/// Jenkins setup, the simple version
Run your tests on several computers at once. Seven steps, no code.
This is the plain-English version. If you can install a program and click Next, you can do this in about half an hour. (The detailed, engineer-level version is guide 13.)
What you need
The seven steps
Install Jenkins on one computer
Download Jenkins from jenkins.io and run the installer. When it opens in your browser, it asks for a password that it printed in a file; the page tells you exactly where that file is. Choose “Install suggested plugins”. Create your admin user. Done: that computer is the Jenkins “boss”.
Get the test computers ready
Pick the computers that will run tests (two is fine to start; Jenkins calls them agents). On each one install three things: Java 17 (adoptium.net), Maven (maven.apache.org), and the browser you test with (Edge is already on Windows). That is all.
Connect each test computer to Jenkins
In Jenkins: Manage Jenkins → Nodes → New Node. Give it a name, choose Permanent Agent, and in the Labels box type ui-test. Save. Jenkins shows a page with a command to run on that computer — copy it, run it there once, and the dot next to the node turns green. Repeat for each test computer, always with the label ui-test.
Tell L3git how many computers you have
Open L3git. On the Setup tab open CI / Maven project. Next to Jenkins matrix set shards to the number of test computers (2), tick the browsers they have, and type ui-test in Agent label. Record your test and click Generate as usual. L3git writes the Jenkins instructions file (called Jenkinsfile) into the project for you.
Put the project where Jenkins can see it
Push the generated project to your Git server (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps — any of them). If you do not use Git yet, the generated project already has a .gitignore; ask whoever owns your source control for an empty repository and push once.
Create the Jenkins job
In Jenkins: New Item → type a name → Pipeline → OK. Scroll to the Pipeline section. Definition: Pipeline script from SCM. SCM: Git. Repository URL: your repository address. Script Path: leave as Jenkinsfile. Save.
Press Build
Click Build Now. Jenkins starts one job per shard per browser, each on a different test computer, all at the same time. When it finishes, the Test Result link shows every passed and failed test in one list. Blue Ocean (a free plugin) shows it as a grid of green and red squares.
Common questions
I have only one computer. Does this still work?
Yes. Set shards to 1 and leave the label blank; the job runs on the Jenkins computer itself. Add computers later and regenerate; L3git rewrites the Jenkinsfile for the new count.
What is a shard?
A slice of the test suite. With 4 shards, each test computer runs a quarter of the tests. L3git decides which tests go in which slice so the split is the same every run.
Do I need Selenium Grid, Docker or the cloud?
No. Each test computer runs its own browser. There is nothing else to install or pay for.
Something is red. What do I look at first?
Click the red cell, then Console Output. The last 30 lines usually say it in plain words: a missing browser, a wrong label, or a test that genuinely failed. Test failures also appear under Test Result with the failing step highlighted.
Can I run just a few tests?
Yes. Build with Parameters → TAGS → type a tag such as @smoke. It combines with the slices automatically.