Configuring Windows Computer

Configuring your Windows computer includes installing Node JS and Appium, downloading Android Command Line Tools and Android APIs and defining required Android Virtual Devices (AVDs) for test case executions. Once you have installed all the required auxilary softwares, you need to set Environment and System Variables.

Installing Node JS

The Node.js is an open-source, cross-platform JavaScript run-time environment for developing a diverse variety of tools and applications. You must install the latest version of Node JS on your system.

Installing Appium

Appium is an open source test automation tool for mobile applications. Appium comes equipped with Inspector for object identification; however, users can also use UI Automatorviewer or myKola for mobile object identification.

Note: 
*Recommended.
**As Appium 1.6.x does not have GUI for iOS, myKola can be used as object identification tool.

In order to install Appium's command line version, you need to install Node JS. Once you have installed Node JS, you can proceed to install Appium Server that is required for mobile test case executions.
To install Appium:

1. Open the Command Prompt window.
2. Use the following command to install Appium; npm install -g appium@1.6.3.

Note: The Appium version mentioned in the command above may change as per the latest version available on the appium repository, for example, appium@1.6.1, appium@1.6.3, and so on.

1. After successful installation, run the appium command to confirm the installation of Appium. Following message is displayed in the Command Prompt window.

Installing Android Command Line Tools

In order to test mobile native or web applications on emulator or physical device, you need to download and install Android command line tools. The command line tools can be downloaded using following simple steps. 
To install Android command line tools:

1. Open the following URL:

https://developer.android.com/studio/index.html

1. Scroll down to bottom.
2. In the Get just the command line tools section, download the latest version of SDK tools package for Windows.
3. Once downloaded, unzip the file and go to tools > lib.
4. Copy AVD Manager.exe and SDK Manager.exe and place it where you have unzipped the original set up file (if not present).
5. Launch SDK Manager.
6. In the Tools section, select Android SDK Tools and Android SDK Platform-tools.
7. Select required Android APIs (if you want to create emulators).

Note: Appium supports API level 17 and above.

1. In the Extras section, select Intel x86 Emulator Accelerator (HAXM Installer) and Google USB Driver.

Note: If it is not compatible with Windows, install it separately as mentioned here.

1. Click the Install xx packages... button.

Setting Environment Variables

After you download command line tools and platform-tools, you must set environment variables.
To set Environment Variables:

1. From desktop, right-click the Computer icon.
2. Select Properties from the context menu.
3. In the left pane, click Advanced system settings.
4. On the System Properties window, click Environment Variables.
5. In the User Variables section, create new variable as ANDROID_HOME and set its path where you have unzipped the Android command line tools and then click OK.

Note: The Android_Home path should not contain any white space.

1. If Java_Home is not already set, double-click the JAVA_HOME variable, type the path to JRE/JDK and then click OK.
2. In the System Variables section, select the PATH variable and type the path to 'Platform-tools' from the folder where command line tools are saved.

For example: D:\Android\platform-tools;

1. Click OK.

Installing Intel® Hardware Accelerated Execution Manager (Intel® HAXM)

It is recommended to install Intel® HAXM for smooth functioning of Android Virtual Devices (emulators). When installing Android Studio, you do not need to install it separately, however, when installing command line tools, you must install it separately. 
To install Intel® HAXM:

1. Download the Intel® HAXM using following URL:

https://software.intel.com/en-us/android/articles/intel-hardware-accelerated-execution-manager

1. Unzip the downloaded file.
2. Double-click the intelhaxm-android file.

This opens Intel® Hardware Accelerated Execution Manager Setup wizard.

1. Click Next.

You can define how much system memory (RAM) you want to reserve for Intel® HAXM. By default, 2.00 GB is reserved.

1. Change the reserved memory, if required and click Next.
2. Click Install.
3. Post successful installation, open the Command Prompt window and run the command; sc query intelhaxm.

If State is shown as running, Intel® HAXM is running properly.

Important Notes: 
When creating emulators, ensure you have selected CPU/ABI as Intel x86 for superior performance of emulator through Intel® HAXM.
If you are facing any issues when installing or using Intel® HAXM, refer to the following URL for troubleshooting. 
https://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2014/10/20/how-to-ensure-you-are-using-intel-haxm-for-android-emulator

Creating Android Virtual Devises (AVDs) / Emulators

An Android Virtual Device (AVD) manager allows you defining characteristics of Android devices you want to simulate in the Android Emulator. The AVD Manager helps you easily create and manage Android Virtual Devices. The AVD Manager comes bundled with some predefined hardware profiles, such as Nexus phone devices and you can define and import hardware profiles as per the requirements. The AVD Manager allows you manage all your AVDs in one place.
To run the AVD Manager:

1. Open the AVD Manager application.
2. Using this screen, you can;

• View details of existing Android Virtual Devices,
• Create new Android Virtual Devices,
• Edit/Repair existing Android Virtual Devices, and
• Remove/Delete obsolete Android Virtual Devices.

For more information on this, click here