Store files on Tricentis File Service

Tosca Commander allows you to attach files to test objects and to generate files and logs at run-time. Over time, these files can accumulate, which impacts the performance of your workspace.

Tricentis File Service is a web-based application that stores your Tosca Commander files in a separate database. You can still access the files in the workspace, but they don't take up its storage space.

This keeps your workspaces slim and improves their performance.

What can you store in Tricentis File Service?

You can store the following file types in Tricentis File Service:

Important considerations

  • Tricentis File Service is only available in multi-user environments.

  • Files can accumulate quickly. Make sure that the machine that holds Tosca Server has enough storage space. Tricentis recommends that you delete old files on a regular basis.

  • Once you enable Tricentis File Service for a project, you can't disable it. If you no longer want to use Tricentis File Service, you need to export a subset of the existing project, create a new project, and import the subset into the new project. Note: the bigger the project, the longer this takes.

  • Don't delete files manually from the Tricentis File Service database. This will break your project. Only delete files as described in chapter "Delete files from Tricentis File Service".

  • If you use Tricentis File Service, you can't reference or embed files in Tosca Commander. Instead, Tricentis Tosca stores attachments in Tricentis File Service.

  • Some antivirus software might interfere with Tricentis File Service. If that's the case, add Tricentis.FileService.WebApi.exe to the exclusion list. By default, the file is located at C:\Program Files (x86)\TRICENTIS\Tosca Server\FileService. If you can't exclude files, exclude the storage directory path you specified in the Tricentis Service Configuration.

  • Tricentis recommends that you back up Tricentis File Service regularly. You can use your backup if you migrate Tricentis Tosca to a new machine, or if you have issues with your data.

Install and enable Tricentis File Service

To install and enable Tricentis File Service, follow the steps below:

  1. Ensure that you have access rights to the project that you want to use with Tricentis File Service.

  2. If you already use Tricentis Tosca, ensure that all workspaces are closed.

  3. Install Tricentis File Service. The installation of Tricentis File Service is part of the Tosca Server installation.

  4. Enable Tricentis File Service in the Windows Services app (see chapter "Installation process"). Otherwise, you can't make the necessary configurations in Tricentis Service Configuration.

  5. Configure the services in the Tricentis Service Configuration as described in chapter "Configure services via Service Configuration".

  6. In Tosca Commander, enter the Tosca Server endpoint address in Project->Settings->Tricentis Services.

    You need to do this in every workspace that should store files on Tricentis File Service.

    Alternatively, you can create project settings for your repository as described in chapter "Work with project settings". You only have to do this once; project settings apply to all workspaces connected to this repository.

  7. Open the Tosca Administration Console.

  8. Go to the project for which you want to enable Tricentis File Service and click on Enable in the File Service column.

Enable Tricentis File Service

Once you have enabled Tricentis File Service, Tricentis Tosca saves all new files that you create to Tricentis File Service.

If you want to move files that already exist in your workspace to Tricentis File Service, you need to migrate them. For more information, see chapter "Migrate existing files to Tricentis File Service".

Manually attach files to objects

The process of manually attaching files is the same with or without Tricentis File Service:

Drag and drop a file onto the test object, or use the context menu entry Attach file.

However, there are some differences once you've attached the file:

  • You can't choose to embed or create a file reference. Instead, Tricentis Tosca automatically saves the file to Tricentis File Service.

  • None of the settings or configurations for embedding or file references apply.

  • You can save a local copy of the file. To do so, right-click the attached file and select Save Copy to ... from the context menu..

Edit files stored in Tricentis File Service

To edit a file that you store in Tricentis File Service, follow the steps below:

  1. Check out the attached file you want to edit.

  2. Open the file in Tosca Commander.

  3. Edit and save the file.

  4. Check in. This updates the file in the Tricentis File Service database.

View files

The process of viewing files is the same with or without Tricentis File Service:

Empty the local cache

When you click on an object or ExecutionLog, Tricentis Tosca downloads the files from Tricentis File Service and stores them in the local cache.

To free up disk space, go to Project->Info and select Empty local File Service Cache.

What's next