All about application performance and test automation: October 2010

HP directly pushed the Loadrunner from 9.5 (9.7 applying patch) to 11.0 and 11.50

HP LoadRunner Readme

for the Windows operating system

Software version: 11.50

Publication date: June 2012

This file provides information about LoadRunner version 11.50.

What's New in LoadRunner 11.50

Improved VuGen

The VuGen user interface has been improved and enhanced to provide a more flexible and customizable user experience. An all new IDE makes LoadRunner scripting easier and more productive.

Enhancements include:

New look and feel – Flexible panes, layouts, and more
Solution Explorer – An easier way to group multiple scripts, access script items, and perform script-related operations.
Snapshots – Multiple views, improved performance, snapshot synchronization, and search functionality.
Improved editor – Context-sensitive support, code completion support, and provides enhanced coloring and formatting.
Debugger – Real C language debugger.
Search and replace – New capabilities include search in log and snapshots.
Step navigator – The new Step Navigator replaces the tree view, providing a single view of the script with easy filtering and search mechanisms.
New panes – Errors, Tasks, and Bookmarks panes display all errors, messages, and tags in simple, easy to locate views.
Join the Community – Community integration provides easy access to conversations and threads in the HP Software Community.

Ajax TruClient Firefox Enhancements

This ground breaking protocol has been enhanced to support the latest technologies, and includes many usability improvements in response to customer needs.

The Ajax TruClient Firefox protocol has been improved with the following enhancements:

Moving to Firefox 8 for improved performance.
HTML5 support.
Create functions to easily reuse and share code.
Think-time recording.
Event handlers to support asynchronous behavior.
API for URL filtering.
API for setting HTTP headers.
Automatic transactions per step.

Ajax TruClient Internet Explorer

A new protocol that brings TruClient capabilities to Internet Explorer 9. This new addition to the Ajax TruClient family expands support to Internet Explorer (IE) based applications.

Web Protocol Asynchronous Support

Support for asynchronous behavior has been added. This capability enables the recording and replaying of Poll, Long Poll and Push communications.

Advanced Web applications contain a lot of asynchronous communication designed to keep information current and up to date. Applications such as chat, messaging, stock tickers, and news updates all use various asynchronous mechanisms such as Poll, Long Poll, and Push to maintain data. Support for these mechanisms has been added to Web (HTTP/HTML) Vuser scripts, and the Web (HTTP/HTML) protocol layer inside Flex, Silverlight, and Web Services Vuser scripts. Asynchronous communications are recognized automatically and the recorded script is updated accordingly.

Improved Correlations

A new response correlation capability has been added so correlation is easier and faster. Correlations can now be found based on server responses during recording, in many cases eliminating the need to replay iteratively to find dynamic values. Coupling this with the new Correlation Studio interface and new APIs for locating dynamic values based on XPath and Regular Expressions, makes scripting easier and faster.

Flex Enhancements

Various enhancements have been added to better support this important environment.

Flex enhancements include:

Using Web correlation mechanisms (rules, studio, response based correlation, web correlation APIs).
Supporting Web requests.
Adobe Flex platform jars bundled in the product so application jars are not needed for message serialization.
RTMP FMS streaming support.
RTMPT & RTMPS support.
GraniteDS support.

Mobile Protocols

New protocols enabling you to develop scripts for mobile applications. Traffic based analysis is used for native applications and Ajax TruClient technology is used for browser based mobile applications.

Data Format Extension (DFE) for Google Web Toolkit (GWT)

Web protocol includes a built-in DFE to support decoding and encoding of GWT information exchanged as part of GWT remote procedure calls. This facilitates easy correlation and parameterization of GWT based Web applications. The DFE feature is designed to help ease scripting of applications that exchange formatted data. By turning the formatted data into a more readable format the script can be easily correlated and parameterized. GWT DFE is the latest addition to the already supported formats of Base64, JSON, URLEncoding, XML, and Prefix-Postfix.

GWT support includes:

Format the GWT RPC data into readable and correlate-able content.
Expose more data, such as object field names.
Enable simple parameterization.
Solve specific correlations for GWT.

.NET4 Support

The .NET protocol now supports .NET4 framework.

.NET4 support has been added to the existing support for .NET frameworks 2-3.5.

Web Services Enhancements

The Web Services protocol includes new features for better security support, improved handling of WCF, as well as additional improvements based on customer feedback.

The Web Services protocol includes the following enhancements:

Improved interface for security settings, including addressing versions.
Easier certificate selection.
Flexible definition of signature and encryption algorithms. Also includes the option to exclude timestamps.
Support of custom extensions to WCF.
Support of LoadRunner HTTP capabilities for WCF.

Integrating Virtualized Services

Integrate with HP Service Virtualization, and use simulated services, to facilitate load testing business processes that contain services that are not readily available or too costly. As part of your performance test, you may want to test applications that depend on other services which are a part of your business scenario. Instead of loading actual services, you can use simulated services in your test run. The virtualized services are a simulation of actual services. To facilitate performance testing business processes that contain services that are not available, LoadRunner integrates with HP Service Virtualization. Using simulated services in your test is helpful if using actual services involves an additional cost or requires the service of an application that is under development or inaccessible at the time when you run your performance test.

Recording 64bit Applications

Recording of 64bit applications has been added to the existing support for 64bit operating systems. 64bit applications can usually be recognized when the ‘*32’ suffix is not displayed in the Windows Task Manager for their process. Replay is in 32bit.

IPv6 support

IPv6 based applications can be tested in addition to IPv4 based ones. Support includes IP Spoofing. (Internal LoadRunner communication, such as Controller Load Generator, is still IPv4 based.)

Installation and Configuration Information for LoadRunner 11.50

Prerequisite Software

Specific software needs to be installed before you can install LoadRunner. When you run the LoadRunner installation wizard, if the prerequisite software is not already installed on your computer, the wizard detects which software is missing and provides the option to install it.

