Getting Started

Tuesday, 25 August 2009 11:52

Welcome to soapUI!

Welcome to the wonderful world of service testing with soapUI and soapUI Pro!

What is soapUI?

soapUI is a tool for Testing Web Service, these can be the SOAP Web Services as well RESTful Web Services or HTTP based services. soapUI is an Open Source and completely free tool with a commercial companion -soapUI Pro- that has extra functionality for companies with mission critical Web Services.

soapUI has been downloaded more than one million times and is seen as the de facto standard for Web Service Testing. This means there is a lot of knowledge about the tool out there, read the blogs on the net for more info about using soapUI in real life. We appreciate every download and work really hard to create a super product for you. If you have any ideas or thought, please let us know!

What can i use soapUI for?

soapUI can be used for Web Service testing , in many fashions, you can do Functional Testing, Performance Testing, Interoperability Testing, Regression Testing and much more. We aim for the testing to be quite easy to get going, for example in order to create a Load Test, you just right click a functional test and run it as a load test.

You can simulate Web Services. You can record tests and use them Later. You can create code stubs from the WSDL. You can even create REST specifications (WADL)from recorded communication.

There is so much you can do, we encourage you to look through the documentation and play around with the tool.

What kind of system do I need to run soapUI?

soapUI is java based, so it runs on most operating systems, We test it on several Windows Versions as well as Mac and the multiple Linux dialects. soapUI requires a 1.6+ version of the JRE (Java Runtime Environment), at least 1 GB of memory is recommended, and about 100 MB of disk space.

If you are installing with the installer or the standalone distributions, the JRE is included and not required on your system. Otherwise make sure it is installed and the JAVA_HOME environment variable is set correspondingly.

How do I download soapUI?

You can download the latest releases from of soapUI here:

sourceforge (soapUI)

or download soapUI Pro

from eviware.com

soapUI Pro requires a Trial license which you will be prompted for when running soapUI Pro for the first time.

Both soapUI and soapUI Pro are available in many versions:

Installers for Windows 32-bit, Windows 64-bit, Mac and Linux:
both Windows 32-bit and Linux include the required JRE, while for Mac , as well as for Windows 64-bit, java has to be downloaded and installed separately. In addition all these include XulRunner and WSI-Testing tools and should require no further system configuration. The Pro-version also includes a number of JDBC drivers which can be optionally installed.
Binary zips for the same platforms:
the same folder structure as the installed version but without the exe/.app/.sh launchers and without the JRE
Standalone zip for Windows 32-bit
the same folder structure as the installed version including the JRE but without the exe file
Plugins for Eclipse, Netbeans and Intellij IDEA (soapUI only
for all IDE's above

We also have Nightly builds of the HEAD and eventual beta branches are made available at http://www.eviware.com/nightly-builds, you should consider using these for the latest fixes and improvements.

You can also use Java WebStart versions are also available from the soapui.org and eviware.com websites, these require no further installation and support all functionality with the following exceptions:

Groovy scripts will be run under a restricted classloader, which will prevent them from accessing files, etc.

External libraries and jvm/memory settings (as described below can not be adjusted)

We recommend the Installer basically since it's more convenient in most cases; in any case please install soapUI into an empty directory and not over an existing installation since you might have problems with old libraries interfering with newer ones in the installation.

How do I run soapUI?

Once soapUI is installed, either start it with the installed icon,shortcut, etc or use the corresponding .bat or.sh file. soapUI will start and the soapUI log at the bottom of the main soapUI window will show diagnostic information regarding initialization of external libraries, script or action extensions and the script library in soapUI Pro.

 19:20:59,718 INFO  [SoapUI] Added [file:/C:/Program%20Files/eviware/soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2/bin/ext/sqljdbc.jar] to classpath
19:21:01,140 INFO  [DefaultSoapUICore] initialized soapui-settings from [C:\Documents and Settings\ole\soapui-settings.xml]
19:21:09,859 WARN  [SoapUIProGroovyScriptEngineFactory] Missing scripts folder [C:\workspace\pro-2.6-dev\scripts]
19:21:09,890 INFO  [DefaultSoapUICore] Adding listeners from [C:\Program Files\eviware\soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2\bin\listeners\demo-listeners.xml]
19:21:17,906 INFO  [WorkspaceImpl] Loading workspace from [C:\Documents and Settings\ole\My Documents\Demo-workspace.xml]
...

Welcome to soapUI!

