Execute the tests. The execution will vary depending on whether test is manual or automated, and whether additional test components are needed such as drivers or stubs.

To execute the tests, you will need to make sure you have the test environment initialized with all needed elements, such as software, hardware, tools, data and so on.

Determine whether the tests completed successfully and as desired, and if corrective action is required. The execution of testing ends or terminates in one of two conditions:

• Normal: all tests execute as intended. If testing terminates normally, then continue with the step Verify tests results.
• Abnormal or premature: the tests did not execute completely or as intended. When testing ends abnormally, the test results may be unreliable. The cause of termination must be identified, corrected, and the tests re-executed before additional test tasks are performed.

Review the test results to ensure they are reliable and that any reported failures, warnings, or unexpected results were not caused by external influences (to the implementation element that is the target-of-test), such as improper setup or incorrect data.

If the reported failures are due to errors identified in the test itself or due to problems with the test environment, take the appropriate corrective action as described in step Recover from halted tests and then execute the tests again.

If the test results indicate the failures are genuinely due to the target-of-test, then this task is complete and the Task: Request Change should typically be performed.

Determine the appropriate corrective action to recover from a halted test and execute the tests again. 

There are two major types of halted tests:

• Fatal errors; for example, network failures, hardware crashes, and the like.
• Test Script Command Failures; specific to automated testing, this is when a test script cannot execute a command or a line of code.

Both types of abnormal termination to testing may exhibit the same symptoms:

• Unexpected actions, windows, or events occur while the test script is executing.
• Test environment appears unresponsive or in an undesirable state, such as hung or crashed.

To recover from halted tests, perform these steps:

1. Determine the actual cause of the problem.
2. Correct the problem.
3. Setup the test environment again.
4. Initialize the test environment again.
5. Execute the tests again.