The following prerequisite software needs to be installed:

Microsoft Windows Installer 3.1
.NET Framework 3.5 SP1
Windows Imaging Component. This is a prerequisite for .NET Framework 4.0.
.NET Framework 4
Web Services Enhancements (WSE) 2.0 SP3 for Microsoft .NET Redistributable Runtime MSI
Web Services Enhancements (WSE) 3.0 for Microsoft .NET Redistributable Runtime MSI
Microsoft Core XML Services (MSXML) 6.0
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Redistributable Package MFC Security Update (x86)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 SP1 Redistributable Package MFC Security Update (x64)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package MFC Security Update (x86)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package MFC Security Update (x64)
Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 SP1 Redistributable Package MFC Security Update (x86)
Microsoft Data Access Components (MDAC) 2.8 SP1 (or later)

System Requirements for VuGen, Controller, and Analysis

The following table describes the system requirements for installing VuGen, the Controller, or Analysis:


Processor	CPU Type: Intel Core, Pentium, Xeon, AMD or compatible Speed: 1 GHz minimum. 2 GHz or higher recommended
Operating System	Windows XP Professional SP3 32-bit Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition/Enterprise Edition SP2 32-bit Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition/Enterprise Edition SP2 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 7 SP1 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1
Memory (RAM)	Minimum: 2 GB Recommended: 4 GB or higher
Screen Resolution	Minimum: 1024 x 768
Browser	Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 or SP2 Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0 Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.0
Available Hard Disk Space	Minimum: 40 GB

Load Generator for Windows System Requirements

The following table describes the system requirements for installing the Load Generator on a Windows machine.


Processor	CPU Type: Intel Core, Pentium, Xeon, AMD or compatible Speed: 1 GHz minimum. 2 GHz or higher recommended
Operating System	The following Windows operating systems are supported: Windows XP Professional SP3 32-Bit Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition/Enterprise Edition SP2 32-Bit Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition/Enterprise Edition SP2 32-Bit and 64-bit Windows 7 SP1 32-bit and 64-bit Windows 2008 R2 SP1
Memory (RAM)	Minimum: 1 GB Note: Memory requirements depend on protocol type and system under test and can vary greatly.
Browser	Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 or SP2 Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0 Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0 Microsoft Internet Explorer 9.0
Available Hard Disk Space	Minimum: 20 GB

Load Generator for UNIX System Requirements

This section describes the system requirements necessary for installing the HP Load Generator on a UNIX machine.


Memory (RAM)	256 MB minimum Note: Memory requirements depend on protocol type and system under test, and can vary greatly.
Available Hard Disk Space	Minimum: 4 GB

The following table describes the supported operating systems on which you can install a UNIX HP Load Generator.


OS Type	OS Version	Platform
Red Hat Linux	Enterprise Linux 5.0 Enterprise Linux 6.0	CPU Type: Intel Core, Pentium, AMD or compatible Speed: 1 GHz minimum. 2 GHz or higher recommended

System Requirements for the MI Listener

The following table describes the system requirements for the MI Listener.

Processor	CPU Type: Intel Core, Pentium, Xeon, AMD, or compatible Speed: 2 GHz minimum and 4 GHz or higher recommended
Operating System	Windows XP Professional SP3 32Bit Windows Server 2003 R2 Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition/Enterprise SP2 32Bit Windows Server 2008 Standard Edition/Enterprise SP2 64Bit Windows Server 2008 R2 64Bit Windows 7 SP1 Windows 2 SP1 64Bit
Physical Memory (RAM)	2 GB minimum Note: Memory needs depend on the number of Load Generators and Controllers connecting to the MIL.

Product Compatibility

LoadRunner 11.50 is compatible with the following HP product versions:

HP Quality Center version 10.00 with the latest patch.

HP Application Lifecycle Management versions 11 SP3, and 11.50.

HP QuickTest Professional version 11.00.

HP Diagnostics versions 9.12, and 9.20.

HP SiteScope versions 11.01, 11.10, 11.12, and 11.20. To obtain a free SiteScope license to work with LoadRunner 11.50, contact the licensing team.

HP Service Test versions 11.10 and 11.20.

HP Service Virtualization version 2.00.

Pre-Installation Notes and Limitations

This section includes pre-installation notes and limitations for LoadRunner 11.50

Windows

If you are running McAfee or Aladdin's eSafe anti-virus applications, close them before installing LoadRunner.

To use Windows 2003 with a HASP plug, download Aladdin's latest HASP driver.

UNIX

The LoadRunner UNIX installation is based on native packages per operating system. This requires you to be logged in as root user to run the installation.

Virtual Environment Installation

LoadRunner supports Vmware ESX versions 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.1, and 5.0.

Running Vusers on virtual machines may adversely affect performance due to the sharing of physical resources.

Diagnostics for J2EE/.NET Requirements

A unique transaction name must be used for each scenario.

ContentCheck in Multilingual Environments

This version supports ContentCheck rules in French, German, Spanish, and Italian. The correct language file should be installed according to the system locale.

The suitable language file can also be copied from the installation disk:

..\lrunner\MSI\setup\international\<lang>\dat\LrwiAedInstallation.xml

to the <LoadRunner>\dat directory.

Windows Firewall Considerations

In most Windows environments, Windows Firewall is turned on by default. The firewall does not allow certain LoadRunner components to communicate with each other. The Windows firewall therefore needs to be turned off.

Note: Turning off Windows Firewall increases the risk to your computer's security.

For each process that needs the firewall you can unblock the process by clicking the unblock button in the popup window that indicates that the program needs it, or by manually tuning the Windows firewall from the Exceptions tab.

Notes and Limitations

This section includes notes and limitations for LoadRunner 11.50

Installation

If you have several LoadRunner components installed on one server (for example: VugenSA, Analysis SA), and you uninstall one of the components, after the uninstall completes you must run repair on the remaining components.
You can upgrade between LoadRunner version 11.00 to 11.50. If you have a pre-11.00 version of LoadRunner, you must uninstall it and then install the 11.50 version.

Integration

You must download and install the ALM client via a browser before connecting to ALM via Controller or Analysis.

