, for use when connecting to certain servers. - RDP: Select for connections via RDP. - WebDriver: Select for connections using Selenium WebDriver. You can use the WebDriver connection type with mobile devices. - Sauce Labs: Select for connections using Sauce Labs. You can use the Sauce Labs connection type with browsers and mobile devices. Creating a Sauce Labs connection enables both VNC and WebDriver access to a Sauce Labs device. - Citrix: Select for connections using Citrix. Citrix is ONLY available on Windows platforms. - Mobile Device: Select for connections to mobile devices and emulators which are connected to the system hosting Eggplant Functional. - Single System: (Windows only) Select to connect to the same machine where you are running EPF, using it both to host EPF and as a SUT. See Single Machine Testing for more information about this type of SUT connection. |
Color Depth | The depth of color with which the Viewer window draws a SUT. To read about changing this setting, see Changing Color Depth below. |
Connect | This button instructs Eggplant Functional to attempt to make a connection with the current settings. |
Save | This button saves the current SUT settings. Saved SUTs appear in the main Connection List window. |
Remember This Connection | This option is enabled by default. With this option enabled, Eggplant Functional saves this connection in the Connection List for use in the current and future Eggplant Functional sessions. If you disable this option, Eggplant Functional creates the connection as a temporary connection for the current session only; it will not be available in future sessions. Temporary connections display with their names in italics in the Connection List. |
Changing Color Depth
To increase the speed of your connection, you can decrease the color depth with which the Viewer window draws a SUT for VNC, RDP, and Webdriver connection types.
To increase or decrease color depth, choose a value in the Color Depth pop-up menu. Choose Default to draw the SUT with the same color depth you see on its native display.
If you change the color depth of a SUT, images you captured at the former color depth might not match the SUT in the current Viewer window.
VNC Specific Options
The following options only appear for VNC connections:
Option | Description |
---|---|
Skip Availability Check | Select this checkbox if you don't want Eggplant Functional to poll the listed server to see if it's available. This setting isn't available for RDP connections. |
Connect Securely (SSH) | Selecting this checkbox allows you to create a secure connection via SSH. This setting isn't available for RDP connections. To read more about creating a secure connection, see Opening Secure Connections below, as well as VNC Security. |
Scale Remote Screen: | Select this checkbox to scale mobile VNC servers by 50 percent in each dimension. This option provides better performance when you are using mobile devices with large screens or high resolution. Note This option works only with iOS Gateway and Eggplant Functional's built-in VNC server for Android devices. |
Blend Scaled Screen | Select this option to blend pixel colors when you are using Scale Remote Screen. This option should be used only for backward compatibility with older scripts or images. |
While the Port field is not a VNC-specific option, the default value 5900 is specific to the VNC connection types.
Step by Step: Entering VNC Connection Details
- Open the add/edit panel of the Connection List.
- Enter the display name you want to use and the IP address or hostname of the SUT you want to connect to, along with the device's port number.
- For VNC connections, the Password and Username fields refer to the VNC server on the SUT. If this information is required to connect to the VNC server, enter it here.
- Select the appropriate VNC Connection Type from the drop-down list. VNC Automatic is the default.
- Make any other changes or selections for this connection, then click Save to save the connection details to the Connection List.
Configuring Secure VNC Connections
Secure Shell (SSH) is a network protocol that uses data encryption to transfer information securely. For Eggplant Functional to make a secure VNC connection to a SUT, the SUT must be able to host an SSH tunnel or have a secure connection with another computer that can host an SSH tunnel. Also, you must have a user account on the SSH host computer.
Visit the VNC Security page for general information on VNC security in Eggplant Functional.
Step by Step: Setting up an SSH Login
- In the Connection List, select the SUT.
- Click Edit.
- Select the Connect Securely (SSH) checkbox, which opens the SSH login pane.
- Fill in the Username and Password fields. Username and Password refer to your user account on the SSH host computer. On Windows, enter your SSH key in the Password field.
- In the SSH Host field, enter the IP address or hostname of the SSH host computer.
- Select the Remember SSH Password checkbox to save the password of the user account on the SSH host; otherwise, you must enter the password whenever you open a connection with the SSH host.
SSH Login panel
Setting up SSH in the SUT's VNC Server Application
When you use SSH to connect to a SUT, the SUT's firewall must allow connections on port 22, the standard port for SSH connections.
For more information about secure VNC connections, see VNC Security, or see the SUT's VNC server documentation.
