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Configure a test run

This document covers configuration of a test run in the test platform.

Overview

There are three different ways to configure various aspects of a test run.

  1. Using command line arguments Various configuration options can be provided to the vstest.console or dotnet test command line. For example, --framework can specify the runtime framework version, or --platform can specify the architecture of test run (x86 or x64).

  2. Using a runsettings file User can specify a runsettings file to configure test run. For example:

  • > vstest.console.exe --settings:test.runsettings test.dll
  • > dotnet test -s test.runsettings
  1. Using command line runsettings parameters Various elements of a runsettings file can also specified as command line parameters directly. For example, consider following runsettings:
<RunSettings>
    <RunConfiguration>
        <DisableAppDomain>False</DisableAppDomain>
    </RunConfiguration>
</RunSettings>

The DisableAppDomain settings can be changed in the following way: > vstest.console --settings:test.runsettings -- RunConfiguration.DisableAppDomain=true

Or, > dotnet test -s test.runsettings -- RunConfiguration.DisableAppDomain=true if you're using dotnet test to execute tests.

Order of priority (in case of conflicting settings) is as follows:

  1. If a command line switch is available, it takes priority. E.g. /platform wins over <TargetPlatform> specified in the runsettings file.
  2. If a command line runsettings is available, it takes priority over the content of runsettings file. E.g. in case of dotnet test -s test.runsettings -- RunConfiguration.TargetPlatform=x86, platform is set to x86 even if test.runsettings specifies x64 as platform.
  3. If a runsettings file is provided, it is used for the test run.

Run settings

A *.runsettings file is used to configure various aspects of a test discovery and execution with vstest.console.exe or the Test Explorer in VS. An editor using the test platform, can specify a runsettings as an xml in the Test Discovery or Test Run requests (details are in Editor API Specification).

The runsettings file is a xml file with following sections:

  1. Run Configuration
  2. Data Collection
  3. Runtime Parameters
  4. Adapter Configuration
  5. Legacy Settings

We will cover these sections in detail later in the document. Let's discuss few core principles for runsettings.

Principles

  1. Any runner (CLI, IDE, Editor) can use run settings to configure the test run
  2. These runners need to take care of merging user provided runsettings with their own configuration parameters. E.g. an IDE may provide TargetPlatform as an UI configuration, at the same time an user can also provide the setting in a runsettings file. It is the IDE's responsibility to disambiguate.
  3. Run settings are always created at the start of a test run. They are immutable for rest of the run.
  4. Every test platform extension should get the effective runsettings for a test run via the test platform APIs. It may use it to read its own settings or take decisions (e.g. an adapter needs to disable appdomains if DisableAppDomain setting is provided via run settings).

Sample

Given below is a complete runsettings file with all available options. Each option is briefly annotated, details are available in a later section of this document.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>  
<RunSettings>  
  <!-- Configurations that affect the Test Framework -->  
  <RunConfiguration>  
    <!-- 1. Test related settings -->
    <!-- [x86] | x64: architecture of test host -->  
    <TargetPlatform>x86</TargetPlatform>
  
    <!-- Framework35 | [Framework40] | Framework45 -->  
    <TargetFrameworkVersion>Framework40</TargetFrameworkVersion>
  
    <!-- Path to Test Adapters -->  
    <TestAdaptersPaths>%SystemDrive%\Temp\foo;%SystemDrive%\Temp\bar</TestAdaptersPaths>

    <!-- Path relative to solution directory -->  
    <ResultsDirectory>.\TestResults</ResultsDirectory>
    <SolutionDirectory>.\TestResults</SolutionDirectory>
    
    <!-- CPU cores to use for parallel runs -->
    <MaxCpuCount>2</MaxCpuCount>
    
    <!-- Specify timeout in milliseconds. A valid value should be >= 0. If 0, timeout will be infinity-->
    <TestSessionTimeout>10000</TestSessionTimeout>

    <!-- STA | MTA  default is STA for .NET Full and MTA for .NET Core-->
    <ExecutionThreadApartmentState>STA</ExecutionThreadApartmentState>

    <!-- 2. Hints to adapters to behave in a specific way -->
    <DesignMode>false</DesignMode>
    <DisableParallelization>false</DisableParallelization>
    <DisableAppDomain>false</DisableAppDomain>
    <CollectSourceInformation>true</CollectSourceInformation>