Integration between LoadRunner 11.50 and QTP 11 is not supported on Windows 2008 and Windows 2008 R2 operating systems.

Mobile

Mobile Sniffer Agent. The Mobile Sniffer Agent included with LoadRunner 11.50 supports the following operating systems:

Windows. Windows XP, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008.
To run the Mobile Sniffer Agent on a Windows operating system you also must install WinPcap. WinPcap should be installed using the default settings of the installer. The following versions of WinPcap are supported:

Version 4.0.2. (can be installed from LoadRunnerInstallationDVD\Additional Components\WinPcap)

Version 4.1.2. (web download)
Mac. Mac OSX 10.6.5
Linux. Red Hat 5 Enterprise

Controller

Secure Channels

You cannot use the Host Security Manager utility to update security settings on UNIX load generators that use rsh (remote shell) to connect to the Controller.

You cannot use the Host Security Manager utility to change the security mode of the load generator located over a firewall from off to on.

When the load generator is located over a firewall, if the load generator and Controller have different security modes, communication cannot be established.

If the Controller machine is using secure channel communication, the MI Listener should not be installed on the same machine as the Controller.

If the Controller machine is using secure channel communication, it will not be able to connect to an HP-UX load generator.

The ALM client should be downloaded via a browser and installed in advance before connecting to ALM from Controller or Analysis.

VuGen Protocols

AJAX (Click and Script)

ActiveX objects and Java applets are only supported on Windows platforms.

Click and script protocols do not support pop-up windows.

When using Windows 2003 R2, Ajax Click and Script steps do not generate after recording.

Workaround: This should work if you disable Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration. It is enabled by default. (Control Panel->Administrative tools->Server manager->Configure IE ESC).

Citrix

Installation of the registry patch is required for the support of all version of Citrix clients over 10.x. Additionally, you need to install Enable_Citrix_API.reg from the LoadRunner\dat folder on Vugen or Load Generator machines if a Citrix Client will be installed after installing LoadRunner.

Running Citrix Vusers on virtual machines may adversely affect performance due to the sharing of physical resources.

Citrix XenApp Desktop cannot be recorded with Citrix Web Access (formerly known as Citrix NFuse) if Desktop View (Desktop Toolbar) is enabled.

Citrix protocol does not support environments that include NetScaler Access Gateway.

Recording a Citrix NFuse script on IE9 is supported from Citrix client version 12.1.0.44.

The Load Generator cannot run Citrix scripts in service mode when the script was recorded using Citrix Client version is 11.2 or higher.

Load Generator cannot be used in service mode for Citrix protocol when the Citrix XenApp client 11.2 is used. Workaround is to use another version of Citrix client"
To successfully record a multi protocol Citrix and Web script on XenApp5 only the SessionToken Citrix correlation rule should be enabled. The Session_Token Citrix correlation rule should be disabled.
Citrix Clients 11.2 and higher do not support the TCP/IP mode in the Citrix > Login node of the Recording Options dialog box.
When recording Citrix Web Access (formerly known as Citrix NFuse) applications, set the window size to "No preference" in the Citrix XenApp web portal preferences page.
Recording Window Size and XenApp Plugin for Hosted Applications 11. The recording window size option does not work properly with the XenApp Plugin for Hosted Applications 11. The size of the client window is installed, but the server screen resolution is not. This is a Citrix Client limitation and will be fixed in future Citrix Client versions.

Workaround: When recording, set the window size equal to the local screen resolution. When replaying/load testing, set the VuGen or Load Generator screen resolution to equal the resolution used when the script was recorded. To verify the recorded resolution, view the Window property in the <Script Folder>\default.cfg file.

Click and Script (All)

Does not support VBScript

Does not support user actions on ActiveX objects and Macromedia Flash.

Scalability is lower than the Web HTML protocol, depending on the size and functionality of the business process.

Replay snapshots may differ from the actual Web page.

Support of right-to-left languages is limited (e.g., bi-directional or reversed text may not be processed as expected). This is defined by the default operating system translation table.

Recording an application in a specific language (e.g., French, Japanese) must be performed on a machine whose default locale (in Settings > Control Panel > Regional Options) is the same language.

The locale of the load-generator machine, including the default non-Unicode character set, must be configured to be the same as that of the recording machine. It cannot be assumed that the UNIX default character set is the same as in Windows, even for US-English machines, and this has to be explicitly verified. For example, the default character set on some UNIX machines, such as Linux, is UTF-8.

The Recording Options dialog box may take a long time to open.

Web (Click and Script) no longer supports replay of Applets and ActiveX objects. This functionality is now part of the AJAX (Click and Script) protocol, and is only supported on a Windows platform.

Flex (RTMP/AMF) Protocol

Flex RTMP Tunneled

If your script contains more than one Flex_RTMP_tunneled_connect step, with the same gateway parameter, you must insert a disconnect step for the previous Flex_RTMP_tunneled_connect step before you connect again. For example:
```
Flex_rtmp_tunneled_connect("connect_step0",
```
```
"SessionId=0",
```
```
"Gateway=http://123.123.123.123:1935",
```
```
.
```
```
.
```
```
LAST);
```
```
.
```
```
.
```
```
.
```
```
Flex_rtmp_tunneled_disconnect("disconnect_step0",
```
```
"SessionId=0")
```
```
 
```
```
flex_rtmp_tunneled_connect("connect_step1",
```
```
"SessionId=1",
```
```
"Gateway=http://123.123.123.123:1935",
```
```
.
```
```
.
```
```
LAST);
```
```
.
```
```
.
```
```
.
```
```
Flex_rtmp_tunneled_disconnect("disconnect_step0",
```
```
"SessionId=1")
```
If a subsequent Flex_rtmp_tunneled_connect command has the same gateway parameter as the previous Flex_trtmp_tunneled_connect step and the Flex_rtmp_tunneled_disconnect step is omitted, the script will pause indefinitely.

GraniteDS (Data Services)

To create a script in GraniteDS, select Use GraniteDS configuration from Recording Options > Flex > Configurations. For code generation and replay, first copy the core and relevant application jar files to the client machine and then specify these files in the Recording Options > Flex > Externalizable Objects node.

