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Integrate Your Test Suite with BrowserStack

BrowserStack C# SDK supports a plug-and-play integration. Run your entire test suite in parallel with a few steps!

Prerequisites

  • An existing automated test suite.
  • .Net v5.0+, NUnit v3.0.0+. (if you are using NUnit), xUnit v2.0+ (if you are using xUnit)

If you are using Mac computers with Apple silicon chips, use the BrowserStack SDK CLI workflow.

Integration steps

To begin with our starter project, check out our C# sample project. If you are already using the sample project, you may skip the integration steps.

Depending on your preferred method of building projects, perform the following steps to integrate your test suite with BrowserStack. You can integrate yout test suite with C# SDK using NUnit, xUnit, or SpecFlow.

Set BrowserStack credentials

Save your BrowserStack credentials as environment variables. It simplifies running your test suite from your local or CI environment. For MacOS and Linux, set the values in your ~/.zprofile (zsh) or ~/.profile (bash).

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Add BrowserStack SDK as NuGet package

Steps to install BrowserStack SDK as a NuGet package:

  1. On the Visual Studio toolbar, select Project > Manage NuGet Packages. A NuGet Package Manager Window opens.
  2. In the Browse tab, search for BrowserStack.TestAdapter, and click Install.

Install BrowserStack as NuGet

Create your BrowserStack config file

After installing the SDK, create a browserstack.yml config file at the root level of your project. This file holds all the required capabilities to run tests on BrowserStack.

Set access credentials

Set userName and accessKey parameters in the browserstack.yml file, available in the root directory, to authenticate your tests on BrowserStack.

Set platforms to test on

Set the browsers/devices you want to test under the platforms object. Our config follows W3C formatted capabilities.

Parallel thread #1
Parallel thread #2
Parallel thread #3

Enable BrowserStack Local

Test localhost/internal servers in your network

True
False
Test localhost/staging websites that are not publicly accessible

BrowserStack’s Local Testing feature connects with test suites pointing to your localhost URL

Learn more

If your staging environment is behind a proxy or firewall, additional arguments, such as proxy username, proxy password, etc, must be set. Check out Local Binary parameters to learn about additional arguments or Contact Support for assistance.

BrowserStack Reporting (part 1/2)

You can leverage BrowserStack’s extensive reporting features using the following capabilities:

Build Name

Set build name as the name of the job/test suite being run. Accepted characters: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, ., :, -, [], /, @, &, , _. All other characters are ignored.
Character limit: 255

buildIdentifier Description Generated build name on dashboard
${BUILD_NUMBER} (Default) If build is triggered locally, an incremental counter is appended.

If build is triggered with CI tools, CI generated build number is appended.
bstack-demo 1


bstack-demo CI 1395
${DATE_TIME} The timestamp of run time is appended to the build. bstack-demo 29-Nov-20:44
Advanced use cases for Build name

Custom formatting of build name

Prefix buildIdentifier with desired characters, for example, # or :

buildName: bstack-demo
buildIdentifier: '#${BUILD_NUMBER}'

Re-run tests in a build

You can re-run selected tests from a build using any of the following options:

Option 1: Set the existing build name in the BROWSERSTACK_BUILD_NAME variable and prepend it to your test run command to re-run tests in the same build:

MacOS/Linux:

BROWSERSTACK_BUILD_NAME=“bstack-demo 123” dotnet test --filter "Category=sample-test"

Windows Powershell:

$env:BROWSERSTACK_BUILD_NAME=“bstack-demo 123”; dotnet test --filter "Category=sample-test"

Windows cmd:

set BROWSERSTACK_BUILD_NAME="bstack-demo 123" && dotnet test --filter "Category=sample-test"


Option 2: Set the build name as a combination of buildName and buildIdentifier, as seen on the dashboard, and set buildIdenitifier as null:

buildName: bstack-demo 123
buildIdentifier: null


Option 3: Set the buildIdentifier as the build number or time of the required build as seen on the dashboard:

buildName: bstack-demo
buildIdentifier: 123


Project Name

Set a project name for your project.

sessionName is the name of your test sessions and is automatically picked from your test class/spec name. It doesn’t need to be set manually when using the BrowserStack SDK.

Use additional debugging features

BrowserStack offers session logs, screenshots of failed commands, and a video of the entire test, with additional options to enable.