    <!-- 3. Runner related configuration -->
    <BatchSize>10</BatchSize>
    
  </RunConfiguration>  
  
  <!-- Configurations for data collectors -->  
  <DataCollectionRunSettings>  
    <DataCollectors>  
      <DataCollector friendlyName="Code Coverage" uri="datacollector://Microsoft/CodeCoverage/2.0">
        <Configuration>  
          <CodeCoverage>  
            <ModulePaths>  
              <Exclude>  
                <ModulePath>.*CPPUnitTestFramework.*</ModulePath>  
              </Exclude>  
            </ModulePaths>  
  
            <!-- We recommend you do not change the following values: -->  
            <UseVerifiableInstrumentation>True</UseVerifiableInstrumentation>  
            <AllowLowIntegrityProcesses>True</AllowLowIntegrityProcesses>  
            <CollectFromChildProcesses>True</CollectFromChildProcesses>  
            <CollectAspDotNet>False</CollectAspDotNet>  
          </CodeCoverage>  
        </Configuration>  
      </DataCollector>  
  
    </DataCollectors>  
  </DataCollectionRunSettings>  
  
  <!-- Configurations for in-proc data collectors -->  
  <InProcDataCollectionRunSettings>  
    <InProcDataCollectors>
      <InProcDataCollector friendlyName="InProcDataCollectionExample" uri="InProcDataCollector://Vstest.Datacollectors/InProcDataCollectionExample/1.0" codebase="C:\Users\samadala\src\vstest.datacollectors\Examples\bin\Debug\net46\ExamplesDataCollector.dll" assemblyQualifiedName="Vstest.Datacollectors.Examples.InProcDataCollectionExample, ExamplesDataCollector, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=null" >
      <Configuration>
          <Port>4312</Port>
        </Configuration>
      </InProcDataCollector>
    </InProcDataCollectors>
  </InProcDataCollectionRunSettings>

  <!-- Adapter Configuration -->
  <MSTest>
    <!-- Enable legacy mode, legacy setting are honored only when this flag is set to true -->
    <ForcedLegacyMode>true</ForcedLegacyMode>
  </MSTest>

  <!-- Settings used for Ordered tests and MSTest v1 based tests when running in legacy mode -->
  <!-- Note: These settings do not apply to MSTest v2 tests -->
  <LegacySettings>
    <Deployment>
      <DeploymentItem filename=""C:\DeploymentDir\DeploymentFile"" />
    </Deployment>

    <!-- Set up scripts for setup and clean up-->
    <Scripts setupScript=""C:\SetupScript.bat"" cleanupScript=""C:\CleanupScript.bat"" />
  </LegacySettings>

  <!-- Parameters used by tests at runtime -->  
  <TestRunParameters>  
    <Parameter name="webAppUrl" value="http://localhost" /> 
    <Parameter name="webAppUserName" value="Admin" />
    <Parameter name="webAppPassword" value="Password" />
  </TestRunParameters>  
</RunSettings>

Section 1: Run Configuration

<RunSettings>  
  <RunConfiguration>  
    <!-- Run Configuration section -->
  </RunConfiguration>  
</RunSettings>

This is the core part of a runsettings file. It must be present in every runsettings. This section is filled in by the test runner (CLI, IDE or Editor) with various parameters of the test projects and user provided settings.

Available elements are:

  1. Test settings

Example

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>  
<RunSettings>  
  <RunConfiguration>  
    <TargetPlatform>x86</TargetPlatform>  
    <TargetFrameworkVersion>.NET Framework, Version=v4.6</TargetFrameworkVersion>  
    <TestAdaptersPaths>%SystemDrive%\Temp\foo;%SystemDrive%\Temp\bar</TestAdaptersPaths>  
    <ResultsDirectory>.\TestResults</ResultsDirectory>  
    <SolutionDirectory>.\TestResults</SolutionDirectory>  
    <MaxCpuCount>2</MaxCpuCount>
    <TestSessionTimeout>10000</TestSessionTimeout>
    <ExecutionThreadApartmentState>STA</ExecutionThreadApartmentState>
  </RunConfiguration>  
</RunSettings>

Description

Settings Element Type Function
TargetPlatform string Configures the architecture of test host. Possible values: (x86, x64)
TargetFrameworkVersion string Configures the target runtime for a test run. Possible values: any valid FrameworkName
TestAdaptersPaths string Semi-colon separated directories which contain test adapters
ResultsDirectory string Directory for test run reports. E.g. trx, coverage etc.
SolutionDirectory string Working directory for test invocation. Results directory can be relative to this. Used by IDEs.
MaxCpuCount int Degree of parallelization, spawns n test hosts to run tests. Default: 1. Max: Number of cpu cores.
TestSessionTimeout int Testplatform will cancel the test run after it exceeded given TestSessionTimeout in milliseconds and will show the results of tests which ran till that point. Required Version: 15.5+.
ExecutionThreadApartmentState string Apartment state of thread which calls adapter's RunTests and Cancel APIs. Possible values: (MTA, STA). default is STA for .NET Full and MTA for .NET Core. STA supported only for .NET Full Required Version: 15.5+. More details.

