Time series database streaming

This topic explains how to integrate an InfluxDB time series database (Beta) for a test run to stream raw and aggregated data.

Real-time streaming

Integration with a time series database enables you to stream aggregated or raw data and view testing metrics in real time.

Add a streaming data agent to the Assets area to integrate with the time series database. The agent enables communication with the database. You can then view the test's progress using a monitoring tool such as Grafana.

Currently, streaming raw data is supported only on cloud-based load generators and is limited to runs with a maximum of 5,000 concurrent Vusers.

Note: To use data streaming, submit a service request to enable data streaming for your tenant.

Install the streaming agent

Install the database and the streaming agent to integrate with InfluxDB. The agent connects your InfluxDB time series database to your tenant. Before you begin, download the InfluxDB database from the InfluxData downloads page and install it on your machine.

The following table lists the system requirements.

Resource Value
Supported OS Windows 64-bit or Linux Docker
Supported InfluxDB versions

1.8.x, 2.x

Install and configure a Windows streaming agent

The following actions describe how to install and configure a Windows streaming agent.

Action Task

Download and install the agent

To download and install the agent:

  1. Download the streaming agent from the banner's Tools and integrations Tools and integrations > Agents area.

  2. Extract the downloaded package and run LRCStreamingAgent.exe to install the agent.

Configure the agent

The Streaming Agent Configuration tool opens automatically after the agent installation.

To run the configuration tool manually at any time, go to Start > <product-path> - Streaming Agent, right-click Configure Streaming agent, and select Run as administrator.

On the General tab, enter the following:

  1. An agent name.

  2. Your OpenText Core Performance Engineering client ID and client secret. For details, see Create access keys.

    Note: For tenants created in version 24.3 or earlier, username and password authentication continues to work, although this method has been deprecated and will no longer be valid once enforcement begins in a future release.

  3. A tenant ID.

  4. A project ID.

On the Misc tab, enter the following:

  1. To use a proxy other than the one shown, enter your proxy URL. If your proxy requires authentication, select the Advanced tab to enter your credentials.

  2. Enter the URL of the OpenText Core Performance Engineering server.

    You can copy the URL from the address bar of the browser in which you opened the tenant. For example, if the URL in the address bar is https://<myserver.com>/home/?TENANTID=208294383&projectId=1, copy the address https://<myserver.com>.

  3. Select a log level.

On the Streaming tab, enter the following:

  1. Enter the InfluxDB URL.

  2. Select the InfluxDB version.

  3. Enter the following information:

    • InfluxDB version 2.x: token, organization (either the name or ID), and bucket.

    • InfluxDB version 1.8.x: user name, password, and database name.

  4. On the Options tab, enter any additional arguments and their values.

    Streaming Agent Configuration dialog box - Options tab

  5. Click Save or Save & Test. Verify that the connection to the database is successful.

Launch the agent

Go to Start > <product-path> - Streaming Agent > Start Streaming Agent.

When the agent starts running, it is displayed in the Assets > Agents tab.

Agents tab

Install and configure a Docker container for a streaming agent

The following actions describe how to install and configure a Docker container for a streaming agent.

Action Task
Pull Docker image

Pull the streaming agent Docker image from Docker Hub.

docker pull performancetesting/lrc_streaming_agent:latest

Launch a container

Run the following command to create the container in the background (detached) mode for InfluxDB version 2.x.

Copy code 
docker run -d \
      -e "STORM_TENANT=<tenant id>"  \
      -e "STORM_SERVER=<server name>" \
      -e "STORM_USERNAME=<user name>" \
      -e "STORM_PASSWORD=<password>" \
      -e "STORM_PROJECT_ID=<project id>" \
      -e "STORM_AGENT_NAME=<agent name>" \
      -e "STORM_INFLUXDB_URL=<InfluxDB URL>" \
      -e "STORM_INFLUXDB_TOKEN=<InfluxDB v2.x token>" \
      -e "STORM_INFLUXDB_BUCKET=<InfluxDB v2.x bucket>" \
      -e "STORM_INFLUXDB_ORG=<InfluxDB v2.x organization>" \
      --net=host performancetesting/lrc_streaming_agent

Run the following command to create the container in the background (detached) mode for InfluxDB version 1.8.x.

