About File Transfer Protocol

File Transfer Protocol is a widely used standard network protocol for FIle sharing between a client and server in the same network. FTP Server functions with a TCP/IP network. All the client connections are established by switching ON an FTP server.

We are using FileZilla which is a free open source FTP and FTPS server for file sharing.

You can download the FileZilla Client from this link. It is straightforward to configure FileZilla to use a certain FTP server. Let’s see how to test FTP upload and download using Apache JMeter and FileZilla.

(A) Adding FTP Request Sampler

Add Thread Group

Go to Jmeter and add a Thread Group to your Test Plan. Right, Click on Test Plan and Click Add>Threads(Users)>Thread Group.

Add FTP Request Sampler

Add an FTP Request Sampler. Right-click on the created Thread group and click Add>Sampler>FTP Request.

Configure FTP Request

In the opened window, you can use your FTP server username and password. But I am using a publicly available FTP server for this demonstration. You can find the username and password form this link. Find the server called “ftp.swfwmd.state.fl.us” and “anonymous” as username and an email address as the password. Give your server name for the “Server Name or IP” section and fill “Username” and “Password” with your user name and password for the server.

We have to select “get(RETR)”  as we first try to download a file from the server.

(B) Create and Run FTP GET Request

Select Remote File

We have to give the file location address to the “Remote File” section. To get the file location, I used FileZilla. Open FileZilla and fill “Host,” “username,” and “password” with your server address, username, and password provided.

Now you would be able to see the server file locations under the “Remote site” section. I have selected the “README.txt” file in the server to download.

Obtain Remote File URL

Select the file’s address that you want to download by Right click >Copy URL(s) to clipboard.

Update GET Request

Paste it on the Remote File section in JMeter and remove the server address as it has mentioned in the Server name section. Then copy the destination location on your local computer from FileZilla and paste it on the Local File section in JMeter. Give a file name to save your file. I have given the title as ABC.txt.

Add Listeners for Capturing Result

Add a “View Results Tree” listener and “View Results in Table” listener to view your test results.

Run FTP Request and Verify Results

Now click “Start” to run your project and observe the results in listeners. If you have successfully run the components, you can see the results below.

You can also refresh the FileZilla window and check whether the created file appears in the specified directory.

(C) Create and Run FTP POST Request

For running FTP POST via JMeter, you would essentially run the same above steps except changing some parameters and commands in your request which would be different from GET request.

Create FTP Request Sampler

Create an FTP Request Sampler and fill it with the same details as in the previous sampler. Hence you can follow the above steps from 1 To 3 to create FTP Sampler in JMeter and then follow the below steps to configure a POST request instead of GET request.

Alternatively, you can use your existing FTP Post Plan which you prepared using the above steps, and just convert it into a POST test plan by making changes in itself. Both the options are easy peasy!

Update POST Request for Local

I have selected the downloaded file ABC.txt to upload. So the “Local File” location is unchanged. Select a compatible directory in the FTP server to store your data using FileZilla. I have selected a directory in the “/pub/incoming” folder. Verify your results as in the previous section.

Select FTP PUT Command

We have to change the get(RETR) to put(STOR) for posting a file.

Also you can use binary mode over ASCII mode by clicking “Use binary Mode”. You can also view a preview of your file by clicking “Save File in Response?”.

Run FTP Request and Verify Results

Response Data section shows the response data, and it is a better way to check the accuracy of your downloaded file.

We can test the performance of our FTP Servers as in the above instructions. JMeter is one of the best applications for it.

The post How To Create FTP Test Plan in JMeter appeared first on Automation Dojos.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• System Requirement
  • Step 1: Launch Jmeter.
  • Step 2: Download MySQL Connector
  • Step 3: Unzip and save MySQL Connector
  • Step 4: Now Restart JMeter
  • Step 5 : Create JMeter Thread Group
  • Step 6: Setup Thread Group
  • Step 7 : Add JDBC Config Element for JMeter
  • Step 8: Setup database configuration
  • Step 9: Add JDBC Request Sampler in JMeter
  • Step 10: Prepare SQL query
  • Step 11: Update JDBC connection name
  • Step 12: Add ‘Results in Table’ listner to script
  • Step 13: Add ‘View Results Tree’ Listner
  • Step 14: Run your jmeter script
  • Step 15: View Results Table and Tree

Introduction

In this ‘How-To’, You will be guided to perform a database load test using JMeter. We will be installing Apache JMeter to perform the test. You can download Apache Jmeter from this link as your first step and keep it ready for further steps to follow where we shall be creating, running and analyzing simple demo-based database test script using JMeter.

