Tutorial - 1: How do we record an application using LoadRunner?

A suggestion of great value:

Before practicing these Tutorials on "LoadRunner – from HP", it is recommended that you
acquire a preliminary working knowledge of using this wonderful tool. This can be easily
attained by careful study of the "Frequently Asked Questions – FAQ’s" brought to you
by this web site for the first time by Clicking on the following link:

Learn the Basics of HP LoadRunner through FAQ's

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An Introduction to Load Testing:

While aiming to perform a load test of an application; we use LoadRunner to replace the
human users with virtual users (called "Vusers") on the actual machines. These Vusers
impose artificially created load on the system by emulating actions of actual human users in
a repeatable and predictable manner.

Virtual User Generator module of LoadRunner commonly known as VuGen creates artificial
users for us and records our all actions in the form of automated scripts. VuGen works on
the principle of record and playback.

Systematic steps to record an application using VuGen Module of LoadRunner are

as under:

Step – 1: Starting of the LoadRunner: Select "Start" > "Programs" > "LoadRunner"
> "LoadRunner". Following LoadRunner launcher window pops up.

Step – 2: Starting of the VuGen Module of LoadRunner: Click the "Load Testing" tab,
In the Launcher window.

Further, click on the very first option "Create/Edit Scripts" to launch the following Start
Page of VuGen module.
Step – 3: Creation of a new Script: Under the "Scripts" tab in the VuGen Start Page,
click "New Vuser Script" to open the following "New Virtual User" dialog box.

Step – 4: Making a choice out of single protocol script or Multiple protocol script from the
left pane of the dialog box:

a) Select single protocol script - make a selection from the Category list and select one
of the protocols.

b) Select multiple protocol script - to record more than one protocols in a single
recording session. Select the desired protocol from the Available Protocols list. Click the
right-pointing arrow to move the selection into the Selected Protocols list. Repeat the step
to select all the desired protocols.

Step – 5: Close the "New Virtual User" dialog box by Clicking "OK".

Step – 6: Start the process of recording various events into the Vuser script.

a) Generally VuGen automatically opens the "Start Recording" dialog box when a new
script is created.

b) Alternately click the "Start Record" button in the Toolbar at the top of the page to open
the "Start Recording" dialog box. The "Start Recording" dialog box may appear
differently a little bit for different protocols.

Step – 7: Filling up the information pertaining to Non Internet Applications in the

following Dialog Box

a) For "Application type": Select Win32 Applications or Internet Applications, e.g. Web
and Oracle NCA scripts record Internet Applications, while Windows Socket Vusers records a
Win32 application.

b) For "Program to record": Enter the Win 32 application to record.

c) For "Program Arguments": Enter the command line arguments for the EXE file
specified above; e.g. if we specify "abc32.exe" with the command line options
"genius@xyz", it connects the user Genius to the server "xyz" when starting
"abc32.exe".

d) For "Working Directory": This information is needed for some specific applications
requiring us to specify a working directory.

Step – 8: Filling up the information pertaining to Internet Applications in the

following Dialog Box
a) For "Application type": Select Internet Applications.

b) For "Program to record": Select the browser or Internet application to record.

c) For "URL Address": Specify the starting URL address.

d) For "Working Directory": This information is needed for some specific applications
requiring us to specify a working directory. This information may differ among different
types of Vuser scripts.

Fill up the information of program to record, the working directory, the Action & set the
recording options by clicking "Options".

Step – 9: Filling up the information pertaining to "Record into Action" box: Here we
need to select the section where we want to record.

Sections available here by default are: vuser_init, Action, and vuser_end. However we can
add a new section by clicking "Actions" > "Create New Action" and describe a new
action name.

Step – 10: Recording the application startup: This step is not recommended under the
following situations:

a) When recording multiple actions, needing performing the startup in one action only.

b) When we want to navigate to a specific point in the application before starting to record.

c) While recording into an existing script.

d) This step is not applicable to Java type Vuser scripts.

However when there is a need to record the application startup; Click "Record the
application startup". When we do not want VuGen to record the application startup, clear
the check box.
Step – 11: Filling up the information pertaining to Recording Options: Click
"Options" button or the Recording Options button to open the "Recording options"
dialog box and define the recording options. According to the recorded protocol the available
options may differ.