The core jars are:
If you have modified the granite-config.xml, copy it to the <LoadRunnerInstallation>\dat directory.
When switching between BlazeDS and GraniteDS parsing (Recording Options > Flex > Configuration), Vugen must be restarted.
LoadRunner cannot serialize both GraniteDS and BlazeDS/LCDS messages in the same script.
Flex RTMP messaging support. All limitations that apply to AMF3 parsing apply to externalizable objects over RTMP.
flex_rtmp_receive_stream step. If the Generate flex_rtmp_receive_stream step option is enabled, all transactions, comments, and rendezvous points that you add from the Recording toolbar are added to the script after the flex_rtmp_receive_stream step in your script.
Web diagnostics does not work for RTMP and RTMPT steps (even when the breakdown is enabled).

Manually Adjusting Recorded Flex RTMP Steps

When the Generate flex_rtmp_receive_stream step option is cleared in the Flex:RTMP pane of the Recording Options dialog box, LoadRunner generates flex_rtmp_receive and flex_rtmp_send steps for every communication with the server. This ensures that user actions such as pause and seek, as well as automatic requests that the client performs when Dynamic Stream is in use, are included in the script, but this method also captures less-necessary lines of code that are difficult to read and may not be reliable during replay.

If you choose to clear the Generate flex_rtmp_receive_stream step option in order to capture user data, follow the instructions below to remove the unnecessary steps from your script.
1. Search for the flex_rtmp_send step containing the initial play argument. For example:
  flex_rtmp_send("send_step2",
  
          "ConnectionID=10",
  
          "Snapshot=tRTMP6.inf",
  
          MESSAGE,
  
          ...
  
          ...
  
          MESSAGE,
  
          ...
  
          ...
  
          "Argument=<arguments><string>play</string><number>0</number><null/>"
  
          ...
  
          LAST);
2. Delete or comment out the flex_rtmp_receive steps that occur during streaming. For example:
  //this is the start of the stream:
  
  //     flex_rtmp_receive("recv_step2",
  
  //         "ConnectionID=10",
  
  //         "Snapshot=tRTMP7.inf",
  
  //         CHANNEL,
  
  //         "ChunkStreamID=2",
  
  //         CHANNEL,
  
  //         "ChunkStreamID=2",
  
  //         CHANNEL,
  
  //         "ChunkStreamID=4",
  
  //         CHANNEL,
  
  //         "ChunkStreamID=2",
  
  //         LAST);
  
  //
  
  //     flex_rtmp_receive("recv_step3",
  
  //         "ConnectionID=10",
  
  //         "Snapshot=tRTMP8.inf",
  
  //         CHANNEL,
  
  //         "ChunkStreamID=5",
  
  //         CHANNEL,
  
  //         ...
  
  //         ...
3. You can also remove certain flex_rtmp_send steps that are not related to user actions, such as "user control message" types. For example:
  //     flex_rtmp_send("send_step3",
  
  //         "ConnectionID=10",
  
  //         "Snapshot=tRTMP9.inf",
  
  //         MESSAGE,
  
  //         "DataType=user control message",
  
  //         "EventType=set buffer length",
  
  //         "MessageStreamID=1",
  
  //         "BufferLength=100",
  
  //         LAST);
4. When you find a flex_rtmp_send step that represents a user action that you want to keep in your script, do the following:
  1. Manually add a flex_rtmp_receive_stream step before the send step.
    
    Make sure that the ConnectionID argument has the same value as the steps you removed above it.
    
    The Snapshot argument is not relevant for the manually added step.
    
    You can use the ContinueToNexStepAfter = <msec> argument to control the minimum play duration of the stream to download before continuing to the next step.
  2. Determine the flex_rtmp_send steps that represent the user actions you want to keep. These will likely include arguments such as pauseRaw, pause, seek and play2 (for Dynamic Stream). For example:
        flex_rtmp_send("send_step5",
    
            "ConnectionID=10",
    
            "Snapshot=tRTMP62.inf",
    
            MESSAGE,
    
            "DataType=command message amf3",
    
            "ChunkStreamID=8",
    
            "MessageStreamID=1",
    
            "Argument=<arguments><string>pauseRaw</string><number>0</number><null/>"
    
            "<boolean>true</boolean><number>12000</number></arguments>",
    
            LAST);
  3. Determine whether there are some extra flex_rtmp_send steps that you can remove. For example, if you dragged a button to seek in the stream, subtle jerks in the motion may be recorded as separate pause and seek actions. In these cases, may not need all of them. Keep only those that describe the desired operations.
  4. Identify the flex_rtmp_receive step that indicates that the server has received the end of the user action. For example:
    //this is the confirmation from the server on the "seek" command.
    
    flex_rtmp_receive("recv_step55",
    
            "ConnectionID=10",
    
            "Snapshot=tRTMP68.inf",
    
            CHANNEL,
    
            "ChunkStreamID=2",
    
            CHANNEL,
    
            "ChunkStreamID=2",
    
            LAST);
5. Repeat steps 2 - 4 for each set of unnecessary receive data and required user actions in your script.

Java (All)

Java Record Replay Protocol: Recording of JMS applications requires JDK version 1.6u32 or lower.

Java over HTTP Protocol: Requires the JDK version 1.5 or higher.

When recording on Internet Explorer 8 using the Java protocol, you must first close all instances of Internet Explorer before LoadRunner opens an Explorer instance for the record session.

Listing Directory Service (LDAP)

If an LDAP version 3 script fails during replay, modify the mldpa_logon_ex statement to specify the version number by adding "Version=3" after "URL=.."

When recording LDAP scripts, the binary parameter values for certain LDAP functions (such as mldap_add or mldap_modify) are not recorded. Recording of binary parameters is part of the protocol's extended functionality and is not supported by VuGen.

Media Player (MMS)

Media Player scripts fail with the error: Error -86801:Host access denied, <hostname> not available or missing.