Welcome to the wonderful world of service testing with soapUI and soapUI Pro!

What is soapUI?

What can i use it for?

soapUI can be used for testing Testing Web Service, in many fashions, you can do Functional Testing, Performance Testing, Interoperability Testing, Regression Testing and much more. We aim for the testing to be quite easy to get going, for example in order to create a Load Test, you just right click a functional test and run it as a load test.

You can simulate Web Services. You can record tests and use them Later. You can create code stubs from the WSDL. You can even create REST specifications (WADL)from recorded communication.

There is so much you can do, we encourage you to look through the documentation and play around with the tool.

What kind of system do I need to run soapUI?

How do I download soapUI?

You can download the latest releases from of soapUI here:
sourceforge (soapUI)
or download soapUI Pro
from eviware.com
soapUI Pro requires a Trial license which you will be prompted for when running soapUI Pro for the first time.

Both soapUI and soapUI Pro are available in many version:

Installers for Windows 32-bit, Windows 64-bit, Mac and Linux:
both Windows 32-bit and Linux include the required JRE, while for Mac , as well as for Windows 64-bit, java has to be downloaded and installed separately. In addition all these include XulRunner and WSI-Testing tools and should require no further system configuration. The Pro-version also includes a number of JDBC drivers which can be optionally installed.
Binary zips for the same platforms:
the same folder structure as the installed version but without the exe/.app/.sh launchers and without the JRE
Standalone zip for Windows 32-bit
- the same folder structure as the installed version including the JRE but without the exe file
Plugins for Eclipse, Netbeans and Intellij IDEA (soapUI only)
- for all IDE's above

We also have Nightly builds of the HEAD and eventual beta branches are made available athttp://www.eviware.com/nightly-builds, you should consider using these for the latest fixes and improvements.

You can also use Java WebStart versions are also available from the soapui.org/eviware.com websites, these require no further installation and support all functionality with the following exceptions:

Groovy scripts will be run under a restricted classloader, which will prevent them from accessing files, etc.
External libraries and jvm/memory settings (as described below can not be adjusted)

How do I run soapUI?

19:20:59,718 INFO  [SoapUI] Added [file:/C:/Program%20Files/eviware/soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2/bin/ext/sqljdbc.jar] to classpath
19:21:01,140 INFO  [DefaultSoapUICore] initialized soapui-settings from [C:\Documents and Settings\ole\soapui-settings.xml]
19:21:09,859 WARN  [SoapUIProGroovyScriptEngineFactory] Missing scripts folder [C:\workspace\pro-2.6-dev\scripts]
19:21:09,890 INFO  [DefaultSoapUICore] Adding listeners from [C:\Program Files\eviware\soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2\bin\listeners\demo-listeners.xml]
19:21:17,906 INFO  [WorkspaceImpl] Loading workspace from [C:\Documents and Settings\ole\My Documents\Demo-workspace.xml]
....

Setting Command-line and JVM options

If you are using the installer, a *.vmoptions file will have been created containing the default arguments, something like the following;

-Xms128m 
-Xmx384m 
-Dsoapui.properties=soapui.properties
-Dgroovy.source.encoding=iso-8859-1 
-Dsoapui.home=C:\Program Files\eviware\soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2/bin
-Dsoapui.ext.libraries=C:\Program Files\eviware\soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2/bin/ext
-Dsoapui.ext.listeners=C:\Program Files\eviware\soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2/bin/listeners
-Dsoapui.ext.actions=C:\Program Files\eviware\soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2/bin/actions
-Dwsi.dir=C:\Program Files\eviware\soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2/wsi-test-tools
-Djava.library.path=C:\Program Files\eviware\soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2/bin
-DGRE_HOME=C:\Program Files\eviware\soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2/xulrunner-windows

Change any desired properties as you want to modify the execution environment. The .bat/.sh files set the corresponding properties and allow for the same customizations (see below for an example)

Increasing Available Memory

A lot of our users will do some very extensive testing sooner or later and you will most likely bump into OutOfMemory errors if you; increase the memory available to soapUI by increasing the -Xmx value to something like -Xmx1024m. If you are using the bundled JRE (or any other 32-bit JRE), the max is approximately 1500, but if you are using a 64-bit JRE (not included) you can increase this value as desired.

