Service Response Monitor › Test Management › Create Tests › Virtual User Tests

Virtual User Tests

The Virtual User test plays back a recorded WinTask script. This test web site enables you to obtain continuous availability and response time data for real user transactions.

Before you create Virtual User tests, you must do the following:

• Verify that SystemEDGE on the target system is able to interact with the desktop.
• Verify that the allow_scripts directive exists in the svcrsp.cf file and that it is not commented out. (Remove the pound sign (#) in front of that line if one exists.)
• Install the WinTask runtime agent and the script you want to run on the system(s) that will run the test.
• Make sure that you have an active (unlocked) desktop open to run scripts.

Consider the following items when you run Virtual User tests:

• You can run Virtual User tests only on Windows systems.
• You cannot run Virtual User tests in a Citrix environment.
• If you are setting up tests for more than one script on the same system, edit the svcrsp.cf file to set maxthreads=1. This setting eliminates the possibility of SRM attempting to run more than one script on the same system simultaneously. You can set this variable during the SRM installation, or by manually editing the svcrsp.cf file.
• If you set a test interval in Advanced options, verify that the setting for the Statistics Window is greater than the Test Interval and, ideally, is a multiple of that value. For example, a Test Interval of 60 and a Statistics Window setting of 300.

Options and Arguments

Virtual User tests require the following specific options and arguments:

• Script Path. The full path and file name to the WinTask executable and the WinTask script that you want to run. Enter the path to the WinTask executable first, followed by a space character and then the path to the script. Be sure to use backslashes (\) when you specify the full path.
• Target Host. (Optional) The hostname of the system on which to run the script.

  Note: IPv6 addresses can be used, but they must be embedded in brackets, for example [0aff::230:6eff:fe4b:51db]:8080. Here 0aff::230:6eff:fe4b:51db represents the IPv6 address and 8080 represents the port number.

• Target Port. (Optional) The port on the target system where the script can run.
• Run as User. (Optional) The user name required to run the script, if the script must run as a specific user.

  Note: The user must be a local user (no domain login) and must have the ability to log on as a service. Set the capability in Windows as follows: Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Local security policy > Local Policies > User Rights assignment > Log on as a service.

• Password. (Optional) The password for the user that is running the script. SRM stores the password in encrypted form.

  Note: If you specify values for hostname and port, SRM attempts to connect to the system and port through TCP Connect. If the connections are successful, it attempts to execute the script on the specified system and port. If you do not specify hostname and port, SRM does not provide the DNS name resolution or connect times.

• Domain. (Optional) Domain for the user who is running the script.

Specify these options and arguments when you create or modify tests.

Example

Use this example to create a test that monitors the amount of time required to run a script (C:\myScripts\playback_script.rob) on the port 8080 of mySystem every 120 seconds. This script must run as the user myVUser with a password of VUser123. The test waits up to 10 seconds for a successful response and calculates response time and availability statistics over the last 3600 seconds (1 hour).

To create a new test in a policy

1. Click + (New) on the Test Monitors toolbar.

   The New test pane appears.

2. From the Test Type list, select Virtual User.
3. In the Description field, specify vuser_test.
4. In the Test Name field, specify VUser Test.
5. In the Test Interval field, specify 120.
6. In the Test Timeout field, specify 10.
7. In the Samples Per Interval field, specify 1.
8. In the Statistics Window field, specify 3600.
9. In the Script Path field, specify C:\wintask\bin\wintask.exe C:\myScripts\playback_script.rob.
10. In the Target Host field, specify mySystem.
11. In the Target Port field, specify 8080.
12. In the Run as User field, specify myVUser.
13. In the Password field, specify VUser123.
14. Accept defaults for all other fields.
15. Click Save Test.

When you commit your changes, SRM adds an entry similar to the following to the svcrsp.cf file:

{ 
index=21 
type=vuser
desc="vuser_test" 
dest="C:\WinTask\bin\taskexec.exe C:\WinTask\Scripts\notepad.rob" 
args="" 
interval=60 
samples=1 
timeout=15 
window=300 
tos=0 
limit=0 
status=active 
name="VUserTest"
class=""
context=""
flags="1"
loglevel=1
}

Errors and Availability Measurements

SRM records information about Virtual User test errors in two fields: Results Field and Error Code to help you differentiate between SRM errors and errors that the WinTask application is encountering.

The following table explains how the error codes affect availability measurements. The Results Field provides the value that WinTask returns, and the Error Code field provides the Service Availability error code.

Note: When the Error Code column is 2, the Results Field column displays the error code that was returned by the taskexec.exe application.

For information about errors you may encounter when running Virtual User tests, see Virtual User Test Error Codes.