Creating a Standard Environment
You create standard environments using running virtual and physical machines. You can use virtual machines that are running on any virtualization framework. However, if you use virtual machines in a standard environment that are managed by System Center Virtual Machine Manager, the environment won’t have the additional features that SCVMM environments provide.
Requirements
- Visual Studio Ultimate, Visual Studio Premium, Visual Studio Test Professional
You create standard environment using the New environment wizard. You then add machines to the environment and configure the settings. After you complete the wizard, Microsoft Test Manager installs test agents on the machines in the lab environment. After the test agents are successfully installed, you can deploy applications in the environment, and run tests in it.
For an overview on lab environments, see Using a Lab Environment for Your Application Lifecycle. For information on creating other types of lab environments, see Creating Lab Environments.
This topic contains the following sections:
Prerequisites
Creating a standard environment
New Environment: Type and Name
New Environment: Machines
New Environment: Advanced
New Environment: Verification
Managing a standard environment
Frequently asked questions
What’s next
Prerequisites
Warning
To create a lab environment that contains physical or virtual machines that are running Windows XP, perform the additional steps listed in Configuring Lab Environments that Contain Windows XP Machines.
The following prerequisites must be complete before you create a standard environment:
Complete the prerequisite tasks for standard environments in Getting Started with Lab Management.
One of the following operating systems must be installed and running on each machine that you’re going add to the environment:
Windows Server 2008
Windows Server 2012
Windows XP SP3
Windows Vista SP2
Windows 7 SP1
Windows 8
File sharing must be enabled on each machine that you’re going to add to the environment.
An administrator account with the same user name and password must be configured on each machine that you’re going to add to the environment. This can be a domain account or a local account. This requirement does not apply to any additional accounts that you add to those machines.
Creating a standard environment
Follow these steps to create a standard environment:
To create a standard environment
Open Microsoft Test Manager and select Lab Center and Lab.
You can now see a list of the lab environments in your team project.
.png "Environment list under Lab Center, Lab tab.")
Choose New.
In the New Environment wizard, select Standard environment.
Complete the New environment wizard.
The following sections describe how to complete the New environment wizard:
New Environment: Type and Name
New Environment: Machines
New Environment: Advanced
New Environment: Verification
New Environment: Type and Name
.png "New Environment wizard for Standard environment")
Field |
What to enter |
|---|---|
Name |
The name of the environment, which must be unique within your team project. |
Description |
Optional. |
Tags |
Tags are optional name-value pairs that you can set according to your project’s conventions. For example, your environments could use tags that indicate the purpose of the environment and the date after which it can be deleted. |
New Environment: Machines
.png "New Environment wizard: Add existing machines.")
In the Machines page, choose Add machine to add machines to your environment. You must add at least one machine to your environment. You can add more machines and delete machines after you create the environment.
Field |
What to enter |
|---|---|
Computer name |
Provide the fully-qualified domain name of the machine, for example myMachine.myCompany.com If all parts of your test system are in the same domain, including the test controller, test machines, and Test Manager, then you can use the unqualified computer name: for example, myMachine. |
Type role |
A role identifies the function of the machine in the environment. It can be used by Test Manager to determine what components to install for testing purposes, and what testing data to collect. You can either select a role from the menu, or type any role name that you choose. If you use a build-deploy-test workflow in the environment, you can use these roles to distribute parts of a build to specific groups machines. Note The role is just an indication of the intended use of the machine. Lab Management does not automatically verify that the virtual machines or that the templates have the necessary software, nor does it install the software automatically to fulfill these roles. |
User name and Password |
This user name must be in the Administrators group on every computer in the environment. It can be either a domain user name, or a local user name that is valid on each computer. |
New Environment: Advanced
.png "New Environment wizard: Advanced page.")
Field |
What to enter |
|---|---|
Test controller |
The computer name or IP address on which the test controller service is running. For more information, see Setting Up Test Controllers in Lab Environments. |
Configure environment to run UI tests |
Select this option if your tests include tests that interact with the desktop, such as coded UI tests. For more information, see Verifying Code by Using Coded User Interface Tests. |
New Environment: Verification
.png "Creating a SCVMM environment - verifying setup")
Choose Verify to make sure that the properties you have set are valid. If verification fails, an error message will appear. You must fix the error before you can continue. For information on errors, see Troubleshooting Lab Management.
If verification succeeds, choose Finish.
The new environment wizard will close and your environment will appear in the Environments list. When the Status of the environment changes to Ready, you can use the environment.
Managing a Standard Environment
In Microsoft Test Manager, choose Lab Center and Lab. In this window, you can see the list of environments in your team project. The shortcut menu of each standard environment provides the following features:
Connect: Open a browser on the environment, from which you can log on to any of the computers in the environment.
Repair: Re-install the test agents in the computers.
Open: Edit the environment, to add or delete computers.
Delete the environment from your team project.
This does not uninstall the test agents from the computers.
Mark In Use: Place a flag next to the environment’s name, so that other users can see that you are using it.
What’s next
Here are the tasks that you can perform after you create a standard environment:
Operate your environment, and manage the machines in the environment. See Managing Lab Environments and Virtual Machines.
Run manual and automated tests in your lab environment by using Microsoft Test Manager, the Tcm.exe command line utility, or a build-deploy-test workflow. See Running Tests in Lab Environments.
Create build-deploy-test workflows to automate the process of creating a build of your application, deploying the build to your lab environment, and running tests on the deployed application. See Setting Up Automated Build-Deploy-Test Workflows.