Smoke Test Utility

The ODS / API Smoke Test Utility is a console application that will run each dynamically generated endpoint of the ODS / API. Its purpose is to verify an installation and operation of an ODS / API, and is useful as part of a continuous build or continuous deployment environment. Although it does not perform complex scenario tests, the Smoke Test tool does methodically perform operations in scenario-like orders.

The Smoke Test Utility source code can be found in the Ed-Fi-ODS repository in the Utilities\DataLoading\EdFi.SmokeTest.Console directory. It is part of the LoadTools solution (\Utilities\DataLoading). The LoadTools solution can be compiled using Visual Studio. Because the Smoke Test Utility uses Swagger metadata and an externally built SDK, it does not need to be recompiled when the ODS changes.

The Smoke Test tool has three modes of operation:

  • Non-Destructive API Tests. Use Swagger metadata to identify and invoke the non-destructive API methods of the ODS / API.
  • Non-Destructive SDK Tests. Use a pre-built SDK library to invoke the non-destructive API methods of the ODS / API.
  • Destructive SDK Tests. Use a pre-built SDK library to invoke all the API methods of the ODS / API.

Destructive SDK Tests alter the target database and may not completely clean up after themselves. These tests are best used against a QA or test installation of the ODS, not production data.

The two non-destructive tests are identical in functionality in that they both test for general connectivity, retrieve a session token, and invoke variations of GET scenarios on each API endpoint. However, they differ in that the Non-Destructive SDK tests use a customer-supplied SDK to access the API while the Non-Destructive API tests use a native HTTP Client to invoke dynamically the API endpoints advertised via the Swagger endpoint.

The Destructive SDK tests extend upon the functionality of the non-destructive tests by testing POST, PUT, and DELETE endpoints. Extensions as well as core entities and attributes are tested.

Profiles and composites are not tested by the Smoke Test Utility at this time.

TestNon-Destructive APINon-Destructive SDKDestructive SDK
HTTP LibraryHTTP ClientRest SharpRest Sharp
Get Static PageYesYesYes
Get Swagger MetadataYesNoNo
Get Session TokenYesYesYes
Get AllYesYesYes
Get All (skip and limit)YesYesNo
Get by IdYesYesNo
Get by KeyYesYesNo
Get by ExampleYesYesNo
PostNoNoYes
PutNoNoYes
DeleteNoNoYes

A failure condition for earlier tests will prevent subsequent tests from being run. For example, if Get All fails or returns no results, then Get by Id cannot run because there are no resources retrieved that may be used to retrieve a valid ID. Likewise, if Post fails, then there is no entity for Put to update or Delete to remove. This situation will log a "skipped" comment for the remaining operations in an API.

Logging

The Smoke Test Tool uses log4net to capture all relevant test information. Out of the box, the tool logs to the console and to a rolling log file that is created in the same directory as the console application. These settings may be changed as necessary by altering the application .config file. Consult the log4net documentation for detailed configuration settings and documentation.

Command-Line Parameters

Built-in help documentation is available for the Smoke Test tool by running the tool with --help parameter.

ParameterDescriptionNon-Destructive APINon-Destructive SDKDestructive SDK
b, baseurlThe base url used to derive api, metadata, oauth, and dependency urls (e.g., http://server). If provided, apiurl, metadataurl and oauthurl parameters can be skipped. RequiredRequiredRequired
k, keyThe web API OAuth keyRequiredRequiredRequired
l, libraryThe complete path to a compiled Ed-Fi SDK libraryN/ARequiredRequired
n, namespaceOverride the URI to use when generating namespace values (e.g., uri://edfi.org)OptionalOptionalOptional
s, secretThe web API OAuth secretRequiredRequiredRequired
t, testsetThe test set to runNonDestructiveApiNonDestructiveSdkDestructiveSdk
helpShow command line helpOptionalOptionalOptional

Build and Run the Smoke Test Utility

This section provides an overview on how to use the Smoke Test Utility.

  • Start Visual Studio, open \Ed-Fi-ODS\Utilities\DataLoading\LoadTools.sln and build.
  • Open a Console window and navigate to \Ed-Fi-ODS\Utilities\DataLoading\EdFi.SmokeTest.Console\bin\Debug\net6.0
  • Execute the tool to run the smoke tests. 

