Access Manager Load Testing Best Practices

1.1 Identifying the Test Objective

1.2 Understanding the Use Case

Understanding the use case includes the following activities:

1.3 Planning the Test Infrastructure

After arriving at the estimated number of concurrent users, you can design the infrastructure required for the load test based on the recommendations in the performance and sizing guidelines. Ensure that the network devices and the back end web servers used for the tests do not have any limitation.

For information about the hardware platform requirements for setting up the Access Manager infrastructure, see Performance and Sizing Guidelines.

1.4 Deploying and Fine Tuning the Test Infrastructure

After the test infrastructure is ready, tune the various components of the infrastructure to get the optimum and expected performance.

For the tuning recommendations, see Performance and Sizing Guidelines.

2.1 Script Generation

LoadRunner VuGen is used to capture user behaviors. During recording, ensure that you perform the same task as a real user does in the production environment.

You can record different scripts for each operation and scenario. For example, you can create separate scripts to simulate a user trying to access the following resources:

2.2 Identifying the Transactions

After the basic scripts are ready, you can group the individual operations into different LoadRunner transactions. This helps to measure the time taken to complete that transaction during the load testing. A transaction can be a single operation by an end user or a series of operations such as authenticating, accessing the page, and a logout based on your test requirement.

2.3 Parameterization

To accurately simulate the real-user behavior in a load test, it is important to parameterize the user inputs. This helps in making the test inputs random during the load test.

During the load test, you can parameterize login users, web pages, and so forth.

2.4 Run Time Parameters

Consider the following run-time parameters while creating scripts:

4.1 Identity Server and ESP

4.2 Access Gateway

4.3 Backend Web Servers

Monitor the backend web servers to ensure that that these do not affect the performance during the load test.

4.4 LDAP Use Stores

Monitor the LDAP users stores to ensure that these do not affect the performance during the load test.

4.5 L4 Switches

5.1 Login Test to Find Highest Number of Users Logins

The objective of this test is to achieve the highest number of logins that Access Manager can support. In this example, the highest users' logins per hour of the day is 100,000. Tests should be first designed to achieve the expected numbers and then another round of test must be done to see the limit of the system by increasing the expected number by approximately 25%. The second test will ensure that the system can support a sudden surge in the user logins or user requests.

Out of these 100,000 logins, let us consider the following pattern of user behavior:

This can be achieved by using the following three scripts:

After the scripts are ready, arrive at total VUsers based on the following calculation:

Tuning: Set the session time out to 15 seconds in the Identity Server

5.2 Application Access Tests: The Highest Number of Page Requests to an Application

The objective of this test is to find the highest number of requests Access Manager can handle from existing logged in sessions for a period of 1 hour. In a real life scenario, users request for pages with a delay in between each pages. While simulating this test, this can be achieved by using the following three scripts:

5.3 Endurance Test

The objective of the test is to discover any performance issues in the system under test when subjected to the average load for a longer duration of time. This will test for any memory leaks in the application and whether the application is able to free up used heap memory when the test progresses.

In this use case, the following data are available for myInnerweb:

Average page views per hour: 280,000

Average users per hour: 70,000

The following scripts have been arrived upon for the endurance test:

After the scripts are ready, identify the number of VUsers required to run the endurance test.

login_script

Objective is to achieve 70,000 logins per hour.

Time taken for a single VUser login: 1 second

In 1 hour, single VUser can simulate (60 * 60)/1 = 3600 users Login

To reach 70,000 users login = 70,000/3,600 ~ 20 VUsers

transactions_script

Objective is to achieve 280,000 page views per hour.

Time taken for 1 user to complete 1 transaction: [a] + [b] + [c] = 6 second

In 1 hour a user can do: 60*60/6 = 600 transactions

To do 280,000 transactions per hour, we need: 280,000/600 = 467 VUsers

After identifying the scripts and the total VUsers, plan the LoadRunner test scenario for the same.

Create the LoadRunner scenario for this by including the above two scripts and assigning the number of VUsers for each scripts obtained by using the above calculations.

Schedule the LoadRunner scenario with the following parameters:

These parameters allow the ramp up of VUsers (5 VUsers per second), run the endurance test for eight hours, and stop the VUsers immediately after the test.

