Add and configure virtual locations

You create virtual locations in Controller, and then include them in your scenarios or tests. You can also use predefined virtual locations.

In this topic:

Predefined virtual locations

NV includes a number of predefined virtual locations. Each predefined virtual location includes parameters that define a common network testing environment. You can select one of these predefined locations when you configure scenarios or tests.

Virtual location name	Latency [ms]	Packet loss [%]	Bandwidth-in [kb/s]	Bandwidth-out [kb/s]
2.5G Busy	300	0.5	128	56
3G Busy	200	0.5	384	128
3G Typical	120	0	512	256
3G Good	80	0	2,000	512
4G Good	40	0	10,000	7,500
AUS to US EC (Australia to U.S. East Coast)	120	0.5	4,000	2,000
China to US EC	210	1.0	4,000	2,000
India to US EC	160	0.5	5,000	2,000
London to US EC	55	0	10,000	4,000
Satellite	0	0	2,000	1,000

Add a virtual location

Add a new virtual location in the Virtual Location Settings dialog box.

To add a virtual location:

1. In Controller, in the toolbar, click the Show Virtual Location Settings button .
2. In the dialog box, click an empty cell in the Virtual Location column.

3. Enter a name for the virtual location.

   Note: Non-English characters are not supported in virtual location names. The following special characters are not supported in virtual location names or descriptions:

   \ / : “ ? ‘ < > | * % ^ , ! { } ( ) ; = #

4. Click the corresponding empty cell in the Description column and enter a description.

5. Click the Configure button to configure the settings of the virtual location. For details, see Configure a virtual location.

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Configure a virtual location

You can configure the settings for a virtual location manually, or by importing the network profile parameters from a file. When you import parameters from a file, more network profile parameters are available than when you configure the settings manually.

To configure a virtual location manually:

1. In Controller, in the toolbar, click the Show Virtual Location Settings button .

2. Select a virtual location from the list and click the Configure button.

3. Select Custom to manually configure the settings.

   If you are changing the settings for a previously configured virtual location, click Edit to edit the network profile parameters or runtime settings.

4. Define the network profile parameters. For details, see Network profile parameters.

   When you have finished, click Next.

5. Define the runtime settings. For details, see Virtual location runtime settings.

   When you have finished, click Next.

6. Review the summary and click OK.

To import settings from a file:

1. Prerequisite: Create a network profile file in .ntx or .ntxx format. For details, see Configure NV profiles with the Network Editor.

2. Create a new virtual location. For details, see Add a virtual location.

3. Select the new virtual location from the list and click the Configure button.

4. In the dialog box, select Import from a file.

5. Click Browse and select the relevant .ntx or .ntxx file.

6. If the file contains more than one flow for the network, select the relevant flow from the list of flows.

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Network profile parameters

The following network profile parameters are available when you configure a virtual location manually.

Parameter	Details
Latency	The amount of time that it takes for an IP packet to travel across the network, from the client to the server, or from server to client. The valid range is 0 to 8,000 msec.
Packet Loss	The percentage of IP packets that are sent through the network, but do not reach their destination. The valid range is 0 to 100%.
Download Bandwidth	The maximum throughput through the network, in KBs per second, for data traveling from the server to the client.
Upload Bandwidth	The maximum throughput through the network, in KBs per second, for data traveling from the client to the server.

To define additional parameters for a virtual location, create an NV profile using NV Network Editor, and then import the parameters from the profile. For details, see Configure NV profiles with the Network Editor.

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Virtual location runtime settings

Some runtime settings are set globally, while others are set for each individual location. For details on runtime settings set globally, see Virtual location common settings.

The following runtime settings are available for individual virtual locations.

Parameter	Details
Bandwidth allocation	Define whether the specified network bandwidth is shared by all Vusers on the load generator, or is available to each individual Vuser. Shared bandwidth: The specified bandwidth is shared between all Vusers in the Vuser group. This is the default option. If the Vuser group using the virtual location runs on multiple load generators, the specified bandwidth is assigned to each load generator. It is not shared between load generators. Individual bandwidth: The network's specified bandwidth is available to each Vuser that uses the network. This option is recommended for Vusers that emulate mobile-based users and home-based users because each device has access to the full bandwidth. Note: The following Vuser protocols support only the shared bandwidth mode of bandwidth allocation: Citrix ICA, Java Record Replay, Java Vuser, COM/DCOM, MAPI. If you specify individual bandwidth mode when only shared bandwidth is supported, shared bandwidth is used. When you import NV profile parameters from a file, if the imported file contains recorded bandwidth data, then the resulting virtual location can use shared bandwidth allocation only, not individual bandwidth.
Packet capture	Specify whether packets are captured on the load generator. You can then use the NV Insights report to analyze the captured packets. You can enable this option only if packet capture has been enabled globally for the scenario or test. For details, see Virtual location common settings. Note: Capturing packets is relevant only when a Vuser group (that is associated with a specific virtual location) contains only a single Vuser.
Exclude these IPs	Specify a list of IP addresses to which network impairments are not applied when the scenario or test runs. For details and examples, see Exclude a machine from NV. IP filters can be set individually per virtual location, or globally for all virtual locations in a scenario or test.

Virtual location common settings

You can set some runtime settings globally for all virtual locations in the scenario or test.

To define common settings for all virtual locations:

1. In Controller, in the toolbar, click the Show Virtual Location Settings button .
2. In the dialog box, click the Common Settings button.

3. Define the global settings.

   Setting	Details
   Enable packet capture	Turn on to capture the packets that are transferred across the network while the scenario or test runs. You must enable packet capture in the global settings in order to enable packet capture for individual virtual locations in the scenario or test. Note: Packet capture uses disk space on the load generator. Depending on your packet capture settings, each test can save a packet list of up to 1GB. Consider configuring the NV cleanup threshold to clean the captured packets, or do a manual cleanup as needed. For details on setting the cleanup threshold, see Customize NV settings.
   Max packet list size	The maximum memory space that is allocated on each load generator in the scenario or test to store captured packets. The default maximum is 300 MB per load generator. Note: The total packet list size cannot be more than 25% of the RAM on the load generator. For details on customizing the default maximum size, see Customize NV settings.
   Recording method	Define what happens when packets are captured and the maximum total packet size is reached. Cyclic: When the maximum total packet size is reached, the oldest packets are erased, and the newest packets continue to be recorded. Non-cyclic: When the maximum total packet size is reached, new packets are no longer recorded.
   Exclude these IPs	Enables you to specify a list of IP addresses to which network impairments are not applied when the scenario or test runs. For details and examples, see Exclude a machine from NV. IP filters can be set individually per virtual location, or globally for all virtual locations in a scenario or test.

4. Click Finish.

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See also:

• Virtual Locations Settings dialog box