How do we measure the system capacity?
We measure system capacity to find out how much excess capacity the system can handle without any degradation in its performance .
For checking the capacity of a system, we compare the performance versus load on the existing system, and find out a point at which significant degradation of response-time starts taking place. Point is known as "knee" when plotted over a response time curve.
What is the purpose of creating Scenarios in LoadRunner?
For testing a system by using LoadRunner, we need to create a scenario. Scenario is a file containing complete information about the testing session. The scenario is a means of emulating a real-life user.
The scenario contains following information about the mechanism of emulating the real users:
1) Details of groups of virtual users or Vusers.
2) Details of test scripts the Vusers will run.
3) Details of load generators upon which the scripts shall be made to run.
How many types of scenarios can be created while using Controller of LoadRunner?
We can create any one type of scenario out of the following:
1) Manual Scenario: Scenario is created manually by defining the number of Vuser groups we want to run, and building a schedule for LoadRunner to run these groups. Manual scenario can be created by defining the total number of Vusers to be used in the scenario, or assigning a percentage of the total number of Vusers to each script.
2) Goal-Oriented Scenario: We define the goals that we want to achieve in our test and LoadRunner automatically builds a scenario for us, based upon our goals.
How can we change the maximum number of scripts displayed in the Available Scripts list?
We can change the maximum number of scripts displayed in the Available Scripts list by modifying the registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mercury Interactive\RecentScripts\max_num_of_scripts
What is the purpose of Scenario Files?
A scenario provides detailed description of various events taking place during every load testing session.
A scenario is created by using the Design view of Controller in LoadRunner. Once a scenario is created, LoadRunner saves the information in a
scenario file having an extension (*.lrs).
What methods are available in LoadRunner for building scenarios?
Two methods are available through which we can create scenarios.
1) Manual Scenario creation method: Involves creating groups and specifying the script, the load generator, and the number of Vusers included in each group. We can chose to opt for using Percentage Mode to distribute our Vusers among various scripts.
2) Goal Oriented Scenario creation method: Involves defining the goals we want our test to achieve, and LoadRunner automatically builds a scenario for us, based on these goals.
How can we change the maximum number of scripts displayed in the Available Scripts list?
We can change the maximum number of scripts displayed in the Available Scripts list by modifying the registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mercury Interactive\RecentScripts\max_num_of_scripts
What is the purpose of having Vuser groups in scenarios?
A scenario consists of groups of Vusers which simulate the actions of human users on the application under test. When a particular scenario is run, the Vusers generate load on the server, and LoadRunner monitors the server and transaction performance..
Vuser groups are created to organize several Vusers in a scenario into manageable groups. Vuser groups are created by including Vusers having similar characteristics. For example, when many Vusers run the same Vuser script, we can club them into one Vuser group.
What type of actions can be performed on a Vuser group or scenario?
Following actions can be performed on a Vuser group:
1) Defining the group name, Vuser quantity, load generators, and scripts for the Vuser group.
2) Adding load generators to the Vuser group and configuring the load generators.
3) Adding and configuring scripts to the Vuser group.
4) Enabling or disabling a Vuser group for the scenario.
5) Removing a Vuser group from the scenario.
6) Scheduling the Vuser group execution.
7) Defining service level agreements for the scenario.
8) Running, stopping & resetting the scenario.
9) Configuring the settings of scenario results.
What is the meaning of pending status for a Vuser?
Rendezvous status for a Vuser indicates that the Vuser has arrived at the rendezvous and is waiting to be released by LoadRunner.
What is the purpose of Gradual Stop option for the Vusers?
Gradual Stop option Instructs the Controller to complete the current iteration or action before stopping the Vuser. This option is only available when the Vuser is in the RUN state.
How do we modify the run-time settings of multiple scripts?
We need to chose the method of modifying the run-time settings:
1) Modification method for Shared run-time settings: This method opens one window containing all of the run-time settings in blank mode. In this mode, we set only the options that we want to modify for all selected scripts. All other run-time settings remain unchanged.
Some of the run-time settings cannot be modified in shared mode. These settings do not appear. To modify them, we need to open the run-time settings for each individual script.
2) Modification method for Individual run-time settings: This method opens a separate window for each selected script. In this mode, we modify each script’s settings individually.
What configuration settings we can define for Load Generators in a scenario?
