New in HP Load Runner 9.10

What's New in HP Load Runner 9.10

Version 9.10 is based on the 9.0 release, and provides the following feature enhancements and fixes. For more details about these features, refer to the online documentation.
Controller

The Controller Classic Scheduler provides the opportunity to create a simple scenario schedule without the real-life schedule emulation features. Users can access the Classic Scheduler from the Controller interface, and continue working with the scheduling features in the same way that they worked prior to the new versions.
New Protocol
Flex

LoadRunner 9.10 supports the Flex 2.0 framework with the Flex protocol. Using this technology, LoadRunner records and replays underlying protocols, including AMF3. This allows you to test full Flex applications, or applications that use Flash components.
Protocol API and SDK

HP Performance Validation SDK (Software Development Kit) provides you with the tools to create a custom protocol. The protocol enables LoadRunner to record and run load tests on a previously unsupported application. As part of he QME (Quality Management Extensibility program), the SDK allows you to expand LoadRunner and create a record and replay protocol to fit your unique performance testing requirements.
Enhancements to Existing Protocols
Ajax (Click and Script)

* Added support for two new frameworks: Scriptaculous and GWT
o Scriptaculous version 1.7.0, prototype 1.5.0
o Scriptaculous version 1.8.0, prototype 1.6.0
o GWT 1.4
* Added support for two controls of ASP .NET Ajax:
o Auto Complete
o Tabs

AMF (Adobe's protocol for Flash applications)

* Added support for AMF0 and AMF3 Adobe transport protocols

RTE (Remote Terminal Emulation)

* RTE supports SSL and SSH2 for all emulations. Supports Ericom PowerTerm 9.1. For more information about Ericom's Terminal Emulation Support, refer to their Web site:

http://www.ericom.com.

RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol - Terminal Emulation)

* Added support for text-related clipboard operations
* Added support for connecting to a Windows XP system
* Added support for connecting to open sessions
* Added support for multiple recorded images in synchronization steps in Tree View
* Added support for starting a specified program on connection
* Provides enhanced synchronization support
* Run-Time Viewer now shows Vusers running on the Controller machine and on remote load generators

Web Services and SOA

* Enhanced XML schema type support:
o Added support for Derived types in design, record, and replay
o Support for optional parameters. You can indicate whether or not to include them in the SOAP request.
o Support for Base64Binary in design, record, replay, and Service Emulation
* The "Save returned value as parameter" option allows you to pass runtime XML parameters from one Web Service call to another.
* An Operations tab lists all of the WSDL's operations and indicates whether they are being called by the script.
* JMS Enhancements
o Expanded Replay log includes JMS calls request/response messages, headers, and content
o Automatic generation of the correlation ID
o Inclusion of the SOAPAction element in the request JMS headers
o Handling of one-way functions that do not return results.
* Enhanced Reporting
o Provides details about Web Service calls. The reports also display the request and response header and body for each call.
o The report documents the contents of the lr_output_message and lr_error_message functions.
* Enhanced support for I18N
* Support for ACORD Web services

Installation and Configuration Information

LoadRunner requires prerequisite software to be installed before LoadRunner installation. The LoadRunner installation detects any missing prerequisite software and launches the necessary installation prior to LoadRunner installation. The prerequisites include:

* MSI 3.1 (Windows Installer)
* .NET Framework 2.0
* WSE 2.0 SP3 for Microsoft .NET
* WSE 3.0 for Microsoft .NET
* MSXML 6.0 Parser
* VC++ 2005 Redistributable
* Microsoft Data Access Components 2.8 SP1

Environment

* Supports the Windows 2003 SP2 operating system.
* Supports 64-bit machines.
* The LoadRunner DVD includes the HP Diagnostics Profiler.
* Load Generator machines support the Windows Vista operating system. The other LoadRunner components do not support this operating system.

Replaying a VB Vuser on a load generator machine with Windows Vista requires administrator privileges.

