This topic describes how to create and configure monitor profiles, which can be used by any performance test in your project, to monitor server resources during a performance test run.
Monitor profiles overview
You monitor performance test execution using the Performance Center online monitors.
To monitor server resources, you must configure the monitor settings for a performance test. You select the type of monitors to run, the servers whose resources you want to monitor, and add the measurements to monitor for each server. These monitor settings can then be saved as a monitor profile that can be used by any performance test in your project.
During performance test execution, the collected measurement data appears in the online graphs.
Monitor types
All of the monitors allow you to view a summary of the collected data at the conclusion of the performance test. Using LoadRunner Analysis, you can generate a graph for any of the monitors. For details, see the LoadRunner Help Center.
The online monitors are divided into the categories listed below.
Monitors enabled by default
The following monitors are enabled by default, and automatically begin monitoring at the start of a performance test.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Run-Time | Display the number and status of Vusers participating in the scenario, as well as the number and types of errors that the Vusers generate. |
| Transaction | Display the transaction rate and response times. |
| Web Resource | Provide information about the number of Web connections, throughput volume, HTTP responses, server retries, and downloaded pages at the web servers during performance test run. |
Monitors requiring configuration
The following monitors need to be configured as described in Create and configure monitor profiles.
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| AppDynamics |
Provides information on the availability and performance of software applications and the impact on user experience measured by AppDynamics. |
|
Application Deployment Solutions |
Measure statistics related to the Citrix MetaFrame XP server during a performance run. |
| CA APM Monitor |
Provides analytics from the CA APM (Application Performance Management) server about monitored Web applications. |
| Database Server Resource |
Measures database resource usage statistics for Oracle or SQL Servers during a performance test run. You use these monitors to isolate database server performance bottlenecks. |
| Dynatrace AppMon |
Provides information on the availability and performance of software applications and the impact on user experience measured by Dynatrace AppMon. |
|
J2EE & .NET Diagnostics Monitors |
Provide information to trace, time, and troubleshoot individual transactions through J2EE Web, application, and database servers. For details, see the Diagnostics User Guide. |
| Network | Display information about the network delays on your system using the Network Delay Time monitor. |
| Network Virtualization |
Measure statistics related to network virtualization, such as Packet Loss and Latency.
|
| New Relic |
Provides information on the availability and performance of software applications and the impact on user experience measured by the New Relic Digital Intelligence Platform. |
| Service Virtualization |
Measure statistics related to service virtualization, per operation and service.
|
| SiteScope |
Use the SiteScope monitor and its counters to measure resources. For information, see the documentation provided with SiteScope.
|
| System Resource |
Using the Performance Center resource monitors, you can monitor the Windows, UNIX, SiteScope, and SNMP system resource usage on a machine during a test run, and determine why a bottleneck occurred on a particular machine. Note: The resource monitors are automatically enabled when you execute a test run. However, you must specify the machine you want to monitor and which resources to monitor for each machine. You can also add or remove machines and resources during the test run. |
| Web Application Server Resource |
You use the Web Application Server Resource monitor to monitor Microsoft Active Server Pages servers during a test run and isolate application server performance bottlenecks. |
| Web Server Resource |
Web Server Resource monitors provide you with information about the resource usage of the Microsoft IIS and Apache web servers during performance test execution. |
Create and configure monitor profiles
This task describes how to create and configure a monitor profile.
Note: This task is part of a higher-level task. For details, see Create test assets.
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Configure the monitoring environment on the server machine
To use the following monitors, you must first install or configure monitoring components on the server machine. For task details about configuring the monitoring components, see the specific monitoring sections listed below.
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To obtain performance data for a monitor, you need to configure the monitor (from the monitor profile), and indicate which statistics and measurements you want to monitor.
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On the My Performance Center navigation bar, select Monitors (under Assets).
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Select a folder in which you want to add the profile, or click
New Folder and create a new folder. -
In the selected resources folder, click
New Monitor Profile. The Create New Monitor Profile dialog box opens, enabling you to add a new monitor profile. -
In the Monitor Profile page, click
Add Monitor. In the Add New Monitor page that opens, select the monitor that you want to run. -
In the Add New Monitor dialog box, enter the required information and select the counters that you want to monitor. The fields in the dialog box vary depending on which monitor type you select (see the help topic for the specific monitor for details).
