Mobile Web(Http/HTML) Protocol IN Loadrunner

Today i will share my learning on performance testing performed on mobile application.

We can use Load runner tool for mobile based applications.

HP LoadRunner 11.50 has two new protocols for helping to record mobile applications:

· Mobile Application – HTTP/HTML: recording scripts at the transport level for both browser-based mobile applications and native mobile applications, that communicate with their servers over HTTP

· Mobile TruClient: recording scripts for browser-based mobile applications through the browser-based user interface. This protocol is based on Ajax TruClient, using a browser modified to emulate the mobile browser.

These protocols are independent of mobile operating systems, so will work on different versions of iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, WebOs (Palm), Blackberry, etc.

Let’s see the picture behind the scene:

We can run the performance testing on mobile app using sniffer agent in two ways:

1. Using sniffer agent for remote server

Steps:

o To record traffic on a remote server you first must manually install WinPcap.

Ø Install the mobile sniffer agent on your server, LR 11 Patch 3 installs to folder C:\Program Files\HP\LoadRunner\mobileRemoteAgent\win32 files mongoose-2.11.exe and capture.cgi.

Ø Copy an installer of wire shark to that folder(win32 for windows, LinuxRH3 for linux, Mac for Mac OS)

Ø Zip that win 32(or respective) folder in to a zip file.

Ø Copy the zip file to a remote folder on server.

Ø Expand the zip to a folder such as "C:\RemoteSniffer" in remote server machine.

Ø In a folder on the server's Windows PATH (such as C:\Windows) a Cmd file to issue these commands:

o cd \

o cd C:\RemoteSniffer

o mongoose-3.0.exe -e errorLog.txt -r "C:\RemoteSniffer" -C ".cgi" -p 47001

o -e errorLog.txt specifies the name of the error log.

o -C ".cgi" specifies that the server invokes cgi files such as MobileCGI.cgi in the "cgi- bin" folder (based on the mobileCGI.conf file controlling it).

o -p 47001(on port where the application is running) specifies the listening port.

Ø The above invokes the Mongoose server.

Ø We can manually start the agent.

Ø Create the script

· Create a new Mobile App (HTTP/HTML) script

· Click the Start Record button.

· Select the Record and Analyze option

· Specify a mobile sniffer agent location and click Connect (Enter the URL where the mobile sniffer agent resides)

· Configure mobile sniffer agent (Specify the record network interface. This is the network adapter to which you want the mobile sniffer agent to listen)

· Specify which section of the script into which you want to load the traffic: vuser_init, Action, or vuser_end.

· Select Start Recording

· Record the desired business process.

· Select Stop Recording.

· Vugen will generate the capture file.

· Save capture file on the local machine when you are prompted.

· Analyze traffic

· Enter or browse to the location of the capture file.

· Specify traffic information

· Indicate whether you want to analyze server or client side traffic.

Ø Analyzing Traffic:

Ø When you create a script in the Mobile protocols, we need to specify from which IP addresses we want to analyze traffic

Ø We can decide to include traffic from the client side or from the server side, in the script.

Ø The Analyze Traffic option from the Recording Wizard provides two methods to specify which IP address's traffic to include in the script VuGen is generating.

Ø Traffic is identified either from the server side or from the client side.

· Server Side (Destination)

· Client Side (Source)

· Filter Options

Ø We can specify additional IP addresses to either include or exclude during code generation. This option can be useful even if you have more than one client, since you can filter the client's IP in the code generation settings. The advantage is that you can create one PCAP file and use it to generate several virtual users by changing the code generation filtering options in the Recording Options > Traffic Analysis > Traffic Filters. computer

2. Using sniffer agent for local host

Steps:

1. To In certain circumstances, capturing traffic directly on the application severs may not be practical.

2. In such case, you can capture traffic to your local computer by connecting your mobile device to your local host.

3. To record using a local host, you must first configure your machine as a hotspot. You can do this, either by ad-hoc or softApp.

4. Ad-hoc Network

· Ad-hoc networks can only be wireless, so you must have a wireless network adapter installed in your computer to set up or join an ad-hoc network.

· Open Connect to a Network by clicking the Start button, and then clicking Connect to.

· Click Set up a connection or network.

· Click Set up an ad hoc (computer-to-computer) network, click Next

· Acknowledge source and destinations are within 30 feet distance

· Define a network name and select any of the authentication options(e.g. select open)

· Wait for”network is ready for use” and then close.

5. SoftApp

· The wireless Hosted Network is a new WLAN feature supported on Windows 7 and on Windows Server 2008 R2 with the Wireless LAN Service installed.

· The virtualization of a physical wireless adapter into more than one virtual wireless adapter sometimes referred to as Virtual Wi-Fi.

· A software-based wireless access point (AP) sometimes referred to as a SoftAP that uses a designated virtual wireless adapter.

6. In mobile device (e.g. Android mobile)>>Menu>>settings>>wireless & networks>>WiFi Settings>>Add WiFi network>>enter above created network and click save option.

7. Not all the devices support ad hoc (e.g. some versions of Android do not support it).

8. For a hotspot to work, you first need to configure your firewall to support it.

9. The hotspot may be implemented with NAT. In that case, the address of the mobile will be identical to the hotspot machine.

10. Captures only WiFi not cellular network bandwidth.

11. Create the script