Build Verification Testing or Smoke Testing is a set of tests that run on new build to verify that whether the build is testable or not. It is done prior to its release to test team for further testing. This testing is done for Build Validation and Build Acceptance.

The test cases of Build Verification Testing can include core functionality test cases that ensure software / application is stable and can be tested thoroughly. Some key points for this kind of Software Testing is:

• The Build Verification tests are subset of tests cases that verify main functionalities
• These tests typically run for each build. If any of the tests fail, the build is rejected
• It is done to save the efforts of a testing team to setup and test a build when major functionalities are having defects
• An ideal BVT should not run more than 30 - 60 minutes depending on the testing points in the application.

It is better is these tests can be automated. If any of the tests fails, then developers fix the issues and deploy these to testing server.

In Build Verification Testing, one needs to check for the integrity of various modules of the application. Checking the integration of various modules is important when different teams work on different modules.

Some Basic Checks:

• Check whether - all the new and modified files are included in release
• All file formats are correct
• Every file version and language
• Flags associated with each file

Below are some tips to select Build Verification tests:

• Include only critical test cases and they should be sufficient for application test coverage
• Add only stable test cases and all the test cases should have known expected results
• Do not include modules in BVT, which are not yet stable
• Set some standards and these standards shall be met only by analyzing major project features and scenarios
• BVT automation scripts needs to be maintained and modified time-to-time. Include test cases when there are new stable project modules available
• Try to automate this process as much as possible - automate everything
• Do not write BVT test cases scripts in hurry

Process for running the build verification tests:

• The results are sent to TL / PM
• Results are analyzed by TL / PM
• The person who runs the tests and TL / PM diagnoses the cause of failure (if any)
• If there is any defect, the relevant information is sent to respective developers
• Developer fixes the bug

Once the bug is fixed; BVT test suite is executed again. This process gets repeated for every new build.

Also, remember that some times tests fail because of the following reasons:

• Test case coding error
• Automation Tool error
• Infrastructure error
• Hardware / software failures etc.

So, see the root causes of failures, and then take proper action. Log as much detailed info as possible to diagnose the BVT pass or fail result.