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Troubleshooting monitors
This section provides information on troubleshooting monitors.
Problem Description
You are unable to create a specific monitor.
Troubleshooting
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Make sure that the user trying to access the machine to monitor exists on this machine and has proper privileges. Usually IUSR_METRO is the user attempting to monitor.
For example, if you add the Windows Resources monitor, the user IUSR_METRO must exist on the machine to be monitored and must have proper access rights.
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Some monitors require certain clients to reside on the Utility Server and the Controller.
For Oracle, the Oracle Client must be installed.
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Make sure the agent required for a particular monitor is running on the machine that you want to monitor.
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Some monitors require access to a particular URL, from both the Performance Center utility server and the Controller, for monitoring purposes.
For Apache, this URL is:
http://<server>:<port>/server-status:auto
Monitor fails to retrieve measurements
Problem Description
This problem can occur with Windows Resource, Microsoft IIS, Microsoft SQL, or Microsoft ASP monitors when:
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Configuring a monitor (when you click Get counters), or
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During a test run (for example, if you have created a monitor profile and then change the Performance Center system user and run the test). An error is displayed in the Errors window and no data is displayed in the monitor's online graphs.
Cause:
The Performance Center Server sends messages to the monitored server using the SMB2 protocol. This protocol uses the supplied user credentials for the session initialization, but the monitored machine sends another authentication request to the client, and the client sends the credentials of the user who runs the process that initiated the connection—the Performance Center system user account (IUSR_METRO by default).
If that user account does not exist on the remote server, authentication fails and the user that is being used for authentication and metrics retrieval is the one whose user name and password are provided in the Performance Center user interface when creating the monitor (when entering the server name and credentials in the Monitor Profile configuration).
If the Performance Center system user account exists on the monitored server, but is not a local admin on the remote server (or does not have the required permissions), the initial authentication succeeds, but retrieving the metrics from the remote server fails because the credentials provided in Performance Center when creating the monitor are not being used.
Solution:
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Remove the Performance Center system user from the monitored machine, or
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Deny access of the Performance Center system user to the monitored machine from Local security policy > User rights assignment > Deny access to this computer from the network.
Some monitors do not display data
Problem Description
This problem can occur with PDH monitors, which include Windows Resources, MS IIS, SQL Server, Citrix Server, and Microsoft ASP.
These monitor require a NET USE connection to retrieve measurement data. When you select measurements or counters to monitor, the MonitorClient.exe process on the Performance Center agent machine uses the logged in user’s NET USE to connect to the application under test (AUT).
However, during the performance test run, the Performance Center agent invokes the MonitorServer.exe process to retrieve data from the AUT using the local user, IUSR_METRO. This means there is no NET USE connection between the Monitor Over Firewall machine and the AUT during the test run, resulting in no measurement data being received on the PDH monitors.
Troubleshooting
Ensure that the magentservice.exe on the Monitor Over Firewall machine is installed with the same user that you used to log on when you selected measurements or counters to monitor.
Perform the following steps on the Monitor Over Firewall Machine:
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Stop the Performance Center Agent Service.
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Select Start > Run and type
services.msc. -
In the services list, right-click Performance Center Agent Service and select Stop.
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Select Start > Run and type
cmd. The Command window opens. -
Type the following and press Enter:
cd <Performance Center Monitor over Firewall installation>\launch_service\bin
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Type the following and press Enter:
magentservice –remove
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Type the following and press Enter:
magentservice –install <Logged on user name> <Password>
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Restart the Performance Center Agent Service using the same procedure described in step 1.
Disabling automatic host monitors
Problem Description
The host monitors feature automatically configures basic windows monitor data for all the machines involved in a performance test (except for OFW machines). This data (CPU, disk space, and memory) is available during a performance test run in the online graphs, or afterwards when collating and analyzing the results. This feature is convenient as it works with auto-matched load generators. However, in environments where the network ports are closed, this feature may cause a significant slowdown when starting a performance test run.
Troubleshooting
Starting from Performance Center 12.50, you can disable the host monitors. For more information, see knowledge base article KM01517448.
