[java] Run a single test method with maven

I know you can run all the tests in a certain class using:

mvn test -Dtest=classname

But I want to run an individual method and -Dtest=classname.methodname doesn't seem to work.

This question is related to java maven unit-testing maven-2 maven-3

The answer is


There is an issue with surefire 2.12. This is what happen to me changing maven-surefire-plugin from 2.12 to 2.11:

  1. mvn test -Dtest=DesignRulesTest

    Result:
    [ERROR] Failed to execute goal org.apache.maven.plugins:maven-surefire-plugin:2.12:test (default-test) on project pmd: No tests were executed!

  2. mvn test -Dtest=DesignRulesTest

    Result: [INFO] --- maven-surefire-plugin:2.11:test (default-test) @ pmd --- ... Running net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.rule.design.DesignRulesTest Tests run: 5, Failures: 0, Errors: 0, Skipped: 4, Time elapsed: 4.009 sec


This command works !! mvn "-DTest=JoinTeamTestCases#validateJoinTeam" test Note that "-DTest" starts with UPPER CASE 'T'.


Running a set of methods in a Single Test Class With version 2.7.3, you can run only n tests in a single Test Class.

NOTE : it's supported for junit 4.x and TestNG.

You must use the following syntax

mvn -Dtest=TestCircle#mytest test

You can use patterns too

mvn -Dtest=TestCircle#test* test

As of surefire 2.12.1, you can select multiple methods (JUnit4X only at this time, patches welcome)

mvn -Dtest=TestCircle#testOne+testTwo test

Check this link about single tests


You can run specific test class(es) and method(s) using the following syntax:

  1. full package : mvn test -Dtest="com.oracle.tests.**"

  2. all method in a class : mvn test -Dtest=CLASS_NAME1

  3. single method from single class :mvn test -Dtest=CLASS_NAME1#METHOD_NAME1

  4. multiple method from multiple class : mvn test -Dtest=CLASS_NAME1#METHOD_NAME1,CLASS_NAME2#METHOD_NAME2


New versions of JUnit contains the Categories runner: http://kentbeck.github.com/junit/doc/ReleaseNotes4.8.html

But releasing procedure of JUnit is not maven based, so maven users have to put it manually to their repositories.


To my knowledge, the surefire plugin doesn't provide any way to do this. But feel free to open an issue :)


What I do with my TestNG, (sorry, JUnit doesn't support this) test cases is I can assign a group to the test I want to run

@Test(groups="broken")

And then simply run 'mvn -Dgroups=broken'.


As of surefire plugin version 2.22.1 (possibly earlier) you can run single test using testnames property when using testng.xml

Given a following testng.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE suite SYSTEM "http://testng.org/testng-1.0.dtd">
<suite name="Suite">
    <test name="all-tests">
        <classes>
            <class name="server.Atest"/>
            <class name="server.Btest"/>
            <class name="server.Ctest"/>
        </classes>
    </test>
    <test name="run-A-test">
        <classes>
            <class name="server.Atest"/>
        </classes>
    </test>
    <test name="run-B-test">
        <classes>
            <class name="server.Btest"/>
        </classes>
    </test>
    <test name="run-C-test">
        <classes>
            <class name="server.Ctest"/>
        </classes>
    </test>
</suite> 

with the pom.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
    <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
    [...]
    <properties>
        <selectedTests>all-tests</selectedTests>
    </properties>
    [...]
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
            <artifactId>maven-surefire-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>2.22.1</version>
            <configuration>
                <suiteXmlFiles>
                    <file>src/test/resources/testng.xml</file>
                </suiteXmlFiles>
                <properties>
                    <property>
                        <name>testnames</name>
                        <value>${selectedTests}</value>
                    </property>
                </properties>
            </configuration>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
    [...]
</project>

From command line

mvn clean test -DselectedTests=run-B-test

Further reading - Maven surefire plugin using testng


You can run a single test class, but not a single method within a test class. You use the simple name of the class not the fully-qualified name of the class. So, if you have a test in "org.sonatype.test.MyTest" and that is the only test you want to run, your command line would look like this:

mvn test -Dtest=MyTest

I tried several solutions provided in this thread, however they were not working for module which depends on a different one. In that case I had to run mvn from the root-module with additional parameters: -am (--also-make), which tells maven to built modules which your test module depends on and -DfailIfNoTests=false, otherwise "No tests were executed!" error appears.

mvn test -pl B -Dtest=MyTestClass#myTest -am -DfailIfNoTests=false

pom.xml section in root:

<modules>
    <module>A</module>
    <module>B</module>
<modules>

B depends on A.


Run a single test method from a test class.

mvn test -Dtest=Test1#methodname


Other related use-cases

  • mvn test // Run all the unit test classes

  • mvn test -Dtest=Test1 // Run a single test class

  • mvn test -Dtest=Test1,Test2 // Run multiple test classes

  • mvn test -Dtest=Test1#testFoo* // Run all test methods that match pattern 'testFoo*' from a test class.

  • mvn test -Dtest=Test1#testFoo*+testBar* // Run all test methods match pattern 'testFoo*' and 'testBar*' from a test class.


The test parameter mentioned by tobrien allows you to specify a method using a # before the method name. This should work for JUnit and TestNG. I've never tried it, just read it on the Surefire Plugin page:

Specify this parameter to run individual tests by file name, overriding the includes/excludes parameters. Each pattern you specify here will be used to create an include pattern formatted like **/${test}.java, so you can just type "-Dtest=MyTest" to run a single test called "foo/MyTest.java". This parameter overrides the includes/excludes parameters, and the TestNG suiteXmlFiles parameter. since 2.7.3 You can execute a limited number of method in the test with adding #myMethod or #my*ethod. Si type "-Dtest=MyTest#myMethod" supported for junit 4.x and testNg


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