Installation Requirements

* Requires Pentium III or higher (Pentium IV recommended) at 1 GHz or higher (2.4 GHz recommended).
* Supports Windows XP Professional SP2 with Firewall disabled, Windows 2003 SP2 (Standard and Enterprise editions), and Windows 2003 R2.
* To use Windows 2003 with a HASP plug, download Aladdin's latest HASP driver (01/05).
* HP LoadRunner does not support Intel Hyper-Threading technology. Hyper-Threading can be disabled in the BIOS. For more information, refer to:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/docs/hyperthreading.doc.
* LoadRunner load generator is supported on following UNIX Operation Systems: Solaris 9 (2.9) and 10 (2.10), HP-UX 11i V2, IBM AIX 5.2 and 5.3, RedHat Linux Advanced Server 4.0 FP 5 and 5.0
* LoadRunner supports Vmware version ESX 3.0 and is certified for the following Windows platforms: XP SP2, and 2003 SP2.
* To install LoadRunner on a Windows platform, you must log in as a Local Administrator.
* LoadRunner requires Internet Explorer 6.0 SP1 or later.
* LoadRunner requires 1 GB of memory.
* LoadRunner requires 2 GB of Hard Disk Space.
* PeopleSoft Tuxedo monitor requires Tuxedo workstation client, version 6.3 or later.
* LoadRunner does not support installation via terminal service. Installation must be performed at the destination machine.
* Do not install LoadRunner on a machine which has an installation of HP Performance Center.
* If you are running McAfee or Aladdin's eSafe anti-virus applications, close them before installing LoadRunner.
* Diagnostics for J2EE/.NET requirements:
o The Mediator should be installed on a load generator machine that resides in the same LAN as the Controller and Probe machines.
o A unique transaction name must be used for each scenario.

Product Compatibility

LoadRunner 9.10 is compatible with the following HP product versions:

* HP Quality Center versions 9.0, and 9.2
* HP QuickTest Professional versions 9.0, and 9.2
* HP WinRunner version 9.2
* HP Diagnostics versions 6.6 and 7.0 (included in the LoadRunner package)
* HP SiteScope versions 8.8, 9.0, and 9.01 (included in the LoadRunner package)

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 DVD:

..\lrunner\lrunner\WebInfra.nt\setup\international\\dat\LrwiAedInstallation.xml

to the \dat directory.
Windows Firewall Considerations

If you're running Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Windows 2003, 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.

To turn off Windows Firewall:

1. Open Start > Control Panel > Windows Security Center (not in Advanced look of control panel).
2. Click Windows Firewall.
3. In the General tab select 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.

HP-UX

To run LoadRunner on HP-UX platforms, you must first install two HP patches, PHSS_17225 and PHSS_17872, which upgrade the C++ libraries. These patches are also available on HP's site.

1. Login as user root.
2. Copy PHSS_17225 and PHSS_17872 (from the patch directory of the LR installation) to the /tmp directory.
3. Run "sh PHSS_17225" - this creates two files: PHSS_17225.text and PHSS_17225.depot.
4. Run "swinstall -x matchtarget=true -s PHSS_17225.depot" After the patch installation, the system will be rebooted.
5. Run "sh PHSS_17872" - this creates two files: PHSS_17872.text and PHSS_17872.depot.
6. Run "swinstall -x matchtarget=true -s PHSS_17872.depot"

Oracle NCA Forms Support

Support forms 4.5, 6, and 9. Please refer to the HP Virtual User Generator User's Guide for configuration instructions for forms 4.5.
SAPGUI Support

* Requires an installation of SAPGUI for Windows client version 6.20 or later.
* Uses the latest patch for the SAPGUI for Windows client. The lowest supported level is version 6.20 patch 32.
* Scripting must be enabled on the client and server machines. The installation automatically enables scripting on Load Generator machines. For information on enabling and disabling scripting, see the HP Virtual User Generator User's Guide.
* Client Notifications must be disabled. The installation automatically disables notifications on Load Generator machines. For information on enabling and disabling notifications, see the HP Virtual User Generator User's Guide.
* To run 50 Vusers, the load generator machine requires a single CPU running at a minimum of 700 MHZ with 512 MB memory.

