VUGen – Runtime Settings
Run-Time Settings Overview
Run-time settings define the way a Vuser script runs and can be configured before or after you record a script. These settings are stored in files located in the Vuser script folder. Run-time settings are applied to Vusers when you run a script using VuGen, the Controller,Performance Center, or Business Process Monitor.
Configuring run-time settings allows you to emulate different kinds of user activity. For example, you can emulate a user who responds immediately to output from the server, or a user who stops and thinks before each response. You can also configure the run-time settings to specify how many times the Vuser should repeat its set of actions.
General Runtime Settings window
General > Run Logic Node
- In this we can insert and delete of action or block and also we can specify the number of iteration .
- We can action or block by using the move up or down button
- Properties -> Opens the Properties Dialog Box enabling you to set the run logic and iterations settings.
- Run Logic. Configures the action to run sequentially or randomly
- .Iterations. Sets the number of times an item will run.
General > Pacing Node
The pace tells the Vuser how long to wait between iterations of your actions
- After the previous iteration ends :Starts each new iteration a specified amount of time after the end of the previous iteration. Specify either an exact number of seconds or a range of time.
- As soon as the previous iteration ends :The new iteration begins as soon as possible after the previous iteration ends.
- At <fixed/random> intervals:You specify the time between iteration—either a fixed number of seconds or a range of seconds from the beginning of the previous iteration. Each scheduled iteration will only begin when the previous iteration is complete.
General > Think Time Node
Thinktime means controlling the time that a VuGen waits between actions and also the function is (lr_think_time)
- As recorded :During replay, use the argument that appears in the lr_think_time function. For example,
lr_think_time(10)waits ten seconds. - Ignore think time : Ignore the recorded think time—replay the script ignoring all lr_think_time functions.
- Limit think time to Limit the think time’s maximum value.
- Multiply recorded think time by During replay, use a multiple of the recorded think time. This can increase or decrease the think time applied during playback. For example, if a think time of four seconds was recorded, you can instruct your Vuser to multiply that value by two, for a total of eight seconds. To reduce the think time to two seconds, multiply the recorded time by 0.5.
- Replay the think time Enables options which let you customize the recorded think times.
- Use random percentage of recorded think time Use a random percentage of the recorded think time. You set a range for the think time value by specifying a range for the think time. For example, if the think time argument is 4, and you specify a minimum of 50% and a maximum of 150%, the lowest think time can be two (50%) and the highest value six (150%).
General > Additional Attributes Node
You can use the Additional Attributes node to provide additional arguments for a Vuser script. The Additional Attributes settings apply to all Vuser script types.
You specify command line arguments that you can retrieve at a later point during the test run, using lr_get_attrib_string. Using this node, you can pass external parameters to prepared scripts.
Important information
General > Miscellaneous Node
Important information
- This node is available only for specific protocols. For a complete list of protocols and their associated nodes, see Protocol Compatibility Table.
- We do not recommend enabling both the Continue on Error and Generate Snapshot on Error options in a load test environment. This configuration may adversely affect the Vusers’ performance.
- The following protocols should not be run as threads: Sybase-Ctlib, Sybase-Dblib, Tuxedo, and PeopleSoft-Tuxedo.
- If you require the Vusers to generate breakdown data for diagnostics (J2EE) during the scenario run, do not use automatic transactions. Instead, manually define the beginning and end of each transaction.
Automatic Transactions
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Define each action as a transaction. Instructs LoadRunner (not applicable to HP Business Service Management) to handle every action in the script as a transaction.
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Define each step as a transaction. Instructs LoadRunner (not applicable to HP Business Service Management) to handle every step in the script as a transaction.
Error Handling
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Continue on Error. Continue script execution when an error occurs.
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Default value: disabled.
- Fail open transactions on lr_error_message. Instructs VuGen to mark all transactions in which an lr_error_message function was issued, as Failed. The lr_error_message function is issued through a manually defined If statement.
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Generate Snapshot on Error. Generates a snapshot when an error occurs. You can see the snapshot by viewing the Vuser Log and double-clicking on the line at which the error occurred.
Multithreading
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Run Vuser as a process. Disables multithreading.
- Run Vuser as a thread. Enables multithreading.
Data Format Extension > Configuration Node
Enable data format extension
Browser > Browser Emulation Node
Simulate Browser Cache : Instructs the Vuser to simulate a browser with a cache (enabled by default). Even if you disable this option, each resource is only downloaded once for each page, even if it appears multiple times. A resource can be an image, a frame, or another type of script file. Enabling this options allows you to set the following options:
- Cache URLs requiring content (HTML). Instructs VuGen to cache only the URLs that require the HTML content. The content may be necessary for parsing, verification, or correlation. When you select this option, HTML content is automatically cached.
Specify URLs requiring content in addition to HTML pages. Allows you to specify addiitonal (non- html) content types that you want to store in the cache. Separate all contents types with a semicolon in the following row, Content types.
Tip: To maintain a smaller memory footprint for the virtual users, keep this option disabled unless it is an explicit requirement for your test.
. - Check for newer versions of stored pages every visit to the page. Instructs the browser to check for later versions of the specified URL than those stored in the cache. When you enable this option, VuGen adds the “If-modified-since” attribute to the HTTP header. This option brings up the most recent version of the page, but also generates more traffic during the scenario or session execution.
Default value: disabled.
Download non-HTML resources: Instructs Vusers to load graphic images when accessing a Web page during replay. This includes both graphic images that were recorded with the page, and those which were not explicitly recorded along with the page. When real users access a Web page, they wait for the images to load. Therefore, enable this option if you are trying to test the entire system, including end-user time. To increase performance and not emulate real users, disable this option.