With the help of Load Generators dialog box, we can set following type of load generator’s attributes:
1) Defining which load generators will run Vusers in the scenario. For example, if a load generator is unavailable for a particular scenario run, we can exclude it temporarily instead of removing it entirely from your list of load generators.
2) Selecting which load generators will take part in the scenario by using the Enable and Disable commands. Disabling a load generator temporarily removes it from the list. Enabling a load generator reinstates it.
What is the role of controller in LoadRunner?
The Controller monitors a Windows load generator’s CPU usage and automatically stops loading Vusers on a load generator when it becomes overloaded.
We can monitor the status of a machine’s CPU usage. When the CPU usage of a load generator becomes problematic, the icon to the left of the load generator name contains a yellow bar. When the machine becomes overloaded, the icon contains a red bar.
What are the Terminal Services in LoadRunner?
Terminal services allows centralized management of computing resources for each client connected to the server, and provides each user with their own working environment.
We use LoadRunner’s Terminal Services Manager to remotely manage multiple load generators running in our load testing scenario on a terminal server. With the help of Terminal Services Manager, we can select the number of terminals to be used in our scenario & the maximum number of Vusers which can be run per terminal. The Terminal Services Manager then evenly distributes the number of virtual users among the client sessions.
With the help of Terminal Server Client, we can operate in a server-based computing environment from a remote machine. The terminal server transmits applications over the network and displays them via terminal emulation software. Every user logs on and sees only his individual session, which is managed transparently by the server operating system, independent of any other client session.
What is the use of Creating a Manual Scenario Using the Percentage Mode?
A manual scenario is created in the Percentage mode by defining the total number of Vusers to be used in the scenario, and assigning load generators and a percentage of the total number of Vusers to each script.
While creating a new scenario, we can access the Percentage Mode directly by selecting the "Use the Percentage Mode to distribute the Vusers among the scripts" in the New Scenario dialog box.
A scenario created in the Vuser Group Mode can be easily converted to the Percentage Mode.
What are the key considerations while converting a scenario from Vuser Group Mode to Percentage Mode?
1) In case we have defined multiple scripts for a Vuser group, the number of Vuser scripts created in the Percentage Mode will be same as the number of scripts defined for the group.
2) All Load Generators will be assigned to all Vuser scripts created in the Percentage Mode. In case we have defined multiple load generators for a Vuser group, the Vusers we assign to the scripts in the Percentage Mode will be distributed evenly among the load generators previously assigned by us to the group.
3) All Vuser group schedule settings will be lost. All profiles will contain scenario schedule settings only.
What are the key considerations while converting a scenario from Percentage Mode to Vuser Group Mode?
1) Each script will be converted to a Vuser group.
2) In case we have defined multiple load generators for a Vuser script, the Vuser group which is created when converting the scenario will also contain multiple load generators.
3) All schedule settings will be retained as it is.
What is the purpose of Scheduling Scenarios?
After creating a scenario, we schedule it to start running at a specified time. We can make a schedule defining the time at which to initialize, start, and stop Vusers during the scenario run, and how long an action should continue running.
We can restrict the execution duration of the scenario or of a Vuser group within the scenario. We can also stipulate how many Vusers to start and stop running within a certain time frame. We can specify whether LoadRunner should start or stop running all Vusers in a scenario simultaneously, or only a certain number of Vusers within a specified amount of time.
What is the effect of Rendezvous points on the running of scenarios as per schedule?
Rendezvous points, if present in a script, interfere with the scheduled scenario run. The scenario will not run as scheduled due to the presence of rendezvous points in the script.
What are the methods by which we can schedule the enabled Vuser groups in a scenario?
After creating a scenario, we can schedule the enabled Vuser groups to run according to either of the following:
1) As a part of a whole scenario: When we run a scenario, LoadRunner runs all the Vuser groups enabled in the scenario. The schedule defined for running the scenario is applied to all the Vuser groups concurrently, and LoadRunner applies each action proportionately to all the Vusers groups.
2) As per its own schedule: For each enabled Vuser group in a scenario, we can design a separate execution schedule. We can specify when to start running the Vuser group, how many Vusers to start and stop running within given time intervals, and how long the Vuser group should continue running.
How many modes are available to us for scheduling the running of scenario?