The .bat or .sh files allow for the same customizations, for example to change the memory available to the LoadTestRunner you would open the loadtestrunner.bat/.sh file and change the line

set JAVA_OPTS=-Xms128m -Xmx384m -Dsoapui.properties=soapui.properties -Dgroovy.source.encoding=iso-8859-1
"-Dsoapui.home=%SOAPUI_HOME%\"

set JAVA_OPTS=-Xms128m -Xmx1200m -Dsoapui.properties=soapui.properties -Dgroovy.source.encoding=iso-8859-1

Welcome to soapUI!

Welcome to the wonderful world of service testing with soapUI and soapUI Pro!

What is soapUI?

What can i use it for?

You can simulate Web Services. You can record tests and use them Later. You can create code stubs from the WSDL. You can even create REST specifications (WADL)from recorded communication.

There is so much you can do, we encourage you to look through the documentation and play around with the tool.

What kind of system do I need to run soapUI?

How do I download soapUI?

You can download the latest releases from of soapUI here:

sourceforge (soapUI)

or download soapUI Pro

from eviware.com

soapUI Pro requires a Trial license which you will be prompted for when running soapUI Pro for the first time.

Both soapUI and soapUI Pro are available in many version:

Installers for Windows 32-bit, Windows 64-bit, Mac and Linux:

both Windows 32-bit and Linux include the required JRE, while for Mac , as well as for Windows 64-bit, java has to be downloaded and installed separately. In addition all these include XulRunner and WSI-Testing tools and should require no further system configuration. The Pro-version also includes a number of JDBC drivers which can be optionally installed.

Binary zips for the same platforms:

the same folder structure as the installed version but without the exe/.app/.sh launchers and without the JRE

Standalone zip for Windows 32-bit

- the same folder structure as the installed version including the JRE but without the exe file

Plugins for Eclipse, Netbeans and Intellij IDEA (soapUI only)

- for all IDE's above

We also have Nightly builds of the HEAD and eventual beta branches are made available at http://www.eviware.com/nightly-builds, you should consider using these for the latest fixes and improvements.

You can also use Java WebStart versions are also available from the soapui.org/eviware.com websites, these require no further installation and support all functionality with the following exceptions:

Groovy scripts will be run under a restricted classloader, which will prevent them from accessing files, etc.

External libraries and jvm/memory settings (as described below can not be adjusted)

How do I run soapUI?

19:20:59,718 INFO [SoapUI] Added [file:/C:/Program%20Files/eviware/soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2/bin/ext/sqljdbc.jar] to classpath

19:21:01,140 INFO [DefaultSoapUICore] initialized soapui-settings from [C:\Documents and Settings\ole\soapui-settings.xml]

19:21:09,859 WARN [SoapUIProGroovyScriptEngineFactory] Missing scripts folder [C:\workspace\pro-2.6-dev\scripts]

19:21:09,890 INFO [DefaultSoapUICore] Adding listeners from [C:\Program Files\eviware\soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2\bin\listeners\demo-listeners.xml]

19:21:17,906 INFO [WorkspaceImpl] Loading workspace from [C:\Documents and Settings\ole\My Documents\Demo-workspace.xml]

....

Setting Command-line and JVM options

If you are using the installer, a *.vmoptions file will have been created containing the default arguments, something like the following;

-Xms128m

-Xmx384m

-Dsoapui.properties=soapui.properties

-Dgroovy.source.encoding=iso-8859-1

-Dsoapui.home=C:\Program Files\eviware\soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2/bin

-Dsoapui.ext.libraries=C:\Program Files\eviware\soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2/bin/ext

-Dsoapui.ext.listeners=C:\Program Files\eviware\soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2/bin/listeners

-Dsoapui.ext.actions=C:\Program Files\eviware\soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2/bin/actions

-Dwsi.dir=C:\Program Files\eviware\soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2/wsi-test-tools

-Djava.library.path=C:\Program Files\eviware\soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2/bin

-DGRE_HOME=C:\Program Files\eviware\soapUI-Pro-3.0-beta-2/xulrunner-windows

Change any desired properties as you want to modify the execution environment. The .bat/.sh files set the corresponding properties and allow for the same customizations (see below for an example)

Increasing Available Memory

A lot of our users will do some very extensive testing sooner or later and you will most likely bump into OutOfMemory errors if you; increase the memory available to soapUI by increasing the -Xmx value to something like -Xmx1024m. If you are using the bundled JRE (or any other 32-bit JRE), the max is approximately 1500, but if you are using a 64-bit JRE (not included) you can increase this value as desired.

