What is WebInject?

WebInject is a free tool for automated testing of web applications and web services. It can be used to test individual system components that have HTTP interfaces (JSP, ASP, CGI, PHP, AJAX, Servlets, HTML Forms, XML/SOAP Web Services, REST, etc), and can be used as a test harness to create a suite of [HTTP level] automated functional, acceptance, and regression tests. A test harness allows you to run many test cases and collect/report your results. WebInject offers real-time results display and may also be used for monitoring system response times.

WebInject can be used as a complete test framework that is controlled by the WebInject User Interface (GUI). Optionally, it can be used as a standalone test runner (text/console application) which can be integrated and called from other test frameworks or applications.

Programming Language and Platforms

WebInject uses an XML API for defining and loading test cases. You can use WebInject without ever seeing its internal implementation.

WebInject is written in Perl and can run on any platform that a Perl interpreter can be installed on (MS Windows, GNU/Linux, BSD, Solaris, MAC OS, and many more). Currently, binary executables of WebInject are only available for MS Windows. If you would like to run on other platforms, you must have a Perl interpreter and run it from the Perl source code.

Test Cases

Test cases are written in XML files, using XML elements and attributes, and passed to the WebInject engine for execution against the application/service under test. This abstracts the internals of WebInject's implementation away from the non-technical tester, while using an open architecture [written in Perl] for those that require more customization or modifications.

Results/Reporting

Result reports are generated in HTML (for viewing) and XML (for tranformation by external programs). These detailed results include pass/fail status, errors, response times, etc. Results are also displayed in a window on the User Interface if you are running the WebInject GUI, and are sent to the STDOUT channel if you are running the WebInject Engine as a standalone (console) application.

Service-Level Monitoring

HTTP response times can be collected and monitored in real-time during test execution. Timer statistics are calculated and displayed in a monitor window during runtime. When used along with gnuplot (a plotting utility), a response time graph is generated and updated in real-time as the test runs. This is used to verify responses from the web application or web service under test are within an acceptable range (to meet your SLA or quality of service criteria). This also enables WebInject to be run as a performance probe for application/service monitoring.

WebInject can also be integrated as a plugin for external monitoring systems. In this case, it is used in console mode as an intelligent test agent that returns status and response times to your external program.

For real-time monitoring of your web applications or web services, WebInject is able to run in a mode that makes it compatible with Nagios. Nagios is an open source host, service, and network monitoring program.

For graphical trending of web service-levels over a long period of time, WebInject is able to run in a mode that makes it compatible with MRTG. MRTG (Multi Router Traffic Grapher) is an open source tool for collecting, storing, and graphing time-series data.

Forums and Support

If you need assistance or would like to discuss anything related to WebInject, please visit the WebInject Forums. You are welcome to register yourself and post questions or add to discussions. Please start a new topic for new questions or discussions and post to the appropriate forum. Support is offered on a volunteer basis from the developer and community of WebInject users.

Reporting Bugs

If you find a bug in WebInject, please report it (in as muchy detail as possible) to the SourceForge Issue Tracker.

Free and Open Source

WebInject is Free (as in freedom) and Open Source.
It is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).

GNU Project and Free Software Foundation (FSF): Free Software Definition
Open Source Initiative (OSI): Open Source Definition

You are free to use WebInject in whatever manner you please at no cost. All source code is available to read and modify. However, if you make any modifications that you would like to publish, these modifications must also be covered under the same licensing terms. Please see the terms of the GNU GPL for more information.