Configure elastic dockerized hosts

This section describes how to set up and manage elastic dockerized load generator hosts, enabling users to dynamically assign them to performance tests. Setting up dockerized hosts requires information that should be obtained from your Docker provider.

About using elastic dockerized hosts

You can run load generator hosts inside Docker containers. This is a quick and effective way to port applications across systems and machines, and run them within their own secure environments.

Before you can use elastic hosts, you need to configure the orchestrators and host images which are used for dynamic provisioning. Orchestrators are responsible for automating deployment and management of hosts running inside containers.

After the host image has been configured, the image can then be assigned to tests in the project from the LoadRunner Enterprise user interface or the LoadRunner Enterprise REST API.

Supported orchestrators and environments

Orchestrator	Supported Images	Supported API Version
Docker Swarm	Windows, Linux	For the supported orchestrator versions, see the Integration with non-Micro Focus products section of the System Requirements.
Kubernetes	Linux

LoadRunner Enterprise currently supports Kubernetes and Swarm orchestrators with dockerized images. For more details, see the Kubernetes or Docker Swarm documentation.

Advantages of elastic provisioning

Benefits of using elastic hosts include:

Efficient allocation of resources on demand in response to dynamic workloads, without having to rely on load generators defined in the lab, or to reserve load generators in advance.
Automates the testing process by provisioning and de-provisioning load generators, and seamlessly adding them to performance tests.

You manage your orchestrators and host images from the Orchestration page. For details, see Set up elastic dockerized hosts on Windows or Linux containers and Deploy and manage Docker host images.

Note: For users to be able to assign elastic hosts to a test, the project must be linked to an orchestrator.

Deploy and manage Docker host images

You can create and manage load generator images that are used for elastic provisioning from the Docker Images tab.

Pull the Docker image from the Docker hub
1. Navigate to the LoadRunner Enterprise Dockers repository: https://hub.docker.com/u/performancetesting.
2. Locate your desired load generator Docker Image, and copy the pull command to your clipboard. For image details, see Manage dockerized images.
3. On your Kubernetes or Swarm node, paste the pull command from the previous step, and add the desired tag for a specific image version, or leave the tag empty for the latest version.
  
  For full instructions, see the Docker section in LoadRunner Enterprise Installation Guide.
In LoadRunner Enterprise Administration, select Configuration > Orchestration and click the Docker Images tab. The Docker Images page opens.

To add a new image, click the Add Docker Image button, and configure the following:

Image Name	Enter the name of the image you pulled in the previous step.
Purpose	The purpose is set to Load Generator.
Image type	Select an image type according to the image you pulled: Windows or UNIX.
Image Tag	Enter the appropriate tag version number for the image in the format `xx.xx` (for example `20.01`), or leave empty to use the latest version.
Description	(Optional) Enter a description for the image.

Click Save. The image is added to the Docker Images grid.

Set up elastic dockerized hosts on Windows or Linux containers

This task describes how to configure elastic dockerized load generator hosts.

Prerequisites

Pull the Docker image from the Docker hub as described in Deploy and manage Docker host images above.

The following are key requirements for setting up an orchestrator which you should obtain from your IT team (from your Docker provider):

Kubernetes

Full orchestrator URL
Namespace
External storage path (if used)
Authentication token (for details on obtaining the token, see Extract the Kubernetes token below)
Heapster server URL (if you want to monitor the provisioned containers)
CA certificate - When using client certificate authentication, you need to copy the Kubernetes client certificate to your LoadRunner Enterprise server. For details, see Obtain the Kubernetes client certificate below.

Swarm

Full orchestrator URL
External storage path (if used)
Authentication token

Extract the Kubernetes token

Run the following command:

Kubectl describe sa <YOUR_SERVICEACCOUNT_NAME> -n <YOUR_NAMESPACE>

Example of the results:

root@k8sMaster:~# kubectl describe sa lreuser -n lre
Name:           lreuser
Namespace:      lre
Labels:         <none>
Annotations:    <none>
Image pull secrets:     <none>
Mountable secrets:      lreuser-token-kcxfb
Tokens:                 lreuser-token-kcxfb

Copy the user token name from the results of the previous command.

