Adding a user group to a schedule

By defining user groups, you can group tests that are related and run tests in parallel.

About this task

To add a user group to a schedule:

Procedure

  1. In the Test Navigator, browse to the schedule and double-click it. The schedule opens.
  2. Right-click the schedule, and then click Add > User Group.
  3. In the Group name field, enter a descriptive name for the user group.
  4. Under Group size, select Absolute or Percentage, and type the number of users or the percentage of users in the group.
    Option Description
    Absolute Specifies a static number of virtual users. Type the maximum number of virtual users that you want to be able to run. For example, if you type 50, you can run up to 50 virtual users each time you run a schedule. Typically, you create an Absolute user group only if the group does not add a workload. For example, if one test prepared a Web site for use and another test restored the site to its initial state, each test would be in an Absolute user group that would contain one user.
    Percentage Specifies a dynamic number of users. Type the percentage of the workload that the user group represents. In general, you assign user groups a percentage, rather than an absolute number. For example; perhaps 70% of your users browse your Web site, and 30% order an item from your Web site. You would set two user groups up in this proportion. Then, at the schedule level, you type the initial number of users to run, and, if you want, you can also add users during the run. The schedule distributes the users among the dynamic user groups according to the percentages you specify.
  5. Decide whether the user group will run on your computer or on another computer.
    Option Description
    Run this group on the local computer The user group runs on your computer. Use this option if the workload is small or if you are testing the schedule.
    Run this group on the following locations Generally, you should run user groups at a remote location. When user groups run from remote locations, the workbench activity on the local computer does not affect the ability to apply load. You must run a user group at a remote location in these cases:
    • You are running a large number of virtual users, and your local computer does not have enough processor or memory resources to support this load. You can conserve resources by running the users on different locations, so that fewer users run on each computer.
    • A test requires specific client libraries or software. The user group that contains this test must run on a computer that has the libraries or software installed.
  6. To declare a remote location:
    1. Click Add > Add New. The Add New Wizard opens. The first page of the wizard lets you specify general properties for the remote location.
    2. In the Hostname field, type the IP address or the fully qualified host name of the remote computer.
    3. In the Name field, type a descriptive name for the remote computer.
    4. In the Deployment Directory field, type the directory on the remote computer that will store the test assets. The directory, which will be created if it does not exist, stores the temporary files that are needed during a schedule run.
    5. In the Operating System field, select the operating system of the remote computer, and then click Next. The second page of the wizard lets you specify the IP aliasing properties for this location.
    6. Select Enable IP Aliasing: to make it appear as though each virtual user has its own IP address.
    7. Select Use IP addresses from all network interfaces: to use IP addresses from all network interfaces at the remote location.
    8. Only use IP addresses from the following network interfaces: Click to use addresses from a subset of network interfaces. Click Add to add the name of an interface and Edit to change the interface name. Specify network interfaces in the form eth0, eth1. If you do not use this form, the connection attempt fails.
    9. Click Next. The third page of this wizard lets you specify file locations.
    10. In the File name field, type the name of the file that will contain information about this computer, and then click Next.
      Note: The data stored in the file includes information such as the host name and deployment directory. You can change this information later by opening the Test Navigator and double-clicking the file.
  7. To add an already declared location:
    1. Click Add > Add Existing.
    2. In the Select Location window, select the computer on which the user group will run, and then click OK.

Example

The following schedule shows two user groups. Browsers represent 70% of the users, and Buyers represent the remaining 30%:
tree containing two user groups

What to do next

After you have added user groups to a schedule, you typically add the tests that each user group will run

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