Load Testing Blog
Load Tester 4.3 Released!
Following closely on the heels of the previous release, the 4.3 release focuses on network compatibility and testcase configuration improvements based on feedback from customers and from our services work in the past year with such clients as the US Census and the New York Marathon.
JSON and custom parsers
JSON support – Load Tester now understands the JSON data format which is popular in AJAX apps. A new parser allows the fields view to display the fields within JSON data structures and new detection rules will automatically configure many JSON-related fields.
Parser customization: Load tester now allows selection of which parser to … Continue reading »
Deleting Recorded URLs in Load Tester 4.2
Sometimes while recording a testcase, you might capture URLs (like google analytics and certain 3rd party content) that you do not necessarily want to load test. In previous versions of Load Tester, removing any unwanted URLs required selecting the unwanted link and deleting each link individually. Removing the links could be cumbersome and time consuming especially if the unwanted URLs were repeated multiple times on different pages. With the 4.2 release of Load Tester, the Mass Delete function can now be used to delete multiple URLs with the same domain name at the same time.
Note: Recording unwanted URLs can be … Continue reading »
Cloud Load Testing Generator Now $1/hour
There’s no doubt that generating load from anyplace in the world at just the push of a button is one of the cloud’s killer applications. Since we first released the ability to generate load from the cloud back in late 2009 people have logged over 33,000 hours of remote load testing from the cloud. And not a crippled cheapo service, either, but full blown, enterprise quality testing with expert technical support backed by a professional services team.
I still get a kick out of running load tests from the cloud, specifically watching Amazon’s EC2 spin up dozens of computers and … Continue reading »
Javascript/JSON Support in Load Tester 4.3
Over the last year, Web Performance engineers have been working to make Load Tester smarter and easier to configure. Load Tester 4.2 introduced the new Fields View, which allows test case developers to write out HTTP requests using a flexible and composable assortment of data sources.
Starting with Load Tester 4.3, Load Tester will automatically recognize JSON content in any HTTP request. As a consequence, each JSON element will become a configurable name-value pair field in the Fields View. We believe this will make it much easier to configure complex AJAX and RESTful style test cases.
Furthermore, whenever Load Tester’s Application … Continue reading »
Monitor Unlimited Web Servers with Server Monitoring Modules
Now if you have even a single server monitoring license you can monitor an unlimited number of servers at no extra charge! The Server Monitoring modules are add-ons for Load Tester that add the ability to monitor a couple dozen different parameters from the Windows or Linux operating systems or the .NET application server. Previously they were licensed on a per-server basis, which meant a license had to be issued for each server, and customers who purchased a bunch had the hassle of managing a handful of licenses, each of which had to be installed and updated.
In … Continue reading »
Changing Recorded hostnames & URLs in Load Tester
From time to time we get support questions from customer asking us how to update a recorded testcase to a different URL without having to re-record the testcase. If the content of the new URL/server is very similar to the original URL/server, then a re-recording of the testcase may not be necessary. Simply updating the recorded URLs with the new URLs should be all that is needed to get the original recording working with the new URL/server. Below are the steps on how to update recorded URLs in Load Tester 4.2.
Updating recorded URLs
In order to change the transaction URLs, switch to … Continue reading »
Load Test development using proxy servers improved for Load Tester 4.3
Proxy servers are nothing new to corporate users, and Load Tester has supported test development through a proxy server for those testers that were required to use one. However, we’re excited to introduce two new improvements to Load Tester’s proxy support for Load Tester 4.3: more detailed recordings and replays of proxy traffic, and support for proxy authentication.
In all versions of Load Tester, it is possible to change the proxy configuration, and then play an existing testcase correctly using the new proxy settings. Since proxies may require the use of additional HTTP messages to create a tunnel and / or … Continue reading »
Enhanced Integrated Windows Authentication Support in Load Tester 4.2
Load Tester 4.2 offers a substantial number of enhancements over the 4.1 release. One of the last features, which was not available in the 4.2 beta cycle, is completely redesigned support for Connection Authentication Negotiation. For IIS users, just think of “Connection Authentication Negotiation” as support for IIS’ “Integrated Windows Authentication”. Load Tester’s CAN support is a bit more abstract to encompass other servers as well. In fact, the term “Connection Authentication Negotiation” is used to provide support for negotiation of an authentication scheme at the HTTP layer, which may be used to authenticate the browser’s connection to the … Continue reading »
How to upgrade NTLM testcases from Load Tester 4.1 to 4.2
Due to the scope of changes in the 4.2 release and the improvements to our NTLM support, testcases using NTLM that were created in Load Tester 4.1 and earlier versions are not automatically upgraded with the required 4.2 configuration settings. The result is testcases that will not be able to perform the NTLM authentication – therefore causing a failure of every transaction that requires authentication. Fortunately, the manual upgrade process is relatively easy:
Step 1: Select the testcase and run the Testcase Configuration wizard. You can do this from the pop-up menu in the Navigator view (Configure > Configure for Replay) … Continue reading »
What’s new in Load Tester 4.2
The 4.2 release focuses on platform compatibility and productivity increases from our services work in the past year with such clients as the US Census and the New York Marathon.
With a slew of new browsers and operating systems available, this release also includes support for 64-bit Windows and AIX operating systems, the latest versions of Internet Explorer, as well as the Chrome and Safari browsers.
On the productivity side there are some pretty big changes to allow testers to configure more complex testcases with less effort than ever before. Some of those changes are evident in the new Fields View and … Continue reading »