Examples of valid TargetFrameworkVersion:

  • .NETCoreApp, Version=v1.0
  • .NETCoreApp, Version=v1.1
  • .NETFramework, Version=v4.5
  1. Adapter settings These settings are a hint to adapters to behave in a particular way. These are determined by runners based on user configuration. It is also possible for an user to provide these settings, if they want to tweak a run.

Example

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>  
<RunSettings>  
  <RunConfiguration>  
    <DesignMode>false</DesignMode>
    <DisableParallelization>false</DisableParallelization>
    <DisableAppDomain>false</DisableAppDomain>
    <CollectSourceInformation>true</CollectSourceInformation>
  </RunConfiguration>  
</RunSettings>

Description

Settings Element Type Function
DesignMode bool True if test run is triggered in an IDE/Editor context.
DisableParallelization bool If true, an adapter should disable any test case parallelization
DisableAppDomain bool If true, an adapter shouldn't create appdomains to run tests
CollectSourceInformation bool If false, an adapter need not parse symbols to provide test case file, line number
  1. Runner settings An IDE/Editor can set these settings to change the behavior of test platform. They are not actionable for an adapter.

Example

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>  
<RunSettings>  
  <RunConfiguration>  
    <BatchSize>10</BatchSize>
  </RunConfiguration>  
</RunSettings>

Description

Settings Element Type Function
BatchSize int Configures the frequency of run statistics. Discovered/Test results are send once n tests are accumulated

Section 2: Data Collection

<RunSettings>  
  <!-- Configurations for out-of-process data collectors -->  
  <DataCollectionRunSettings>  
    <DataCollectors>  
      <!-- Data collectors configuration goes here -->
    </DataCollectors>  
  </DataCollectionRunSettings>  
  
  <!-- Configurations for in-process data collectors -->  
  <InProcDataCollectionRunSettings>  
    <DataCollectors>  
      <!-- Data collectors configuration goes here -->
    </DataCollectors>
  </InProcDataCollectionRunSettings>
</RunSettings>

This section lists all data collectors configured for a test run. The test runner creates this section based on arguments provided in the command line. E.g. if --collect:"Code Coverage" is provided, a Code Coverage entry is created out of process data collectors.

In-process data collectors should be configured by the user.

Data collector extension authors may use the content within the specific <DataCollector friendlyName=mycollector> node to provide configuration options for their data collector. For example, the code coverage data collector uses following section.

Example

<RunSettings>  
  <!-- Configurations for data collectors -->  
  <DataCollectionRunSettings>  
    <DataCollectors>  
      <DataCollector friendlyName="Code Coverage" uri="datacollector://Microsoft/CodeCoverage/2.0">
        <!-- Code Coverage Settings Start -->
        <Configuration>  
          <CodeCoverage>  
            <ModulePaths>  
              <Exclude>  
                <ModulePath>.*CPPUnitTestFramework.*</ModulePath>  
              </Exclude>  
            </ModulePaths>  
  
            <!-- We recommend you do not change the following values: -->  
            <UseVerifiableInstrumentation>True</UseVerifiableInstrumentation>  
            <AllowLowIntegrityProcesses>True</AllowLowIntegrityProcesses>  
            <CollectFromChildProcesses>True</CollectFromChildProcesses>  
            <CollectAspDotNet>False</CollectAspDotNet>  
          </CodeCoverage>  
        </Configuration>  
        <!-- Code Coverage Settings End -->
      </DataCollector>  
    </DataCollectors>  
  </DataCollectionRunSettings>  
</RunSettings>

Description

Settings Element Type Function
DataCollector string Provides a data collector information. See below for required attributes.

Required attributes:

  1. friendlyName provides a common name for the data collector. It is declared by a data collector implementation.
  2. enabled is used to enable/disable a data collector. If true the data collector participates in test run.
  3. uri is the identity of a data collector. It is declared by the data collector implementation.