Workaround: Call the mms_disable_host_check function in all Media Player scripts.

Microsoft .NET

Applications that use the .NET Remoting Framework and are executed in CLR 2 (.NET frameworks 2/3/3.5), might crash during recording. During a crash you will receive a message containing the strings Version=4.x.x.x, and “is not registered for activation”.

Potential Workaround: In the Microsoft .NET: Recording user interface under Support for previous.NET version, select “Emulate previous .NET versions in transport level”, and then record again.

When the application under test retrieves a server-activated object by calling new RemoteObject(), VuGen generates a RemotingServices.Connect function.

Applications using multiple processes or multiple application domains are only partially supported.

Shared DLLs must be specified in the Recording Options only. Changes made in the Run-Time Settings to the list of shared DLLs have no effect.

Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)

Clipboard sharing supports only short simple textual content.

When recording with RDP Agent, applications which were developed using CBuilder may not record properly.

Recording on RDP client versions 6.0, 6.1, or 7.0 will fail if the remote machine is running Windows Server 2008 with terminal services.

Workaround:

When recording a script on a remote machine running Windows Server 2008 with terminal services, use RDP client versions 5.1 or 5.2.

When recording a script on a remote machine running Windows Server 2008 with RDP versions 6.0, 6.1, or 7.0, remove terminal services.

RDP does not support 32 bit color depth. If recording uses this color depth, Vugen automatically switches to a lower color depth and a "[RDP Analyzer Warning ( 790: 418)] 32 bit color depth is not supported, switch to lower one" . warning log item appears in the Recording Window.

Silverlight

REST services do not generate Silverlight service calls. However they can be recorded and replayed.

You cannot edit the WSDL location in the Protocol and Security Scenario dialog box.

The Update button in the Silverlight Service node of the Recording Options dialog box updates the service if the WSDL location has not changed.

If the WSDL location has changed, the service is re-imported (delete service and import service).

Duplex (Polling) Binding for WCF Web Services is not supported.

Silverlight 4 and 5 clients are supported, however applications developed using the new communication features such as net.tcp binding are not supported.

VuGen snapshot viewer does not support Silverlight controls.

The Silverlight Protocol does not support applications which use Japanese, Korean, Simplified Chinese, and Traditional Chinese.

TruClient

TruClient protocol versions. If you edit a TruClient script using a later version of LoadRunner than the one on which you recorded the script, it may fail to replay in some cases.

Before modifying the script, save a backup copy of the script. Workaround: If the replay fails, re-record the script using the latest version of the TruClient protocol.
TruClient. Firefox Security Warning dialog boxes are not displayed in TruClient during script development.
The Ajax TruClient for FF protocol can only be used with applications that support the Mozilla Firefox browser.
The Ajax TruClient for IE requires that IE9 is installed on the server.
TrueClient for will not record "mouse overs" when the element has a CSS rule of "Mouse Hover".

Workaround: Instead of mouse hovering, click the elements to open the drop down (the clicks are recorded).
TruClient protocol step types and arguments are not localized.
Ajax TruClient for IE does not support IP spoofing.
Ajax TruClient for IE does not support modem speed.
TruClient General Strings are not localized in the Japanese version.
TruClient protocol step types and arguments are not localized.
Only scripts from version LoadRunner 11 patch 2 or above can be opened in LoadRunner 11.50 version of vugen.
TruClient FF does not support Kerberos authentication. If the server also supports NTLM, TruClient FF will automatically move the authentication to NTLM and continue working.

Web Services

For large SOAP envelopes, Record and Replay snapshots are disabled.

The Import SOAP feature is not supported for envelopes containing a single element larger than 500KB.

Recording requests with attachments or security is not supported.

For Axis toolkit, Web service calls that include both attachments and security are not supported.

For .NET toolkit, SOAP version 1.2 is not supported for asynchronous calls.

You can enter text strings up to 10 KB to encode to base 64. If your string is larger, use the Get from file option.

VuGen supports Web Service messages over JMS message Queue, but does not support JMS Topics.

JMS Bindings Extensions are not supported.

All services in your script should have the same security scenario. This can be configured via the Protocols and Security tab.

Asynchronous Web Service calls and custom user handlers are not supported for WCF.

LoadRunner cannot replay scripts containing the soa_xml_validate function.

When using "update service", steps that are already in the script will not display the updated properties (in the step argument view) until you close and reopen the app. After you reopen the app, step arguments are updated.

If the script is open when performing "update service", then on the script view arguments, the app throws an exception.Workaround: Close the script file while running "update service", or reopen the test after running "update service".

A Web Service script might not open when you import the WDSL with the Axis toolkit. Workaround: Import the WDSL with the .Net toolkit.
If there is a problem recreating the scripts, do the following:
1) Create a new test.
2) Import the WSDL using .net toolkit.
3) Go to the directory of the new script.
4) Copy the folder "WSDL" and paste it on the directory of the old script.
5) In the directory of the old script open the 'default.cfg' file
6) Under [WebServices] header, instead of "Toolkit=Axis" write "Toolkit=.Net"
When you import a WSDL file into a Web Services script whose name contains non-English characters, if there are errors in the file, the error report is empty.

Workaround: Rename and save the script using only English characters.

Protocol SDK:

Supports 32-bit and 64-bit OS MSIs for LoadRunner, VuGen and PC-Host only.
Supports only 32-bit OS MSIs for PC-Server.
For LoadRunner, VuGen, and PC-Host, PatchAddin support is for TARGETDIR files only.

SAP (Click and Script)

You cannot define transactions to measure time of a subset of steps performed in a modal dialog.

During recording, if a user double-clicks on a tree-view tree cell outside of its text, VuGen records "Select" instead of "Activate." This results in a missing POST in replay.

If the list of retrieved values contains a scroll bar, you cannot select an item that requires scrolling in order to retrieve from the server.

Scalability is lower than the SAP Web protocol, depending on the size and functionality of the business process.

Does not support the Replace with Alternate Navigation run-time setting.