Visual logs

Enables screenshots for every selenium command ran

True
False
Network logs

Enables network capture for the session in HAR format. Reduces session performance slightly

True
False

Update browserstack.yml file

Update the browserstack.yml file in the root folder of your test suite and add the given code to it.

browserstack.yml
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BrowserStack Reporting (part 2/2)

Test assertions are specific to selected language frameworks. BrowserStack requires explicit instruction to determine whether your tests have passed or failed based on the assertions in your test script.

Mark session name

You can use the sessionName capability to give your session a name (usually describing the test case) so that it is easy for you to debug later.

test-script.cs
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Mark test as passed or failed

To mark whether your test has passed or failed on BrowserStack, use the following Javascript executor in your test script.

The arguments passed in the Javascript method for setting the status and the corresponding reason of the test are status and reason

  • status accepts either passed or failed as the value
  • reason accepts a value in string datatype
test-script.cs
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Run your test suite

The BrowserStack Test Adapter enables you to execute your test suite seamlessly, just as you did previously.

  1. On the Visual Studio toolbar, select Test > Test Explorer.
  2. Right-click on your test and click Run.

Run test suite using VS code

Set BrowserStack credentials

Save your BrowserStack credentials as environment variables. It simplifies running your test suite from your local or CI environment.

Copy icon Copy snippet
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Install BrowserStack SDK

Run the given command to install the BrowserStack SDK and create a browserstack.yml file in the root directory of your project.

  • The browserstack.yml config file holds all the required capabilities to run tests on BrowserStack.

  • The BrowserStack.TestAdapter works on top of your framework test adapter to run parallel tests on BrowserStack across multiple platforms mentioned on the browserstack.yml file.

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[Only for Macs with Apple silicon] Install dotnet x64 on MacOS

If you are using a Mac computer with Apple silicon chip (M1 or M2) architecture, use the given command.

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  • <path> - Mention the absolute path to the directory where you want to save dotnet x64
  • <version> - Mention the dotnet version which you want to use to run tests

This command performs the following functions:

  • Installs dotnet x64
    Installs the required version of dotnet x64 at an appropriate path

  • Sets alias
    Sets an alias for the dotnet installation location on confirmation (enter y option)
    The command sets the installation path in your ~/.zshrc (zsh) or ~/.bashrc (bash) profile and you can use this alias to run your tests later. If you choose not to set the alias, when you run the tests, you have to use the entire path to the installation location on every test run.

Update your BrowserStack config file

Now that the BrowserStack SDK has been installed and the browserstack.yml config file has been created, update your browserstack.yml config file with the given parameters.

Set platforms to test on

Set the browsers and devices you want to test under the platforms object. Our config follows W3C formatted capabilities.

Parallel thread #1
Parallel thread #2
Parallel thread #3

Enable BrowserStack Local

Test localhost/internal servers in your network

True
False
Test localhost/staging websites that are not publicly accessible

BrowserStack’s Local Testing feature connects with test suites pointing to your localhost URL

Learn more

If your staging environment is behind a proxy or firewall, additional arguments, such as proxy username, proxy password, etc, must be set. Check out Local Binary parameters to learn about additional arguments or Contact Support for assistance.

BrowserStack Reporting (part 1/2)

You can leverage BrowserStack’s extensive reporting features using the following capabilities:

Build Name

Set build name as the name of the job/test suite being run. Accepted characters: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, ., :, -, [], /, @, &, , _. All other characters are ignored.
Character limit: 255

buildIdentifier Description Generated build name on dashboard
${BUILD_NUMBER} (Default) If build is triggered locally, an incremental counter is appended.

If build is triggered with CI tools, CI generated build number is appended.
bstack-demo 1


bstack-demo CI 1395
${DATE_TIME} The timestamp of run time is appended to the build. bstack-demo 29-Nov-20:44
Advanced use cases for Build name

Custom formatting of build name

Prefix buildIdentifier with desired characters, for example, # or :

buildName: bstack-demo
buildIdentifier: '#${BUILD_NUMBER}'

Re-run tests in a build

In order to re-run your build, you need to ensure that your build name matches an existing build so that your tests get merged into the previously run build.
You can re-run selected tests from a build using any of the following options:

Option 1: Set the existing build name in the BROWSERSTACK_BUILD_NAME variable and prepend it to your test run command to re-run tests in the same build:

MacOS/Linux:

BROWSERSTACK_BUILD_NAME=“bstack-demo 123” dotnet test --filter "Category=sample-test"

Windows Powershell:

$env:BROWSERSTACK_BUILD_NAME=“bstack-demo 123”; dotnet test --filter "Category=sample-test"

Windows cmd:

set BROWSERSTACK_BUILD_NAME="bstack-demo 123" && dotnet test --filter "Category=sample-test"


Option 2: Set the build name as a combination of buildName and buildIdentifier, as seen on the dashboard, and set buildIdenitifier as null:

buildName: bstack-demo 123
buildIdentifier: null


Option 3: Set the buildIdentifier as the build number or time of the required build as seen on the dashboard:

buildName: bstack-demo
buildIdentifier: 123


Project Name

Set a project name for your project.

sessionName is the name of your test sessions and is automatically picked from your test class/spec name. It doesn’t need to be set manually when using the BrowserStack SDK.

