Installation

• Requirements
  • Operating Systems
  • Hard disk space
  • CPU & Memory
• Product Installation
  • Installing the Controller
  • Installing the Load Generator
• Install the license key
• Running NeoLoad
  • Running the Controller
  • Running the Load Generator
• Advanced installation
  • Having a firewall between the Controller and the Load Generator
  • Increasing the available memory for the Load Generator
  • Increasing the available memory for the Controller

Requirements

Operating systems

The supported Operating Systems are:

• Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows NT
• Linux x86 (kernel 2.6/2.8) - tested on Red Hat 9 and Mandrake 10.
• Solaris SPARC (7+). System patches may be required. Check System Requirements section of http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/jre/install-solaris.html.

NeoLoad is written in Java and should run on any platform with support for Java 1.5:

1. follow the installation instruction of the Linux or the Solaris 'no GUI' version.
2. Replace the bundled JRE (<install_dir>/jre) with a compatible JRE for the given platform. (Java 1.5 required)

Hard Disk space

CPU & Memory

The hardware requirements greatly differ from one test to another. The more the server needs to be stressed, the more the Load Generator needs a powerful hardware. Moreover, requirements increase with scenario complexity. More Load Generators can be installed to generate more load on the server.

The runtime panel allows monitoring the CPU and memory of the Load Generators during the test. If the CPU or Memory are too often over 90%, consider decreasing the number of generated virtual users, increasing the thinktime or using an additional Load Generator on another computer.

A system with at least 256 MB of RAM is recommended.

As an indication, the Controller using its embedded Load Generator needs 75 MB to run a test simulating 250 Virtual Users with 3s as thinktime between pages. A standalone Load Generator need 60 MB to run the same test.

Product Installation

Installing the Controller

• allows building a scenario with the graphical user interface.
• manages load generators during the test and collects data.
• allows analyzing the test results.

Note: The controller contains an embedded load generator.

Windows:

launch neoload_windows_<version>.exe

Unix (graphical installer):

launch ./neoload_<platform>_<version>.sh

Unix (no GUI):

untar the archive at the desired installation location:
tar -xzf neoload_<platform>_<version>.tar.gz

Installing the Load Generator

The controller contains an embedded load generator. Install Load Generators on additional machines to generate additional load.

Windows:

launch loadGenerator_windows_<version>.exe
The installer offers to install the Load Generator as a Windows Service.

Unix (graphical installer):

launch ./loadGenerator_<platform>_<version>.sh

Unix (no GUI):

untar the archive at the desired installation location:
tar -xzf loadGenerator_<platform>_<version>.tar.gz

Install the license key

There is two ways to install the license key:

• Launch the controller and select "Enter license key..." from "Help" menu, or
• Copy the license file "license.lic" in the <install_dir>/conf directory of the controller before launching the program

Note that the license key must be installed on controllers only. Standalone Load Generators do not need keys.

Running NeoLoad

Running the Controller

Windows: <install_dir>\bin\NeoLoadGUI.exe
Use NeoLoadCmd.exe when using command line options.

Unix: <install_dir>/bin/NeoLoadGUI
Use NeoLoadCmd when using command line options.

Command line options:

usage: neoload -project <file> -launch <scenario> [-report <file>] [-noGUI]

Running the Load Generator

The Load Generator is started for each test by an agent. You never need to start the load generator directly, launch the agent instead:

Windows:

• as a service: start/stop NeoLoad Agent in the Services control panel.
• manually: <install_dir>\bin\Agent.exe, stop the Agent by using the icon in the system tray.

• Start the agent with <install_dir>/bin/AgentService start and stop it with <install_dir>/bin/AgentService stop.

Advanced installation

Having a firewall between the Controller and the Load Generator

In a such environment, the firewall must allow the following ports:

• 7100 TCP, opened by the The Load Generator Agent
  This port can be changed by editing [Network]agent.server.port of <Load Generator>/conf/agent.properties on Load Generator side and [Network]agent.port of <Controller>/conf/controller.properties on Controller side. Note that all Load Generators must have the same port declared.
• 1359 UDP, opened by Load Generator Agent. Used for auto-discovery.
  This port can be changed by editing [Network]multicast.port of <Load Generator>/conf/agent.properties on Load Generator side and [Network]agent.multicast.port of <Controller>/conf/controller.properties on Controller side. Note that all Load Generators must have the same port declared.
• 4569 TCP, opened by the Controller
  This port can be changed by editing [Network]controller.server.port of <Controller>/conf/controller.properties

NeoLoad and Windows XP SP2 Firewall

Windows XP SP2 has a firewall enabled by default. When launching the Load Generator Agent manually with agent.exe, Windows Firewall correctly prompts the user to add the program to the exception list. When launching the program as a Service, no prompt is displayed: the firewall must be manually configured. Add the following ports to the exception list: 7100 TCP and 1359 UDP.

Increasing the available memory for the Load Generator

As any Java program, the Load Generator has a maximal memory limit. This limit should be raised when the load generator memory indicator exceeds 90% too often during a test.

For each Load Generator:

Edit the file <install_dir>/conf/agent.properties :
Modify the property [LoadGenerator]lg.launcher.vm.parameters to set the appropriate maximal memory limit in Mb.
For example, [LoadGenerator]lg.launcher.vm.parameters=-Xmx96m sets the limit to 96Mb.

Increasing the available memory for the Controller

As any Java program, the NeoLoad Controller has a maximal memory limit. This limit should be raised when the controller handles very large projects or large test results.

• On Windows

  Create a .bat file ('NeoLoad.bat' for example) with the following content: NeoLoadGUI -J-Xmx256m
  Launch the program with the .bat file instead of NeoLoadGUI.exe.

• On Unix
  

  Create the file <NeoLoad>/bin/NeoLoadGUI.vmoptions and edit the file with the VM arguments: -Xmx256m.

Note: the maximal memory limit should never exceed the amount of physical memory to avoid swapping.