Proxy and Test Case Preferences in Katalon Studio

Introduction

Katalon is a quality management platform. It's mainly used for automated testing. We can perform the entire cycle of testing software in Katalon. It has features for planning, managing, and performing tests. We can also analyze the results, scale and collaborate with our team members.

Katalon allows us to manage Preferences so that users can use it in their own way. We can configure general and specific preferences such as Git, Groovy, etc. 

This article will show Proxy, Test Case, and Mobile Preferences in Katalon.

Proxy Preferences

Let us understand what proxy servers are first.

What are proxy servers?

Proxy servers are intermediary servers. They act as middlemen between a client and a server. When a client needs to make a request to a server or the Internet, it does not send the request directly. Instead, it sends the request to a proxy server. The proxy server is responsible for forwarding the request to the correct server and sending the response back to the client.

This diagram shows how communication using proxy servers occurs:

Here, Bob uses Alice as a proxy while accessing Ninja.

A proxy server has many advantages. Some are:

• They increase security. We don't have to add security measures to all clients. Instead, we can ensure that the proxy server that everyone is using has state-of-the-art security. Thus, if a server on the internet tries to send malicious data, the proxy server will catch it. 
   
• They provide structure to the architecture. Sometimes, networks can get very complicated and hard to understand. It becomes tough to analyze which requests came from which client. Proxies help provide structure.
   
• They provide load balancing. If the Ninja server in the example receives millions of requests per second, it might not be able to handle them. Each request might be complicated too. 
  However, we can duplicate the Ninja server 5 times. A proxy can be used to decide which client gets which copy of the Ninja server. The proxy has only to forward the request, not compute it. Hence it will be able to handle a large number of requests.
   
• They increase privacy by hiding the identity of the client.
   

Now, let's look at setting up Proxy servers in Katalon. 

Proxy Server in Katalon

Since version 7.5.0 of Katalon, proxies have been divided into two types.

• Authentication Proxies are used when connecting to and authenticating to Katalon servers. These are used for logging in to your account, Katalon TestOps, TestCloud, auto-updater, etc.
   
• System Proxies are used for any network connection that Katalon makes. Testing, spying, and recording are included in this. 
   

To view, go to Preferences by pressing Ctrl+Shift+P on Windows or Command + , on Mac.

Go to Katalon->Proxy->System. 

Both system and authentication proxies have the same settings that we can set based on our needs. 

Proxy Option

This specifies which type of Proxy is applied. There are 3 options we can choose from for Proxy Option. 

1. No proxy is used when we don't require a proxy connection.
    
2. System Proxy Configuration is used when our system already uses a proxy. Katalon will figure out the proxy server you are using based on OS and browser settings.
    
3. Manual Proxy Configuration is used when we want to set up our proxy manually.
    

The other options are only enabled when Proxy Option is set as Manual.

Proxy Server Type

This specifies the type of protocol our proxy server uses.

This can be HTTP, HTTPS, or SOCKS. SOCKS is a special protocol designed explicitly for Proxy Servers.

Address and Port

This represents the IP address of the proxy server, such as 192.168.10.1. The port is the port that the proxy server listens to for requests, such as 3000.

Excludes

The addresses written in this field are excluded from the proxy. Their connections are made directly. Proxy exceptions are only supported in web recorders and spy utilities with Firefox and Chrome.

Authentication

Some proxy servers need the user to authenticate. For this, we can add a username and password. This is only supported with SOCKS proxy servers.

Auto Apply to Desired Capabilities

Desired Capabilities in Katalon are the desired features we wish our current project's tests to have. By default, Katalon applies system proxies to desired capabilities too. We can disable this if we want. 

To apply a different proxy to a project, go to Project->Settings->Desired Capabilities.

Go to desired capabilities. Select the testing environment you want to apply the proxy to.

Click on Add. Set the name as proxy, and type as Dictionary. 

The proxy details should be specified according to this format:

An example could be : {proxyType=manual,httpProxy=127.0.0.1:12700}