In certain SAP environments (such as 6.20 and 6.40), the replay fails for tests that call the web_element function and select an element whose tag name is "TD".

WAN Emulation

There is no backward compatibility between the current LoadRunner/WAN Emulation integration and any previous integrations.

The integrated 3rd party software may not comply with accepted Internationalization (I18N) conventions.

Selecting either Use bandwidth, or Use custom bandwidth in the Network: Speed Simulation node in the Run Time Settings, may interfere with the WAN Emulation settings and could lead to unexpected behavior.

WAN Emulation is disabled if the host used as the Load Generator is also used as the Controller.

WAN Emulation is not supported if the load generator is running on a UNIX platform.

Web (HTTP/HTML)

In previous versions of LoadRunner, the C type "char" is considered as "signed char". In LoadRunner 11.50 and up it is considered as "unsigned char". This means that if the user used "char" without specifying whether it is signed or unsigned, and performed arithmetic operations on this variable, then the results may be different when comparing LoadRunner 11.50 to old LoadRunner versions.

Web Click and Script

When using Windows 2003 R2, Web click and script steps do not generate after recording.

Workaround: This should work if you disable Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration. It is enabled by default. (Control Panel->Administrative tools->Server manager->Configure IE ESC).

Protocol Support Matrix

Support Matrix

Protocol	Async supported	IPv6 supported	64-bit recording supported
AMF		X
Citrix Nfuse		X
DNS		X
Flex	X	X
FTP		X
IMAP		X
Java Over HTTP		X	X
LDAP			X
Microsoft .Net			X
Mobile HTTP		X
Mobile TruClient		X
Multi Winsock		X	X
Oracle (2-Tier)			X
Oracle NCA		X	X
POP3		X
RDP		X	X
RTMP
SAP – Web			X
Siebel Web			X
Silverlight	X	X
SMTP		X
TruClient FireFox		X
TruClient Internet Explorer		X
Click and Script family		X
Web (HTTP/HTML)	X	X	X
Web Services	X	X	X

Protocol Support Limitations

Async

In all the protocols that support it, asynchronous recording will only be applied to web_* steps.

IPv6

Support for IPv6 is available for the protocols shown in the table above. The support for Web HTTP protocol has the following limitations:

FTP from Web is not supported
Web Breakdown is not supported
Kerberos is not supported
Spoofing from Web is not supported
PAC file is not supported
An explicit IP (in IPv6 format) in a URL argument cannot be used. For example, the following step will fail in replay:

web_url("IPv6",

      "URL=http://[2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334]/",

      "Resource=0",

      "RecContentType=text/html",

      "Referer=",

      "Snapshot=t1.inf",

      "Mode=HTML",

      LAST);

64bit recording

The environment for 64bit recording must be as follows:

Windows 7 x64
New VuGen x32
AUT x64
Script is Multi-protocol

In general 64-bit applications ported from a 32-bit client version should work identically to the 32-bit client.

However, there is a small risk that new clients will use the power of native 64-bit apps. For example, when using 64-bit long types for Identifiers in DB tables, the identifier value will be cut and the query will fail.

There are also specific limitations/requirements for some of the protocols, as described in the table below:

Protocol	Limitation
Java Over HTTP	JVM 32-bit must be installed for Replay to work.
Microsoft .Net	There are two available 64-bit types for .Net apps (AnyCPU and pure 64-bit). LoadRunner only supports AnyCPU. There is currently no solution for pure 64-bit apps. For Replay, LoadRunner uses the same AnyCPU dlls that were used for Recording. Note: With LoadRunner 11.50 prerequisites .Net Framework 4 should be installed. This package carries both versions of the libraries for 32 and 64 bit systems.
Oracle (2-Tier)	Both 32-bit and 64-bit clients need to be installed (the 32-bit client is for Replay needs).

VuGen

SAP (Click and Script) recording. During recording, if you use a keyboard option instead of a UI element (for example, pressing Enter instead of clicking the log on button), the step may not be recorded. In general, when recording your script, it is recommended to use UI elements rather than keyboard options.

Citrix snapshots. Black snapshots may appear during record or replay when using Citrix Presentation Server 4.0 or 4.5 (before Rollup Pack 3).

Possible workaround: On the Citrix server select Start Menu > Settings > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Terminal Services Configuration > Server Settings > Licensing and toggle the Per User/Per Device.

For the following protocols, replay is supported, but recording is no longer supported: Siebel DB2, Siebel MSSQL, Siebel Oracle, and Voice XML.

In Test Result reports, you can only use the Export to HTML file utility for scripts replayed in version 9.50 and later. To generate an HTML report for scripts created with earlier versions, run the script again in the 9.50 version (or later) of the product.

If you terminated the Protocol Advisor immediately after the detection process started, the Protocol Advisor may leave a hung process of the detected application, causing all recordings and detection sessions that follow to fail.

Workaround: Manually terminate the hung process.

The new Web snapshot model is backward compatible with previous versions of LoadRunner, however some snapshot data may be missing. If this occurs, regenerate the script.

The JSON Data Format Extension does not work in UNIX environments.

For protocols using XML, replay fails to create a request when a parameterized input argument contains the ampersand (&) character.

Replay of COM script in VuGen fails when the dll registration is missing the "ThreadingModel" string under the InprocServer32 folder of the GUID.

You cannot open a script if its full file path contains non-English characters.

When replaying a script recorded on the HP WebTours application, set the run-time settings to work with no proxy.
If you open an HP site in the embedded browser and the site is not included in the trusted sites list, you will be prompted to add the site to the trusted sites list and after adding the site will receive a script error.

General

To run LoadRunner on Windows 7 or Window Server 2008, you must have Administrator privileges and User Account Control (UAC) must be disabled.

It is not recommended to install and uninstall a Load Generator standalone installation on the same machine with a VuGen standalone installation.

The Load Generator cannot run Citrix scripts in service mode when the script was recorded using Citrix Client version 11.2 or higher.

The Agent icon does not appear in Windows 2008 when the LoadRunner Agent service is launched.