Test platform uses above attributes to instantiate the appropriate datacollector for a test run.

Note: it is possible for users to provide the runsettings with a DataCollectionRunSettings node with any configuration for the data collectors.

Other Sections

Legacy Settings

This section allows users to configure settings that were earlier required to be set using *testsettings file. These settings can be used for Ordered tests and MSTest v1 based tests when running in legacy mode.

Users can now migrate testsettings to runsettings using SettingsMigrator

Here is an example:

<Runsettings>
  <MSTest>
    <!-- Enable legacy mode, legacy setting are honored only when this flag is set to true -->
    <ForcedLegacyMode>true</ForcedLegacyMode>
  </MSTest>

  <!-- Settings used for Ordered tests and MSTest v1 based tests when running in legacy mode -->
  <!-- Note: These settings do not apply to MSTest v2 tests -->
  <LegacySettings>
    <Deployment>
      <DeploymentItem filename=""C:\DeploymentDir\DeploymentFile"" />
    </Deployment>

    <!-- Set up scripts for setup and clean up-->
    <Scripts setupScript=""C:\SetupScript.bat"" cleanupScript=""C:\CleanupScript.bat"" />

    <Execution parallelTestCount=""5"" hostProcessPlatform=""MSIL"">
      <!-- Configure test timeout, use TestSessionTimeout in Runconfiguration to configure session timeout -->
      <Timeouts testTimeout=""6000"" />

      <!-- Configure the Hosts-->
      <Hosts skipUnhostableTests=""false"">
        <AspNet name=""ASP.NET"" executionType=""Iis"" urlToTest=""http://localhost"" />
      </Hosts>

      <!-- Add assembly resolution -->
      <TestTypeSpecific>
        <UnitTestRunConfig testTypeId=""13cdc9d9-ddb5-4fa4-a97d-d965ccfc6d4b"">
          <AssemblyResolution applicationBaseDirectory=""E:\AppBaseDir"">
            <TestDirectory useLoadContext=""false"" />
            <RuntimeResolution>
              <Directory path=""E:\RuntimeResolutionDir"" includeSubDirectories=""false"" />
            </RuntimeResolution>
            <DiscoveryResolution>
              <Directory path=""E:\DiscoveryResolutionDir"" includeSubDirectories=""true"" />
            </DiscoveryResolution>
          </AssemblyResolution>
        </UnitTestRunConfig>
      </TestTypeSpecific>
    </Execution>
  </LegacySettings>
</Runsettings>

Run Parameters

  <!-- Parameters used by tests at runtime -->  
  <TestRunParameters>  
    <Parameter name="webAppUrl" value="http://localhost" />  
    <Parameter name="webAppUserName" value="Admin" />  
    <Parameter name="webAppPassword" value="Password" />  
  </TestRunParameters>

This section provides ability for user to specify a key-value pair dictionary available to tests during runtime.

Note that it is the responsibility of an adapter to ensure this section is available to tests at runtime. E.g. the mstest framework makes these settings available as part of the TestContext API.

Adapter Configuration

An adapter may provide a section in runsettings for users. See mstest config and nunit config for more details.

Execution thread apartment state

This section explains usage of ExecutionThreadApartmentState element in runsettings and testplatform behavior for same.

Usage

using runsettings file

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<RunSettings>
  <RunConfiguration>
     <ExecutionThreadApartmentState>STA</ExecutionThreadApartmentState>
  </RunConfiguration>
</RunSettings>

using command line

vstest.console.exe a.dll -- RunConfiguration.ExecutionThreadApartmentState=STA

dotnet test -f net46 -- RunConfiguration.ExecutionThreadApartmentState=STA

History

In Test Platform V1 ExecutionThreadApartmentState property can be set from vstest.executionengine*.exe.config file. Default value is STA.

Behavior

In Test platform V2 ExecutionThreadApartmentState property default value is MTA for .NET Core and STA for .NET Full. STA value is only supported for .NET Framework. Warning should be shown on trying to set value STA for .NET Core and UAP10.0 frameworks tests.

  • To support adapters which depends on thread test platform creates may need STA apartment state to run UI tests. ExecutionThreadApartmentState option can be used to set apartment state. Example: MSTest v1, MSTest v2 and MSCPPTest adapters.

  • The recommended way to make the tests run in STA thread is using custom attributes that adapter provides.

Adapter Attribute
MSTest v2 STATestMethod/STATestClass
NUnit Apartment
Xunit STAFact