opensta FAQ

OpenSTA FAQ
1.What is OpenSTA?

􀁺OpenSTA HTTP/S Load–Open System Testing Architecture–Load testing is the only available module

􀁺Open source software –freely distributed

􀁺Enables performance testing of–Web applications–Other apps that use HTTP protocol

􀁺Available at http://www.opensta.org


Creating Scripts

Creating Scripts

􀁺Record interactions with a web server

–Gateway records requests and responses

–Can record HTTPS transactions

–Automatically captures cookies

–Saves original web content

Add timers to measure tasks

Modify submitted data

Modify wait times

OpenSTA Scripts
􀁺Scripts recorded in SCL language

–Fairly simple coding language

–Limited built in functions

–Can write own functions in include files

􀁺Good variable management

–Different variable scopes

–Random or sequential lists

–Variable generation
Who is OpenSTA designed for?

Where did OpenSTA come from?

Is OpenSTA really free?

Who are the people involved in OpenSTA?

Where can I find out more about OpenSTA?

How should parts of OpenSTA be referred to?

Is OpenSTA easy and intuitive to use?

What is a good place to start reading about Http?

What is a good place to start reading about performance testing?

Getting and Installing OpenSTA

What do I need to install OpenSTA? including what Operating Systems it installs on.

What is the minimum hardware I can run OpenSTA on?

Where do I obtain OpenSTA?

What version should I download/install? including what the versions represent.

How do I install OpenSTA?

Help and Support using OpenSTA

Where can I get support for OpenSTA?

I need support urgently, what should I do?

Can I buy a ''commercial style'' support package?

Where can I find information about the OpenSTA mailing lists? including how to subscribe and unsubscribe

How can I easily search through all the publically accessible OpenSTA information? including mailing list archives

What help is there for me to learn OpenSTA?

Are there any Local OpenSTA User Groups?

Using OpenSTA

Where can I obtain documentation about OpenSTA?

What are the components making up OpenSTA?

What hardware do I need for testing? i.e. how many virtual users are supported by my hardware?

Can OpenSTA be used for functional/regression testing?

Can the OpenSTA tools be used from the command line (in batch mode)?

What OpenSTA key concepts and terminology will help me use it?

Can I record/replay browser based file uploads?

What database software does OpenSTA work with?

Recording

How does recording work?

How do I record a Web transaction(HTTP) for OpenSTA?

What do I do if I have problems recording?

I'm not able to record HTTPS traffic. How do I do this?

How do I record through my own Proxy?

How can I make a recording using a browser that the Modeler doesn't start? including browsers on remote machines

Can I make a recording from a HTTP client that is not started by the OpenSTA
Modeler?

including other browsers and applications which are not browsers

Can I record browser activity on a host that doesn't have OpenSTA installed?

Can I insert custom timers whilst recording

Why might the Modeler not start a browser for recording?

What are these strange proxy settings in my browser and how did they get there?

ScriptModeler seems to record hardcoded cookies instead of dynamic ones - what to to?

What are the limitations of the OpenSTA recording mechanism?

Why do my recordings all use HTTP/1.0 when I am using a modern HTTP/1.1 capable browser?

Scripting

What is SCL?

How do I use unprintable characters in SCL?

How do I extract content from a HTML page to my script? OR How do I validate my results

How do I make my Script log into my Web site with many different username/password combinations? OR MUTEX and data iterating example

How do I synchronize my VU's at specific points? using semaphores

How does the file handling in SCL work?

How do I use SCL file variables?

How do I create SCL variables using a Database?

Where can I find example SCL code?

How do I correctly handle http redirections in SCL? Handling response codes 30x

How does OpenSTA handle URL-encoded session identifiers

How do I improve the efficiency of my SCL?

What HTTP specific commands does SCL have?

How do I embed variables in strings in SCL?

What does DOM, DOM Signatures and DOM Addressing mean?

How do I define variables with regards to scope and manipulation?

