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zeekbiboo's avatar
zeekbiboo
New Contributor
2 months ago
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Using citrix workspace with testcomplete (virtual machines)

Hi everyone, thanks for ur time.

I'm planning to use testcomplete to do some testing in a pre-productive environment, but in this environment all the apps are hosted in citrix workspace.

In context, in this environment there are multiple machines to use, but Citrix actually runs on another host and is launched as a virtual machine on the pre-production machines.

Idk how testcomplete will react to the virtual machine because I'm thinking in two scenarios:

  1. Installing Testcomplete in the preprod machines and see how it reacts to apps launched on citrix.
  2. Installing Testcomplete in the citrix workspace host machine, but idk how it'll react launching from citrix workspace and working alongside other app and testing on it.

It's kinda difficult to install things on this environment, so I don't wanna miss my bullet and time trying to convince people to install TC and, at the end of the day, it doesn't work at all.

Thanks for reading and for your help/recommendations. Have a great day

object recognition

4 Replies

  • Hassan_Ballan's avatar
    Hassan_Ballan
    Icon for Champion Level 3 rankChampion Level 3
    2 months ago

    I recommend you take a look at 
    https://support.smartbear.com/testcomplete/docs/licensing/key-based/how-to/general/using-testcomplete-with-remote-desktop-services.html 
    https://smartbear.com/product/testcomplete/enterprise-packaged-applications/citrix-automation 

    Option A: Install TestComplete (or TestExecute) on the Citrix host

    • Best case: TestComplete and the AUT run in the same user session on the server—allowing full object recognition and stable automation SmartBearSmartBear Support.
    • Licensing:
      • Floating User license supports multiple concurrent TestComplete sessions.
      • Node‑Locked license allows only one instance per machine.
      • Alternatively, use TestExecute (lighter runtime) on the server while developing in TestComplete elsewhere Reddit+15SmartBear Support+15community.smartbear.com+15.

    Option B: Run TestComplete on a workstation and connect via Citrix Receiver/Workspace

    • Limited approach: you’ll only be able to conduct image-based or OCR-driven tests, since TestComplete cannot see underlying UI elements through the Citrix protocol Reddit+6SmartBear+6community.smartbear.com+6.
    • While feasible, this method is fragile—screen resolution changes or visual rendering differences can break tests easily.

    🤖 AI-assisted response referencing TestComplete docs

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  • scot1967's avatar
    scot1967
    Icon for Champion Level 2 rankChampion Level 2
    2 months ago

    The simple answer is to make sure TestComplete or TestExecute are installed on the VM your Tested app is running on and that you remote in to that VM to develop and run your tests.  I have never used the Citrix Workspace App so I can't say how that one works. 

    The client only displays images of the remote machine so, trying to use TestComplete or TestExecute is pretty much a no-go unless all you want to do is OCR on a Client window.

    RDP and VNC work well to remote into a VM with TestComplete or TestExecute installed (with your licensing right) in my experience.  We run VMWare here and have tested on VMs for years this way.  We are now running TestExecute in Azure DevOps pipelines. These run TestExecute on a VMWare instance of the preferred OS and can run tests against multiple OS platforms by simply staring the desire pipeline configuration.