We can schedule a scenario to run in one of the following modes:
1) Real-life schedule: The scenario runs according to a user-defined group of actions that simulate a real-life schedule of events. Vuser groups run according to the iterations defined in their run-time settings, but we can define how many Vusers to run at a time, how long Vusers should continue to run, and how many Vusers to stop running at a time.
2) Classic Schedule: All enabled Vuser groups run together on one schedule, each according to its own run-time settings. We can schedule how many Vusers to start running at a time, how long to run the Vusers, and how many Vusers to stop running at a time.
3) Run until complete: All the Vuser groups in the scenario run according to the iterations defined in their run-time settings. Each Vuser group in the scenario runs its defined course, and when all the Vuser groups have finished running, the scenario run is complete.
What is the purpose of specifying Service Level Agreements in scenarios?
While creating a load testing scenario, we can specify our goals or service level agreements - SLA's for the performance measurement.
When this scenario is made to run the LoadRunner captures all the performance related data. During analysis phase, Analysis compares this data against the SLAs and determines SLA status for the defined measurements.
What methods LoadRunner uses to find out the SLA status?
Depending on the measurements being evaluated by us, LoadRunner finds out the SLA status in one of the following ways:
1) As per time interval within the run: Analysis displays SLA statuses at set time intervals in the timeline. For example, every 10 seconds - Analysis checks to see if the measurement’s performance has deviated from the threshold defined in the SLA.
2) As per the whole run: Analysis displays a single SLA status for the whole scenario run. The measurements include - Total Hits, Average Hits, Total Throughput, and Average Throughput.
How many types of Goal Oriented Scenarios can be created in LoadRunner?
In a goal-oriented scenario, we define the goals required to be achieved through our tests, and LoadRunner automatically builds a scenario for us based on these goals.
When we want to test how many Vusers the application can run simultaneously, it is better to define a type of goal for the Virtual Users.
Following five types of goals can be defined in a goal-oriented scenario:
1) Defined number of virtual users
2) Defined number of hits per second by the Web Vusers.
3) Defined number of transactions per second.
4) Defined number of pages per minute by the Web Vusers.
5) Defined transaction response time we want our scenario to reach.
Under what circumstances a Pages per Minute or Hits per Second goal-oriented scenario fails?
Pages per Minute or Hits per Second goal-oriented scenario is assigned a "Failed" status in situations like:
1) When the Controller has twice attempted to reach the goal using the maximum number of Vusers specified, and the goal could not be reached.
2) When no pages per minute or hits or transactions per second were registered after the first batch of Vusers was run.
3) When the number of pages per minute or hits or transactions per second did not increase after the Controller ran a certain number of Vuser batches.
4) When all the Vusers that were run failed.
5) When there were no available load generators for the type of Vusers we attempted to run.
What is Load Balancing process in LoadRunner?
Load balancing is the process, which evenly distributes the load generated by Vusers among the requested load generators, thereby ensuring an accurate load test.
When a Windows load generator’s CPU usage becomes overloaded, the Controller stops loading Vusers on the overloaded load generator, and automatically distributes them among load generators taking part in the scenario.
Load balancing option is available only in goal-oriented scenarios and manually controlled scenarios in the Percentage Mode.
What policy attributes can be defined for rendezvous points?
Setting the rendezvous policy determines how the Vusers handle a rendezvous point. We can set the following policy attributes for every rendezvous point:
1) Release policy: Defines how many Vusers will be released from a rendezvous point at a time.
2) Timeout policy: Defines how long the Controller shall wait before releasing Vusers from a rendezvous point.
Can we disable a particular Vusers at Rendezvous Points?
We can disable a rendezvous point for all Vusers in a scenario.
In addition to this we can disable a rendezvous point for a particular Vusers.
By disabling Vusers at a rendezvous point, we temporarily exclude them from participating in the rendezvous. Enabling disabled Vusers returns them back to the rendezvous.
What type of status related Rendezvous Information is available to us during creation of a scenario?
Following Rendezvous Information is available to us for viewing & necessary modifications:
1) Current Status: The number of Vusers that arrived at the rendezvous point out of the total number of Vusers assigned to the rendezvous.
2) Time: The time at which the Vusers at the rendezvous point were released.
3) Reason: The reason the Vusers at the rendezvous point were released. The possible reasons are Timeout or Arrived.
Out of Individual Load Generator settings & Global Settings, which ones come into effect?
