Citrix recording tips

This topic provides guidelines for successfully recording a Citrix Vuser script.

Before starting to record, make sure your environment is set up as described in Set up your Citrix environment

Guidelines:

Plan before recording

Make sure you have a well-defined business process planned, and run through it before recording.

Avoid production environments if possible

Try to load test Citrix applications which are restricted (contained) to a few Citrix servers in a Citrix development/test “farm” rather than to load test in a live Citrix production environment.

Record into appropriate sections

Record the connection process into the vuser_init section, and the closing process into the vuser_end section. This prevents you from performing iterations on the connecting and disconnecting. For more information about recording into sections, see Vuser script sections.

Ensure a clean session

When recording a session, make sure to perform the complete business process, starting with the connection and ending with the cleanup. End your session at a point from where you could start the entire process from the beginning. Do not leave any client or application windows open.

Use explicit clicks

When opening expanded menu options, click explicitly on each option—do not depend on the expanding menu. For example, when choosing Start > All Programs > Microsoft Word, be sure to click on the line All Programs.

Do not resize windows

To ensure exact reproduction of recorded actions, avoid moving or resizing windows while recording. If it is absolutely necessary to change the size or position of a window, double-click on the relevant Sync on Window step in the Step Navigator and modify the window's coordinates. This often, but not always, gives the required replay results.

Make sure resolution settings are consistent

To ensure successful bitmap synchronization, make sure that the resolution settings match. On the recording machine, check the settings of the Citrix client, the Recording Options, and the runtime settings. On the load generators, check the settings of the Citrix client, and make sure that they are consistent between all load generators and recording machines. If there is an inconsistency between the resolutions, the server traffic increases in order to make the necessary adjustments.

Add manual synchronization points

If it is necessary to wait for an event during recording, such as the opening of an application, add manual synchronization points, such as Sync on Text OCR or Sync on Bitmap. For details, see Citrix manual synchronization.

Disable client updates

Disable client updates when prompted by the Citrix client. This prevents forward compatibility issues between VuGen and newer Citrix clients that are not currently supported. (For details on supported versions, see theSupport Matrix.)
Citrix server CNAME/alias

If the machine that hosts the Citrix server (Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktop) is associated with a CNAME/alias, make sure that the ctrx_nfuse_connect function receives the hostname that is used by the Citrix server. For details, see ctrx_nfuse_connect in the Function Reference.

Back to top

See also: