Installing and Getting Started with ZBots

Owned by Kevin Pham (Deactivated)
Last updated: Dec 13, 2023 by Govind Drolia
4 min read

Prerequisites

Before installing ZBot, ensure you must have JDK 8 for ZBot to run.

  • Java - one of the following:

    • OpenJDK 8 (recommended): Download here / Unzip to any folder

    • Oracle Java JDK 8 (update u101 or later): Download - here / Installation instructions - here

Update the PATH and JAVA_HOME environment variables

ZBot needs a couple of environment variable set once you have the JDK installed. You can set the variables this way to allow it to persist through reboot.

Setting up PATH in Windows (steps might vary with Windows version):

  1. Click Start > Control Panel > System

  2. Click Advanced > Environment Variables

  3. Scroll through the fields until you find PATH

  4. Add the location of the bin folder of the install for PATH in System variables (do not delete the existing value, just add to the beginning of it).

A typical path is:

  • for OpenJDK: C:\SomeFolder\java-se-8u41-ri\bin

  • for Oracle JDK: C:\Program Files\Java\JDK_1.8.0_<version>\bin

Setting up JAVA_HOME in Windows (steps might vary with Windows version):

  1. Click Start > Control Panel > System

  2. Click Advanced > Environment Variables

  3. Scroll through the fields until you find JAVA_HOME, if it's not present Add it to the System variables.

  4. Add the location of the JDK root folder to the value of JAVA_HOME in System variables. 

A typical path is:

  • for OpenJDK: C:\SomeFolder\java-se-8u41-ri

  • for Oracle JDK: C:\Program Files\Java\JDK_1.8.0_<version>

Setting up PATH in Linux (steps might vary with Linux version):

  1. Set JAVA_HOME using the syntax export JAVA_HOME=path to JDK. For example, export JAVA_HOME= /usr/java/jdk1.8.0_xx/.

  2. Set PATH using the syntax export PATH=${PATH}:path to the JDK bin. For example, export PATH=${PATH}:/usr/java/jdk1.8.0_xx/bin

  3. Verify the settings using the following commands:

  4. echo $JAVA_HOME

  5. echo $PATH

  6. The output must display the JAVA_HOME and PATH that you set.

Important: make sure you have specified the correct path!

Download ZBot

You may download the ZBot directly from Zephyr:

  1. Click your username in the top-right corner of the main Zephyr screen and select Download ZBot from the menu:

  2. In the subsequent dialog, specify a name for your ZBot so that you can easily identify it in Zephyr and click Download:

     

  3. Unzip the downloaded archive to some folder on your hard drive:
    For windows-


    For Linux-

 

Contents of ZIP file

Zip Package - Once unzipped, the following is present in the unzipped folder:

  1. zbot_install_service_64.bat (To start ZBot and create automatic Services when your computer starts, just run the zbot_install_service_64.bat file in windows)

  2. zbot_start.bat (Run the zbot_start.bat batch file to start ZBot. To shut it down, just close the terminal)

  3. zbot_start / stop shell scripts for Linux & Unix

  4. conf/zbot.properties

  5. zbotsocket/zephyr-socket-@version.jar

Run ZBot

For Windows:

You can start ZBot right after downloading, there is no need to configure it in any way. It is preconfigured to use your Zephyr URL, username and password, however, you can change these values in the conf\zbot.properties file, if needed.



Windows:

  • Run the zbot_start.bat batch file to start ZBot. To shut it down, just close the terminal.

  • To start ZBot automatically, you can schedule to run the batch file automatically by using Windows Task Scheduler.

  • To start ZBot as a service when your computer starts, just run the zbot_install_service_64.bat file.

Zbot must be run as administrator.

For Linux and MacOS:

You can start ZBot right after downloading, there is no need to configure it in any way. It is preconfigured to use your Zephyr URL, username and password, however, you can change these values in the conf\zbot.properties file, if needed.

Zbot must be run as root. Run the sudo commands for root permission. 


Open a terminal window and navigate to $ZBOT_EXTRACTION_FOLDER/zbot and use the following to administer:

./bin/zbot.sh start - To Start the zbot in background

./bin/zbot.sh status - To Check the status of ZBot

./bin/zbot.sh stop - To Stop the zbot

./bin/zbot.sh console - To run zbot in interactive mode

Log files are in $ZBOT_EXTRACTION_FOLDER/zbot/logs

Creating Automation Jobs

A job is a task with a number of parameters. You use it to automate your test cases. You can create three types of jobs: Script Automation, Suite Automation and Folder Watcher.

  • A Script Automation job triggers a automation script that retrieves data from the specified test automation tool through ZBot and passes it to Zephyr.

  • An Automation job allows you to trigger an execution directly from Zephyr, and once the automation is done, it posts the results to Zephyr.

  • A Folder Watcher job waits for results to appear in the specified results folder, and if any report file is generated, it posts the results to Zephyr.

To learn how to create and execute a Vortex job, see the corresponding topic:
Script Automation
Suite Automation
Folder Watcher
For more information on Vortex, see Zephyr Vortex.

Before running a job, you need to start ZBot. You can execute your jobs only when ZBot is running.

API tokens

Downloading ZBot also creates a Zephyr API token (a token is generated automatically based on the ZBot name) and adds it to the ZBot properties file. You can then use this token to control your ZBot via API. To view the API tokens you have created or to create a new one, click your username in the top-right corner and select API Token from the menu: