Walkthrough: Creating and Running a Load Test Containing Unit Tests

Article
07/13/2012

In this walkthrough you create a load test that contains unit tests.

This walkthrough steps you through creating and then running a load test using Visual Studio Ultimate. A load test is a container of Web performance tests and unit tests. You create load tests with the New Load Test Wizard. For more information about load tests, see Creating and Editing Load Tests.

A load test also exposes many run-time properties that can be modified to generate the desired load simulation. In this walkthrough, you use the New Load Test Wizard to add unit tests to a load test. For more information about Web performance tests, see Creating and Editing Web Performance Tests.

In this walkthrough, you will complete the following tasks:

Create a load test that uses unit tests.
Change some of the load test settings.
Run a load test.

Prerequisites

Visual Studio Ultimate
Perform the steps in Walkthrough: Creating and running unit tests for managed code to create a simple C# class library that contains a Web performance and load test project with some unit tests in it.

Create a Load Test Containing Unit Tests Using the New Load Test Wizard

To start the New Load Test Wizard

Open the Bank solution that you created in Walkthrough: Creating and running unit tests for managed code.
In Solution Explorer, open the shortcut menu for the Bank solution node, choose Add, and then choose New Project.

The Add New Project dialog box displays.
In the Add New Project dialog box, expand Visual C# and choose Test. From the list of templates, choose Web Performance and Load Test Project and in the Name field, type BankLoadTest. Choose OK.

The BankLoadTest web performance and load test project is added to the solution.
Open the shortcut menu for the new BankLoadTest web performance and load test project, choose Add, and then choose Load Test.
The New Load Test Wizard starts.
The Welcome page of the New Load Test Wizard is the first page.
Choose Next.

To edit settings for load test scenario

In the Enter a name for the load test scenario text box, type ScenarioSample.

A scenario is a grouping mechanism. It consists of a set of tests and the properties for running those tests under load.
Set the Time Profile Think to Use normal distribution centered on recorded think times. Think times represent the time that a user would ponder a Web page before going on to the next page. For more information, see How to: Set Think Times to Simulate Human Pausing in a Web Performance Test.
Choose Next when you are finished.

To edit load pattern setting for test scenario

Choose Step load.

Note

You can choose from two types of load patterns: constant and step. Each type has its function in load testing, but for the purposes of this walkthrough choose Step load.
Set Start user count to 10 users.
Set Step duration to 10 seconds.
Set Step user count to 10 users/step.
Set Maximum user count to 100 users.
Choose Next.

To select test mix model for the scenario

Under How should the test mix be modeled, select Based on the total number of test.
Choose Next.

To add unit tests to the scenario

The next step is to Add tests to a load test scenario and edit test mix.
Choose Add to select tests.
Choose the CreditTest unit tests listed in the Available Tests pane, which lists all the Web performance tests and unit tests in the Web performance and load test project.
Choose the arrow to add the CreditTest unit test to the Selected Tests pane.
Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the DebitTest and FreezeAccountTest unit tests.
When you have finished adding the three unit tests, choose OK.

You are presented with the test mix.
Move the slider under Distribution for the CreditTest slightly to the right to adjust the test distribution. Notice that the other sliders move to the left automatically so that the distribution remains at 100%.
Choose Next.

To select network mix for test scenario

Select the LAN connection type to add to the network bandwidth mix.

You can add more network types. Use the sliders to adjust the test distribution and weighting.
Choose Next.

To specify computers to monitor with counter sets during load test run

Choose Next.

For more information about the counter sets, see Specifying the Counter Sets and Threshold Rules for Computers in a Load Test and Walkthrough: Creating and Running a Load Test Containing Web Performance Tests.

To edit run setting for load test

Select Load test duration and then set Run Duration to 2 minutes in order to smoke test your load test.

When you build your load tests, it is a good practice to validate that everything is configured correctly and running as expected by running a short, light load test. This process is known as smoke testing.
Choose Finish. Your Load test is opened in the Load Test Editor.

Running the Load Test

After you have created the Load test, run it to view how your bank application responds to the load simulation. While a load test is running, you see the Load Test Analyzer window.

To run the load test

With a Load test open in the Load Test Editor, choose the green Run Test button in the toolbar. Your load test starts to run.
If your test simulation exceeds any thresholds, icons appear in the tree control nodes to indicate a threshold violation. Errors have a red circle overlay, warnings have a yellow triangle overlay. You can find a counter that exceeded the threshold and graph it by dragging the icon onto the graph. You can do this while the test is running.

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