How to set $_SERVER[' '] variables when running phpunit tests through Jenkins

Question

I am trying to write unit tests for an application where a lot of code changes is not possible. Almost all the .php files in the code base uses some $_SERVER[''] variables like

require_once $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/mainApi.php';

So now when I have to write and run PHPUnit test cases I have to somehow set these variables. At present I am setting these variables in the user environment and then doing

$_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] = getenv('DOCUMENT_ROOT');
require_once $_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . '/mainApi.php';

Getting the server variables like this is working fine. I run my tests through commandline as $ phpunit test.php.

Ques1: Is it possible to set the $_SERVER variables while running the phpunit tests through commandline?

I also have to run these unit tests through Jenkins and I am not able to set these server variable through ANT/build file.

Ques2: Is it possible to set these variable through ant build file in Jenkins or by running any shell script before executing the phpunit tests through Jenkins?

I tried exporting the server variable through a shell script

    export DOCUMENT_ROOT=/server/path-to-root-dir

and calling that script in the build.xml in Jenkins

<export name="setEnv" description="set server var">
    <exec executable="sh">
       <arg value = "sumit.sh" />
    </exec> 
</target>

but its not working. Is there any setting that I can do for this? Thanks!

David Harkness David Harkness · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-04T01:25:46

I'm not sure about #1, but PHPUnit itself would have to support it. I don't see any way to do that via the command line. However, if you put your current workaround into bootstrap.php you don't have to do it in each test.

For #2, <exec> allows you to set environment variables using nested <env> elements. I use this in Jenkins.

<exec executable="phpunit" ...>
    <env key="DOCUMENT_ROOT" value="/var/www/php"/>
</exec>

Update: You typically create bootstrap.php to setup add the source directory to the include path and initialize the test environment however you need. This file isn't supplied by PHPUnit--unlike phpunit.xml.

I place it in the same directory as phpunit.xml, but that's because I have a separate file for each project. It goes in the directory that holds your tests typically. This allows you to run phpunit from the command-line without telling it how to find those configuration files. Otherwise you have to use --bootstrap and/or --configuration to point to them.

Here is how I structure a typical project:

<project-root>/
    build.xml
    src/
        MyClass.php
    test/
        MyClassTest.php
        phpunit.xml
        bootstrap.php

How to set $_SERVER[' '] variables when running phpunit tests through Jenkins

1 Answers