Run the following command:

Kubectl describe secret <COPIED_TOKEN_NAME> -n <YOUR_NAMESPACE>

Example of the results:

root@k8sMaster:~# kubectl describe secret lreuser-token-kcxfb -n lre
Name:           lreuser-token-kcxfb
Namespace:      lre
Labels:         <none>
Annotations:    kubernetes.io/service-account.name=lreuser
kubernetes.io/service-account.uid=993e83f1-a9d7-11e8-84be-005056aa5d8f
Type:   kubernetes.io/service-account-token
Data
====
ca.crt:         1025 bytes
namespace:      2 bytes
token:          eyJhbGciOiJSUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpc3MiOiJrdWJlcm5ldGVzL3NlcnZpY2Vhx4A

Copy the token from the results of the previous command and paste it into the Token box when configuring the orchestrator (see Configure the orchestrator below).

Note: Make sure you do not copy spaces at the beginning or end of the token.

Obtain the Kubernetes client certificate

Copy the CA certificate from Kubernetes (/etc/kubernetes/pki/ca.crt) to your LoadRunner Enterprise server using a secure file transfer utility such as WinSCP.
Import the root and intermediate CA certificates to the LoadRunner Enterprise server.
1. Open Microsoft Management Console (MMC) on the LoadRunner Enterprise server by running the command "mmc".
2. Add the Certificates snap-in for the Computer account and manage certificates for the Local computer.
3. To import the root CA certificate, right-click the Trusted Root Certification Authorities folder, select All Tasks > Import, and browse for the root certificate on your machine.
4. To import the intermediate CA certificate, right-click the Intermediate Certification Authorities folder, select All Tasks > Import, and browse for the intermediate certificate on your machine.

Configure the orchestrator

In LoadRunner Enterprise Administration, select Configuration > Orchestration. In the Orchestrators tab, click Add Orchestrator.

Enter the following orchestrator details (all entries for Kubernetes must be in lower case):

Type	Select the orchestrator type (Kubernetes or Swarm).
Orchestrator Name	Enter a name for the orchestrator.
Full URL	Select the connection type (http/https), and enter the full URL, including port, in the format: `http(s)://<server>:<port>`. The default connection type is `https` for Kubernetes, and `http` for Swarm. The default port for Kubernetes is 6443.
Namespace (Kubernetes only)	Enter the name for the namespace. This is a private space where your containers will be created. Example: lre
Token (Kubernetes only)	Enter the orchestrator bearer token to authenticate API requests. Note: After saving the orchestrator settings, the token is hidden (turns into asterisks). After migrating a project from Performance Center, the token is not retrieved (it is displayed as a combination of asterisks) and needs to be entered manually.
API Version (Swarm only)	Enter the Swarm API version. Note: For every Docker Swarm upgrade you need to update the API version.
Description	Enter a description of the orchestrator.

Collect orchestrator monitoring metrics (for load generators only) - Optional

Note: Monitoring orchestrator metrics using the Prometheus monitor (for Swarm) and the Heapster Server (for Kubernetes) are currently not supported.

You can collect metrics on Kubernetes container clusters using Heapster, and on Docker Swarm using the Prometheus monitoring solution.

Select Use Monitoring to enable collecting monitoring metrics on the orchestrators.

Enter the URL of the monitoring server:

Heapster Server

Enter the full URL of the Heapster server, including port, in the format: <server_name>:<port>.

Note: Available for Kubernetes only.

Prometheus

Enter the full URL of the Prometheus server, including port, in the format: <server_name>:<port>.

Enter a user name and password for the Prometheus server (the password is hidden by asterisks).

