Puneet Varma (Editor)

HP LoadRunner

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Stable release
  
12.53

Type
  
Load testing tools

Available in
  
11 languages

License
  
Proprietary

Developer(s)
  
Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Software

Operating system
  
Microsoft Windows and Linux (Load Generator only)

HPE LoadRunner is a software testing tool from Hewlett Packard Enterprise. In Sept 2016, HPE announced it is selling its software business, including Mercury products, to Micro Focus. It is used to test applications, measuring system behaviour and performance under load. HPE acquired LoadRunner as part of its acquisition of Mercury Interactive in November 2006.

Contents

HPE LoadRunner can simulate thousands of users concurrently using application software, recording and later analyzing the performance of key components of the application.

LoadRunner simulates user activity by generating messages between application components or by simulating interactions with the user interface such as keypresses or mouse movements. The messages/interactions to be generated are stored in scripts. LoadRunner can generate the scripts by recording them, such as logging HTTP requests between a client web browser and an application's web server.

Architecture

The key components of HPE LoadRunner are:

  • Load Generator generates the load against the application by following scripts
  • VuGen (Virtual User Generator) for generating and editing scripts
  • Controller controls, launches and sequences instances of Load Generator - specifying which script to use, for how long etc. During runs the Controller receives real-time monitoring data and displays status.
  • Agent process manages connection between Controller and Load Generator instances.
  • Analysis assembles logs from various load generators and formats reports for visualization of run result data and monitoring data.

    • Modules are available to enable HPE LoadRunner to capture, replay and script different application and networking technologies. These include support for:

  • applications using Microsoft .NET and Java
  • database servers such as Microsoft SQL Server and Oracle
  • internetworking protocols such as DNS, FTP and LDAP
  • e-mail protocols including IMAP, MAPI, POP3 & SMTP
  • remote client technologies such as Citrix ICA and RDP.

    • HPE LoadRunner can be run standalone or multiple instances can pooled for use by several people under the control of HP PerformanceCenter.

    HPE LoadRunner in the Cloud

    From 2010 HP started to offer on-demand versions of LoadRunner available by cloud computing services such as Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud and later Microsoft Azure. Version 12.50 added the use of Google Compute Engine. Selected HP partners are also able to provide LoadRunner in the Cloud as an on-demand service from their SaaS platforms.

    Scripting Languages

    HPE LoadRunner client emulation scripts are usually created using the ANSI C programming language. However, Java and .Net programs can also be run by HPE LoadRunner. Version 12.50 added the use of JavaScript for Web-HTTP/HTML scripts.

    Scripts from other testing tools such as Apache JMeter, NUnit, and Selenium can be run by LoadRunner by declaring an interface library. This enables scripts to send key-value pairs to the Controller as the script runs, enabling response times to be associated with specific conditions such as the number of items displayed in the User Interface.

    LoadRunner scripts can also be called from within Jenkins.

    References

    HP LoadRunner Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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