Making sure that our test management tool TestRail works great in all environments and that TestRail can easily be installed and maintained has a high priority for us. So today we are happy to announce the availability of TestRail 5.4, a new platform release that introduces full support for PHP 7.0, Windows Server 2016, SQL Server 2016 and other enhancements as well as bug fixes. This update is especially useful for customers of our popular TestRail Server edition who want to install TestRail on new systems using these latest platform releases.
We will continue to support both the new platform releases as well as older platforms such as PHP 5.x and previous Windows Server releases. So if you already have a TestRail Server instance set up, you don’t necessarily need to upgrade PHP or Windows. Please see below for other changes and improvements introduced in this release and you can always find the latest server requirements and supported platforms for TestRail Server in our Requirements documentation.
Introducing Full PHP 7.0 support
We designed and built TestRail to target various platforms and environments (including Linux and Windows Server) so IT teams can install and maintain TestRail on their preferred systems. With TestRail 5.4 we are introducing full support for the latest PHP 7.0 platform. PHP 7.0 has been a major platform release with significant changes and improvements under the hood. The migration to and support of PHP 7.0 has been a challenge for many library and application developers and we are happy to fully support this new platform now.
PHP 7.0 introduces many improvements such as better performance, lower memory consumption and better platform support. If you already have a TestRail installation with PHP 5.x, should you update PHP? If you already have a working installation of TestRail, you don’t necessarily need to update PHP and we would still recommend waiting until you set up a new system in the future. But if you are about to install TestRail on a new system that comes with PHP 7.0 packages, the latest version is a good way to benefit from PHP’s latest improvements.
Windows Server 2016 and SQL Server 2016
Similar to many software vendors, we are always conservative with new platform support, as we want to make sure a new platform is as stable as possible so teams can use TestRail in a well-tested environment. IT teams are getting ready to start migrating their systems to Microsoft’s latest server releases for both Windows Server and SQL Server. So starting today we are also officially introducing support for Windows Server 2016 and SQL Server 2016 for new TestRail Server instances.
Just as with previous TestRail releases, we also continue to support SQL Server Express for the latest release. This means that teams that prefer Windows Server for their TestRail installation can continue using this free SQL Server edition as a great alternative to other editions and licenses from Microsoft. For the easiest way to install and use TestRail on Windows Server, please just review our installation instructions. TestRail also fully supports Linux for server installations if your team prefers this option.
Additional Improvements in TestRail 5.4
TestRail 5.4 also comes with various additional new features, improvements and productivity enhancements. We’ve listed some of the additional enhancements below and please see our full changelog for a complete list of changes.
Elapsed Time Support for FastTrack Interface
TestRail 5.4 also introduces support for the Elapsed field for the FastTrack interface and Pass & Next feature. So if you have a timer active for a test, the elapsed time is automatically saved within TestRail’s FastTrack interface now.
Better JIRA Add-on Authentication Integration
TestRail’s JIRA test management add-on is a great way to improve collaboration between leads, developers and testers. With TestRail 5.4 all login sessions are automatically restored for JIRA users without having to authenticate with TestRail first.
Improved Test Run & Plan Sorting
TestRail 5.3 introduced various resource management and scheduling features for test runs, plans and milestones. With the latest update we improved how runs and plans are sorted and grouped for upcoming milestones.
Bug Fixes & UI Improvements
The latest update also introduces a dozen other bug fixes and user interface improvements. This includes bug fixes for TestRail’s API, copy test cases functionality, Markdown formatting and more. Please see below for the full changelog.
Using & Upgrading to TestRail 5.4
Upgrading to TestRail 5.4 is easy and if you benefit from any of the above improvements, we would recommend upgrading. We’ve included all the required details below to get TestRail 5.4 up and running, depending on the edition you use:
- TestRail Cloud: your account has already been updated!
- TestRail Server (licensed): you can download the latest version or renew your support plan from your customer portal account.
- TestRail Server (trial): please contact us to upgrade your download trial.
- New user: want to try TestRail? Get a free trial.
You can also review the full change log to learn more about all new features, improvements and bug fixes included in TestRail 5.4. If you have any questions or feedback about the new version, please let us know!
