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
- In the Test Navigator, browse to the schedule and double-click
it. The schedule opens.
- Right-click the schedule, and then click .
- In the Group name field, enter a
descriptive name for the user group.
- 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. |
- 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.
|
- To declare a remote location:
- Click . The Add New Wizard
opens. The first page of the wizard lets you specify general properties
for the remote location.
- In the Hostname field, type the
IP address or the fully qualified host name of the remote computer.
- In the Name field, type a descriptive
name for the remote computer.
- 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.
- 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.
- Select Enable IP Aliasing: to
make it appear as though each virtual user has its own IP address.
- Select Use IP addresses from all network
interfaces: to use IP addresses from all network interfaces
at the remote location.
- 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.
- Click Next. The third page of
this wizard lets you specify file locations.
- 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.
- To add an already declared location:
- Click .
- 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%:
What to do next
After you have added user groups to a schedule, you typically
add the tests that each user group will run