Note:

Available for Swarm master on Linux only.
After migrating a project from Performance Center, the server password is not retrieved (it is displayed as a combination of asterisks) and needs to be entered manually.

Use external storage (for load generators only) - Optional

We recommend using this option to prevent loss of, or inaccessibility to results, if result collation fails (it enables you to access the files even though the container has been removed).

Select LG External Storage to store the performance test run files on an external machine. For more details, see Retain run results after a performance test ends.

In the Path field, enter the following:

Kubernetes	Enter the path of the environment for storing all the run files.
Docker Swarm	For load generators running on Linux containers, test data is saved to the default volume location: /var/lib/docker/volumes/<DOMAIN_NAME-PROJECT_NAME-QC_RUN_ID>/_data For load generators running on Windows containers: C:\ProgramData\docker\volumes\<DOMAIN-PROJECT-ID>\_data

Use a private and secure registry for your images (Kubernetes only) - Optional
1. Select Use Repository to enable using a private and secure registry for your Kubernetes images.
2. In the Secret Name box, enter a secret value that will be used to pull images from the private images registry.
Enable running provisioning as a non-root user (Kubernetes only) - Optional

Select Non Root User to run the dockerized host container image with a non-root user.

Set resource limits - Optional

In the Resource Limits section, specify how much of the available resources a container can use for load generators during a performance test run.

Memory (GB)	Available memory resources (in gigabytes) a container can use.
CPUs	Available CPU resources a container can use.

Note: When a user configures elastic host properties, they cannot enter values that exceed these limits. If the administrator reduces the project limits below the value configured by a user in the Assign Load Generators to Groups dialog box, the user's settings are automatically adjusted to be within the new limits.

Assign host images to the orchestrator
1. Click Assign Images to Orchestrator to open the Assign Images to the Orchestrator dialog box.
2. Select the load generator (LG) images to assign to the orchestrator.
3. Click Assign. The images are added to the Assign Images list.
If no image is assigned, LoadRunner Enterprise uses the default performancetesting/load_generator_linux/ image from the Docker hub.

For details on creating host images, see Deploy and manage Docker host images.

Assign projects to the orchestrator

In the Assign Projects to Docker Orchestration area, click the Assign Projects button.
In the Assign Projects to Docker Orchestration dialog box, select the projects you want to assign to the orchestrator, and click Assign. The selected projects are displayed in the Linked Projects grid.

Note: You can assign multiple projects to an orchestrator, but only one orchestrator to a project.

You can view project details, and add or remove linked projects using the Linked Projects grid.

Field	Description
	Assign Projects. Assigns the selected projects to the orchestrator.
	Remove Assigned Project. Removes the selected project from the orchestrator.
	Refresh. Refreshes the grid so that it displays the most up-to-date information.
ID	The project's ID.
Project Name	The name of the project.
Domain	The domain in which the project was created.

Click Save to save the settings. The orchestrator is added to the Orchestrators grid.

Configure a performance test with elastic dockerized load generators

After configuring the orchestrator and adding the host image, you can configure the performance test from the LoadRunner Enterprise user interface or the REST API.

Note: When you assign elastic load generators, each load generator is consider as a group. Therefore, if you define a test with three elastic load generators under one Vuser group (script), you will see three groups for each Docker container when the test runs.

Configure a test from the user interface

Select a test

From the LoadRunner Enterprise navigation toolbar, click and select Test Management (under Testing). Select a performance test in the test management tree, and click Edit Test.
Assign elastic hosts to the groups for the test

Follow the steps in Distribute load generators among Vuser groups in a test.

For more details, see Assign elastic hosts to a test.

Configure a test using the REST API

Create or update load tests with elastic hosts, by selecting dynamic type hosts for your groups.