When the global scenario settings differ from those of an individual load generator, the load generator settings override them.
What is the use of LoadRunner Expert mode?
We can configure additional settings for the LoadRunner agent and other LoadRunner components with the help of LoadRunner Expert mode.
How LoadRunner takes care of timeout value requirements in case of large number of Vusers?
LoadRunner automatically understands the fact that the number of active Vusers has a significant effect on the timeout values.
For example, 1000 Vusers trying to initialize will take much longer than 10 Vusers. Taking care of this, LoadRunner automatically adds an internal value, based on the number of active Vusers, to the timeout value specified by us.
While running a scenario, the run-time files are stored at which location by default?
While we run a scenario, by default the run-time files get stored locally on each load generator machine running the Vuser script.
The default location of the files is under the temporary directory specified by the load generator’s environment variables like Windows - TEMP or TMP Directory.
If no environment variable is defined, the files get saved to the /tmp directory.
What are the various types of Primary Run-time files?
Primary run-time files are of following types:
1) Vuser Script files: When we run a Vuser, the Controller sends a copy of the associated Vuser script to the Vuser load generator. These script files are stored in the load generator’s temporary run-time directory.
2) Result files: While we run a scenario, the participating Vusers write their results to the temporary run-time file directory. After scenario execution, these result files are consolidated and the results from all the load generators are transferred to the results directory.
How transfer of script files takes place at run time in case Vusers access the scripts at some shared location?
If we specify that all Vusers access their Vuser scripts directly at some shared location, no transfer of script files take place at run time.
What is Path translation in LoadRunner
Path translation is a mechanism used by LoadRunner to convert remote path names. We need to do path translation, when we specify a shared network drive for run-time file storage.
What preparatory steps are recommended for running a scenario?
Before running a scenario following are suggested steps:
1) Specify the location of the results.
2) Assign a name to the results.
3) Scheduling of the scenario.
4) Providing scenario summary information.
5) Specification of applications to be invoked at the start of the scenario.
What is the extension of scenario result file?
The general information about the scenario are stored in a result file with an extension (.eve and .lrr)
We measure system capacity to find out how much excess capacity the system can handle without any degradation in its performance .
For checking the capacity of a system, we compare the performance versus load on the existing system, and find out a point at which significant degradation of response-time starts taking place. Point is known as "knee" when plotted over a response time curve.
What is the purpose of creating Scenarios in LoadRunner?
For testing a system by using LoadRunner, we need to create a scenario. Scenario is a file containing complete information about the testing session. The scenario is a means of emulating a real-life user.
The scenario contains following information about the mechanism of emulating the real users:
1) Details of groups of virtual users or Vusers.
2) Details of test scripts the Vusers will run.
3) Details of load generators upon which the scripts shall be made to run.
How many types of scenarios can be created while using Controller of LoadRunner?
We can create any one type of scenario out of the following:
1) Manual Scenario: Scenario is created manually by defining the number of Vuser groups we want to run, and building a schedule for LoadRunner to run these groups. Manual scenario can be created by defining the total number of Vusers to be used in the scenario, or assigning a percentage of the total number of Vusers to each script.
2) Goal-Oriented Scenario: We define the goals that we want to achieve in our test and LoadRunner automatically builds a scenario for us, based upon our goals.
How can we change the maximum number of scripts displayed in the Available Scripts list?
We can change the maximum number of scripts displayed in the Available Scripts list by modifying the registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mercury Interactive\RecentScripts\max_num_of_scripts
What is the purpose of Scenario Files?
A scenario provides detailed description of various events taking place during every load testing session.
A scenario is created by using the Design view of Controller in LoadRunner. Once a scenario is created, LoadRunner saves the information in a
scenario file having an extension (*.lrs).
What methods are available in LoadRunner for building scenarios?
Two methods are available through which we can create scenarios.
1) Manual Scenario creation method: Involves creating groups and specifying the script, the load generator, and the number of Vusers included in each group. We can chose to opt for using Percentage Mode to distribute our Vusers among various scripts.
2) Goal Oriented Scenario creation method: Involves defining the goals we want our test to achieve, and LoadRunner automatically builds a scenario for us, based on these goals.
How can we change the maximum number of scripts displayed in the Available Scripts list?
We can change the maximum number of scripts displayed in the Available Scripts list by modifying the registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Mercury Interactive\RecentScripts\max_num_of_scripts
What is the purpose of having Vuser groups in scenarios?
