The testing process

The following section provides a general overview of the LoadRunner Professional testing process.

In this topic:

1. Plan the test

Successful load testing requires that you develop a thorough test plan. A clearly defined test plan will ensure that the LoadRunner Professional scenarios that you develop will accomplish your load testing objectives. For more information, see Plan load test scenarios.

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2. Create the Vuser scripts

Vusers emulate human users interacting with your web-based application. A Vuser script contains the actions that each Vuser performs during scenario execution.

In each Vuser script, you determine the tasks that will be:

For more information on creating Vuser scripts, see How to Prepare a Script for Load Testing.

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3. Design the scenario

A scenario describes the events that occur during a testing session. A scenario includes a list of machines on which Vusers run, a list of scripts that the Vusers run, and a specified number of Vusers or Vuser groups that run during the scenario. When designing the scenario, you set the scenario configuration and scheduling which determines how all the load generators and Vusers behave while the scenario runs.

You design scenarios using Controller. For information about LoadRunner Professional scenarios, see Design scenarios.

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4. Run the scenario

You emulate user load on the server by instructing multiple Vusers to perform tasks simultaneously. While the scenario runs, LoadRunner Professional measures and records the transactions that you defined in each Vuser script. You can set the level of load by increasing and decreasing the number of Vusers that perform tasks at the same time and you can also monitor your system's performance online. For more information, see Run scenarios in Controller.

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5. Monitor the scenario

You configure the LoadRunner Professional monitoring components to identify bottlenecks on the system and determine which element is causing performance degradation, for example, file locking, resource contention, and network overload. Use LoadRunner Professional in conjunction with the new network and machine monitoring tools to create load and measure performance at different points in the system. For more information on monitoring, see Monitor load test scenarios.

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6. Analyze test results

During scenario execution, LoadRunner Professional records the performance of the application under different loads. You use LoadRunner's graphs and reports to analyze the application's performance. For more information about reports and graphs, see Introducing Analysis.

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