Run a load test

After you configure a load test, you schedule its run time, preview the settings, and initiate the run.

In this topic:

Schedule a test run

Schedule a test to run on a specific date and time.

To schedule a test:

1. From the Load tests tab, click Test scheduler in the sidebar.

2. Click the Add a schedule button . You can configure up to 50 schedules for a load test.

   Note: You cannot schedule a test when the Run test button is unavailable.

3. From the date picker, select a date to run the test.
4. From the time picker, specify a time to run the test.

5. To apply the schedule, turn on the Active switch (the switch turns blue).

   The Schedule On button appears in the cart section indicating that a schedule is set for this load test.

Timeline pane

The Timeline pane displays the timeline for the selected schedule, as well as for any other schedule in the project that overlaps with the selected schedule.

If the current project uses global licenses (that is, it does not have dedicated licenses assigned to it), then schedules from other global license projects that overlap with the selected schedule are also displayed.

The timeline is colored according to its status, as follows:

Inactive schedule (gray)	This schedule is inactive.
No conflict (blue)	There are no conflicts and this schedule should run as planned.
VU license conflict (orange)	This schedule impacts another schedule causing it to breach your license count. However, this schedule should still run as planned.
VU license breached (red)	This schedule breaches your license count and might not run.

Scheduled runs pane

The Scheduled runs pane displays a list of previously scheduled runs and their launch status.

Launch status	Displays the test launch status (Launched/Failed to launch). If the test was launched successfully, click the run ID to view results.
Scheduling error	If the test was not launched successfully, provides a description of the error. Troubleshooting failed launches: The number of Vusers scheduled in your test exceeds the amount remaining in your license. A load generator or monitor that is defined in your test is down.

Back to top

Run setting previews

You can preview your run settings in the Run Preview window, which shows test run details such as:

• How load generators are allocated (both cloud and on-premises).

• How scripts are distributed across load generators.

• The number of Vusers allocated to each load generator per script.

• The number of dedicated IPs for cloud-based load generators required and allocated for the test run.

If OpenText Core Performance Engineering detects a potential error, it alerts you when you open the window, even before you run the test. Knowing this information helps you better understand your test runs and allows you to run load tests more efficiently.

To view a short demo, see Load test setup demos.

To show the run preview:

1. On the Load tests page, click a test.

2. Click Run preview. The preview window shows the Vusers Distribution tab contents. If dedicated IPs are enabled for your tenant, the preview information is provided in two tabs: Vusers Distribution and Dedicated IPs for load generators.

3. Optionally, expand the Group by dropdown to choose the way in which to group the information.

Vusers Distribution tab

The Vusers Distribution tab lets you see if Vusers were distributed evenly over the cloud generators. An unbalanced distribution may help you understand why CPU alerts occurred on certain load generator machines.

In addition, this tab lets you verify the changes that you may have made to a test's settings. For example, if you adjusted the distribution locations or if you selected a different on-premises load generator, the run preview lets you see its impact on the load distribution.

The grid shows the load generator vendors, their locations, the scripts that are used in the load test, and number of Vusers running on the load generator.

Dedicated IPs for load generators tab

The Dedicated IPs for load generators tab lets you see how many dedicated IP addresses for cloud-based load generators are required for your test. This tab is only displayed when you have enabled Dedicated IP addresses for cloud-based load generators in your tenant. If it is not enabled, submit a service request.

For details about dedicated IPs, see Dedicated IP addresses.

A warning symbol indicates that there is an insufficient number of allocated IPs. Hover over the warning symbols to show the number of missing IPs for each load generator.

Back to top

Run the test

After you configure all of the settings, you are ready to run the load test.

To run the test:

1. Verify that you have the verified the following:

   • Make sure you have set up Monitors and Time series database streaming if they are relevant for your test run.

   • If you defined any server monitors, make sure that they are up and accessible so that OpenText Core Performance Engineering can monitor the test and display results in the dashboard.

   • Make sure that the Vuser distribution is correct. Click Run preview to review the Vuser distribution. For details, see Run setting previews.

   • Make sure that all other setting are correct, by checking the Run Configuration Summary toolbar in the banner.

2. Click Run Test. The Initializing load test dialog box opens and displays the initialization steps performed by OpenText Core Performance Engineering, and the status for each step.

3. Enable early test start.

   You can start a test manually as soon as OpenText Core Performance Engineering reaches the predefined threshold for successfully provisioning Vusers, and all the runtime control components are ready. This saves having to wait for all the planned Vusers to be ready.

   1. In the Initializing load test dialog box, select Enable early test start.

   2. When the required Vuser threshold is met, the Start now button becomes available. Click the button to start the run immediately.

   Note:  

   • The default tenant threshold for successfully provisioning Vusers is 95%. However, someone from your team might submit a service request to set a different tolerance level to prevent tests from failing in case a small percentage of the Vusers are not provisioned.

   • Any Vusers that are not ready when the test is started are displayed as Failed Vusers. Depending on the protocol and the scheduling settings, you might be able to restart these Vusers using the Restart Vusers capability. For details, see Restart failed Vusers.

   • Early test start is also supported when using the delayed start option in the Test settings page (see Run configuration settings). If both of these options are in use, the delayed phase is started only after 100% of the Vusers are ready.

   • Even if the predefined threshold is reached, the Start now button is only available when all the runtime control components are ready.

4. After the test starts running, the Dashboard opens and displays the default metrics for your test run in real time.

   During the test run, the dashboard's toolbar shows summary information such as the elapsed time and number of running Vusers.

5. If pause scheduling is selected in Test settings, you can pause the scheduling during the test run by clicking the Pause scheduling button on the toolbar. To resume the scheduling, click Resume scheduling. For details, see Pause scheduling during a test run.

6. To increase or decrease the number of running Vusers during a test run, click Change Load. For details, see Change the Vuser load dynamically.

   Note: This feature is only enabled when all Vusers in all scripts are in Duration mode. If Vusers in at least one script are ramping up or ramping down, or a script finishes running, the change load capability is no longer available for the remaining scripts.

7. To end a test run before its completion, click Stop test, and select:

   • Stop now to stop the load test immediately. This terminates all Vusers without letting them complete the current iteration.

   • Stop gradually to stop the load test gradually. This enables all Vusers to finish current the iteration and the tear down before exiting.

     Note: The Stop gradually option is not supported if at least one of your scripts is in Advanced scheduling mode. If you click this button anyway, your test will stop immediately.

For information about known issues relating to running load tests, see Load test limitations.

Back to top

See also:

• Create a load test
• Configure test settings
• Results
• Dashboard
• Reports
• Feature demos