Introducing Performance Center Administration

Use Performance Center Administration to manage test resources, such as hosts and host pools, create and maintain test assets, and to perform other administration tasks.

After the Performance Center administrator has set up test resources, users can use Performance Center to schedule and execute tests on remote hosts without requiring further administrator intervention.

Key tasks

This section lists the key administration tasks that can be performed in Performance Center Administration and/or ALM Lab Management.

Manage host resources

Hosts	Create and modify the testing hosts Performance Center uses to run server-side tests. For details, see Manage hosts.
Pools	Create and modify pools of testing hosts. Host pools are assigned to Performance Center projects. For details, see Manage host pools.
Locations	Define the locations which can be assigned to testing hosts. For details, see Manage licenses.
Timeslots	Schedule and reserve hosts for manual maintenance work. For details, see Manage timeslots.

Performance Center resource usage

Cloud Accounts	Add your external cloud accounts to Performance Center. For details, see Manage cloud hosts.
Usage Reports	Analyze Performance Center site users and resource usage. For details, see Generate usage reports
Diagnostics	Configure the integration of diagnostic modules to enable monitoring and analysis of the performance of complex applications under test. For details, see Manage diagnostics servers.
Orchestrators	Configure the orchestrators and load generator images which are used for dynamic provisioning of load generators. For details, see Manage elastic hosts.
Alerts	Create alerts to notify users of test start and end times, and when timeslots are idle. For details, see Activate alerts.
MI Listeners	Create and modify MI Listeners, which enable you to run performance tests across a firewall. For details, see Specify MI Listeners.
Host Template	Create and modify the templates used to provision cloud hosts. For details, see Host templates.
Servers	Create Performance Center servers and mange how they are used for performance testing. For details, see Manage Performance Center servers.
Licenses	Maintain the Performance Center and Performance Center host licenses. For details, see Manage licenses.
Analysis	Manage analysis database servers which enhance online graph views and capabilities, and provide data for offline graphs. For details, see Manage analysis servers.
Maintenance	Schedule automated maintenance tasks to provide constant monitoring of the system's key components. For details, see Schedule automated maintenance tasks.
System Health	Track and maintain the health of the system. For details, see Maintain system health.
Patches	Upload application patches so they can be installed on Performance Center servers and hosts. For details, see Upload patches.
Projects	View and modify general project settings, use target IP addresses, and allocate VUDs Vusers to the project. For details, see Define project settings.
Runs	View test result information for Performance Center tests run across all projects. For details, see Manage test runs.

Site Administration / Lab Management

The following tasks are performed in Lab Management by the Lab Management administrator. For details on ALM Lab Management, see the ALM Lab Management Guide.

Create Project	You create projects in Site Administration, and define the limits and other settings for the project in Lab Management, in the Project Settings module.
CDA Servers	Create and modify Micro Focus Continuous Delivery Automation (CDA) servers, which enable ALM to dynamically deploy environments for server-side testing using the cloud.
AUT Hosts	Create and modify the machines which host the Application Under Test (AUT) components.
AUT Host Pools	Create and modify pools of AUT hosts.

Initial configuration

Immediately after installing the Performance Center server and hosts, the relevant component's configuration tool opens, prompting you for initial configuration settings. If any parts of the configuration were skipped, you must configure the settings manually before you can start working with Performance Center.

You can perform the configuration by running the configuration tool on the relevant machine, or alternatively by defining the settings manually in Performance Center Administration.

Prerequisites
- The Performance Center server, and Performance Center hosts must be installed according to instructions provided in the Performance Center Installation Guide.
- A Performance Center project must be created in Site Administration, and the limits and other settings for the project defined in Lab Management, in the Project Settings module. For details, see the ALM Lab Management Guide.

Add the Performance Center servers
1. Log onto Performance Center Administration as described in Log onto Performance Center Administration.
2. On the Performance Center sidebar, select Configuration > Servers, and add your Performance Center server.
  
  For details on how to add a Performance Center server, see Add a server.

Add the Performance Center license and the host license
1. On the Performance Center Administration sidebar, select Configuration > Licenses.
2. Click Add License and add the Performance Center license, and then the host license. For interface details, see View the Licenses page.

Add Performance Center hosts to the system

On the Performance Center Administration sidebar, select Maintenance > Hosts, and click Create New Host . For details, see Add a host.

Log onto Performance Center Administration

This task describes how to launch Performance Center Administration on your machine from your Web browser.

Open your Web browser (Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari are supported) and type the Performance Center Administration URL in the following format:
```
http://<Performance_Center_Server_name>/admin
```
The Performance Center Administration Login window opens.
In the Login box, type your user name.
In the Password box, type the site administrator password.
Click the Login button. Performance Center Administration opens.

