Model Archive (MAR) Overview

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Model Archive (MAR) Overview

The main deployment artifact is a type of file referred to as a Model Archive (MAR). The file extension is .mar.

The MAR files contain the following items:

A primary asset
All secondary files that are necessary to run the primary asset
An info file
An audit file

The MAR files are created from files in a project. After a MAR file is created, it is independent of the project.

Contents of a MAR

MAR files contain one of the following primary assets:

Test case
Suite
Virtual service
Test case monitor
Suite monitor

MAR files also contain any secondary files that the primary asset requires.

For example, if the primary asset is a virtual service model, the MAR file also contains a service image.

In addition, MAR files contain the following files:

You can specify that a MAR file be optimized. When the MAR file is built, only those project files that are required will be added. However, you can also configure an optimized MAR file to include one or more non-required project files.

If a MAR file is not optimized, all the project files will be added.

Note: An archive is typically held in memory. Therefore, the use of optimized archives is highly encouraged.

MAR Info File

MAR info files contain information that is necessary to create a MAR. The file extension is .mari.

The information that is specified in a MAR info file depends on the type of primary asset.

Primary Asset	Information Specified
Test case	Test case, configuration file, and staging document
Suite	Suite and configuration file
Virtual service	Virtual service model, configuration file, concurrent capacity, think time scale, and auto restart flag
Test case monitor	All the information specified for a test case, plus the service name, notification email, priority, and run schedule
Suite monitor	All the information specified for a suite, plus the service name, notification email, priority, and run schedule

MAR info files are located in the Tests, Suites, or VirtualServices folder of a project. When you use the stage/deploy related options, a MAR info file is created but not saved.

The examples project contains MAR info files that you can review.

MAR Audit File

MAR audit files contain metadata about the creation of a MAR. The file extension is .maraudit.

The following metadata is included in a MAR audit file:

The date and time when the MAR was created.
The name of the computer on which the MAR was created.
The root directory of the project the MAR was created from.
The name of the user that created the MAR.