The .bat or .sh files allow for the same customizations, for example to change the memory available to the LoadTestRunner you would open the loadtestrunner.bat/.sh file and change the line

set JAVA_OPTS=-Xms128m -Xmx384m -Dsoapui.properties=soapui.properties -Dgroovy.source.encoding=iso-8859-1

"-Dsoapui.home=%SOAPUI_HOME%\"

set JAVA_OPTS=-Xms128m -Xmx1200m -Dsoapui.properties=soapui.properties -Dgroovy.source.encoding=iso-8859-1

"-Dsoapui.home=%SOAPUI_HOME%\"

Adding external libraries

In some situations you may want to add external libraries to the script classloaders and classpath of soapUI, for example if you need to add a jdbc driver or some custom library containing functionality to be used by your tests. This is real easy in soapUI put these jars in the soapui\bin\ext folder and restart soapUI; they will be automatically picked up and made available to your scripts and extensions (as can be seen in example output above where the sqljdbc.jar driver is being added).

Did you know?

There is a commercial version of soapUI available; soapUI Pro.

soapUI Pro contains productivity enhancements as well as offers Professional World Class support.

Installed files and folders

The following file structure is installed/created in any of the above (under the installation dir):

bin - contains executables and folders as follows:

soapUI-XX.exe/.sh/.app (created by installer) - launches soapUI/soapUI Pro "natively"

soapUI-XX.vmoptions : text file containing VM arguments for the native launchers

soapui/soapuipro.bat/.sh - launches soapUI / soapUIPro "manually"

actions - custom actions as described at soapUI Extensions

listeners - custom event listeners as described at soapUI Extensions

ext - custom 3rd party libraries that should be added to classpath, put JDBC drivers, custom jars, etc.. here

reports (soapUI Pro) - the default report templates, Read More

scripts (soapUI Pro) - the default script library, Read More

testrunner.bat/.sh - the command-line Test-runner

loadtestrunner.bat/.sh - the command-line LoadTest Runner

toolrunner.bat/.sh - the command-line Tool-runner

mockservicerunner.bat/.sh - the command-line MockService Runner

soapui-log4j.xml - default log4j configuration

starter-page-XX.html - starter page displayed when offline

XX.dll/so/lic - JXBrowser-related files

jre (if installed) - the JRE used by soapUI

lib - all libraries required by soapUI/soapUI Pro

licenses - all licenses for the corresponding included libraries in the lib folder

Tutorials - tutorial material referred to by the Getting Started documents

wsi-test-tools - bundled WS-I Testing tools for generating corresponding reports

xulrunner-XX - the bundled webbrowser (Mozilla/Firefox-3) used by JXBrowser

.install4j - folder containing uninstaller if installer was used

*.txt - readme files

*.url/lnk - shortcuts to online documentation

"-Dsoapui.home=%SOAPUI_HOME%\"

Adding external libraries

Installed files and folders

The following file structure is installed/created in any of the above (under the installation dir):

bin - contains executables and folders as follows:
- soapUI-XX.exe/.sh/.app (created by installer) - launches soapUI/soapUI Pro "natively"
- soapUI-XX.vmoptions : text file containing VM arguments for the native launchers
- soapui/soapuipro.bat/.sh - launches soapUI / soapUIPro "manually"
- actions - custom actions as described at soapUI Extensions
- listeners - custom event listeners as described at soapUI Extensions
- ext - custom 3rd party libraries that should be added to classpath, put JDBC drivers, custom jars, etc.. here
- reports (soapUI Pro) - the default report templates, Read More
- scripts (soapUI Pro) - the default script library, Read More
- testrunner.bat/.sh - the command-line Test-runner
- loadtestrunner.bat/.sh - the command-line LoadTest Runner
- toolrunner.bat/.sh - the command-line Tool-runner
- mockservicerunner.bat/.sh - the command-line MockService Runner
- soapui-log4j.xml - default log4j configuration
- starter-page-XX.html - starter page displayed when offline
- XX.dll/so/lic - JXBrowser-related files
jre (if installed) - the JRE used by soapUI
lib - all libraries required by soapUI/soapUI Pro
licenses - all licenses for the corresponding included libraries in the lib folder
Tutorials - tutorial material referred to by the Getting Started documents
wsi-test-tools - bundled WS-I Testing tools for generating corresponding reports
xulrunner-XX - the bundled webbrowser (Mozilla/Firefox-3) used by JXBrowser
.install4j - folder containing uninstaller if installer was used
*.txt - readme files
*.url/lnk - shortcuts to online documentation