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Migrate Katalon Studio from 8.x to 9.0.0

In 9.0.0, Katalon Studio adopts Eclipse 2023-03 and Java 17. When upgrading from 8.x to 9.x, you might need to perform some additional steps for a smooth transition. This document provides guidance on whether you should upgrade from 8.x to 9.x.

Upgrade with no action required​

You can upgrade to Katalon Studio 9.x with no action required if:
  • you are using Mac or Windows, not Linux
  • your projects are not using customized default JRE with versions lower than 17
  • you have not imported any external libraries to your projects
  • you are not using any custom plugins (plugins that are not published by Katalon)
  • you are not running BDD projects

Upgrade with actions required​

For Linux users

If you are using Linux, you need to download and install OpenJDK 17. See Install Katalon Studio for Linux (GUI).

For projects with imported external libraries

You can extend the capabilities of Katalon Studio for specific uses by adding external Java .jar libraries. However, there are a lot of libraries that have been deprecated from Java 8 to Java 17. For example, javax.xml.bind should be replaced by jakarta.xml.bind; or sun.misc.BASE64Decoder should be replaced by java.util.Base64.

If your projects are not working normally in Katalon Studio 9.x, you might need to check and update your imported external libraries. See Add external libraries to a project.

For projects with installed custom plugins

You can use plugins published by Katalon without any additional changes. However, if you use plugins published by the community or you build your own plugins to use, and the plugin is not working properly in Katalon Studio 9.x, you might need to upgrade plugins with libraries that are compatible with Java 17.

You can refer to the following sources for deprecated libraries:
For projects with custom keyword plugins

You might not be able to use custom keywords plugin in Katalon Studio 9.x. This is because Katalon Gradle Plugin does not support compiling Groovy 3.0, which is bundled with Katalon Studio 9.x. To use the plugins, first re-build your custom keyword plugins in Katalon Studio 9.x, then put the plugins in the Plugins folder of your project.

For users with BDD projects
You need to add a @BeforeTestCase listener to your project. To learn more about test listeners, see Test Listeners (Test Hooks).
Note:
  • You don't need to modify every script in your project, you just need to add this test listener ONCE.
In the Tests Explorer panel, right click Test Listeners and create a new test listener. Then, copy and paste the following code to the listener script:
import com.kms.katalon.core.cucumber.keyword.internal.CucumberGlueGenerator

@BeforeTestCase
def beforeTestCase(TestCaseContext context) {
  CucumberGlueGenerator.addDefaultPackages();
}
Your test listener should look like this:

Save the test listener and you can execute your BDD projects in 9.x as normal.

Should not upgrade​

With Katalon Studio 8.x, you can set your desired JRE package from v8 to v14 as the default one to compile and run test projects. To learn more about setting desired JRE package, see Set a new default JRE for test projects in Katalon Studio.

In version 9.0.0, we upgraded the Eclipse framework to version 2023-03, which requires at least Java 17. Therefore, you should not upgrade to 9.0.0 and later until your projects can run with JRE 17.