Simulate a new user each iteration : Instructs VuGen to reset all HTTP contexts between iterations to their states at the end of the init section. This setting allows the Vuser to more accurately emulate a new user beginning a browsing session. It deletes all cookies, closes all TCP connections (including keep-alive), clears the emulated browser’s cache, resets the HTML frame hierarchy (frame numbering will begin from 1) and clears the user-names and passwords. (Enabled by default)
Note: Async conversations are terminated at the end of each iteration even if this setting is disabled.
- Clear cache on each iteration. Clears the browser cache for each iteration in order to simulate a user visiting a Web page for the first time. Clear the check box to disable this option and allow Vusers to use the information stored in the browser’s cache, simulating a user who recently visited the page.
User Agent- Selection
Allows you to select the browser to emulate or specify a custom user-agent string. All Internet Vuser headers include a User Agent header that identifies the type of browser (or toolkit for Wireless) that is being emulated. For example, Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows; Trident/4.0; English (United States)) identifies the browser as Internet Explorer running under Windows on an Intel machine.
Use browser. Uses a standard browser available from the dropdown list. You select the version, platform and language.
Custom browser. Indicates a custom user-agent string.
Internet Protocol > ContentCheck Node
<Application and Rule list> : A list of applications and rules. You can enable and disable individual items by using the check boxes to the left of each item.
Enable ContentCheck during replay : Enable content checking during replay. Note that even after you define applications, you can disable it for a specific test run, by disabling this option.
Internet Protocol > Download Filters Node
<Filter list> :A list of filters for the script. Each filter has a type and data. For example, a filter of type URL would have a URL address as its data. You can Add, Edit, Remove, or Remove All entries in the list.
Exclude addresses in list :Ignore requests from the listed sites or hosts.
Include only addresses in list: Restrict replay to the listed sites or hosts.
Internet Protocol > Preferences Node
Checks
- Enable Image and Text Check. Allows the Vuser to perform verification checks during replay by executing the verification functions web_find or web_image_check. This option only applies to statements recorded in HTML-based mode. Vusers running with verification checks use more memory than Vusers who do not perform checks.
Default value: disabled.
Generate Web Performance Graphs : Instructs a Vuser to collect data used to create Web Performance graphs. You view the Hits per Second, Pages per Second, and Response Bytes per Second (Throughput) graphs during test execution using the online monitors and after test execution using the Analysis. You view the Component Breakdown graph after test execution using the Analysis. Select the types of graph data for the Vuser to collect.
Note: If you do not use the Web performance graphs, disable these options to save memory.
Advanced
- WinInet Replay. Instructs VuGen to use the WinInet replay engine instead of the standard Sockets replay. VuGen has two HTTP replay engines: Sockets-based (default) or WinInet based. The WinInet is the engine used by Internet Explorer and it supports all of the features incorporated into the IE browser. The limitations of the WinInet replay engine are that it is not scalable and does not support Linux. In addition, when working with threads, the WinInet engine does not accurately emulate the modem speed and number of connections. VuGen’s proprietary sockets-based replay is a lighter engine that is scalable for load testing. It is also accurate when working with threads. The limitation of the sockets-based engine is that it does not support SOCKS proxy. If you are recording in that type of environment, use the WinInet replay engine.Default value: disabled (socket-based replay engine).
- File and line in automatic transaction names. Creates unique transaction names for automatic transactions by adding file name and line number to the transaction name.Default value: enabled.
- Non-critical item errors as warnings. This option returns a warning status for a function which failed on an item that is not critical for load testing, such as an image or Java applet that failed to download. This option is enabled by default. If you want a certain warning to be considered an error and fail your test, you can disable this option. You can set a content-type to be critical by adding it to the list of Non-Resources.
- Save snapshot resources locally. Instructs VuGen to save the snapshot resources to files on the local machine.
Internet Protocol > Proxy Node
No proxy : All Vusers should use direct connections to the Internet. This means that the connection is made without using a proxy server.
Obtain the proxy settings from the default browser : All Vusers use the proxy settings of the default browser from the machine upon which they are running.
Use custom proxy : All Vusers use a custom proxy server. You can supply the actual proxy server details or the path of a proxy automatic configuration script (. pac file) that enables automatic configuration.
- Use automatic configuration script. Allows you to specify a JavaScript file containing proxy assignment information. This script tells the browser when to access a proxy server and when to connect directly to the site, depending on the URL. In addition, it can instruct the browser to use a specific proxy server for certain addresses and another server for other addresses. Specify the location of the script in the Address field.
- Use proxy server. You can specify one proxy server for all HTTP sites, and another proxy server for all HTTPS (secure) sites or check the use the same proxy server for all protocols box.
- Exceptions . Allows you to specify exceptions to the proxy server rules.
- Authentications . Opens the Proxy Authentication Dialog Box. If the proxy server requires authentication for each Vuser, use this dialog box to enter the relevant password and user name. To add authentication dynamically during recording, or to add authentication for multiple proxy servers, use the web_set_user function. For more information, see the Function Reference ( Help > Function Reference).
Network > Speed Simulation Node
Use bandwidth : Indicate a specific bandwidth level for your Vuser to emulate. You can select a speed ranging from 14.4 to 512 Kbps, emulating analog modems, ISDN, or DSL.
Use custom bandwidth : Indicate a bandwidth limit for your Vuser to emulate. Specify the bandwidth in bits, where 1 Kilobit=1024 bits.
Use maximum bandwidth : Vusers run at the maximum bandwidth that is available over the network.Default value: enabled.
Venkat Matta 