A scenario consists of groups of Vusers which simulate the actions of human users on the application under test. When a particular scenario is run, the Vusers generate load on the server, and LoadRunner monitors the server and transaction performance..
Vuser groups are created to organize several Vusers in a scenario into manageable groups. Vuser groups are created by including Vusers having similar characteristics. For example, when many Vusers run the same Vuser script, we can club them into one Vuser group.
What type of actions can be performed on a Vuser group or scenario?
Following actions can be performed on a Vuser group:
1) Defining the group name, Vuser quantity, load generators, and scripts for the Vuser group.
2) Adding load generators to the Vuser group and configuring the load generators.
3) Adding and configuring scripts to the Vuser group.
4) Enabling or disabling a Vuser group for the scenario.
5) Removing a Vuser group from the scenario.
6) Scheduling the Vuser group execution.
7) Defining service level agreements for the scenario.
8) Running, stopping & resetting the scenario.
9) Configuring the settings of scenario results.
What is the meaning of pending status for a Vuser?
Pending status for a V user indicates that the Vuser is ready to be initialized and is waiting for an available load generator, or is transferring files to the load generator. The Vuser will run when the conditions set in its scheduling attributes are met.
What is the meaning of rendezvous status for a Vuser?Rendezvous status for a Vuser indicates that the Vuser has arrived at the rendezvous and is waiting to be released by LoadRunner.
What is the purpose of Gradual Stop option for the Vusers?
Gradual Stop option Instructs the Controller to complete the current iteration or action before stopping the Vuser. This option is only available when the Vuser is in the RUN state.
How do we modify the run-time settings of multiple scripts?
We need to chose the method of modifying the run-time settings:
1) Modification method for Shared run-time settings: This method opens one window containing all of the run-time settings in blank mode. In this mode, we set only the options that we want to modify for all selected scripts. All other run-time settings remain unchanged.
Some of the run-time settings cannot be modified in shared mode. These settings do not appear. To modify them, we need to open the run-time settings for each individual script.
2) Modification method for Individual run-time settings: This method opens a separate window for each selected script. In this mode, we modify each script’s settings individually.
What configuration settings we can define for Load Generators in a scenario?
With the help of Load Generators dialog box, we can set following type of load generator’s attributes:
1) Defining which load generators will run Vusers in the scenario. For example, if a load generator is unavailable for a particular scenario run, we can exclude it temporarily instead of removing it entirely from your list of load generators.
2) Selecting which load generators will take part in the scenario by using the Enable and Disable commands. Disabling a load generator temporarily removes it from the list. Enabling a load generator reinstates it.
What is the role of controller in LoadRunner?
The Controller monitors a Windows load generator’s CPU usage and automatically stops loading Vusers on a load generator when it becomes overloaded.
We can monitor the status of a machine’s CPU usage. When the CPU usage of a load generator becomes problematic, the icon to the left of the load generator name contains a yellow bar. When the machine becomes overloaded, the icon contains a red bar.
What are the Terminal Services in LoadRunner?
Terminal services allows centralized management of computing resources for each client connected to the server, and provides each user with their own working environment.
We use LoadRunner’s Terminal Services Manager to remotely manage multiple load generators running in our load testing scenario on a terminal server. With the help of Terminal Services Manager, we can select the number of terminals to be used in our scenario & the maximum number of Vusers which can be run per terminal. The Terminal Services Manager then evenly distributes the number of virtual users among the client sessions.
With the help of Terminal Server Client, we can operate in a server-based computing environment from a remote machine. The terminal server transmits applications over the network and displays them via terminal emulation software. Every user logs on and sees only his individual session, which is managed transparently by the server operating system, independent of any other client session.
What is the use of Creating a Manual Scenario Using the Percentage Mode?
A manual scenario is created in the Percentage mode by defining the total number of Vusers to be used in the scenario, and assigning load generators and a percentage of the total number of Vusers to each script.
While creating a new scenario, we can access the Percentage Mode directly by selecting the "Use the Percentage Mode to distribute the Vusers among the scripts" in the New Scenario dialog box.
A scenario created in the Vuser Group Mode can be easily converted to the Percentage Mode.
What are the key considerations while converting a scenario from Vuser Group Mode to Percentage Mode?