System Requirement

We would be using the following tools for this exercise:

Step 1: Launch Jmeter.

You can run JMeter using the “ApacheJMeter.jar” file which is in the “bin” folder. Here is a screenshot of JMeter GUI :

Step 2: Download MySQL Connector

We use the Mysql database to create our testing Database. First, you have to connect the MySQL database with JMeter using  MySQL connector. First, navigate to MySQL Website and download the zip folder as shown in the image below :

Step 3: Unzip and save MySQL Connector

Extract the zip folder and Copy “Mysql-connector-java-8.0.20.jar” file (Version may differ) from the folder and paste it into the “lib” folder of JMeter.

Step 4: Now Restart JMeter

Restart the JMeter so that it will work with the library provided by MySQL connector.

Step 5 : Create JMeter Thread Group

Right-click on the Test Plan.Click “Add > Threads(Users) > Thread group” .

Step 6: Setup Thread Group

Give a name to your Thread Group and adjust “Thread Properties” as required.

Step 7 : Add JDBC Config Element for JMeter

Add JDBC Connection Configuration By following the steps : “ Add  > Config Element > JDBC Connection Configuration “

Step 8: Setup database configuration

You have to fill the Database Connection Configurations as below. The Database URL  will be the location of your created database. I have used db4free.net to create the SQL database. Select MySQL driver class for JDBC Driver Class. Enter the username and password of the database in the Username and Password fields. Give the variable name as “testdb” for the created pool field.

The jdbc:mysql://[host1][:port1][,[host2][:port2]]...[/[database]] is the common format for giving your database URL. jdbc:mysql:// “ is an unchanged sequence in JMeter when specifying MySQL database address. The hostname and port name will be emailed after you create the database with db4free.net.

Step 9: Add JDBC Request Sampler in JMeter

To work with data from the database, You need to Add JDBC Request. So add JDBC Request By Clicking  Add > Sampler > JDBC Request as in the image below :

Step 10: Prepare SQL query

You can type and execute the SQL query in the SQL Query section. Select all data from the table by typing the SQL below. Persons is the table name of the database. Select the Query Type as “Select Statement”.

Select * from persons;

Step 11: Update JDBC connection name

Refer the request to JDBC Connection Configuration and give the same variable name in JDBC Connection Configuration variable name field.

Step 12: Add ‘Results in Table’ listner to script

Add “ View Results in Table”  listener. Right-clicking on the database name and click Add > Listener > View Results in Listener.

Step 13: Add ‘View Results Tree’ Listner

Add “View Results Tree” listener. Right-clicking on the database name and click Add > Listener > View Results Tree.

Step 14: Run your jmeter script

Test your database performance by clicking the Run button on the menu bar.

Step 15: View Results Table and Tree

You can observe your results from “View Results in Table” and “View Results Tree” Listeners

If the connection is successful, the sampler result will be given as “OK” for the “Response Message”. Check it out with your connection. You can see that the Latency of my connection is pretty high here. This is the way of checking the performance of a database with JMeter and you can get useful insights to optimize your database connection from it.

The post How To Do Database Testing with JMeter appeared first on Automation Dojos.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• REST API
• Add HTTP Request Sampler
  • Step 1: Create a Thread Group.
  • Step 2: Create an HTTP Request
  • Step 3: Navigate to ‘OpenWeather’ site
  • Step 4: Get the API call details.
  • Step 5: Fill-in required fields and set ‘Method’.
  • Step 6: Fill-in the API Key parameters.
• Run and Validate
  • Step 7: Add a listner to view response.
  • Step 8: Run your script.
  • Step 9: View the response data.
  • Step 10: Increase load for re-run.
  • Step11: Clear results and Re-Run new load.

Introduction

Application Programming Interface is a very popular term among developers. It is simply a request provider that responds to your request. In other words, it is an intermediate that allows communication between two applications. Google Maps, Twitter, Amazon S3, Weather API are some popular APIs in the industry.

The two widely used Web services are SOAP and API. In this tutorial, you will be learning to use the  REST API with Apache JMeter. Also, you will be able to check their performance with your test parameters.

REST API

Representational State Transfer API is a collection of architectural principles. It has a simple interface that can manipulate and identify the resource easily within the request. We are using Weather API for this tutorial.

Sign up to Weather API in order to get your API key with this link. Your API will be received through email, after the verification of the account. Let’s create a REST API request using JMeter to get the weather data of London, UK with HTTP Request Sampler.