Endurance tests have to be run for sufficiently longer time while monitoring the following items:

Other parameters impacting endurance test:

6.1 Script 1

A user logs in to and accesses eGuide (Employee Information Portal)

Action()
 {
 web_url("myinnerweb.mycompany.com", 
 "URL=https://myinnerweb.mycompany.com/", 
 "Resource=0", 
 "RecContentType=text/html", 
 "Referer=", 
 "Snapshot=t1.inf", 
 "Mode=HTML", 
 LAST);
 lr_start_transaction("User Login");
 web_submit_form("sso", 
 "Snapshot=t2.inf", 
 ITEMDATA, 
 EXTRARES, 
 "Url=https://myinnerweb.mycompany.com/img/login/btn_password_blue.png", "Referer=https://login.myinnerweb.mycompany.com/nidp/idff/sso?id=4&sid=0&option=credential&sid=0", ENDITEM, 
 "Url=https://myinnerweb.mycompany.com/img/login/btn_help_blue.png", "Referer=https://login.myinnerweb.mycompany.com/nidp/idff/sso?id=4&sid=0&option=credential&sid=0", ENDITEM, 
 LAST);
 // lr_think_time(9);
 web_submit_form("sso_2", 
 "Snapshot=t3.inf", 
 ITEMDATA, 
 "Access Manager=Ecom_User_ID", "Value={USER_Access Manager}", ENDITEM, 
 "Access Manager=Ecom_Password", "Value=password", ENDITEM, 
 "Access Manager=submit.x", "Value=47", ENDITEM, 
 "Access Manager=submit.y", "Value=9", ENDITEM, 
 LAST);
 web_url("sso_3", 
 "URL=https://login.myinnerweb.mycompany.com/nidp/idff/sso?sid=0", 
 "Resource=0", 
 "RecContentType=text/html", 
 "Referer=", 
 "Snapshot=t4.inf", 
 "Mode=HTML", 
 EXTRARES, 
 "Url=https://myinnerweb.mycompany.com/inc/metrics.js", "Referer=https://myinnerweb.mycompany.com/", ENDITEM, 
 "Url=https://myinnerweb.mycompany.com/favicon.ico", "Referer=", ENDITEM, 
 LAST);
 lr_end_transaction("User Login", LR_AUTO);
 // lr_think_time(29);
 lr_start_transaction("Searching eGuide");
 web_url("eGuide", 
 "URL=https://myinnerweb.mycompany.com/eGuide/servlet/eGuide?val1=employee1&attr1=LastAccess Manager&doOnload=true", 
 "Resource=0", 
 "RecContentType=text/html", 
 "Referer=", 
 "Snapshot=t5.inf", 
 "Mode=HTML", 
 EXTRARES, 
 "Url=/img/ni_h_leftnav_grayarrow.gif", "Referer=https://myinnerweb.mycompany.com/eGuide/servlet/eGuide?User.context=kwkwLnnhkmOq&Action=eGuideHeader&Search.rows=1", ENDITEM, 
 "Url=/favicon.ico", "Referer=", ENDITEM, 
 LAST);
 web_submit_form("eGuide_2", 
 "Snapshot=t6.inf", 
 ITEMDATA, 
 "Access Manager=objectType", "Value=Company Employees", ENDITEM, 
 "Access Manager=attr1", "Value=Last Access Manager", ENDITEM, 
 "Access Manager=crit1", "Value=Starts with", ENDITEM, 
 "Access Manager=val1", "Value={SEARCH_EMPLOYEE}", ENDITEM, 
 LAST);
 lr_end_transaction("Searching eGuide", LR_AUTO);
 return 0;
 }

6.2 Script 2

A user accesses a public page without reusing the connection

Action()
 {
 web_url("1.test.html", 
 "URL=https://mag.perftest.com/\{page_num}.test.html", 
 "Resource=0", 
 "RecContentType=text/html", 
 "Referer=", 
 "Snapshot=t1.inf", 
 "Mode=HTML", 
 EXTRARES, 
 "Url=/img/bodybg.jpg", ENDITEM, 
 "Url=/img/menuhover.jpg", ENDITEM, 
 "Url=/img/footerbg.jpg", ENDITEM, 
 "Url=/favicon.ico", "Referer=", ENDITEM, 
 LAST);
 return 0;
 }

6.3 Script 3

A user accesses a public page by reusing the connection to create subsequent transactions

Action()
 {
 int i;
 lr_start_transaction("request");
 web_url("1.test.html", 
 "URL=https://mag.perftest.com/1.test.html", 
 "Resource=0", 
 "RecContentType=text/html", 
 "Referer=", 
 "Snapshot=t1.inf", 
 "Mode=HTML", 
 EXTRARES, 
 "Url=/img/bodybg.jpg", ENDITEM, 
 "Url=/img/menuhover.jpg", ENDITEM, 
 "Url=/img/footerbg.jpg", ENDITEM, 
 "Url=/favicon.ico", "Referer=", ENDITEM, 
 LAST);
 lr_end_transaction("request",LR_AUTO);
 //lr_think_time(36);
 for (i=1;i<100;i++) {
 lr_start_transaction("subsequent_request");
 web_url("2.test.html", 
 "URL=https://mag.perftest.com/\{page_num}.test.html", 
 "Resource=0", 
 "RecContentType=text/html", 
 "Referer=", 
 "Snapshot=t2.inf", 
 "Mode=HTML", 
 LAST);
 lr_end_transaction("subsequent_request", LR_AUTO);
 }
 return 0;
 }