RDP Specific Options
Option | Description |
---|---|
Screen Width and Height | The screen resolution you want for the SUT display. |
Monitors | The number of monitors you want to display for the SUT. |
Enable Smart Card | (Windows only) Enable support for Smartcard authentication. |
While the Port field is not a RDP-only option, the default value 3389 is specific to the RDP connection types.
Step by Step: Entering RDP Connection Details
-
Open the add/edit panel of the Connection List.
-
Enter the display name you want to use and the IP address or hostname of the SUT you want to connect to.
-
Select RDP from the Connection Type drop-down list. RDP connections default to port 3389, but you can change this if necessary.
-
The Password and Username fields refer to the Windows user account you are connecting to. This information is always required for RDP connections.
-
When you select RDP as the connection type, the RDP Options section appears, which lets you specify the Width and Height at which the RDP session window opens. You can also select the number of monitors you want represented in your session window.
The available options when adding a new RDP connection -
Make any other changes or selections for this connection, then click Save to save the connection details to the Connection List.
Remember that for RDP, the SUT also has to be configured to accept the connection.
WebDriver Specific Options
EPF provides the WebDriver connection type to connect to Selenium desktop browsers as SUTs. This connection type provides the following specific options:
Option | Description |
---|---|
Browser | A drop-down list with Chrome, Firefox, Safari, MicrosoftEdge, and Internet Explorer. It also provides a None option, which allows you to specify the browser in the Capabilities section as described below. |
Capabilities | The part of the screen where you can add capabilities for your specific WebDriver. Refer to your WebDriver documentation for information about the capabilities your WebDriver supports. |
While the Port field is not a WebDriver-only option, the default value 4444 is specific to the WebDriver connection types.
Step by Step: Entering WebDriver Connection Details
-
Open the add/edit panel of the Connection List.
-
Enter the the IP address or hostname of the SUT you want to connect to, along with the port's device number.
-
Select WebDriver from the Connection Type drop-down list.
-
The WebDriver Options section appears. You can further configure the connection here.
- Browser: The browser you want WebDriver to connect to. Select None to test applications on a mobile device SUT.
- Capabilities: Define arbitrary browser capabilities here, in key-value pairs (e.g., Mode=Incognito for browsers that allow it). Different browsers have different capability keys.
WebDriver connection options in Eggplant Functional
-
Click Save to save the connection details to the Connection List.
To connect to Selenium servers in SauceLabs environments, pass the SauceLabs username
and accessKey
as Capabilities. Using key-value pairs, enter username
and accessKey
as the capability keys followed by the credential values. (Alternately, Eggplant recommends that you utilize an explicit Sauce Labs connection, introduced in Eggplant Functional version 22.3, to get a WebDriver connection to Sauce Labs. Eggplant Functional is able to store Sauce Labs credentials securely, providing enhanced security over using Capabilities.)
Sauce Labs Specific Options
The options in this section only appear for Sauce Labs connections.
Many of the Sauce Labs options disscussed below have specific values which are enumerated by Sauce Labs. To understand the possible valid values, please refer to the Sauce Labs Platform Configurator Tool and take note of the option assignments produced by the tool. In general, the Platform Configurator options map to one of the option names described below and the corresponding option values shown in the Platform Configurator should be entered into the text box in the appropriate Eggplant Functional connection dialog box.
Similarly, you can find your Sauce Labs username and API key by viewing the "My Account" info under your Sauce Labs User Settings
Common Sauce Labs Options
Options | Description |
---|---|
User | This is the username associated with your Sauce Labs account. |
API Key | The API Key generated by Sauce Labs for the specified Sauce Labs account. |
Data Center | See the Sauce Labs documentation for more information about this parameter. NOTE: Sauce Labs requires that this parameter must be entered in lower-case letters with dashes replacing spaces (also known as "kebab case"). For Example: "us-west-1" rather than "US WEST 1". |
Sauce Labs Browser-specific Options
Options | Description |
---|---|
Platform Name | The name and version of the browser's host operating system. |
Browser Name | The brand of the browser to test against. |
Version | (Optional) The version of the Browser to test against. |
Resolution | (Optional) The screen resolution you want configured for the browser. |
URL | The URL for the website you want the browser to open on launch. |
Sauce Labs Device-Specific Options
Options | Description |
---|---|
Platform Name | The name of the device's operating system. |
Device Name | The model name of the device to test. Tip: Use a period and an asterisk (.*) at the end of the name to broaden the device selection (for example, "iPhone.*"). |
App | (Optional) The native mobile app you want to test. See the Sauce Labs documentation for more information about this parameter and how to upload your app to storage. |