Additional SAP Information

To access additional information about SAP, refer to the following:

SAP Web site - http://www.sap.com

SAP Patches - https://websmp104.sap-ag.de/patches
GUI Vusers

* LoadRunner is compatible with WinRunner version 9.2. If you have an older version of WinRunner, remove this installation and install the latest version.
* Before you begin working with WinRunner and LoadRunner, install the mandatory patch located in the LoadRunner patches directory. This directory contains a read me file with installation instructions. WinRunner and LoadRunner will not work together without this patch.
* Windows Load Generator machines can only run one GUI Vuser at a time.
* To enable running GUI vusers when IP spoofing is enabled, edit the mdrv.dat file on the load generator machine as follows: Add two additional options to the ExtraCmdLineOverwrite attribute in the [control_winrunner] section: -WinInet No -ModemSpeed 57600
* To run GUI Vusers on a remote load generator machine, make sure that the LoadRunner agent is configured to run as a process. To check the current configuration, move your mouse over the Agent's icon in the Task bar area, and read the description. To change the configuration, see "Working with the LoadRunner Agent" in the Troubleshooting chapter of the LoadRunner Controller User's Guide.
* GUI Vusers cannot download Flash (*.swf) resources.

Updating a Citrix Agent

To uninstall or install a new version of the HP Citrix Agent, you need to stop the agent's drivers.

To install a new Citrix Agent:

1. Open a command prompt and run the command: sc stop paldrv. This step is only required for Windows XP and 2003.
2. Choose Start > Settings > Control Panel > Add Remove Programs and uninstall the Citrix Agent.
3. Restart the machine.
4. Open a command prompt and run the command: sc stop paldrv. This step is only required for Windows XP and 2003.
5. Run the HP Citrix Agent, CitrixAgent.exe, from the Additional Components/CitrixAgent folder on the LoadRunner DVD.
6. Restart the machine.

Version 9.0 Features

LoadRunner 9.0 Feature Videos

HP LoadRunner contains video presentations describing new features. To view the videos, you must download the Camtasia(c) coder. To download Camtasia coder, click here.

* VuGen Enhancements: To view a video of this feature, click here.
* LoadRunner Scheduler: To view a video of this feature, click here.
* Defining Service Level Agreements: To view a video of this feature, click here.
* Service Level Agreements in Analysis: To view a video of this feature, click here.

LoadRunner Version 9.0 Features
VuGen 9.0

* Provides a Business Process Report (Microsoft Word format) that summarizes the VuGen script.
* The User-Defined Template enables you to save a script with a specific configuration as a template. You can then use this template as a basis for creating future scripts.
* Parameter simulator for File type parameters simulates the parameter substitution in an actual scenario.
* The script editor contains many enhancements, including Find in Files, and support for a custom comparison tool.
* Supports an XML viewer for .NET & Java protocols.

Controller 9.0

* New Scheduler
o The new scheduler features help to create load test scenarios that closely simulate real world behavior.
o The Scheduler provides a flexible method of creating a test scenario, using both a grid and an interactive graph.
o During a scenario, the Scheduler graph displays Scheduler progress.
* Supports a secure (SSL) connection to the load generators.

Service Level Agreements

A new SLA Wizard helps to define goals or service level agreements (SLAs) for the performance metrics. When you run a scenario, LoadRunner gathers and stores performance-related data. When you analyze a run, Analysis compares this data against the SLAs and determines SLA statuses for the defined measurements.
Analysis 9.0

* Enhanced layout provides an intuitive way to view analysis data, including controller output messages.
* Analysis reports allow you to view Service Level Agreement details and investigate the behavior of problematic transactions.
* Provides detailed reports for transactions that exceeded the SLA. This simplifies the process of pinpointing the problem.
* The Word Report is enhanced with script thumbnails and a copy of the Summary Report.

New Protocols 9.0
New Click and Script Protocols

Click and Script is a new approach to Web load testing. It introduces a GUI-level scripting API, and an extremely quick way to generate load testing scripts.
SAP (Click and Script)

o Creates GUI-level scripts that emulate SAP applications over the Web.
o Supports the following SAP technologies and environments: ITS6.20, ITS6.40, Enterprise portal 7, WebDynpro.

Ajax (Click and Script)

o Creates GUI-level scripts that create scripts that emulate AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) enabled applications.
o Provides support for Microsoft's ASP .Net AJAX UI widgets.