1) In case we have defined multiple scripts for a Vuser group, the number of Vuser scripts created in the Percentage Mode will be same as the number of scripts defined for the group.
2) All Load Generators will be assigned to all Vuser scripts created in the Percentage Mode. In case we have defined multiple load generators for a Vuser group, the Vusers we assign to the scripts in the Percentage Mode will be distributed evenly among the load generators previously assigned by us to the group.
3) All Vuser group schedule settings will be lost. All profiles will contain scenario schedule settings only.
What are the key considerations while converting a scenario from Percentage Mode to Vuser Group Mode?
1) Each script will be converted to a Vuser group.
2) In case we have defined multiple load generators for a Vuser script, the Vuser group which is created when converting the scenario will also contain multiple load generators.
3) All schedule settings will be retained as it is.
What is the purpose of Scheduling Scenarios?
After creating a scenario, we schedule it to start running at a specified time. We can make a schedule defining the time at which to initialize, start, and stop Vusers during the scenario run, and how long an action should continue running.
We can restrict the execution duration of the scenario or of a Vuser group within the scenario. We can also stipulate how many Vusers to start and stop running within a certain time frame. We can specify whether LoadRunner should start or stop running all Vusers in a scenario simultaneously, or only a certain number of Vusers within a specified amount of time.
What is the effect of Rendezvous points on the running of scenarios as per schedule?
Rendezvous points, if present in a script, interfere with the scheduled scenario run. The scenario will not run as scheduled due to the presence of rendezvous points in the script.
What are the methods by which we can schedule the enabled Vuser groups in a scenario?
After creating a scenario, we can schedule the enabled Vuser groups to run according to either of the following:
1) As a part of a whole scenario: When we run a scenario, LoadRunner runs all the Vuser groups enabled in the scenario. The schedule defined for running the scenario is applied to all the Vuser groups concurrently, and LoadRunner applies each action proportionately to all the Vusers groups.
2) As per its own schedule: For each enabled Vuser group in a scenario, we can design a separate execution schedule. We can specify when to start running the Vuser group, how many Vusers to start and stop running within given time intervals, and how long the Vuser group should continue running.
How many modes are available to us for scheduling the running of scenario?
We can schedule a scenario to run in one of the following modes:
1) Real-life schedule: The scenario runs according to a user-defined group of actions that simulate a real-life schedule of events. Vuser groups run according to the iterations defined in their run-time settings, but we can define how many Vusers to run at a time, how long Vusers should continue to run, and how many Vusers to stop running at a time.
2) Classic Schedule: All enabled Vuser groups run together on one schedule, each according to its own run-time settings. We can schedule how many Vusers to start running at a time, how long to run the Vusers, and how many Vusers to stop running at a time.
3) Run until complete: All the Vuser groups in the scenario run according to the iterations defined in their run-time settings. Each Vuser group in the scenario runs its defined course, and when all the Vuser groups have finished running, the scenario run is complete.
What is the purpose of specifying Service Level Agreements in scenarios?
While creating a load testing scenario, we can specify our goals or service level agreements - SLA's for the performance measurement.
When this scenario is made to run the LoadRunner captures all the performance related data. During analysis phase, Analysis compares this data against the SLAs and determines SLA status for the defined measurements.
What methods LoadRunner uses to find out the SLA status?
Depending on the measurements being evaluated by us, LoadRunner finds out the SLA status in one of the following ways:
1) As per time interval within the run: Analysis displays SLA statuses at set time intervals in the timeline. For example, every 10 seconds - Analysis checks to see if the measurement’s performance has deviated from the threshold defined in the SLA.
2) As per the whole run: Analysis displays a single SLA status for the whole scenario run. The measurements include - Total Hits, Average Hits, Total Throughput, and Average Throughput.
How many types of Goal Oriented Scenarios can be created in LoadRunner?
In a goal-oriented scenario, we define the goals required to be achieved through our tests, and LoadRunner automatically builds a scenario for us based on these goals.
When we want to test how many Vusers the application can run simultaneously, it is better to define a type of goal for the Virtual Users.
Following five types of goals can be defined in a goal-oriented scenario:
1) Defined number of virtual users
2) Defined number of hits per second by the Web Vusers.
3) Defined number of transactions per second.
4) Defined number of pages per minute by the Web Vusers.
5) Defined transaction response time we want our scenario to reach.