When LoadRunner Agent runs as service (magentservice.exe), files that are stored on remote network drives or referred to by UNC path cannot be accessed (script, parameter file, etc.). If you want to access files this way, run the LoadRunner Agent as process (magentproc.exe). If this is not possible, please contact Customer Support.

The RealPlayer protocol is deprecated as of LoadRunner 11.50. In the next version, it will be discontinued.

The WAP protocol is deprecated as of LoadRunner 11.50. In the next version, it will be discontinued.

On the LoadRunner server, Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration must be disabled to view help content. It is enabled by default. (Control Panel->Administrative tools->Server manager->Configure IE ESC).

HP Service Test 11.2 cannot be installed on top of a LoadRunner 11.50 installation.
Workaround: Install Service Test 11.2 first then LoadRunner 11.50
In LoadRunner 11.50 Correlation (RBC, Rule and Comparison) support for Siebel protocol is disabled.
When using Windows 2008 R2 and opening a snapshot from the step navigator in SAP GUI and Web protocols, the snapshots might not open automatically. Workaround: Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration must be disabled to view help content. It is enabled by default. (Control Panel->Administrative tools->Server manager->Configure IE ESC).
Recording on 64-bit O/S’s for 32-bit, and for 64-bit apps (running as a 64-bit application) is supported. Replay is only at 32-bit. See the support matrix and limitations above for more information.
Firefox. If Firefox is set as the default browser, Obtain the proxy settings from the default browser (Run-time Settings > Internet Protocol > Proxy) does not work, and a direct connection is used.
Data Format Extensions. A script that includes a DFE can only run on a load generator hosted on a Windows platform.
If you have implemented your own version of DFE, the definition of class HTTPEntity in DfeDefinitions.h file has been updated in LoadRunner 11.50. All customer's DFE extensions need be recompiled. (NO code change is required).
For Single WinSock scripts from LoadRunner 11, the recording log is not displayed in VuGen 11.50.
If you are using a PAC file for proxy configuration, it is required that the PAC script directs 127.0.0.1 to a direct connection and not through a proxy.

GUI Vusers

LoadRunner supports GUI Vuser scripts created using HP QuickTest. GUI Vuser scripts created in WinRunner are no longer supported.

Windows Load Generator machines can only run one GUI Vuser at a time. To run multiple GUI Vusers in a load test, you need to open a terminal server session for each GUI Vuser. For more information, see the HP LoadRunner Controller User Guide.

SiteScope

If you are configuring the SiteScope System Resources Graph (System Resources Graphs > SiteScope), you cannot specify a specific SiteScope user account. LoadRunner uses the default SiteScope Administrator user.

If you want to configure SiteScope monitoring with a SiteScope account other than the default SiteScope Administrator account, you need to explicitly assign a group with monitors to that account in SiteScope.

Analysis

Analysis currently supports Microsoft SQL Server versions 2005 and above.

If you are using Microsoft SQL Server 2000, you need to either migrate Analysis data, or upgrade to Microsoft SQL Server 2005. The following tasks describe how to perform the migrating and upgrading procedures:

To migrate legacy Analysis data to a SQL 2005 server:

From the SQL Server Management Studio, using Object Explorer, connect to an instance of SQL Server Database Engine.
Expand Databases, right-click Analysis database, select Tasks\Copy Database.
Follow the instructions in the wizard.
To upgrade SQL 2000 to SQL 2005:
Backup Analysis database on the SQL 2000 (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc966495.aspx)
Uninstall SQL 2000.
Install SQL 2005.
Restore Analysis data from backup. (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms177429(SQL.90).aspx)

If you are using your own policy in an MS SQL server, you may need to add your own account to the Analysis database template (in the <LR Installation>\bin\dat folder).

When exporting Analysis reports to MS Word, take into account that the content load may affect the table format within the document. The RTF format is recommended.

The following Analysis default settings have been modified: Include Think Time is disabled and Display summary while generating complete data is enabled.

There is a limitation with MS Access and SQL queries when filtering a large number of transactions (greater than 100).

Even after running the <Language> User Interface Pack, the Analysis UI data generated from the sample session (in the <LR Installation>\tutorial folder) will display in English. Filtering the graphs will fail. Workaround: Re-generate the graphs and then the corresponding language from the <Language> User Interface Pack will display and filtering will work.

Multilingual Support

Language Packs

LoadRunner User Interface Pack. While installing the Language Pack a warning message may be displayed that the HP LoadRunner Launcher Process is in use.

Workaround: Click Continue to continue the installation.

The language pack of .Net Framework needs to be installed to show the localized strings.

Tutorial scripts. After the Language Pack installation, all sessions and scripts in \HP\LoadRunner\tutorial are still in English.

LoadRunner User Interface Pack. If you are working with a LoadRunner User Interface Pack, it is recommended that you install it before running LoadRunner for the first time.

Menus and toolbars. If you install a LoadRunner User Interface Pack after running LoadRunner for the first time, the menus and toolbars may not get translated.

Workaround:

Close LoadRunner and delete the following folder from the registry: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\<Folder Name>, where <Folder Name> is the drive on which you installed LoadRunner.

For example, if LoadRunner is installed on the C drive, the registry folder name would be: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\C:

Restart LoadRunner.

Report Templates in Analysis. If you install a LoadRunner User Interface Pack after running LoadRunner for the first time, the Report Templates in Analysis (Reports > Report Templates) may not get translated.

Workaround:

Close LoadRunner and copy the files from: <LoadRunner User Interface Pack CD root>\Reporting to folder <LoadRunner installation folder>\bin\dat\Reporting.

Restart LoadRunner.

Non-Localized LoadRunner on Foreign Language Operating Systems

Language support. LoadRunner only supports English and the native language of the machine's operating system. For example, if you are using Japanese Windows XP, you can work with LoadRunner in Japanese and in English.

Installation path. The path in which installation files for LoadRunner are located, and the path in which LoadRunner is installed, can contain only English characters.