RDP - Microsoft Terminal Services

Provides record/replay of the actions of a client communicating with a server using the Microsoft Remote Desktop (RDP) protocol.

* New support for record and replay of terminal services
* Supports Microsoft clients for Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows 2003, and Windows Vista (RDP 4.0 – RDP 6.0)
* Supports Windows 2000 and Windows 2003 servers (Vista is not supported)
* Robust image synchronizations, based on smart image processing techniques, handle moderate differences between recorded and replayed images.
* Includes a run-time viewer of the replay session

Java and JMS

New unified protocol for testing all supported Java environments: JMS (new), CORBA, RMI and JACADA and custom.

* Provides new functionality for recording JMS applications supporting Weblogic 8.1, Websphere MQ 6.0 and TIBCO Enterprise Message Service
* Supports asynchronous callbacks
* Supports JDK 1.5 and 1.6
* Improved handling of undefined objects

Enhancements to Existing Protocols 9.0
Web (Click and Script)

* With Web (Click and Script) you will save valuable scripting time. The easy-to-use script eliminates the need for correlation.
* New intuitive API functions describe user actions on Web objects (button, text link etc.).
* In tree view, the steps are grouped according to their pages.
* In snapshot viewer, the object corresponding to the active step is highlighted.
* Provides support for record and replay of Modal Dialogs.

Web Services and SOA

* Provides a new way of creating scripts to test Web Services by analyzing server traffic capture files.
* Service Management allows importing WSDLs from files, URLs, UDDI registries, and Service Test Management add-in for Quality Center. Provides the ability to automatically update WSDLs from their source.
* Implements checkpoints to determine if your service performed correctly.
* Provides the ability to configure the transport level for messages: HTTP/S or JMS.
* Provides the ability to import existing SOAP messages to VuGen scripts.
* Supports XML parameters, enabling you to replace an entire XML structure with a single parameter.
* Supports asynchronous messaging with WS Addressing.
* Security enhancements support SAML tokens for signature and encryption messages.

Microsoft .NET

Provides record/replay of applications that were created in the .NET Framework environment.

* Supports .NET Framework 2.0 and 3.0.
* Provides built-in support for the following environments: ADO.NET, .NET Remoting, Enterprise Services and Windows communication Foundation (WCF).
* Supports C# and provides improved Visual Studio integration.
* Provides recording options for managing and creating custom filters in customized environments.

MMS (Multimedia Messaging) Protocol

This protocol provides the ability to send and download MMS messages as well as receive notifications over SMPP transport. New functions were introduced for creating, sending, receiving, and downloading MMS messages.
AMF

This protocol provides the ability to record and replay of AMF (Adobe Action Message Format) Version 0 (zero), a Macromedia proprietary protocol that allows Flash Remoting binary data to be exchanged between a Flash application and an application server over HTTP.
Citrix

Citrix Vuser scripts emulate the Citrix ICA protocol communication between a Citrix client and server.

* Improved script replay stability and predictability.
* New bitmap synchronization replay error management compares bitmap synchronization errors as they occur, and adds the necessary changes to the the script in a single click.
* Improved text trapping and text synchronization algorithm, including showing the synchronization area in a snapshot.
* Improved tree view, including replay snapshots and additional options in the context menu.
* New ctrx_execute_on_window function (replaces ctrx_set_exeption) enables usage of wildcard characters (*) in the window caption.
* Supports Metaframe server 3.0 and Metaframe server 4.0
* Supports Citrix client 9.x and 10.0

WAP

* Supports recording using the new multi-protocol mechanism.
* Records any type of WAP application/simulator.
* VuGen automatically recognizes the application/simulator settings and uses them during recording.
* Supports WSP, HTTP proxy, and HTTP direct modes as configured in the application/simulator.

Mailing Services

Added SSL support for LDAP, FTP, POP3, SMTP & IMAP protocols.
Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Add-In

Full support for creating, replaying, and debugging scripts from Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 - C#, VB.NET or C++.
License 9.0

This version incorporates a new licensing mechanism with two main modifications:

o The Vuser types are now divided into "protocol bundles". Each license will be issued with these new bundles instead of the traditional Vuser groups.
o The entire set of LoadRunner monitors is now licensed without any additional charge.