Step – 12: Defining the scripting options: Click the "Script" tab for selecting the
language for code generation and for setting the scripting options.

Step – 13: Defining the port information: Needed when recording SSL applications on a
non-standard port. Review the list of ports. If the port we are using is not in the list, we can
specify the information using the Port Mapping options.

Click the "Port Mapping" tab for setting the port related information.

Step – 14: Manage Protocols in case of multi-protocol recording: For editing the list
of protocols needed to be recorded; click "Protocol" tab. Expand the node and select the
desired protocols.

Step – 15: Click "OK" to close the dialog box and start the recording. VuGen starts the
application and the Recording toolbar opens.

Perform the desired actions within the application, which need to be recorded. VuGen
automatically fills in the selected action section of the Vuser script.

For switching between sections during the recording we can use the floating toolbar.

In case of recording a password-protected application, VuGen will prompt us to enter a user

name and password.

Step – 16: Completing the recording session:

a) Switch to the vuser_end section in the floating toolbar.

b) Click the "Stop Recording" button on the Recording toolbar.

c) Click "Save" to save the recorded session.

Tutorial - 2: How to design a Scenario for Load testing using HP -

LoadRunner?

Brief Introduction of Scenario: A scenario is a file containing all the information about
groups of Vusers which emulate human users during our testing session.

It is a means through which we emulate a real-life user. When we run a scenario, the
Vusers generate load on the server, and LoadRunner monitors the server and transaction
performance.

Objective of this Tutorial: Is to design a scenario, which can be used to test an

application under load. For illustration purpose, we shall create emulate the actions of say
ten travel agents concurrently using the flight reservation system and analyze the
performance of the system under load.

We shall create a scenario, which will emulate various actions performed by a group of ten
travel agents. The user actions can be simultaneously logging on to the system, searching
various flights, purchasing the desired flight tickets, checking itineraries and finally logging
off the system.

Basic steps for designing a scenario for load testing are as under

Step – 1: Launching LoadRunner & its Controller Module:

a) Open the HP LoadRunner Launcher window by clicking "Start" > "Programs" >
"LoadRunner" > "LoadRunner".

b) Open the LoadRunner Controller by clicking "Run Load Tests" In the "Load Testing
tab". "New Scenario dialog box" shall open. Here we shall be able to select scripts for
our new scenario.
Step – 2: Making a selection of method of creation of scenario: out of two methods
like 1) Manual Scenario 2) Goal-Oriented Scenario – in case we wish LoadRunner to create a
scenario for us.

In this tutorial we shall select a "Manual Scenario".

Step – 3: Adding a script to the load test: Select a script out of the list of Scripts
already available. Selected Scripts appear in the Scenario pane. Alternatively we can click
the "Browse" button & navigate to the desired script ( for example: say basic_script) lying
in our known directory.

For the sake of illustration here we shall use just one Vuser script describing a single group
of users performing identical actions. Whereas in case of real world scenario involving
variety of user profiles, we can create different groups running several scripts with different
user settings.

Step – 4: Defining the group attributes for the script:

a) Locate the desired script: Navigate to find out that that our desired script
(basic_script in this case) appears in the Group Name column of the Scenario Groups pane.

b) Change Scenario group name: Select the script and click the "Details" button to
launch the "Group Information" dialog box. Provide easily understandable enter a more
meaningful name, for example travel_agent.
c) Vusers Quantity: Provide the desired number of Vusers intended to be created in the
group.

Click "OK" to display the name in the Scenario Groups pane under the Design tab.

Step – 5: Adding a load generator or localhost: for creating load on our application by
running the Vusers.

a) For using already available Load Generator: Click the "Load Generators" button In
the Design view to launch the "Load Generators" dialog box.

b) For creating & using a new Load Generator: When the desired load generator does
not appear in the list, select "Add" from the Load Generator Name list to launch the "Add
New Load Generator" dialog box.

Provide the information like "Name" of the load generator and the type of "Platform" on
which the load generator is running. Click "OK" to close the "Add New Load Generator"
dialog box.

Step – 6: Testing the Load Generator Connection: Involves instructing the Controller to
make attempts to connect to the load generator machine.

a) Select "localhost" and click "Connect".

b) When the connection gets established, the status changes from "Down" to "Ready".
Click "Close".