Diagnostics add-in. To use the Diagnostics add-in with Controller on a computer with a non-English operating system the Diagnostics_9.0_8.0_LR_Addin_QCCR1I52206 hotfix should be installed. For further assistance, contact HP customer support.

.NET Framework 3.5 failure. Installing LoadRunner on a localized machine may result in a failure in the .NET Framework 3.5 installation process, and you will be asked to terminate the installation. This happens because the .NET 3.5 Framework installation attempts to download the Framework Language Pack but fails.

Workaround: Terminate the LoadRunner installation according to the Installation wizard's instructions and invoke the LoadRunner installation again.

Online Help. The search functionality may not function as expected for strings that contain Chinese/Japanese characters (except Japanese full-width Katakana).

Workaround: Add a half-width space after each character in the search string.

Online Help. For optimum performance of the online Help, you should install the latest JRE.

Japanese characters in Web (HTTP/HTML) scripts. If you set the advanced recording option to specify the encoding of an application, and the application uses different character encoding for different pages, then the recording log or script may display invalid Japanese characters. This does not cause any errors in the script replay.

Non-breaking spaces in Web protocols for Far Eastern languages. A non-breaking space (      `\xA0', etc.) cannot be represented in some Far Eastern locale character sets (in which it is considered a lead byte). Instead, non-breaking spaces are converted to regular spaces (` `, `\x20', etc.), both during script code generation and replay. This may cause replay problems, such as mismatches in length due to eliminating multiple regular spaces.

Workaround: To work around this issue, either:

Remove/add space(s) from/to the script so the comparison succeeds.

Specify regular expressions to avoid the issue.

Standalone installations. The installation interface of the VuGen and Analysis standalone are in English and not localized.

Flex AMF call properties. Multibyte symbols in Flex AMF call properties will be corrupted in the script text view.

ODBC protocol and Oracle-2T protocols. When recording a script in VuGen using the ODBC or Oracle-2t protocols, if you stop the recording while the AUT is still open, VuGen may crash.

Workaround:

Close LoadRunner.

Open the file <LoadRunner installation folder>\dat\protocols\options\script\general.opt in a text editor.

Comment out the following line by adding a semicolon at the beginning of the line:

Option=DumpProcesses

So it looks like this:

;Option=DumpProcesses

PDF report. In Analysis, a PDF report may be generated with unreadable characters if it contains non-English characters.

Workaround: Before you generate the PDF file, change the font in the Report Template that you are using.

Select Reports > Report Templates.

Select the template that you want to use.

In the Detailed Report section, select the Format tab.

For each UI element in the list, change the font to the desired font that supports the language in which the report is written.

Diagnostics add-in. Using the Diagnostics add-in with Controller on a computer with a non-English operating system is not supported.

Workaround: Install the Diagnostics add-in with Controller on a computer with an English operating system. The generated results can be viewed with a localized version of Analysis. For further assistance, contact HP customer support.

HP Software Support

You can visit the HP Software Support Web site at:

http://www.hp.com/go/hpsoftwaresupport

This web site provides contact information and details about the products, services, and support that HP Software offers.

HP Software online software support provides customer self-solve capabilities. It provides a fast and efficient way to access interactive technical support tools needed to manage your business. As a valued support customer, you can benefit by using the support site to:

Search for knowledge documents of interest

Submit and track support cases and enhancement requests

Download software patches

Manage support contracts

Look up HP support contacts

Review information about available services

Enter into discussions with other software customers

Research and register for software training

Most of the support areas require that you register as an HP Passport user and sign in. Many also require a support contract. To find more information about access levels, go to:

http://h20230.www2.hp.com/new_access_levels.jsp

To register for an HP Passport ID, go to:

http://h20229.www2.hp.com/passport-registration.html

Legal Notices

Confidential computer software. Valid license from HP required for possession, use or copying. Consistent with FAR 12.211 and 12.212, Commercial Computer Software, Computer Software Documentation, and Technical Data for Commercial Items are licensed to the U.S. Government under vendor's standard commercial license.

The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.

Trademark Notices

Java is a registered trademark of Oracle and/or its affiliates.

Microsoft® and Windows® are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

Oracle® is a registered US trademark of Oracle Corporation, Redwood City, California.

UNIX® is a registered trademark of The Open Group.

All about application performance and test automation

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Browser Rendering vs Repaints vs Reflows

Friday, October 22, 2010

JANOVA - Web Based Testing Tool

Thursday, October 21, 2010

HP - Loadrunner 11.50 (New Version)

HP LoadRunner Readme

for the Windows operating system

Software version: 11.50

Publication date: June 2012

What's New in LoadRunner 11.50

Installation and Configuration Information for LoadRunner 11.50

Prerequisite Software

System Requirements for VuGen, Controller, and Analysis

Load Generator for Windows System Requirements

Load Generator for UNIX System Requirements

System Requirements for the MI Listener

Product Compatibility

Pre-Installation Notes and Limitations

Windows

UNIX

Virtual Environment Installation

Diagnostics for J2EE/.NET Requirements

ContentCheck in Multilingual Environments

Windows Firewall Considerations

Notes and Limitations

Installation

Integration

Mobile

Controller

Secure Channels

VuGen Protocols

AJAX (Click and Script)

Citrix

Click and Script (All)

Flex (RTMP/AMF) Protocol

Java (All)

Listing Directory Service (LDAP)

Media Player (MMS)

Microsoft .NET

Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)

Silverlight

TruClient

Web Services

Protocol SDK:

SAP (Click and Script)

WAN Emulation

Web (HTTP/HTML)

Web Click and Script

Protocol Support Matrix

Support Matrix

Protocol Support Limitations

64bit recording

VuGen

General

GUI Vusers

SiteScope

Analysis

Multilingual Support

Language Packs

Non-Localized LoadRunner on Foreign Language Operating Systems

HP Software Support

Legal Notices

About Bharath Marrivada

Join to get new post updates

Hits Location

Topics

Hits Counter

Search

Lijit Search

Blog Archive

Subscribe To

Nibbler

Twitter

Popular Posts

Facebook Activity Feed

Total Pageviews

Feedjit

Pages