How do I model a script so that it can be run against more than one host?
How does OpenSTA handle the DotNet ViewState?


How does OpenSTA handle a Web Page that uses Struts?

What happened to the REQUEST_TIMEOUT in older OpenSTA SCL scripts?

Test Configuration

How do I add a Script or Collector to a Test?

Why am I getting no ''Page Timers''? Or what are these Page Timers?

Is there a better explanation for the ''introduce users in batches'' options?

Collectors

What is a Collector?

SNMP

What can an SNMP Collector do?

I'm new to SNMP, what does this all mean?

?How do I make OpenSTA aware of a custom MIB?

NT/W2K Performance

What can an NT Performance Collector do?

I can't get an ''NT/W2K Performance'' working, what should I do?

How do I access Performance Monitor Counters without admin rights on the server?

Which Performance Monitor Counters should I use?

Playback

What hardware do I need for testing? i.e. how many virtual users are supported by my hardware?

What is a VU?

I am getting errors in my script, what do I do now?

My playback is successful (HTTP 200 OK) but the script isn't doing what I expect including my database isn't updated!

How do I distribute my load generation across many machines?

The script always uses the same cookie for every VU. What's wrong?

During Playback, I experience Error 10048 Address already in use. What's wrong?

I'm getting Request time out for VU ... because my requests seem to take too long. Can I parameterize the time for a request timeout?

How does OpenSTA display the pages during playback?

Can a single playback machine simulate users appearing to come from different IPs?

Can the VUs be made to playback as if they were operating over a bandwidth limited connection?

Is there any System or OpenSTA specific tuning I can do to improve playback efficiency?

I have problems establishing HTTPS connections during playback

How do I make OpenSTA use URL-encoded session identifiers

How does OpenSTA handle the DotNet ViewState?

Results

Can I define my own custom timings to include in the Results?

How can I do further analysis on the Results?

What are the meanings of the graphs?

What are these InjectorStatus messages at the end of the Test Error log

How can I find the cause of errors?

Problems with OpenSTA

How do I know if an error is due to OpenSTA or the Application Under Test?

What extra runtime information (tracing) can be output to help finding problems?

I've found a bug, what do I do?

What are OpenSTA's known limitations?

What are the known problems with the current release of OpenSTA?

Real meanings of error messages (and what to do about them)

Commander GUI - Cannot Start the HTTP Modeler?

Test Error Log: No data available for connection id?

Test Error Log: InjectorStatusImpl: ... Could be TG stopped or completed?

Test Error Log: Error 10048: ... one usage of each socket address?

Test Error Log: Error 10060: ... connection attempt failed ... did not properly respond after a period of time.?

Modeler/Test Audit Log: ... FAILED PROCESSING TOF ... : CECListVar::get_value

Modeler/Test Audit Log: ... HTTPRESPONSE (HTML parser): unresolved variable for connection ...

Modeler/Test Audit Log: ERROR: FAILED PROCESSING TOF RECORD FOR SCRIPT LINE ...
Recorded Script: ... Unsupported protocol packet received : cannot continue - page will have failed to display during recording.

Developing OpenSTA and its future

Where can I get the OpenSTA sources? Including other CVS hints

What do I need to build OpenSTA?

How do I build OpenSTA from the source?

I've fixed a bug/made an enhancement in OpenSTA, what should I do?

How can I help?

OpenSTAs relationship with the money driven world

If OpenSTA is free how can I be charged money for it?

Are there any parts of OpenSTA I have to pay for?

I have commercial offerings related to OpenSTA, can I advertise here and in other OpenSTA resources?

Are there any hard copy books related to OpenSTA?

Where can I purchase an OpenSTA support contract?

Where can I purchase OpenSTA training?

Where can I find skilled OpenSTA consultants?

Where can I find staff proficient in OpenSTA?

Can I pay for an OpenSTA enhancement/fix?

Can I donate money/time/resources/people/food/animals to help OpenSTA
progress?