Integration and Testing

Plugins for integrating with testing frameworks, running integration tests, and managing test resources.

About

The Integration and Testing category covers Maven plugins that help in:

• Running unit tests and integration tests

• Managing test resources and environments

• Integrating with testing frameworks (e.g., JUnit, TestNG, Cucumber)

• Generating test execution reports

• Ensuring phased test execution (unit tests vs integration tests)

• Supporting end-to-end test automation in CI/CD pipelines

These plugins ensure our application is thoroughly tested at various levels before packaging or deployment.

Need for Integration and Testing Plugins

• Automatically run tests during Maven phases (test, verify)

• Control test scope (unit vs integration)

• Generate detailed reports of test outcomes

• Manage test dependencies and resources

• Integrate with external tools like Cucumber, Arquillian, Selenium, or Dockerized test setups

maven-surefire-plugin

Handles execution of unit tests (typically fast, in-memory tests). Bound to the test phase of the lifecycle.

Syntax

<plugin>
  <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
  <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
  <version>3.2.5</version>
</plugin>

Key Configurations

Configuration	Purpose
includes, excludes	Control which test classes to include or exclude
test	Run specific test class
forkCount, reuseForks	Parallel and fork control
systemPropertyVariables	Set system properties

Usage

mvn test

Automatically picks up Test*.java or *Test.java.

maven-failsafe-plugin

Used for integration tests, designed to run after the application has been built. Bound to the integration-test and verify phases.

Syntax

<plugin>
  <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
  <artifactId>maven-failsafe-plugin</artifactId>
  <version>3.2.5</version>
  <executions>
    <execution>
      <id>integration-tests</id>
      <goals>
        <goal>integration-test</goal>
        <goal>verify</goal>
      </goals>
    </execution>
  </executions>
</plugin>

File Naming Convention

Failsafe runs tests named like:

• *IT.java (IT = Integration Test)

• *ITCase.java

Command

mvn verify

maven-resources-plugin

Copies and filters test-specific resources (like config files, test data) to target/test-classes.

Syntax

<plugin>
  <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
  <artifactId>maven-resources-plugin</artifactId>
  <version>3.3.1</version>
</plugin>

Use Cases

• Load .properties, .yml, or .json for tests

• Filter placeholders using Maven properties

cucumber-maven-plugin

Integrates Cucumber for Behavior Driven Development (BDD) with Maven. Allows us to run .feature files and glue them with Java step definitions.

Syntax Example

<plugin>
  <groupId>io.cucumber</groupId>
  <artifactId>cucumber-maven-plugin</artifactId>
  <version>7.11.0</version>
  <executions>
    <execution>
      <id>run-cukes</id>
      <phase>verify</phase>
      <goals>
        <goal>test</goal>
      </goals>
    </execution>
  </executions>
</plugin>

Requires Cucumber JUnit/TestNG runner and feature files in src/test/resources.

docker-maven-plugin / fabric8-maven-plugin

Used to spin up Docker containers (e.g., DB, Redis, MQ) during integration tests.

Use Cases

• Test services against real DBs (e.g., PostgreSQL) using Docker

• Spin up microservices before integration tests

These are not part of Maven core but useful in microservice or system integration testing.