Use additional debugging features

BrowserStack offers session logs, screenshots of failed commands, and a video of the entire test, with additional options to enable.

Visual logs

Enables screenshots for every selenium command ran

True
False
Network logs

Enables network capture for the session in HAR format. Reduces session performance slightly

True
False

Update browserstack.yml file with selected capabilities

Copy the code snippet and replace the contents of the browserstack.yml file in the root folder of your test suite.

browserstack.yml
Copy icon Copy snippet

BrowserStack Reporting (part 2/2)

Test assertions are specific to selected language frameworks. BrowserStack requires explicit instruction to determine whether your tests have passed or failed based on the assertions in your test script.

Mark session name

You can use the sessionName capability to give your session a name (usually describing the test case) so that it is easy for you to debug later.

test-script.cs
Copy icon Copy snippet

Mark test as passed or failed

To mark whether your test has passed or failed on BrowserStack, use the following Javascript executor in your test script.

The arguments passed in the Javascript method for setting the status and the corresponding reason of the test are status and reason

  • status accepts either passed or failed as the value
  • reason accepts a value in string datatype
test-script.cs
Copy icon Copy snippet

Run your test suite

Continue running your tests as you have been running previously. The command to run your tests using the BrowserStack SDK remains unchanged. For your reference, here’s a sample command:

Copy icon Copy snippet
Copy icon Copy snippet
Copy icon Copy snippet

Did not set the alias?
Use the absolute path to the dotnet installation to run your tests on Mac computers with Apple silicon chips as shown below:

</absolute/path/to/location/of/dotnet/>/dotnet test

If you find yourself with questions or looking for more information, check out our comprehensive FAQ documentation.

If you want to toggle between BrowserStack and your Local device grid when using BrowserStack SDK, refer to the command here.

After you run your test, visit the Automate dashboard to view your test results.

If you want to toggle between BrowserStack and your Local device grid when using BrowserStack SDK, refer to the command here.

Advanced features and use cases

Here’s a list of features and capabilities you may find useful.

Accept insecure certificates

The acceptInsecureCerts capability suppresses browser popups warning about self-signed certificates usually found in staging environments.

Capability Expected values
acceptInsecureCerts A boolean. Default is False.
True if you want to accept all SSL certificates.
browserstack.yml

Change desktop resolution

The resolution capability changes the default desktop screen resolution for your tests on BrowserStack.

Capability Description Expected values
resolution Set the resolution of your VM before beginning your test A string. Default resolution is 1024x768

Supported resolutions:
Windows (XP, 7): 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x800, 1280x1024, 1366x768, 1440x900, 1680x1050, 1600x1200, 1920x1200, 1920x1080, and 2048x1536

Windows (8, 8.1, 10): 1024x768, 1280x800, 1280x1024, 1366x768, 1440x900, 1680x1050, 1600x1200, 1920x1200, 1920x1080, and 2048x1536

OS X (Sonoma, Ventura, Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, and High Sierra): 1024x768, 1280x960, 1280x1024, 1600x1200, 1920x1080, 2560x1440, 2560x1600, and 3840x2160

OS X (All other versions): 1024x768, 1280x960, 1280x1024, 1600x1200, and 1920x1080
browserstack.yml

Simulate IP geolocation

The geoLocation capability lets you test your websites across different countries.

Capability Description Expected values
geoLocation Set the country code you want your test to detect A string. An ISO 2 country code

FR for France,
CN for China

Check out the complete list of 45+ countries we support.
browserstack.yml

Note that this capability is supported on the Enterprise plan only. You can contact sales to get an Enterprise plan for your account.

Simulate network conditions

The networkProfile capability lets you test your websites under different network conditions.

Capability Description Expected values
networkProfile Set the network profile to start the test with A string.

2g-gprs-good, 4g-lte-advanced-lossy

Check out the complete list of all pre-defined network profiles.
browserstack.yml

Next steps

Once you have successfully integrated your test suite with BrowserStack, you might want to check the following:

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