Monitors

This topic describes how to create and configure monitor profiles, which can be used by any performance test in your project, to monitor server resources during a performance test run.

Monitors overview

You monitor performance test execution using the LoadRunner Enterprise online monitors. The monitors enable you to view a summary of the collected data at the conclusion of the performance test.

The online monitors are divided into:

Monitors enabled by default

These monitors automatically begin monitoring at the start of a performance test.
Monitors requiring configuration To monitor server resources, you must configure the monitor settings for a performance test. You select the type of monitors to run, the servers whose resources you want to monitor, and add the measurements to monitor for each server. These monitor settings can then be saved as a monitor profile that can be used by any performance test in your project.

During a performance test run, the collected measurement data is displayed in the online graphs.

You can also use Analysis, the LoadRunner Professional tool for gathering and presenting load test data, for any of the monitors. Analysis provides graphs and reports, enabling you to view and understand the data, and analyze system performance after a test run. For details, see the LoadRunner Professional Help Center.

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Create a monitor profile

This task describes how to create and configure a monitor profile in LoadRunner Enterprise 2021 R2.

Note: For details on creating and configuring monitor profiles in LoadRunner Enterprise 2021 and 2021 R1, see Create a monitor profile (LoadRunner Enterprise 2021 and 2021 R1).

Prerequisites

  • Configure the monitoring environment on the server machine

    To use the Citrix, Network Delay Time, Oracle, or UNIX monitor, you must first install or configure monitoring components on the server machine. For details, see the specific monitoring sections.

  • Use a proxy server

    If your monitor accesses a server outside of your internal network, you may need to set up a web proxy to collect data from it. To do so:

    1. Open the following files in a text editor:

      • For LoadRunner Enterprise server: bin\MEApplication.exe.config and PCWEB\Web.config

      • For LoadRunner Enterprise host: bin\wlrun.exe.config

      and add the following under the configuration > system.net section of the file:

      <system.net>

      <defaultProxy enabled="true">

      <proxy proxyaddress="http://<PROXY_ADDRESS>:<PORT>" bypassonlocal="True" />

      </defaultProxy>

      </system.net>

    2. Restart IIS after adding the proxy in the PCWEB\Web.config file (type 'iisreset' in a command line).

Step 1: Select a resources folder

In the resources tree, select a resources folder for the monitor profile or create a new folder.

To create a new resources folder:

  1. From the LoadRunner Enterprise navigation toolbar, click and select Monitors (under Assets).

  2. In the resources tree, select a folder in which you want to add the new folder.

  3. Click New Folder and enter a name for the monitor resources folder.

Step 2: Create a monitor profile

  1. Select the folder in which you want to add the monitor, and click New Monitor Profile. Make sure Monitor Profile is selected.

  2. Enter a name and description (optional) for the monitor profile, and click Save. An empty monitor profile is added to the selected resources folder.

    You can add or edit the monitor profile description at any time by clicking Description in the top right corner. A blue dot indicates that the profile has a description.

  3. Select the monitor profile you just added and click New Monitor. Select the monitor type that you want to add, and click Next. For the list of available monitors, see Monitors requiring configuration.

  4. Enter the monitor details, and click Get Counters. The fields in this page vary according to the monitor type selected.

    You can use Search to search for counters by name. Type the name (or part of the name) in the search box. LoadRunner Enterprise displays all counters that contain the search string.

    Note: The search is limited to expanded tree nodes only.

  5. In the left pane, select the counters that you want to monitor, and click Add Counters. The counters are added to the Selected Counters pane on the right.

  6. Click Save to add the monitor details to the monitor profile.

    After creating a monitor profile, the monitor details (monitor type, the server whose resources are being monitored, and the number of counters being monitored) are displayed in the Monitors tab for the monitor profile.

Step 3: View or edit monitor details in 2021 R2 (for 2021 and R1 see View or edit monitor details)

You can perform the following actions from the monitors grid for a monitor profile:

Action Description
View counters Click to display the list of counters being monitored by the selected monitor.
Edit a monitor profile

Click the Server link and edit the monitor's details and counters as required.
Delete monitors

Select the monitors you want to delete and click Delete to remove them from the monitor profile.
Filter or sort monitors

Click Filter to open the filter pane. Select a field, and define a filter condition based on values of that field, or enter text to filter.

Click a column header to sort the items by that field's values. The ascending or descending arrow indicates the field is sorted in ascending or descending order.

View related tests

Click the Related Tests tab to view details about tests to which the monitor has been assigned.

Click the ID link of a related test to open the related test in the Performance Test Designer.

You can also use the context menu in the Resources tree to manage resources. You can cut, copy, paste, delete, and rename resources and resource folders. You can also create new resources and resource folders, and collapse all folder nodes.

In addition, you can select a resources folder and click the ID link of a selected resource (monitor profile, MOFW profile, or Analysis template) to view the resource's details.

Step 4: Associate monitors with your test

  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 the Assets tab and select Monitors.

