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How to Customize the Bootstrap Process before Running Tests

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Read the updated version of this page for Symfony 7.2 (the current stable version).

Sometimes when running tests, you need to do additional bootstrap work before running those tests. For example, if you're running a functional test and have introduced a new translation resource, then you will need to clear your cache before running those tests.

To do this, first add the following file:

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// app/tests.bootstrap.php
if (isset($_ENV['BOOTSTRAP_CLEAR_CACHE_ENV'])) {
    passthru(sprintf(
        'php "%s/console" cache:clear --env=%s --no-warmup',
        __DIR__,
        $_ENV['BOOTSTRAP_CLEAR_CACHE_ENV']
    ));
}

require __DIR__.'/bootstrap.php.cache';

Replace the test bootstrap file bootstrap.php.cache in app/phpunit.xml.dist with tests.bootstrap.php:

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<!-- app/phpunit.xml.dist -->

<!-- ... -->
<phpunit
    bootstrap = "tests.bootstrap.php"
>

Now, you can define in your phpunit.xml.dist file which environment you want the cache to be cleared:

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<!-- app/phpunit.xml.dist -->
<php>
    <env name="BOOTSTRAP_CLEAR_CACHE_ENV" value="test"/>
</php>

This now becomes an environment variable (i.e. $_ENV) that's available in the custom bootstrap file (tests.bootstrap.php).

This work, including the code samples, is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 license.
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