Tip: Alternatively, you can open Performance Center Administration from My Performance Center. Click in the masthead, and select Application Lifecycle Management > Performance Center Administration.

Display customized welcome screen on login

If you want to have a customized message appearing when end users log onto a Performance Center project for the first time, perform the following:

Design the screen message

On the Performance Center server, open the welcome.html file located in <Performance Center Server path>\PCWEB\Welcome\, and design it to display the custom html message (the html should be text only, with no objects such as images or attachment files).
Enable the screen on login

Open the web.config file located in <Performance Center Server path\PCWEB\, and set the WelcomePageFeatureEnabled parameter to true (it is set to False by default).

Performance Center Administration user interface

This section describes the Performance Center Administration window.

User interface elements are described below:

UI Elements	Description
Toolbar
	Show/Hide Task Manager. Shows or hides the Task Manager which displays the status and progress of patch installations run in your project. For details, see Install patches on hosts.
	Export to CSV. Enables exporting information from the Hosts, Projects, Runs, Servers, Orchestration, or Licenses grid, or from a selected report (except Resource Summary) to a CSV file.
	Export Report to PDF. Enables exporting a usage report to a PDF file. For details, see Export the report to PDF.
	Settings. Opens the Time and Date Settings dialog box, enabling you to configure the time zone and display format used in Performance Center Administration. Time Zone. You can use the Performance Center client time zone (default setting) or select a different setting: ALM time zone or a custom time zone. The time zone is offset to UTC time. Display Format. Select the date and time field format to use.
	Enables you to select the following options: Help Center. Displays help for Performance Center. It also enables you to open additional online Performance Center resources. My Performance Center. Launches My Performance Center on your machine from your Web browser. About Performance Center Administration. Displays Performance Center version information.
<user name>	Displays the current administrator user name.
	Logs you out of the Performance Center Administration window.
Tabs
Dashboard	Provides a top level summary view of Performance Center resources, including projects, runs, Vusers, load generators used, and license usage.
Maintenance > Hosts	Enables you to define, manage, and maintain the testing resources used for server-side testing. Hosts. Enables you to view and manage the hosts used for test execution. For user interface details, see View or edit host details. Pools. Enables you to view and manage host pools. For details, see Manage host pools. Locations. Enables you to view and manage host locations. For details, see Manage host locations. Patches. Enables you to view and install patches available in ALM on selected hosts. For details, see Upload patches. MI Listeners. Enables you to view and manage MI Listeners. For details, see Specify MI Listeners.
Maintenance > Projects	Enables you to view and manage all of the projects and their settings. For details, see View or modify the project settings.
Maintenance > Runs	Enables you to view and manage individual test runs across all projects in Performance Center. For details, see Manage test runs.
Maintenance > Timeslots	Enables you to reserve hosts for performing maintenance tasks. For user interface details, see Manage timeslots.
Maintenance > System Health	Enables you to check the health of each component in you Performance Center system. For details, see Maintain system health.
Configuration > Analysis Servers	Enables you to add and manage analysis database servers to enhance online graph views and capabilities, and provide data for offline graphs. For details, see Manage analysis servers.
Configuration > Orchestration	Enables you to manage the orchestrators and load generator images which are used for dynamic provisioning of elastic load generators. For details, see Manage elastic hosts.
Configuration > Cloud	Enables you to add your external cloud accounts to Performance Center. For details, see Manage cloud hosts.
Configuration > Licenses	Enables you to manage licenses for Performance Center, VUDs, and hosts. For details, see Manage licenses.
Configuration > Diagnostics	Enables you to add and manage J2EE/.NET Diagnostics servers. For details, see Manage diagnostics servers.
Configuration > Servers	Enables you to manage the Performance Center servers. For details, see Manage Performance Center servers.
Configuration > Alerts	Enables you to manage automatic notification alerts to keep track of test start and end times, test failures, and idle timeslots. For details, see Activate alerts.
Reports	Enables you to generate usage reports to help monitor and manage usage of Performance Center resources. For details, see Generate usage reports.

Download Help Center

You can access the Help Center on the Web, or use a locally installed version of the Help Center (we recommend you use the online help for the most up-to-date content).

For details on how to download and install the local versions of the help, see Download Help Center.

Security Passphrase	Update the Communication Security passphrase on the Performance Center server and hosts. For details, see Update the Communication Security passphrase.
System User	Change the system user on the Performance Center server and hosts. For details, see Change the details of the Performance Center user.