Migrating From Local Tosca DEX Test Agents To The Elastic Execution Grid (E2E) With Flexible Cloud Agents And Replacing Manual VM Upkeep

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The software testing landscape is rapidly evolving. While traditional approaches like on-premise virtual machines and static Tosca DEX (Distributed Execution) Agents have served their purpose, they now often fall short in agility, scalability, and cost-efficiency. Enter Tricentis’ Elastic Execution Grid (E2E) and Flexible Execution Agents — a modern alternative that replaces manual VM upkeep with cloud-native orchestration. This article outlines a step-by-step migration strategy, shares the benefits of E2E, and includes practical implementation examples to guide you in transitioning your test automation infrastructure.

Understanding the Legacy: DEX and Manual VM Management

Tosca’s Distributed Execution (DEX) architecture is designed to enable parallel execution across multiple machines using Tosca Distributed Execution Agents. Typically, this involves:

  • Provisioning static VMs

  • Installing Tosca Commander and DEX Agents

  • Manually managing test data, agent health, and system updates

  • Relying on RDP sessions for troubleshooting and monitoring

While DEX agents provide parallelism and load distribution, the downsides are numerous:

  • Scalability constraints due to finite VM resources

  • Operational overhead from patching, rebooting, and resetting test environments

  • Low elasticity, as VMs must be pre-provisioned

  • High cloud cost when idle VM time accumulates

Introducing Elastic Execution Grid (E2E)

Tricentis’ Elastic Execution Grid (E2E) offers a cloud-first solution that:

  • Executes tests in dynamically provisioned containers or cloud VMs

  • Is fully integrated with Tosca CI/CD pipelines

  • Eliminates the need to maintain physical or virtual machines

  • Supports Flexible Execution Agents (FEAs) that auto-scale based on load

This fundamentally changes how you think about resource management for test execution.

Core Features of E2E:

Feature Description
Cloud-based agent management Uses Kubernetes or Fargate under the hood
Elastic scalability Auto-scales up/down based on test volume
Integrated CI/CD execution Trigger tests via Jenkins, Azure DevOps, GitLab, etc.
Flexible execution profiles Customize environment needs per test run (OS, Tosca version, browser, etc.)
Tricentis Test Automation Supports both Tosca and API tests
Benefit Explanation
Reduced maintenance No more manual Windows Updates or Tosca agent restarts
Improved scalability On-demand agent provisioning based on need
Cost efficiency Pay-per-use vs idle VM waste
Faster feedback loops Parallel and faster executions in a CI/CD environment
Observability Built-in dashboards, logs, and failure snapshots

A smooth migration involves four stages:

1. Assessment and Inventory

Begin with identifying all DEX-connected test environments:

  • Map test sets to their DEX execution agents

  • Identify test environments requiring specific dependencies (browsers, drivers, database clients)

  • Assess if test cases use local file paths or hard-coded VM IPs

Use the following PowerShell script to list all registered DEX Agents:

powershell
Get-Service -Name "ToscaDistributionService" | Select-Object Name, Status
Get-Content "C:\ProgramData\TRICENTIS\Tosca Testsuite\Dex\Agents.json"

2. Setting Up Elastic Execution Grid

You can use Tricentis Cloud or deploy E2E on your own Kubernetes cluster.

Option A: Using Tricentis Cloud

  • Sign in to Tricentis Cloud Portal

  • Create a new Execution Environment

  • Set desired agent profiles, e.g., Windows 11 + Chrome + Tosca 16.0

  • Upload execution credentials and encryption keys

Option B: Deploying on Kubernetes

Install via Helm:

bash
helm repo add tricentis https://tricentis.github.io/e2e-helm/
helm install e2e-grid tricentis/e2e \
--set executionGrid.image.tag=latest \
--set agent.autoscaling.enabled=true \
--set agent.env.TOSCA_LICENSE_SERVER=<license-server-url>

Ensure your cluster has autoscaling configured (e.g., Cluster Autoscaler on EKS/GKE).

3. Converting and Uploading Test Cases

Migrate test cases from Tosca Commander:

  1. Open Tosca Commander

  2. Select test case → Right-click → Convert for CI Execution

  3. Export or store test case on Git repo or Tricentis File Service

  4. Link it with your execution grid

You can also use Tosca CLI or REST API:

bash
ToscaCIClient.exe --runconfig ExecutionList="RegressionSuite" --executionmode "e2e"

Or trigger via REST:

http
POST /api/executions
Content-Type: application/json{
“testSuite”: “SmokeTests”,
“executionEnvironment”: “e2e-win11-chrome”,
“notificationEmails”: [“qa-team@example.com”]
}

4. CI/CD Integration

With Jenkins:

groovy
pipeline {
agent any
stages {
stage('Run Tosca Tests') {
steps {
script {
def response = httpRequest authentication: 'tricentisToken',
url: 'https://api.tricentis.com/e2e/executions',
httpMode: 'POST',
contentType: 'APPLICATION_JSON',
requestBody: """
{
"testSuite": "NightlyRegression",
"executionEnvironment": "win10-edge",
"notify": true
}
"""
println response.content
}
}
}
}
}

Handling Common Migration Challenges

Challenge Solution
Hard-coded file paths Use relative paths or shared file services (e.g., S3, Tricentis FileHub)
Dynamic data (e.g., local DBs) Use cloud-hosted test databases or mocked APIs
External dependencies Use Docker layers or custom agents with pre-installed tools
Test failures in cloud only Enable screen capture & remote debugging via E2E dashboard

The E2E dashboard gives you real-time visibility into:

  • Test execution status

  • Screenshots of failed steps

  • Performance metrics

  • Retry capabilities

This empowers QA engineers to debug failed runs without accessing remote VMs, drastically accelerating root cause analysis.

Sample Use Case: From DEX to E2E in a Banking App

Context:

A banking app team previously ran 500 test cases overnight using 5 DEX agents on Azure VMs (running 8 hours/day).

Problems:

  • Azure VM costs were ~$3,000/month (due to idle time and licensing)

  • VM failures during patching caused delays

  • Increasing test volume led to bottlenecks

Migration:

  • Switched to Tricentis E2E hosted on AWS Fargate

  • Created 3 agent profiles: Windows + Chrome, Windows + Firefox, API-only

  • CI/CD triggered nightly runs that now take 1.5 hours instead of 8

  • Total monthly cost reduced to ~$700, including burst capacity

Best Practices for E2E Migration

  • Design test cases to be stateless and idempotent

  • Version control all execution configurations

  • Keep execution environments lightweight and modular

  • Use environment variables for secrets and credentials

  • Monitor cost and execution trends to fine-tune agent profiles

Conclusion

Migrating from local Tosca DEX agents to the Elastic Execution Grid (E2E) transforms the entire software testing strategy — from rigid and labor-intensive to flexible, efficient, and scalable. By leveraging cloud-native Flexible Execution Agents, teams no longer need to manage VMs, worry about patching, or anticipate hardware capacity.

Whether you’re running smoke tests or full regression pipelines, E2E makes continuous testing a reality rather than an aspiration. Moreover, it fits naturally into modern DevOps workflows and enhances test execution observability, agility, and cost control.

The migration journey may require effort, especially for tightly coupled test cases or legacy systems, but the long-term gains in productivity and resilience are undeniable.

In the age of cloud-native QA, E2E stands as a critical enabler — freeing up teams to focus on quality engineering instead of infrastructure firefighting. It’s time to move beyond the VM and embrace elastic, intelligent test execution.