The following examples show common testing scenarios. The examples below assume that you have followed the Ed-Fi ODS / API Getting Started steps successfully.

API tests
EdFi.SmokeTest.Console.exe -k {yourSandboxKey} -s {yourSandboxSecret} -b "http://localhost:54746" -t NonDestructiveApi 
Non-destructive SDK tests
EdFi.SmokeTest.Console.exe -k {yourSandboxKey} -s {yourSandboxSecret} -b "http://localhost:54746" -t NonDestructiveSdk -l "..\\..\\..\\..\\EdFi.LoadTools.Test\\bin\\Debug\\net6.0\\EdFi.OdsApi.Sdk.dll" 
Destructive SDK tests
EdFi.SmokeTest.Console.exe -k {yourSandboxKey} -s {yourSandboxSecret} -b "http://localhost:54746" -t DestructiveSdk -l "..\\..\\..\\..\\EdFi.LoadTools.Test\\bin\\Debug\\net6.0\\EdFi.OdsApi.Sdk.dll" 

To perform Destructive SDK tests, you will need the additional security setup described in the following section. It is also recommended that the underlying ODS DB is empty; if you use a DB with existing resources, their IDs might collide with the IDs of the resources that the tests attempt to create. The collisions might also happen if a previous Destructive SDK test execution was interrupted, leaving resources in the DB.

Authorizing Destructive SDK tests

This step is not necessary if you choose to disable authorization altogether; to do so, refer to the last section in this document.

Destructive SDK tests will create and delete Education Organizations and also assign resources to them. The EducationOrganizationIdOverrides section in EdFi.SmokeTest.Console's appsettings.json configures SDK tests to use specific Education Organization Ids. For tests to run successfully, the key/secret used by the Destructive SDK tests must have access to configured Education Organizations. Execute the following script in the Admin DB to set up a Destructive SDK test client:

DECLARE @ApiClientId INT = <Your ApiClientId>
DECLARE @ApplicationId INT

SELECT @ApplicationId = Application_ApplicationId FROM ApiClients WHERE ApiClientId = @ApiClientId

INSERT INTO ApplicationEducationOrganizations VALUES (100000, @ApplicationId)
INSERT INTO ApiClientApplicationEducationOrganizations VALUES (@ApiClientId, SCOPE_IDENTITY())

INSERT INTO ApplicationEducationOrganizations VALUES (200000, @ApplicationId)
INSERT INTO ApiClientApplicationEducationOrganizations VALUES (@ApiClientId, SCOPE_IDENTITY())
 Why additional authorization is needed

Let's consider the CommunityProvider EdOrg as an example and assume that you haven't executed the previous script. The Destructive SDK tests would create a new CommunityProvider, and since its authorization strategy is NoFurtherAuth, it will succeed. Then, the tests will create a new CommunityProviderLicense referencing the previous CommunityProvider. This step will fail since the authorization strategy for the CommunityProviderLicense is RelationshipsWithEdOrgsAndPeople, and the client would not be associated with the newly created CommunityProvider.

To fix this, the Destructive Smoke tests create the CommunityProvider with the Id previously configured in EdFi.SmokeTest.Console's appsettings.json (by default, 200000) and assume that you have already associated the client with the Id.

If you're using Test Harness to execute the Destructive SDK tests, you can specify the required Education Organization Ids in its configuration.json, and it will grant access to them; you can see an example here.

A Word About Security

Because the Smoke Test Utility operates under the security constraints of the provided key/secret, some operations may be invalid depending upon the security configuration and the state of other entities in the database. These characteristics are not available for the utility to examine and determine. Intermittent warnings and errors may possibly be logged due to the inaccessibility of resources for security reasons.

Security may be disabled for all keys/secrets by running the following query against the EdFi_Security database: 

update [EdFi_Security].[dbo].[ResourceClaimActionAuthorizationStrategies] set AuthorizationStrategyId = 1

This statement replaces the authorization strategy for all resource types to be "no further authorization required".

Deleting the EdFi_Security database will cause it to be rebuilt with the default claims the next time the websites are run.

Developers' Guide Contents

Find out more about how to develop platforms based on the Ed-Fi ODS / API v7.1: