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Performance Testing with JMeter 2.9
Performance Testing with JMeter 2.9

Performance Testing with JMeter 2.9: If you want to use JMeter for performance testing your software products, this book is a great starting point. You'll get a great grounding in all the fundamentals and gain a wealth of new skills along the way.

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Performance Testing with JMeter 2.9

Chapter 2. Recording Your First Test

JMeter comes with a built-in proxy server (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proxy_server) to aid you record test plans. The proxy server, once configured, watches your actions as you perform operations on a website, creates test sample objects for them and eventually stores them in your test plan; that is, a JMX file. JMeter gives you the option of creating test plans manually, but this is mostly impractical for recording most testing scenarios. You will save a whole lot of time using the proxy recorder, as you will see in a bit.

So without further ado, let's record our first test! For this, we will record the browsing of JMeter's own official website as a user would normally do. For the proxy server to be able to watch your actions, it will need to be configured. This entails two steps:

  1. Setting up the HTTP proxy server within JMeter.

  2. Setting the proxy in the browser.

Configuring the JMeter HTTP proxy server


The first step is to configure the proxy server in JMeter. To do this, we follow the following steps:

  1. Start JMeter.

  2. Add a Thread Group by right-clicking on Test Plan and navigating to Add | Threads (User) | Thread Group.

  3. Add the HTTP Proxy Server element by right-clicking on WorkBench and navigating to Add | Non-Test Elements | HTTP Proxy Server.

  4. Change the port to 7000 (under Global Settings).You can use a different port if you want to. What is important is to choose a port that is not currently used by an existing process on the machine. The default is 8080.

  5. Go to Test Plan | Thread Group under HTTP Proxy Server (under the Test plan content | Target Controller section). This allows the recorded actions to be targeted to the thread group we created in step 2.

  6. Choose the option Put each group in a new transaction controller under HTTP Proxy Server (under Test plan content | Grouping section). This allows you to group a series of requests as constituting...

Setting up your browser to use the proxy server


There are several ways to set up the browser of your choice to use the proxy server. We'll go over two of the most common ways, starting with our personal favorite, which is using a browser extension.

Using a browser extension

Google Chrome and Firefox have vibrant browser plugin ecosystems that allow you to extend the capabilities of your browser with each plugin you choose. For setting up a proxy, we really like FoxyProxy (http://getfoxyproxy.org/). It is a neat add-on to the browser that allows you to set up various proxy settings and toggle between them on the fly, without having to mess around with system settings on the machine. It really makes the work hassle free. Thankfully, FoxyProxy has a plugin for Internet Explorer, Chrome, and Firefox. If you are using any of those, you are in luck; go ahead and grab it!

Changing the system settings

For those who would rather configure the proxy natively on their operating system, we have provided...

Anatomy of a JMeter test


With the samples we have explored so far, we have seen a similar pattern emerging. We have seen what mostly constitutes a JMeter test plan. We'll use the remainder of this chapter to explore the anatomy and composition of JMeter tests.

Test Plan

Test Plan is the root element of the JMeter scripts and houses the other components, such as Threads, Config Elements, Timers, Pre-Processors, Post-Processors, Assertions, and Listeners. It also offers a few configurations of its own.

Firstly, it allows you to define user variables (name-value pairs) that can be used later in your scripts. It also allows us to configure how the Thread Groups it contains should run; that is, should Thread Groups run one at a time? As test plans evolve over time, you'll often have several Thread Groups contained within a test plan. This option allows you to determine how they run. By default, all Thread Groups are set to run concurrently. A useful option when getting started is Functional Test...

Summary


We have covered quite a lot in this chapter. We have learned how to configure JMeter and our browsers to help record test plans. In addition, we have learned about some built-in components that can help us feed data into our test plan and/or extract data from server responses. In addition, we have learned what composes a JMeter test plan and got a good grasp on those components. In the next chapter, we will dive deeper into form submission and explore more JMeter components.

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Key benefits

  • Create realistic and maintainable scripts for web applications
  • Use various JMeter components to achieve testing goals
  • Removal of unnecessary errors and code compilation
  • Acquire skills that will enable you to leverage the cloud for distributed testing
  • Effectively monitor server resources during performance testing
  • Extend JMeter functionality by installing plugins

Description

Performance testing with JMeter 2.9 is critical to the success of any software product launch and continued scalability. Irrespective of the size of the application's user base, it's vital to deliver the best user experience to consumers. Apache JMeter is an excellent testing tool that provides an insight into how applications might behave under load enabling organizations to focus on making adequate preparations. Performance Testing with JMeter 2.9 is a practical, hands-on guide that equips you with all the essential skills needed to effectively use JMeter to test web applications using a number of clear and practical step-by-step guides. It allows you take full advantage of the real power behind Apache JMeter, quickly taking you from novice to master. Performance Testing with JMeter 2.9 begins with the fundamentals of performance testing and gets you acquainted with JMeter. It will guide you through recording realistic and maintainable scripts. You will acquire new skills working with tools such as Vagrant, Puppet, and AWS, allowing you to leverage the cloud to aid in distributed testing. You will learn how to do some BeanShell scripting and take advantage of regular expressions, JMeter properties, and extension points to build comprehensive and robust test suites. Also, you will learn how to test RESTful web services, deal with XML, JSON, file downloads/uploads, and much more. Topics like resource monitoring, distributed testing, managing sessions, and extending JMeter are also covered. Performance Testing with JMeter 2.9 will teach you all you need to know to take full advantage of JMeter for testing web applications, dazzle your co-workers, and impress your boss! You will go from novice to pro in no time.

Who is this book for?

This book is for developers, quality assurance engineers, testers, and test managers new to Apache JMeter, or those who are looking to get a good grounding in how to effectively use and become proficient with it. No prior testing experience is required.

What you will learn

  • Set up and prepare Apache JMeter for testing
  • Record test scenarios or create them from scratch
  • Test RESTful web services
  • Effectively monitor resources during a performance test
  • Maintain and manage user sessions
  • Distributed testing using Vagrant, Puppet, and AWS
  • Extend JMeter functionality through plugins
  • Understand and effectively use JMeter components to achieve testing needs
  • Build realistic, comprehensive, and maintainable test plans
  • Capture form submissions and appropriate handle server responses

Product Details

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Publication date : Jul 26, 2013
Length: 148 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781782165842
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Product Details

Publication date : Jul 26, 2013
Length: 148 pages
Edition : 1st
Language : English
ISBN-13 : 9781782165842
Vendor :
Apache
Category :
Languages :

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Table of Contents

7 Chapters
Performance Testing Fundamentals Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Recording Your First Test Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Submitting Forms Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Managing Sessions Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Resource Monitoring Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Distributed Testing Chevron down icon Chevron up icon
Helpful Tips Chevron down icon Chevron up icon

Customer reviews

Top Reviews
Rating distribution
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Half star icon Empty star icon 3.5
(13 Ratings)
5 star 30.8%
4 star 30.8%
3 star 7.7%
2 star 23.1%
1 star 7.7%
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Zofia Nowinska Apr 26, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
I was looking for a book which help me to learn more about new version of JMeter and prepare training for my colleagues.I found this book a very good source of information, with practical advices in performance testing, with examples from real world.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Yinka Erinle Oct 05, 2013
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
For anyone that has ever tried to read the JMeter documentation, you will agree it leaves you wanting. Look no further because this book fulfills that desire.Although it is not the first book on JMeter, it is certainly the one with the most current and relevant information in regards to leveraging the power of the tool for modern software stacks.Chapter 1: Begins by detailing a performance issue on a website that occurred due to a sudden surge in web traffic, a scenario that is commonly known as been slashdotted or techcrunched (Articles on any of these sites can significantly increase traffic to a website mentioned in the article). Then the book makes the case for performance testing, explains what is, where it fits in the SDLC process and why we should care.Chapter 3: Walks you through scenarios that are required for testing a web application by showing ways to tame any form elements on a web page. Also explains how to go about testing RESTful services, handling JSON or XML.Chapter 6: On distributed testing is full of amazing useful information, you learn how to configure a test involving multiple slave nodes on the same machine, the author walks you through the process of setting up and using vagrant to do this. While your mouth is still wide opened digesting the new possibilities you now have available in ensuring your application can handle concurrent requests and load, the author kicks it up a notch by showing you how to use the same configuration in the cloud (AWS).It's amazing the amount of information the author manages to deliver in 200+ pages.The book has so many useful tips and I firmly believe it is currently the best resource on JMeter.If you are working with JMeter or plan to, do yourself a favor and get this book.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
hakbox android Aug 15, 2014
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
This book is great for a quick refresher if you haven't used JMeter in a while. It's also great for people who have not used JMeter before, as it gives some very basic and easy to understand step by step instructions on getting setup to run your first load and performance tests. It also covers some more advanced topics, albeit at a very high level.
Amazon Verified review Amazon
SuJo Sep 20, 2013
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon 5
Performance Testing with JMeter 2.9[...] - Pact Publishing If you are a web developer then you also know how important it is to stress test your applications, I have never used JMeter before, keeping that in mind I had a really fun and exciting adventure with reading this book. I was able to setup the test environment in order to utilize JMeter, the source code provided by the publisher worked without any errors. When you are developing your web applications it's important to stress test and check for bottlenecks before you set the project to go live, JMeter allowed me to check my code for these issues and previously I would have not been able to do that, so my code would go live and if a bottleneck occurred I would have to analyze everything without the use of a tool, typically I'd check my database, then I would try to see where I could optimize my code, talk about a lot of wasted time! One thing that I would love to let you know that I took away from reading this book was setting up a monitor controller in JMeter, it's so important to monitor a server, but even more important to check the load the server is dealing with, you can then track peak times and optimize for those spikes with previous data samples. So check your threads and know exactly where you're bottleneck is occurring!
Amazon Verified review Amazon
Tim Koopmans Oct 02, 2013
Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Full star icon Empty star icon 4
It's great to see another JMeter book from Packt Publishing, and this title is an improvement to the original [...]I felt it is aimed at beginner to intermediate users, and it would be good to see a follow up title with some more advanced topics (cookbook recipe style perhaps?) to fill the gap.Having said that, this is a great companion book for those getting started with JMeter and will save them a lot of hassle navigating the current online docs for JMeter.The use of vagrant with puppet/aws provisioning is interesting, although distributed testing on the cloud is covered well by providers such as Flood.ioNot sure this book will take you from novice to pro but I will be recommending it to new users of JMeter in future.Well done Bayo
Amazon Verified review Amazon
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