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Testing Infrastructure Setup

When to Use

Use this guide when setting up a new module for testing or configuring CI/CD pipelines for automated test execution.

Decision: Directory Structure

modules/my_module/
├── src/                          # Module source code
├── tests/                        # Test files
│   ├── src/
│   │   ├── Unit/                 # Pure PHP logic tests
│   │   │   ├── Services/
│   │   │   └── Utils/
│   │   ├── Kernel/               # Integration tests
│   │   │   ├── Entity/
│   │   │   └── Services/
│   │   ├── Functional/           # UI and workflow tests
│   │   │   ├── Admin/
│   │   │   └── User/
│   │   └── FunctionalJavascript/ # JS and performance tests
│   │       ├── Ajax/
│   │       └── Performance/
│   └── fixtures/                 # Test data files
├── phpunit.xml                   # PHPUnit configuration
└── composer.json

Pattern: phpunit.xml Configuration

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<phpunit xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
         xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="https://schema.phpunit.de/9.6/phpunit.xsd"
         bootstrap="../../core/tests/bootstrap.php"
         colors="true"
         beStrictAboutTestsThatDoNotTestAnything="true"
         beStrictAboutOutputDuringTests="true"
         beStrictAboutChangesToGlobalState="true"
         failOnWarning="true">

  <php>
    <!-- Required for Functional/JavaScript tests -->
    <env name="SIMPLETEST_BASE_URL" value="http://localhost"/>
    <env name="SIMPLETEST_DB" value="mysql://user:pass@localhost/drupal"/>

    <!-- Output directory for browser tests -->
    <env name="BROWSERTEST_OUTPUT_DIRECTORY" value="/tmp/browser_output"/>
    <env name="BROWSERTEST_OUTPUT_FILE" value="/tmp/browser_output.html"/>

    <!-- WebDriver configuration for JavaScript tests -->
    <env name="MINK_DRIVER_ARGS_WEBDRIVER" value='["chrome", {"chromeOptions":{"w3c":false}}, "http://localhost:9515"]'/>
  </php>

  <testsuites>
    <testsuite name="unit">
      <directory>./tests/src/Unit</directory>
    </testsuite>
    <testsuite name="kernel">
      <directory>./tests/src/Kernel</directory>
    </testsuite>
    <testsuite name="functional">
      <directory>./tests/src/Functional</directory>
    </testsuite>
    <testsuite name="functional-javascript">
      <directory>./tests/src/FunctionalJavascript</directory>
    </testsuite>
  </testsuites>

  <coverage processUncoveredFiles="true">
    <include>
      <directory suffix=".php">./src</directory>
    </include>
    <exclude>
      <directory>./tests</directory>
    </exclude>
  </coverage>
</phpunit>

Pattern: composer.json Test Dependencies

{
  "name": "drupal/my_module",
  "type": "drupal-module",
  "require": {
    "drupal/core": "^10.3 || ^11"
  },
  "require-dev": {
    "drupal/core-dev": "^10.3 || ^11",
    "phpunit/phpunit": "^9.6",
    "symfony/phpunit-bridge": "^6.4"
  }
}

Common Mistakes

  • Wrong: Hardcoding database credentials in phpunit.xml → Right: Use environment variables or .env files
  • Wrong: Not setting SIMPLETEST_BASE_URL → Right: Set base URL for Functional tests
  • Wrong: Missing ChromeDriver for JavaScript tests → Right: Start ChromeDriver before running tests
  • Wrong: Wrong bootstrap path → Right: Use ../../core/tests/bootstrap.php from module directory
  • Wrong: Not excluding test directory from coverage → Right: Exclude tests/ from coverage metrics

See Also