Monday 24 February 2014

Troubleshooting the Astra Load Test Monitor

How the Monitor Works

The monitor will run the script in the Astra LoadTest (ALT) application. It is running through perfex, and will spawn an mdrv process to execute the script. Perfex is required so that the mdrv process will be created with the credentials supplied in the ALT Recorder page.

The script is run in exactly the same way as it is run under Astra LoadTest in load mode. Astra Load Test will use the credentials defined in the Recorder page.

The Astra LoadTest log files are kept in the SiteScope\cache\tempbysize directory. The monitor parses this log file to get the transaction times and errors/warnings. By default, SiteScope saves only the log files of failed runs. If the run finished successfully, the log is not saved. However If you want to keep all the log files, you have can open the SiteScope/groups/master.config file and set to "true" the following entry:

_astraKeepLogFiles=

How to Troubleshoot

1. Make sure you have Astra LoadTest version 5.4.3 or later. It must be installed on the same machine where SiteScope is running.

2. When setting up the script initially in ALT, you must define at least one Transaction while recording (with Start and Stop points), or the monitor will fail in SiteScope.

3. The credentials (in Recorder page) have to be the same as the user that was logged in when Astra LoadTest was installed.

4. Check that you can run the script in Astra LoadTest directly. If the script runs in Astra Load Test but times out in SiteScope, then use WinInet mode to execute the script instead. In order to switch between WinInet and Turbo replay you have to go to the RTS – Browser Configuration tab and check/uncheck the Use Turboload Technology option.

5. If you are running SiteScope service as a LocalSystem Account, add the user credentials located in the Astra LoadTest Runners Preference page. This is in the help manual at:

http://your SiteScope server name and port/SiteScope/docs/recorderPrefs.htm

SiteScope should run as an interactive service in the context of the LocalSystem account. It can be changed in Control Panel -> Services -> Sitescope -> Properties -> Log on. Select the Allow interaction with desktop checkbox.

6. Every time SiteScope restarts, it cleans up the oldest Astra LoadTest log files in the SiteScope/cache/tempbysize directory according to the max size limit defined for this directory in the SiteScope/groups/master.config file. The entry is:

_tempDirMaxSize=10000 (the size is in KB)

In SiteScope 7.8.1.0, there is no default value for that entry, and that will cause all the files in the directory to be deleted. There is a default of 10000 in SiteScope 7.8.1.2 and later. If the entry is not there, then add the above entry to the master.config file, save it, and restart SiteScope. After that, the log files should be kept until the directory gets to the limit defined.

Note – Astra Load Test has been deprecated as of SiteScope 7.9.0.0 or later. It is only available in these versions if SiteScope has been upgraded from a pre-7.9.0.0 version.

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