Add HTTP Request Sampler

Step 1: Create a Thread Group.

I have named it as API Testing. Leave the rest of the settings as it is for now.

Step 2: Create an HTTP Request

Create an HTTP Request by following these steps. Right-click on the Thread Group name and click Add > Sampler > HTTP Request.

Step 3: Navigate to ‘OpenWeather’ site

We are using the Current Weather Data API to get current weather data of a certain location. Go to the API page in the Weather API and click “API doc” under the “Current Weather Data” API.

Step 4: Get the API call details.

Get the API call under the “By City Name” Section. Select the first one with the City Name. You can check your city name by searching in the UI search bar of the website. If the name is spelled correctly it will show the weather details as below.

api.openweathermap.org/data/2.5/weather?q={city name}&appid={your api key}

Let’s examine each part of the API call.

“api.openweathermap.org”: IP of the web service.
“/data/2.5/weather”: Path of the web service.
“q”: City Name which you like to get the weather data.London in my case.
“appid”: Your API Key.

Step 5: Fill-in required fields and set ‘Method’.

Complete the required fields in the HTTP Request sampler. Fill the IP and Path with the details above. Select the “Method” as a “Get” Method

Step 6: Fill-in the API Key parameters.

Add City Name and API Key as parameters in the Parameter section. Click the Add button to insert the parameters. Name is the parameter name and value is the parameter value. Check the image below to insert it correctly. I have added “London” to my city.

Run and Validate

Step 7: Add a listner to view response.

You have to add a listener to see the response from the server. Right-click on the thread name and click Add > Listener > View Results Tree to add Results Tree Listener.

Step 8: Run your script.

Run your script by clicking the “Start” button on the menu bar and observe the results in the “View Results Tree Listener”.

Step 9: View the response data.

View received weather data from the “Response Data” section. You can see the weather data in London as requested above.

Step 10: Increase load for re-run.

Increase the load to the API and test the results. Go to Thread Group and Increase the “Number of threads” to 15.

Step11: Clear results and Re-Run new load.

Clear the previous results in the listener by “Clear all” button in the menu bar and re-run the test by “Start” button. You can see the server response to the load that applied. It is responding well. Increase the other thread properties and check the responses as you needed.

Now you can Test an API using Apache JMeter.Use some other web services APIs and test the results. You can check the performance of your API services in that way. Cheers.

The post How To Do API Testing with JMeter appeared first on Automation Dojos.

Table of Contents

• 1. Adding Blazemeter Plugin to Browser
• 2. Recording Script via BlazeMeter Plugin
• 3. Importing Script (.jmx file) into JMeter
• 4. Adding JMeter Listeners
• 5. Viewing Result Tree Listener
• 6. Running and Validating Our Script

Honestly speaking if you already have a mature or established process using ‘native’ JMeter from Apache, without any kind of wrappers utilities or third-party tools then this article is of little value to you.

However, there are many companies and/or projects out there who may employ some wrappers or third-party tools, plugins etc. around JMeter, in order to ease out their NFT process while addressing limitations of ‘native’ Apache JMeter. In this regard, there are a number of solutions and plugins available from Blazemeter.

If you don’t want to work natively with JMeter then one such solution from Blazemeter is the Chrome Plugin. The Chrome extension records all of the HTTP/S requests and can create a synced JMeter and Selenium scripts. Furthermore, If you are a registered or licensed user of Blazemeter then it automatically uploads it to BlazeMeter, where you can execute it with a single click.

In this case, there is no need to install JMeter nor Selenium to record or run your performance test, the Chrome extension will create the JMeter and Selenium scripts automatically. The extension will also allow you to debug and test your recorded Selenium session on your local Chrome browser.

However, in this article, we shall be only demonstrating a quick recording scenario using BlazeMeter chrome plugin.We’ll be doing a Login test on a website called demo.taotesting.com.

1. Adding Blazemeter Plugin to Browser

You will need to download and install the BlazeMeter plugin form the Chrome Web store.Simply add the plugin and you are good to go.

2. Recording Script via BlazeMeter Plugin

If you are new to BlazeMeter, you will need to Sign-up. If you are already registered, just Login

Step 1: Name your test.

Step 2: Click the Record button to begin recording the steps of the test.

Step 3: Go to the demo testing site.

Step 4: Enter the Login ID and Password provided therein.

Step 5: Click Log in and ensure that you have successfully logged in.

Step 6: Click “Stop”. BlazeMeter will begin to process your test.