The new license is fully backward compatible, aside from the following three protocols:

o SAP - Web. Requires a new license for working with this protocol.
o PeopleSoft. Requires a new license for working with this protocol.
o Palm. Requires a new license for creating new scripts with this protocol.

For all other protocols, you can continue working with your old license keys. Any new license keys will be issued in this new format. Contact your sales representative or HP Customer Support for upgrading your current license keys or any additional information.
Limitations
General

Windows XP SP2 and Windows 2003 contain a Data Execution Prevention (DEP) feature which may cause VuGen to stop recording. If you experience unusual behavior during recording in these environments, modify the DEP settings.

To modify the Windows DEP settings:

1. Open Start > Control Panel > System.
2. In the Advanced tab, click Performance settings.
3. In the Performance Options Data Execution Prevention tab, select the first option, DEP for essential services only.
4. Click OK to save the settings.
5. Reboot the machine.

LoadRunner Agent

* For Windows Vista users: When running a LoadRunner Agent on a Load Generator machine, it is recommended that you restart your machine after installing LoadRunner, before running Vusers.
* For Windows Vista users: When running the LoadRunner Agent service, the Agent Configuration will not restart the agent service if it is already running. To manually restart the Agent service, Choose Start > Administrative Tools > Services. Select the LoadRunner Agent service and choose Stop from the right-click menu. Restart it by selecting the LoadRunner Agent service and choosing Start from the right-click menu.

Microsoft .NET

* 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.

Web Services

* In Tree view, VuGen cannot display the properties for steps containing simple values for any_object type arguments.
* You cannot change the order of the user handler in scripts that use .NET or Axis toolkits.
* Vuser scripts using the .NET toolkit that were created on a machine with .NET Framework 2.0, must be replayed on a machine with the same version of .NET Framework.
* The recording of requests with attachments or security is not supported.
* For the .NET toolkit, attributes are viewed as elements in the API of web_service_call, but they are sent as attributes in the soap request.
* Importing services from different Quality Center projects or instances into a single script is not supported.
* The shortcut keys of the editing operations (Cut, Copy, Paste, Delete) do not work with a right-click in the XML Checkpoints grid. Use the Window's right-click menu for these operations.
* Referenced WSDLs that are located on the file system are not supported. When importing services, if the WSDL imports another WSDL, make sure that the import is specified by a URL, and not a location on the file system.
* It is recommended not to make any changes to a test that is currently open in Quality Center, either from VuGen, or from a different instance of Quality Center.
* VuGen only supports Web Service messages over JMS message queues, but not topics

WAP

* Cannot record in secure mode. Workaround: Record script in non-secure mode and then replay it in secured mode.
* Cannot replay a script in connection-less mode.

Web (Click and Script)

* Does not support VBScript
* No longer supports replay of Applets and ActiveX objects. This functionality is now part of the new AJAX (Click and Script) protocol
* 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 slightly 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)
* Recording of an application in a specific language (e.g., French, Japanese) must be performed in a machine whose default locale (in Settings > Control Panel > Regional Options) is the same language
* Load generator machines must have exactly the same default locale as the recording machine
* UNIX load generator machines are not supported for locales other than U.S. English

SAP (Click and Script)

* Cannot define transactions to measure time of a subset of steps done 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, cannot select an item that requires scrolling in order to get it 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.

Citrix ICA

* When using ICA files in the NFUSE environment, the ctrx_disconncet_server function does not accurately obtain the name of the server. This does not affect the replay. You can manually modify the server name.

Microsoft Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)

* This protocol was not tested on AMD platforms.
* Clipboard sharing supports only short simple textual content

Ajax

* auto_complete control with the Select operation does not work on script.aculo.us versions prior to 1.8

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=.."

Japanese Characters in HTTP/HTML Web 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.
Support

You can visit the HP Software Support Web site at:

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

HP Software online support provides an efficient way to access interactive technical support tools. As a valued support customer, you can benefit by using the support site to:

o Search for knowledge documents of interest
o Submit and track support cases and enhancement requests
o Download software patches
o Manage support contracts
o Look up HP support contacts
o Review information about available services
o Enter into discussions with other software customers
o 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