  4. Click Assign Monitors. Select the monitors or monitor folder to assign to your test, and click Select. The selected monitors are added to the Monitors grid for the test.

    You can remove monitors from a test at any time by selecting the monitors you want to remove, and clicking Remove.

    To view details of a monitor profile, click the Name link.

  1. Prerequisites

    • Configure the monitoring environment on the server machine

      To use the Citrix, Network Delay Time, Oracle, or UNIX monitor, you must first install or configure monitoring components on the server machine. For details, see the specific monitoring sections.

    • Use a proxy server

      If your monitor accesses a server outside of your internal network, you may need to set up a web proxy to collect data from it. To do so:

      1. Open the following files in a text editor:

        • For LoadRunner Enterprise server: bin\MEApplication.exe.config and PCWEB\Web.config

        • For LoadRunner Enterprise host: bin\wlrun.exe.config

        and add the following under the configuration > system.net section of the file:

        <system.net>

        <defaultProxy enabled="true">

        <proxy proxyaddress="http://<PROXY_ADDRESS>:<PORT>" bypassonlocal="True" />

        </defaultProxy>

        </system.net>

      2. Restart IIS after adding the proxy in the PCWEB\Web.config file (type 'iisreset' in a command line).

  2. Select a resources folder

    Select a resources folder for the monitor profile, or create a new folder. To create a new folder:

    1. From the LoadRunner Enterprise navigation toolbar, click and select Monitors (under Assets).

    2. Click New Folder to create a new folder for your monitor resources.

  3. Create a monitor profile

    1. Click New Monitor Profile.

    2. Enter a name and description (optional) for the monitor profile, and click OK. An empty monitor profile is added to the selected resources folder.

    3. Click Add Monitor.

    4. Select the monitor type that you want to add. For the list of available monitors, see Monitors requiring configuration.

    5. Enter the required information and click Get Counters. Select the counters that you want to monitor. The fields in the dialog box vary according to the monitor type selected (see the help topic for the specific monitor for details).

  4. View or edit monitor details

    After creating a monitor profile, the monitor details (name, the server whose resources are being monitored, and the counters being monitored), are displayed in the Monitor Profiles grid.

    Click Edit Monitor to add and manage a monitor type for the selected monitor profile.

    The Related Tests pane displays details about tests to which the monitor has been assigned. Click the ID link to display a related test in the Performance Test Designer.

  5. Associate monitors and monitor over firewall agents with your test

    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 the Assets tab and select Monitors.

    4. Click Assign Monitors. Select the monitors or monitor folder to assign to your test, and click Select. The selected monitors are added to the Monitors grid for the test.

    You can remove monitors from a test at any time by selecting the monitors you want to remove, and clicking Remove.

    To view details of a monitor profile, click the Name link.

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Copy a monitor to other monitor profiles

Supported in versions: LoadRunner Enterprise 2021 R2 and later

You can copy a monitor from one monitor profile to another, to multiple profiles, or to all monitor profiles in a resources folder.

  1. Select a monitor and click Copy Monitor.

  2. In the Copy Monitor To dialog box, select the monitor profiles or resources folder to which you want to paste the selected monitor, and click OK.

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Create a monitor over firewall agent

This task describes how to create a monitor over firewall agent in LoadRunner Enterprise 2021 R2.

Note: For details on creating a monitor over firewall agent in LoadRunner Enterprise 2021 and 2021 R1, see Create a monitor over firewall agent (LoadRunner Enterprise 2021 and 2021 R1).

You must define monitor over firewall agents in the system before you can select them to monitor a test.

  1. Select a resources folder

    Select a resources folder for the monitor over firewall agent, or create a new folder. To create a new folder:

    1. From the LoadRunner Enterprise navigation toolbar, click and select Monitors (under Assets).

    2. Click New Folder and enter a name for the monitor resources folder.

  2. Create a new monitor over firewall agent

    1. Click New Monitor Profile, and select Monitor Profile Over Firewall.

    2. In the New Monitor Profile dialog box, enter a name and machine key for the monitor over firewall agent, and select the MI Listener with which the monitor is to connect.

    3. Click Save. The monitor over firewall agent details are added to the monitor over firewall profile.

      To edit a monitor over firewall profile, click the Edit button and update the details as required.

  3. Associate the monitor over firewall agent with your test

    1. 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.

    2. In the Performance Test Designer window, click the Assets tab and select Monitors.

    3. Click Assign Monitors. Select the monitor over firewall to assign to your test, and click Select. The selected monitor over firewall agent is added to the Monitors grid for the test.

    For more details, see the firewall section in the LoadRunner Enterprise Installation Guide.

You must define monitor over firewall agents in the system before you can select them to monitor a test.

  1. Select a resources folder

    Select a resources folder for the monitor over firewall agent, or create a new folder. To create a new folder:

    1. From the LoadRunner Enterprise navigation toolbar, click and select Monitors (under Assets).

    2. Click New Folder and enter a name for the monitor resources folder.

  2. Create a new monitor over firewall agent

    1. Select a folder for storing the monitor over firewall agent, and click New Monitor Over Firewall.

    2. In the Create Monitor Over Firewall dialog box, enter a name, the machine key for the monitor over firewall agent, and select the MI Listener with which the monitor is to connect.

