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Write tests with Testcontainers MockServer

Table of contents

Mocking external API interactions at the HTTP protocol level, rather than mocking Java methods, lets you verify marshalling and unmarshalling behavior and simulate network issues.

Testcontainers provides a MockServer module that starts a MockServer instance inside a Docker container. You can then use MockServerClient to configure mock expectations.

Write the test

Create AlbumControllerTest.java:

package com.testcontainers.demo;

import static io.restassured.RestAssured.given;
import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.is;
import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasSize;
import static org.mockserver.model.HttpRequest.request;
import static org.mockserver.model.HttpResponse.response;
import static org.mockserver.model.JsonBody.json;

import io.restassured.RestAssured;
import io.restassured.http.ContentType;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
import org.mockserver.client.MockServerClient;
import org.mockserver.model.Header;
import org.mockserver.verify.VerificationTimes;
import org.springframework.boot.test.context.SpringBootTest;
import org.springframework.boot.test.web.server.LocalServerPort;
import org.springframework.test.context.DynamicPropertyRegistry;
import org.springframework.test.context.DynamicPropertySource;
import org.testcontainers.mockserver.MockServerContainer;
import org.testcontainers.junit.jupiter.Container;
import org.testcontainers.junit.jupiter.Testcontainers;

@SpringBootTest(webEnvironment = SpringBootTest.WebEnvironment.RANDOM_PORT)
@Testcontainers
class AlbumControllerTest {

  @LocalServerPort
  private Integer port;

  @Container
  static MockServerContainer mockServerContainer =
    new MockServerContainer("mockserver/mockserver:5.15.0");

  static MockServerClient mockServerClient;

  @DynamicPropertySource
  static void overrideProperties(DynamicPropertyRegistry registry) {
    mockServerClient =
    new MockServerClient(
      mockServerContainer.getHost(),
      mockServerContainer.getServerPort()
    );
    registry.add("photos.api.base-url", mockServerContainer::getEndpoint);
  }

  @BeforeEach
  void setUp() {
    RestAssured.port = port;
    mockServerClient.reset();
  }

  @Test
  void shouldGetAlbumById() {
    Long albumId = 1L;

    mockServerClient
      .when(
        request().withMethod("GET").withPath("/albums/" + albumId + "/photos")
      )
      .respond(
        response()
          .withStatusCode(200)
          .withHeaders(
            new Header("Content-Type", "application/json; charset=utf-8")
          )
          .withBody(
            json(
              """
              [
                   {
                       "id": 1,
                       "title": "accusamus beatae ad facilis cum similique qui sunt",
                       "url": "https://via.placeholder.com/600/92c952",
                       "thumbnailUrl": "https://via.placeholder.com/150/92c952"
                   },
                   {
                       "id": 2,
                       "title": "reprehenderit est deserunt velit ipsam",
                       "url": "https://via.placeholder.com/600/771796",
                       "thumbnailUrl": "https://via.placeholder.com/150/771796"
                   }
               ]
              """
            )
          )
      );

    given()
      .contentType(ContentType.JSON)
      .when()
      .get("/api/albums/{albumId}", albumId)
      .then()
      .statusCode(200)
      .body("albumId", is(albumId.intValue()))
      .body("photos", hasSize(2));

    verifyMockServerRequest("GET", "/albums/" + albumId + "/photos", 1);
  }

  @Test
  void shouldReturn404StatusWhenAlbumNotFound() {
    Long albumId = 1L;
    mockServerClient
      .when(
        request().withMethod("GET").withPath("/albums/" + albumId + "/photos")
      )
      .respond(response().withStatusCode(404));

    given()
      .contentType(ContentType.JSON)
      .when()
      .get("/api/albums/{albumId}", albumId)
      .then()
      .statusCode(404);

    verifyMockServerRequest("GET", "/albums/" + albumId + "/photos", 1);
  }

  private void verifyMockServerRequest(String method, String path, int times) {
    mockServerClient.verify(
      request().withMethod(method).withPath(path),
      VerificationTimes.exactly(times)
    );
  }
}

Here's what the test does:

  • @SpringBootTest starts the full application on a random port.
  • The @Testcontainers and @Container annotations start a MockServerContainer and create a MockServerClient connected to it.
  • @DynamicPropertySource overrides photos.api.base-url to point at the MockServer endpoint, so the application talks to MockServer instead of the real photo service.
  • @BeforeEach resets the MockServerClient before every test so that expectations from one test don't affect another.
  • shouldGetAlbumById() configures a mock response for /albums/{albumId}/photos, sends a request to the application's /api/albums/{albumId} endpoint, and verifies the response body. It also uses mockServerClient.verify() to confirm that the expected API call reached MockServer.
  • shouldReturn404StatusWhenAlbumNotFound() configures MockServer to return a 404 status and verifies the application propagates that status to the caller.
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