Add elastic load generator hosts named DOCKER1, DOCKER2 and so forth to the <Host> XML field.
```
Example: 
```
```
<Hosts>
   <Host>
      <Name>DOCKER1</Name>
      <Type>dynamic</Type>
    </Host>
    <Host>
      <Name>DOCKER2</Name>
      <Type>dynamic</Type>
    </Host>
</Hosts>
```
For API details, see test entity XML in the LoadRunner EnterpriseAdministration REST API Guide.
Continue from the Run the performance test step in Add dockerized hosts to tests from the REST API.

Customize timeout settings for elastic dockerized load generators

When provisioning elastic load generators, you can customize the timeout settings.

On the LoadRunner Enterprise server, open the pcs.config file located in <LoadRunner Enterprise server installation directory>\dat\.
Enter a new timeout value in ElasticProvisionTimeoutInSeconds. The default timeout value is 300 seconds (5 minutes).

Export Orchestrator or Docker image details to an Excel file

To export information from the Orchestrator or Docker Images grid to an Excel file, click . Data from the grid is saved to an Excel file and downloaded to the Downloads folder of the client user.

Retain run results after a performance test ends

To ensure that run results are retained after a performance test ends, you should select Collate results as the Post-Run Action. For details, see Manage projects.

If you run a test without collating results, or if collation fails, and:

External storage is not used

The result data will be lost, since elastic load generators are freed immediately after the run finishes.

External storage is used

You need to collate the results manually.

On each node running the dockerized load generator, navigate to the \Results folders for the run.
- For load generators running on Linux containers, test data is saved to the default volume location:
  
  /var/lib/docker/volumes/<DOMAIN_NAME-PROJECT_NAME-QC_RUN_ID>/_data/<random_data_folder>/netdir/res
- For load generators running on Windows containers:
  
  C:\ProgramData\docker\volumes\<DOMAIN-PROJECT-ID>\_data\<random_data_folder>\netdir\res
Note: The run data is saved on the specific Swarm node where the container is created, so for each test run, the data might be spread between different Swarm nodes (in case load generators run on different nodes).
Copy *.eve and *.map files to the \Results folder for the Controller run.

For example, on a Linux machine running the dockerized load generators:

vm09348_dkr_32775_1.eve

vm09348_dkr_32775_1.map

The default path for the run’s results folder on the Controller:

\<LR Installation folder>\LoadRunner\orchidtmp\Results\<RunFolder>\Run_RunID\res<RunID>.

Example:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Micro Focus\LoadRunner\orchidtmp\Results\My_Test_Run_Results\Run_260\res260
Collate the results.
- For a test where no collation has been performed yet, right-click the run, and select Collate results (collate fails since Provision LGs does not exist).
- For a test that failed to collate, right-click the run, and select Recover results to recover and collate the results of the failed test run.
For more details, see Manage test results.
Select Analyze results to generate reports.

Note: Dockerized load generators with Network Virtualization are not supported, and therefore no NV Insights report is generated.

Notes and limitations

The following notes and limitations apply to elastic dockerized hosts:

Migrated Docker tests

When migrating a project that contains tests using dockerized hosts, only the Orchestration configurations are migrated; the path to your updated Docker images must be redefined.

Resolution: To run a migrated test using Docker hosts, you need to add the Docker images (if different from the 2020 default ones), associate the orchestrator configuration with the valid 2020 images, and then assign the images to the test in the Performance Test Designer. For details, see Assign Load Generators to Groups dialog box.

Dockerized load generators

After migrating a project from Performance Center to LoadRunner Enterprise, you need to enter new values for Token (Kubernetes) and the Prometheus Server password (Swarm). This is because these values are hidden and replaced by asterisks, and asterisks cannot be retrieved to the LoadRunner Enterprise Administration user interface.
Windows containers on Swarm orchestrators are created without CPU limit by design.
Network Virtualization is not supported when using elastic hosts.
Running over a firewall is not supported.
Elastic hosts using an SSL configuration are not supported.
Do not use the [Test]ElasticCont{ID} host in a test.
For issues when running tests without collating results, or if collation fails, see Retain run results after a performance test ends above.