Step 7: Download the .jmx file by clicking the Save Button. In the prompted screen, select “JMeter only” and the domain as taotesting.com. Now click “Save” and the .jmx file will be downloaded.

Now we can start our work with JMeter.

3. Importing Script (.jmx file) into JMeter

Let’s import the test that we just recorded.

Step 1: Click Open in the menu bar and open the downloaded.jmx file into JMeter and save it with your project name.

Step 2. Then you will see the imported components under your Test Plan. Under the Thread Group, you will find the Test scenarios.

The Login ID and Password that was used under the Test will be displayed
>> Test>>https://demo.taotesting.com/tao/Main/login.

4. Adding JMeter Listeners

Listeners are used to display test results in JMeter. They help to monitor the requests sent by JMeter and analyze responses from the server while testing. Time and capacity related information collected for requests and responses from JMeter and statistical information such as distribution and percentages are the main things that listeners deal with.

We have to add a Result Tree listener to view our results.

Right-click on your Test Plan (Testing 2 in my case) >>Add >>Listener >>View Result Tree and you can have the result tree pane.

5. Viewing Result Tree Listener

This listener displays the samplers generated by JMeter and their assertion results. This listener provides request parameters, response parameters, and the response data. It displays the results under the relevant tabs named Sampler Result, Request, and Response Data.

In the Sampler Result, tab you will find information about headers, response code, time-related information such as latency, cookies, error count, etc. The Request tab gives information about HTTP methods, Cookies added, the URL and about the JMeter Script added.

This Listener is able to render the information transmitted into simple formats such as text, HTML or XML. Also, the substrings are filtered by this listener, this helps to construct and validate some post processors. Apart from that, it can display the unsuccessful assertions and compare the actual and expected results. These are some valuable features of View Result Tree Listener.

6. Running and Validating Our Script

Let’s follow these steps to validate our test.

Step 1: Run the test by clicking Start in the menu bar. You will see the verified results in the Result Tree Listener.

Step 2: Check the validated Sampler result, Request, and Response data to see the sample, code verified results, HTML scripts, and Response Headers respectively.

Hint: Change the names of your HTTP Requests to identify them easily. A meaningful name can be provided instead of the HTTP address.

Apache JMeter with BlazeMeter is surely one of the top solutions if you are thinking of venturing with non-native JMeter territory. Even though JMeter has many built-in solutions and features, BlazeMeter is more useful because of the additional features it provides.

Its worth giving a shot, so try it out and see if it works for you. Cheers!

The post How To Record Using BlazeMeter Plugin (JMeter) appeared first on Automation Dojos.

About Listeners

Listeners are used for displaying test results in JMeter. Listeners allow system engineers to analyze the responses from the testing system and monetize the request sent from JMeter.

You can show the listener results in a table, tree, graph, or write into a file. These demonstrated effects consist of time details,capacity-related information, percentages, and distributions.

1. How to add a listener

Listeners can be placed by right-clicking on a thread group or a sample and clicking Add >> Listener >> the Listener you prefer to have. Plenty of listeners with different aspects have added to the Listeners menu. The required listener has selected the sample and the relevance of the data. These listeners collect data from their level or high level of its placement position.

I have created two thread groups in the above Test Plan. A “View Results Tree Listener” has been placed in three different positions in the Test Plan. “View Results Tree 1”  Listener has is added as a child element of the “FTP Request Post” sample. So it will only display the results of its parent sample.“View Results Tree 2”  listener has placed under the” Thread Group.” So it will present results of all samplers in “Thread Group.” “View Results Tree 3” listener will show the results of all samplers in both “Thread Group ” and “New Thread Group.” Following is how a listener shows results based on its position.

2. Basic listeners for viewing results

I have created an HTTP Request Sampler to demonstrate the listeners below. I have used the Apache JMeter User Manual page to test the listeners, and you can find it from this link. The image below shows the settings of the HTTP Request Sampler. Also, I have to change the Thread Group properties for ten users. Use the path mentioned above to add.

2.1) View Results in Table Listener

This listener displays the data in the form of a table. The ten users obtain the following results. These results are in order of the time samples that were issued. Below is a useful listener to estimate a system under test quickly. Let’s understand the outputs from this listener.

“Sample” is the number of the sample of 10 samples that we have used. Then the start time and the Thread Name are displayed. 1-1 in that indicates the first iteration of example 1. “Label” shows the type of request we have used. “Sample Time” is the response time for each sample in milliseconds. “Status” is displayed based on the assertion we use. If the claim passes, it shows in green, and if it fails, it shows in red. “Sent Bytes” are the size of our sample. “Latency” means the time that takes to receive a response from the start time. “Connect time” is the time that seeks to connect to the server.

