Configure terminal sessions

This section describes how to use LoadRunner Enterprise's terminal sessions to run multiple load generators simultaneously in your performance test on a terminal server.

In this topic:

Terminal sessions overview

Terminal sessions enable you to overcome the limitation of being able to run only a single GUI Vuser on a Windows-based load generator. GUI Vusers, which operate graphical user interface (GUI) applications, are defined in a GUI Vuser script. You create GUI Vuser scripts using Micro Focus Unified Functional Testing. By opening a terminal server session for each GUI Vuser, you can run multiple GUI Vusers on the same application.

You select the number of terminals to be used in your performance test (you must have sufficient terminal sessions running), and the maximum number of Vusers that can be run per terminal. LoadRunner Enterprise then evenly distributes the number of Vusers among the client sessions.

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Create a terminal session or connect to an existing terminal

This task describes how to create a new terminal session or connect to an existing terminal session.

1. Prerequisites

   • Ensure that a load generator host is installed on the terminal server machine.

     Note: You cannot use terminal sessions on Linux load generators.

   • Ensure that the Remote Desktop Connection client software is installed on the Controller machine.

   • Configure the operating system to support terminal services on the participating load generators. For details, see 2. Operating System configuration for Terminal Services on Load Generator of the blog post.

   • If you intend to run terminal sessions using a custom user account, make sure you follow Run terminal sessions with a custom user account.

2. Run the LoadRunner Enterprise agent as a process (required if connecting to an existing terminal session)

   1. On the load generator machine, run <LoadRunner Enterprise Host installation>\launch_service\bin\Magentconfig.exe. The Agent Runtime Settings dialog box opens.

   2. Select Manual log in to this machine to run the LoadRunner Enterprise Agent as a process. This enables you to run multiple GUI Vusers on the same load generator.

      Note:  

      • You must run the LoadRunner Enterprise agent as a process for each terminal session that you are running.
      • To restore the default settings and run the LoadRunner Enterprise Agent as a service, select Allow virtual users to run on this machine without user login, and enter your user credentials.

3. Configure the LoadRunner Enterprise agent on the load generator machine

   1. Select Start > All Programs > Micro Focus > LoadRunner Enterprise Host > Advanced Settings > LoadRunner Enterprise Agent Configuration. The Agent Configuration dialog box opens.

   2. Select Enable Terminal Services and click OK.

   3. When prompted to restart the agent, click OK.

4. Check the Terminal Services logon settings (required if creating a new terminal session)

   Ensure that the correct terminal services settings are selected for the Remote Desktop Connection client.

   To configure the correct Terminal Server logon settings:

   1. On the load generator machine, select Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Terminal Services Configuration. The Terminal Services Configuration dialog box opens. Right-click RDP-TCP, and select Properties to open the RDP-TCP Properties dialog box.

   2. Click the Logon Settings tab.

   3. Make sure that Use client-provided logon settings is selected and that Always prompt for password is not selected.

5. Add the load generator to the system

   Use the New Host dialog box to add the load generator the system. For details, see Add a host.

6. Launch a terminal session from the Controller (required if connecting to an existing terminal session)

   Note: You must open a terminal session for each terminal that you want to run Vusers on during the performance test.

   1. Select Start > All Programs > Accessories > Communication > Remote Desktop Connection, or select Start > Run and run the mstsc command. The Remote Desktop Connection dialog box opens.

   2. Click Options.

   3. In the General tab, enter the name or IP address of a terminal server, or select a terminal server from the list of available servers.

   4. Enter you user name, password, and domain name (if required) for login onto the terminal server.

   5. Click Connect to open a Terminal Client window.

7. Configure the terminal session

   You configure the terminal session from the Load Generator Management dialog box.

   1. From the LoadRunner Enterprise navigation toolbar, click and select Test Management (under Testing).

   2. Select a performance test in the test management tree, and click Edit Test.

   3. In the Performance Test Designer window, click Groups & Workload.

   4. On the Groups pane toolbar, click LG Management, and select the load generators on which you want to enable terminal sessions (specific or automatch types only).

   5. Select Enable Terminal Services, enter the number of terminals to be opened on the selected load generators, and set the maximum number of Vusers to run in a terminal session.

      Note:  

      • The number of terminal services you can use depends on the Microsoft license for Remote Desktop Services.

      • The maximum number of Vusers depends on the Vuser type used in the script. For GUI Vusers, the maximum is one Vuser for each terminal session.

   6. Select Create new session, and specify the credentials required for automatic login. If you are using a custom user account, make sure you follow Run terminal sessions with a custom user account.

      You can also select the color depth of the session (15, 16, 24, or 32-bit level).

      Click OK to save your changes.

      Note:  

      • The settings for virtual load generator or actual load generator will take effect for every group that uses that load generator.

      • During runtime, you can set or change terminal services settings when the load generator is non-operational from the Terminal Settings dialog box. For details, see Configure terminal sessions during runtime.

      For user interface details, see Load Generator Management dialog box.

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Run terminal sessions with a custom user account

This section describes the requirements for running terminal sessions when using a custom user account.

Define security policy to allow the user credentials

To be able to define which user account should be used to run the terminal session, the Controller must create a Remote Desktop Protocol (.rdp) file with the user credentials (including password). Sometimes the security policy is defined to prevent this, in which case you need to modify the security policy.

1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor by typing "gpedit.msc" into a Run prompt or the Start menu.

2. Navigate to Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Credentials Delegation.

3. Open the policy “Allow Saved Credentials with NTLM-only Server Authentication”, and select Enabled.

4. Click Show, and enter the name of the server to which you want to connect using the stored credentials. You can use wildcard characters,for example TERMSRV/*.int.

5. Run the command GPUpdate.exe to have the change take effect.

Set permissions for a load generator accessed by a custom user

A custom user can be a member of the “Users” and “Remote Desktop Users” groups. You can set this from the Local Group Policies console.

1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor by typing "gpedit.msc" into a Run prompt or the Start menu.

2. Navigate to Local Computer Policy > Computer Configuration > Windows Settings > Security Settings > Local Policies > User Rights Assignment.

3. Open the policy “Allow log on through remote desktop services", and add the user account in question (or one of the groups to which it belongs)

4. Open the policy "Deny log on through remote desktop services", and make sure this user account (or one of the groups to which it belong) is not mentioned.

5. Run the command GPUpdate.exe to have the change take effect.

Troubleshooting remote desktop connection failure

If remote desktop connection fails, ensure the password in the RDP file is not ignored

The Controller creates an RDP file in which it stores the password required for creating a terminal session. If the password is ignored when attempting to connect to the remote server, you need to perform the following:

1. Access the Controller with the LoadRunner Enterprise user (IUSR_METRO by default).

2. Connect to each LoadRunner Enterprise host which is used as a load generator via the Controller machine using the RDP files created in %windir%\temp\. The RDP file has the format:

   <LR_Enterprise_User>_<LG_Machine>_<Custom_User>.RDP

3. Make sure all “Don’t ask again for connections to this computer" and “Remember my credentials” check boxes are selected.

4. Try to connect to the remote server again, and make sure there are no pop-up windows while connecting.

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See also:

• Design performance tests