Test cycle is a space from where the test executions actually happen.
Multiple test cycles can be created in a test plan due to test plan complexity, some times more than one round of testing need to be done with in a test plan in order to cover more platforms/devices.
Each test cycle could be a number of test passes pertaining to each configuration it is tested against. Once a test cycle is created, user should follow below steps to make it work:
Step 1: Editing a Test Cycle to Defining Test Scope
Click 'Edit' from a existing test cycle:
Then click 'Select Test Case' button to add a set of test cases to test cycle:
Step 2: Editing a Test Cycle to Defining Test Scope
Select all or part of test cases you just added in above step, then click '...->Assign Configuration' to create test runs by assigning configurations.
NOTE!
- You must have configuration predefined in your Jira project in order to make assignment, how to define please refer to following page: Project Settings
- If you don't want to do any configuration assignment, just skip it, save and close the current test cycle, then go to Step 3.
Step 3: Save and Close Test Cycle
Till now, planning phase is done.
Step 4: Start Test Cycle for Team to Let Team Do Test Execution
Go back to test plan issue, then click '...->Start', the test cycle will change its status from 'DRAFT' to 'ACTIVE'. It means the team can start test execution from the test cycle now.