2.2) View Results Tree Listener

This listener displays the samples and the results related to them. It displays request parameters, response parameters, and response data of the samples. ”Sampler Result” section also shows the data discussed in the above listener. In addition to that, it displays “Error count,” Data type,” Response Message,” Content-Type” data.

“Request” shows the Get request to the server for receiving the information.

Response data shows the data received from the server. In this case, it is an HTML code of the web page.

2.3) Graph Results Listener

This listener generates the results in the form of a graph. It can give the Average, Median, Deviation, and Throughput data of the samples in a graphical view.“ Loop Count” property of the Thread Group should be set to infinite to get a continuous graph. The following listener is highly memory-consuming. So if you are testing a massive load test, it is better to get your results into a file.

2.4) Save Responses to a File Listener

You can see a field called Filename in all these listeners. So you can give a “.CSV” or. “XML” file to save these data from the listeners in the runtime to that file. Give the path of that file in the desired location to the “Filename” field and run it. I have given a file as “Logged Data” for View results tree Listener,” and it has saved all the response data as in the below. “CSV” file.this is a beneficial way to observe test results when you are testing large systems.

These are the most used listeners in JMeter, and you can try them to see their performance according to your test plans.

The post Working with JMeter Listeners appeared first on Automation Dojos.

1. Introduction

As a developer, you may have tested the functionality of your code hundreds of times during development. This is known as functional testing. Despite how familiar you are with your product, users will approach it differently and have many different use cases. That’s why you need Non-Functional Testing (NFT).

Performance, Security, Usability, and Reliability are just some of the many NF aspects that can be tested to ensure a better user experience. Apache JMeter is one of the best ‘Open Source and Free Tool’ that you can use for NFT. It can be used to perform Load Testing, Performance Testing, Scalability Testing, and more.

2. Watch Installation Video

3. Download and Install

Now you have a basic idea of JMeter and its components. Let’s try a real-world example for a better understanding. Simply follow these steps to test youtube.com as our website.

4. Creating a Test Plan

Let’s start by creating a New Test Plan for our test.

1. Start JMeter
2. Go to File > New and add a Test Plan and give it a name.

5. Adding a Thread Group

This section details setting up a certain number of Threads that will be used for our test. You can do so by following these steps:

1. Right-click on the newly created Test Plan which will be displayed in the Test Plan Pane.
2. Click Add > Threads (Users) > click Thread Group

Then you have to add the thread properties by clicking your thread group. You can add the Thread name and thread properties that are suitable for your test. I added data as follows:

Based on my values:

1. Number of Threads: 100 users being connected to our Server application will be simulated.
2. Ramp-up Period: The 100 threads will be generated within a period of 10 seconds.
3. Loop Count: The test will be looped (repeated) 10 times.

Also, you can define thread time and thread start delay if needed. I have not used those features in order to keep this tutorial simple.

6. Adding JMeter Elements

Elements are individual tests that will be executed as part of our Test Plan.

HTTP requests can be added by right-clicking the newly created Thread Group and selecting Add > Config Element > HTTP Request Defaults.

In the HTTP Request Defaults add your website name under Basic > WebServer > Server Name or IP:

7. Making HTTP Requests

You can add an HTTP Request by right-clicking on Thread Group and selecting Add > Sampler > HTTP Request.

JMeter HTTP Request Sampler lets the user send HTTP/HTTPS requests to the webserver that we need to access. If we need to access the trending section on YouTube we can simply add /feed/trending in the path section.

I have not added the path here so that our tests are executed on Youtube.com servers.

8. Graph Result Implementation

To add graphically viewable results just Right-click the newly created Test Plan, select Add > Listener > Graph Results.

9. Run and Get the Results

Firstly, save your work. Now run your tests and obtain the results by clicking the “Run” button on the Menu Bar. The real-time results will be displayed on Graph Results.

The above results show the results for our tests on youtube.com:

Throughput and Deviation are the most important parameters that we can use to analyze our results. If the throughput is high, we can generally assume that the server has performed well, though this is not always the case. On the other hand, if the Deviation is low, we can assume our web application has performed well.

The above graph results show high throughput and low deviation. These results are very good and they are no surprise considering that YouTube is a popular service. It has been highly optimized in terms of both server performance and web application performance.

I recommend that you try JMeter to analyze your web application because of its simple GUI, free open-source nature, support for a variety of server types, and platform-independent nature. It will make your testing process much smoother and more convenient.

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