Step – 7: Scheduling of scenario in schedule pane of the Controller window: In real

world scenario, the actual users do not log on and off the system exactly at the same time.
Here we instruct the LoadRunner users to gradually log on to and off the system by
scheduling the scenario.

As described in the following "Scenario schedule" Dialog Box; Select "Scenario" radio
button under "Schedule by" and select "Real-life schedule" radio button under "Run
Mode".

Step – 8: Setting the schedule actions definitions in Actions Grid: As described in the
following Global Schedule Actions Grid following four definitions are set.

We need to Double-click on every action in the first column like 1) Initialize 2) Start Vusers
3) Duration 4) End Vusers, one by one in the above Action grid to launch the respective
dialog Boxes for defining the settings.

Step – 9: Initializing of Vusers – for getting ready for the load test run by running the
vuser_init action in the script & readying the load generators.
Double-click "Initialize" in the Action grid to launch the following "Edit Action" dialog
box. For this tutorial, select the radio button of "Initialize all Vusers simultaneously".

Step – 10: Starting of Vusers at specified Intervals: Double-click "Start Vusers" in

the Action grid to launch the following "Edit Action" dialog box.

For this tutorial, feed 8 Vusers in the Start Vusers box, and select the second option box &
feed 2 Vusers every 30 seconds.

Step – 11: Specifying a duration: Through "Interactive Schedule Graph" a duration is

defined so that the Vusers keep on doing the scheduled action for a specific period thereby
enabling us to measure the continuous load on the server.

During the specified duration, the script will keep on doing as much iterations as possible
irrespective of the number of iterations defined in the script’s run-time settings.

Click the "Duration" in the Action grid or click the horizontal line representing the duration
in the graph. The time line gets highlighted and a dot and a diamond appear at its
endpoints. Drag the diamond shaped endpoint to set the desired time say 00:11:30. This
means that Vusers shall run for a duration of 10 minutes.
Step – 12: Stopping of Vusers – is done gradually.

Double-click "Stop Vusers" in the Action grid to launch the following "Edit Action" dialog
box.

For this tutorial, select the second option box & feed 2 Vusers every 30 seconds.

Step – 13: Configuring the Run-time settings: to define the behavior of the Vusers
during the test.

Click the "Run -Time Settings" button in the "Design" tab. Then select the desired script
and modify the following run-time settings if necessary.

a) Run Logic to define the number of times a user repeats a group of actions.

b) Pacing to define the time to wait before repeating an action.

c) Log to define the type of information needed to be captured during the test.
d) Think Time to define the time a user stops to think between steps.

e) Speed Simulation to define network connections like modem, DSL or cable.

f) Browser Emulation to define different browsers.

g) Content Check for automatically detecting user-defined errors.

Step – 14: Enabling think time - Select the "General:Think Time" node. Select
"Replay think time" radio button, and select the "Use random percentage of recorded
think time" radio button. For this tutorial, specify a minimum of 50% and a maximum of
150% as described in the following picture.

Step – 15: Enabling the logging option- Select the "General:Log" node. Select "Enable
logging" check Box. In the Log options, select "Always send messages". Select
"Extended log" radio button, and select "Data returned by server" check box for this
tutorial as described in the following picture.
Click "OK" to close the Run -Time settings dialog Box.

Step – 16: Configuring the Windows Resources monitor: to view the performance of
every single tier, server and component of the application during the load test in real time.

a) Opening of the Run view - by clicking the "Run" tab in the Controller window to
display the Windows Resources graph which is one of four default graphs getting displayed
in the graph viewing area as shown in following picture.

Right-click the "Windows Resources graph" and select Add Measurements to open the
Windows Resources dialog box as shown in following picture.
b) Selection of monitored server - Click "Add" In the Monitored Server Machines section
of the Windows Resources dialog box to open the following "Add Machine" dialog box.

Type "localhost" in the "Name" field & specify the Name of the Platform say Win 2000 in
the "Platform" field. Click "OK" to close the "Add Machine" dialog box.

c) Activation of the monitor – by clicking "OK" in the Windows Resources dialog box.

With these steps the design of our Scenario gets complete & becomes ready for the load
testing.

For Detailed Study : Please Refer HP-LoadRunner Help Guide & Tutorials