Under what circumstances a Pages per Minute or Hits per Second goal-oriented scenario fails?
Pages per Minute or Hits per Second goal-oriented scenario is assigned a "Failed" status in situations like:
1) When the Controller has twice attempted to reach the goal using the maximum number of Vusers specified, and the goal could not be reached.
2) When no pages per minute or hits or transactions per second were registered after the first batch of Vusers was run.
3) When the number of pages per minute or hits or transactions per second did not increase after the Controller ran a certain number of Vuser batches.
4) When all the Vusers that were run failed.
5) When there were no available load generators for the type of Vusers we attempted to run.
What is Load Balancing process in LoadRunner?
Load balancing is the process, which evenly distributes the load generated by Vusers among the requested load generators, thereby ensuring an accurate load test.
When a Windows load generator’s CPU usage becomes overloaded, the Controller stops loading Vusers on the overloaded load generator, and automatically distributes them among load generators taking part in the scenario.
Load balancing option is available only in goal-oriented scenarios and manually controlled scenarios in the Percentage Mode.
What policy attributes can be defined for rendezvous points?
Setting the rendezvous policy determines how the Vusers handle a rendezvous point. We can set the following policy attributes for every rendezvous point:
1) Release policy: Defines how many Vusers will be released from a rendezvous point at a time.
2) Timeout policy: Defines how long the Controller shall wait before releasing Vusers from a rendezvous point.
Can we disable a particular Vusers at Rendezvous Points?
We can disable a rendezvous point for all Vusers in a scenario.
In addition to this we can disable a rendezvous point for a particular Vusers.
By disabling Vusers at a rendezvous point, we temporarily exclude them from participating in the rendezvous. Enabling disabled Vusers returns them back to the rendezvous.
What type of status related Rendezvous Information is available to us during creation of a scenario?
Following Rendezvous Information is available to us for viewing & necessary modifications:
1) Current Status: The number of Vusers that arrived at the rendezvous point out of the total number of Vusers assigned to the rendezvous.
2) Time: The time at which the Vusers at the rendezvous point were released.
3) Reason: The reason the Vusers at the rendezvous point were released. The possible reasons are Timeout or Arrived.
Out of Individual Load Generator settings & Global Settings, which ones come into effect?
When the global scenario settings differ from those of an individual load generator, the load generator settings override them.
What is the use of LoadRunner Expert mode?
We can configure additional settings for the LoadRunner agent and other LoadRunner components with the help of LoadRunner Expert mode.
How LoadRunner takes care of timeout value requirements in case of large number of Vusers?
LoadRunner automatically understands the fact that the number of active Vusers has a significant effect on the timeout values.
For example, 1000 Vusers trying to initialize will take much longer than 10 Vusers. Taking care of this, LoadRunner automatically adds an internal value, based on the number of active Vusers, to the timeout value specified by us.
While running a scenario, the run-time files are stored at which location by default?
While we run a scenario, by default the run-time files get stored locally on each load generator machine running the Vuser script.
The default location of the files is under the temporary directory specified by the load generator’s environment variables like Windows - TEMP or TMP Directory.
If no environment variable is defined, the files get saved to the /tmp directory.
What are the various types of Primary Run-time files?
Primary run-time files are of following types:
1) Vuser Script files: When we run a Vuser, the Controller sends a copy of the associated Vuser script to the Vuser load generator. These script files are stored in the load generator’s temporary run-time directory.
2) Result files: While we run a scenario, the participating Vusers write their results to the temporary run-time file directory. After scenario execution, these result files are consolidated and the results from all the load generators are transferred to the results directory.
How transfer of script files takes place at run time in case Vusers access the scripts at some shared location?
If we specify that all Vusers access their Vuser scripts directly at some shared location, no transfer of script files take place at run time.
What is Path translation in LoadRunner
Path translation is a mechanism used by LoadRunner to convert remote path names. We need to do path translation, when we specify a shared network drive for run-time file storage.
What preparatory steps are recommended for running a scenario?
Before running a scenario following are suggested steps:
1) Specify the location of the results.
2) Assign a name to the results.
3) Scheduling of the scenario.
4) Providing scenario summary information.
5) Specification of applications to be invoked at the start of the scenario.
What is the extension of scenario result file?
The general information about the scenario are stored in a result file with an extension (.eve and .lrr)