Copy code 
docker run -d \
      -e "STORM_TENANT=<tenant id>"  \
      -e "STORM_USERNAME=<user name>" \
      -e "STORM_PASSWORD=<password>" \
      -e "STORM_PROJECT_ID=<project id>" \
      -e "STORM_AGENT_NAME=<agent name>" \
      -e "STORM_INFLUXDB_URL=<InfluxDB URL>" \
      -e "STORM_INFLUXDB_USER=<InfluxDB v1.8.x user>" \
      -e "STORM_INFLUXDB_PASSWORD=<InfluxDB v1.8.x password>" \
      -e "STORM_INFLUXDB_DATABASE=<InfluxDB v1.8.x database>" \
      --net=host performancetesting/lrc_streaming_agent
Environment variables

You can also pass environment variables using the --env-file command line parameter.

  • STORM_TENANT: Your Tenant ID [required]

  • STORM_SERVER: The tenant server name [optional]. You can copy this from the browser address bar after opening the tenant. For example, if the browser URL is https://<myserver.com>/home/?TENANTID=208294383&projectId=1, copy the server address https://<myserver.com>.

    Note: If no server name is provided, the default server (Oregon) is used. However, if the tenant ID belongs to a different server farm, the request fails with a 403 (Forbidden) error.

  • STORM_USERNAME: Your user name [required]

  • STORM_PASSWORD: Your password [required]

    Note: For tenants created after version 24.3, enter your client ID in the STORM_USERNAME field and your client secret in the STORM_PASSWORD field. For earlier tenants, continue using your username and password.

  • STORM_PROJECT_ID: The ID number for the project (default value 1) [optional]

  • STORM_AGENT_NAME: Agent name [required]

  • STORM_AGENT_KEY: Agent key [optional]

  • STORM_AGENT_DESCRIPTION: Agent description [optional]

  • STORM_INFLUXDB_URL: InfluxDB URL [required]

InfluxDB version 2.x:

  • STORM_INFLUXDB_TOKEN: InfluxDB v2.x token [required]

  • STORM_INFLUXDB_BUCKET: InfluxDB v2.x bucket [required]

  • STORM_INFLUXDB_ORG: InfluxDB v2.x organization [required]

InfluxDB version 1.8.x:

  • STORM_INFLUXDB_USER: InfluxDB v1.8.x user [required]

  • STORM_INFLUXDB_PASSWORD: InfluxDB v1.8.x password [required]

  • STORM_INFLUXDB_DATABASE: InfluxDB v1.8.x database [required]

If the agent requires a proxy, provide the proxy details using the https_proxy or http_proxy environment variable.

For details about managing the agents in OpenText Core Performance Engineering, see Agents.

Add the InfluxDB streaming agent

You can view streaming data metrics during the test run using the integration with the InfluxDB database. You can stream either raw or aggregated data.

Note: Streaming raw data is a technical preview and is limited to 5,000 Vusers, not including Vusers running on on-premises load generators.

For information on setting up the integration, see Install the streaming agent. After the integration is complete, you can configure the streaming agent.

To add an InfluxDB streaming agent:

  1. In the Load tests page, click the Streaming agent button Streaming agent button. It is available only after integration.

  2. Click + Add from Assets.

  3. Select an agent and click Add.

  4. In the Data Type column, choose Raw or Aggregated. If only one data type is enabled for your tenant, the relevant data type is displayed.

After you begin the test run, you can check the streaming data in the InfluxDB database using a monitoring tool such as Grafana.

InfluxDB database measurements

The following measurements are added to the InfluxDB database when the streaming agent is configured.

Aggregated data measurements

The following table lists aggregated data measurements.

Measurement Description Tags Fields
agg_running_vusers Vusers running in the load test emulationId, locationId, runId, scriptId value
agg_failed_vusers Vusers that failed in the load test emulationId, locationId, runId, scriptId value
agg_errors Error messages emulationId, locationId, runId, scriptId value
agg_datapoints Data, such as http_200 and http_302 dataName, emulationId, locationId, runId, scriptId count, value
agg_transactions Transaction-related information emulationId, locationId, runId, scriptId, txName, txStatus count, max, min, sum, sumSqr, value
agg_disruptions Disruption events runId, name, type value

Note: If you configure LRC_CUST_APPLICATION, LRC_CUST_COMPONENT, and LRC_CUST_ENVIRONMENT as additional attributes in the script's runtime settings, they are exposed as extra tags (cust_app, cust_env, cust_component) for aggregated data measurements.

Raw data measurements

The following table lists raw data measurements.

Measurement Description Tags Fields
Transaction Raw transactions Name, ScriptName, GroupName, VuserID, Status, RunID, Product, Emulation, Region StartTime, EndTime, ThinkTime, WastedTime
DataPoint Raw datapoints Name, ScriptName, GroupName, VuserID, RunID, Product, Emulation, Region Value
Error Raw error messages Code, VuserID, GroupName, ScriptName, ActionName, Host, RunID, Product, Emulation, Region Message, Iteration, FileLine

See also