    3. Click OK. The monitor over firewall agent details are added to the monitor over firewall profile.

  3. Associate the monitor over firewall agent with your test

    1. 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.

    2. In the Performance Test Designer window, click the Assets tab and select Monitors.

    3. Click Assign Monitors. Select the monitor over firewall to assign to your test, and click Select. The selected monitor over firewall agent is added to the Monitors grid for the test.

    For more details, see the firewall section in the LoadRunner Enterprise Installation Guide.

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Troubleshoot monitors

This section provides information on troubleshooting monitors.

Problem Cause / Resolution

Unable to create a monitor

  1. Make sure that the user trying to access the machine to monitor exists on this machine and has proper privileges. Usually IUSR_METRO is the user attempting to monitor.

    For example, if you add the Windows Resources monitor, the user IUSR_METRO must exist on the machine to be monitored and must have proper access rights.

  2. Some monitors require certain clients to reside on the Utility Server and the Controller.

    For Oracle, the Oracle Client must be installed.

  3. Make sure the agent required for a particular monitor is running on the machine that you want to monitor.

  4. Some monitors require access to a particular URL from both the LoadRunner Enterprise utility server and the Controller, for monitoring purposes.

    For Apache, this URL is: http://<server>:<port>/server-status:auto

Monitor fails to retrieve measurements

This problem can occur with Windows Resource, Microsoft IIS, SQL Server, or Microsoft ASP monitors when:

  • Configuring a monitor (when you click Get Counters)

  • Running a test (for example, if you have created a monitor profile and then change the LoadRunner Enterprise system user and run the test). An error is displayed in the Errors window, and no data is displayed in the monitor's online graphs.

Cause

The LoadRunner Enterprise Server sends messages to the monitored server using the SMB2 protocol. This protocol uses the supplied user credentials for the session initialization, but the monitored machine sends another authentication request to the client, and the client sends the credentials of the user who runs the process that initiated the connection—the LoadRunner Enterprise system user account (IUSR_METRO by default).

If that user account does not exist on the remote server, authentication fails and the user that is being used for authentication and metrics retrieval is the one whose user name and password are provided in the LoadRunner Enterprise user interface when creating the monitor (when entering the server name and credentials in the Monitor Profile configuration).

If the LoadRunner Enterprise system user account exists on the monitored server, but is not a local admin on the remote server (or does not have the required permissions), the initial authentication succeeds, but retrieving the metrics from the remote server fails because the credentials provided in LoadRunner Enterprise when creating the monitor are not being used.

Resolution

  • Remove the LoadRunner Enterprise system user from the monitored machine, or

  • Deny access of the LoadRunner Enterprise system user to the monitored machine from Local security policy > User rights assignment > Deny access to this computer from the network.

Some monitors do not display data

Cause

This problem can occur with PDH monitors, which include Windows Resources, MS IIS, SQL Server, Citrix Server, and Microsoft ASP.

These monitor require a NET USE connection to retrieve measurement data. When you select measurements or counters to monitor, the MonitorClient.exe process on the LoadRunner Enterprise agent machine uses the logged in user’s NET USE to connect to the application under test (AUT).

However, during the performance test run, the LoadRunner Enterprise agent invokes the MonitorServer.exe process to retrieve data from the AUT using the local user, IUSR_METRO. This means there is no NET USE connection between the Monitor Over Firewall machine and the AUT during the test run, resulting in no measurement data being received on the PDH monitors.

Resolution

Ensure that the magentservice.exe on the Monitor Over Firewall machine is installed with the same user that you used to log on when you selected measurements or counters to monitor.

Perform the following steps on the Monitor Over Firewall Machine:

  1. Stop the LoadRunner Agent Service.

    1. Select Start > Run and type services.msc.

    2. In the services list, right-click LoadRunner Agent Service and select Stop.

  2. Select Start > Run and type cmd. The Command window opens.

  3. Type the following and press Enter:

    cd <LoadRunner Enterprise Monitor over Firewall installation>\launch_service\bin

  4. Type the following and press Enter:

    magentservice –remove

  5. Type the following and press Enter:

    magentservice –install <Logged on user name> <Password>

  6. Restart the LoadRunner Agent Service using the same procedure described in step 1.

Disabling automatic host monitors

Cause

The host monitors feature automatically configures basic Windows monitor data for all the machines involved in a performance test (except for Dockerized and Cloud load generators and OFW machines). This data (CPU, disk space, and memory) is available during a performance test run in the online graphs, or afterwards when collating and analyzing the results.

In environments where the network ports are closed, this feature may cause a significant slowdown when starting a performance test run.

Resolution

Disable the host monitors. In the Groups and Workload tab, select More > Test Options > Disable Default Monitors.

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See also: