What’s New in NeoLoad ?

June 2018 Release

What’s New in NeoLoad 6.5?

NeoLoad 6.5 is now available. This release includes enhanced support for load testing SAP applications, a tool for migrating LoadRunner scripts, enhancements to the NeoLoad Web UX, integration with Ranorex, and support for creating Jenkins “Pipelines as-Code”.

NeoLoad 6.5’s new capabilities results in faster test design and maintenance, better integration with popular testing ecosystem elements, and better collaboration for load testing data.

Enhanced SAP Application Load Testing

NeoLoad 6.5 includes technology support for both SAP GUI as well as SAP Web.  Testers can validate the behavior under heavy load for a wide range of SAP applications, at a lower total cost for performance testing, using either SAP GUI or SAP Web protocols. With NeoLoad, you can:

• Conduct realistic load testing for your SAP applications with confidence, using the industry-leading performance testing tool
• Validate application performance and pinpoint any performance bottlenecks or weaknesses
• Reduce the costs and headaches associated with performance testing complex or hybrid applications
• Help mitigate the risk to your business due to poor user experience

For more information, visit our SAP technology page or our dedicated SAP solution page

LoadRunner Converter Preview

The LoadRunner converter provides the capability to convert LoadRunner HTTP scripts to their NeoLoad equivalent for those organizations that currently use LoadRunner and want to move on to NeoLoad.

The preview version of the converter speeds up the script migration process by converting a significant portion of LoadRunner scripts to NeoLoad scripts automatically. The preview version of the converter is an on-premises tool, free for downloading and use; it will be open-source later in 2018. The converter is only for “Web – HTTP/HTML” protocol.

Get LoadRunner Converter
or read more about NeoLoad vs LoadRunner

NeoLoad Web Runtime Preview (Using On-Premises Load Test Infrastructure)

NeoLoad Web is a centralized performance testing platform from which testers can start tests, and collaborate using shared test results for all stakeholders.

NeoLoad Web : https://neoload.saas.neotys.com

NeoLoad Web UX Enhancement – Graphs

Enhanced Ranorex Integration

Ranorex Studio  is a popular functional testing product. Neotys has developed an expanded Ranorex integration for use with NeoLoad 6.x, and  Ranorex 8.x that allows a Ranorex user with NeoLoad to:

• Measure End User Experience from a real browser or real client run by a Ranorex script during a load test at the protocol level with NeoLoad
• Perform automated Script Maintenance with a single Test Script.
• Conduct functional testing under load

Faster Script Design & Maintenance

• Use a Ranorex script to record its test case in NeoLoad for faster script creation and maintenance with consistent recording (click order, naming, etc.)
• Use an updated version of the Ranorex script to do script maintenance with NeoLoad, for fast automated script maintenance.leveraging NeoLoad’s automatic User Path update capability

The enhanced integration for Ranorex requires NeooLoad Enterprise or Professional Edition with Advanced Usage module for full capability.

Jenkins Pipeline as Code

Jenkins is used very heavily in CI/CD environments. The definition of a Jenkins Pipeline “as code” is done using the Pipeline domain-specific language into a text file (called a Jenkinsfile).

NeoLoad Web Webhooks Support

Webhooks are a way that users who want to integrate NeoLoad into their test ecosystem can configure inside NeoLoad the applications that will be notified when a test starts or ends to trigger (for example, inside SMS or Slack) a complex workflow or use it as a simple notification mechanism (for example, adding a row to a Google Sheet as a log for load test activity).

Webhooks support is available for all NeoLoad Web users, and highlights NeoLoad Web’s capability to be “glued” to best-of-breed tools in the test ecosystem, so that information and events can flow from one tool to another in a global process/workflow, consistent with current web application development best practices.

To learn more about this topic see this  blog article about integrating NeoLoad Web with Zapier using webhooks or read the Webhooks documentation

Improvements to Docker Load Generator Images

To meet the needs of organizations that are implementing Dynamic on-demand and container-based testing infrastructures, Neotys provides Docker-based versions of the NeoLoad load generators. In the containers available with the NeoLoad 6.5 release, logs generated by NeoLoad generators are now automatically redirected to the standard stdOut and stdErr streams. This means that testers used to working with Docker can easily manage and centralize their logs in a familiar way. The smaller Docker image means faster provisioning for a Docker Load Generator, which contributes to creating a dynamic test infrastructure quickly.

Test Design Enhancement – ‘Think Time’ Option for Delays

March 2018 Release

What’s New in NeoLoad 6.4?

NeoLoad 6.4 is now available. This latest release includes enhancements in the areas of NeoLoad platform openness, Component/API testing, and make NeoLoad more compatible with new server-side technologies. Businesses that use New Relic APM as part of their performance testing ecosystem will find that NeoLoad 6.4’s enhanced integration will lead to higher operational efficiency and better analysis of load testing data.

NeoLoad Web – Centralized SLA Summary

Through NeoLoad Web, performance and load testers and other performance stakeholders can quickly understand and identify why a test has failed, with a new, centralized summary page that shows SLA status within NeoLoad. The SLA summary gives you the means to understand why your test has failed. Success or failure of a test is based on defined SLAs, and that all defined SLAs have succeeded. The centralized SLA summary lets you see exactly which SLA failed, and specifically why it failed the defined SLA parameters.

Automated Cloud Test Infrastructure

DevOps-focused teams doing automated performance testing are used to being able to use any desired mix of cloud and on-premises load generators. As DevOps practitioners, they may be a lot more comfortable with taking an API-based approach rather than a CLI-based approach. Automated tests can start and use a cloud session using the NeoLoad Runtime API. The API lets users specify the characteristics of a Cloud session, including the desired mix of cloud and on-premises load generators, and can refer to VUH or Cloud credits. This cloud session can then be automatically started and used by an automated test. This feature results in a higher level of test automation, saving time on each test iteration throughout the SDLC.

Additional APM Integration Available

NeoLoad’s integration portfolio with leading APM platforms – Dynatrace, CA, and AppDynamics – has just expanded to include New Relic. A new NeoLoad advanced action enables the analysis of load testing data using NewRelic APM and New Relic Insights. This advanced action provides both an inbound (extract New Relic APM data to NeoLoad to be viewable within NeoLoad’s dashboards) and an outbound (extract NeoLoad load testing data and send it to New Relic’s Insights tool) integration. The Advanced Action is available on Neotys Labs, including a Tutorial Document that shows how to use it.  It is also available from NewRelic Plugin Central (in-product) and the NewRelic website. Documentation & Screenshots available from https://github.com/Neotys-Labs/NewRelic

Brotli Server-Side Compression Method Support

Servers and Browsers negotiate a compression algorithm to compress the response content. Brotli server-side compression was created by Google and is named after a Swedish pastry. Brotli is a generic-purpose lossless compression algorithm that compresses data using a combination of a modern variant of the LZ77 algorithm, Huffman coding and 2nd-order context modeling, with a compression ratio comparable to the best currently available general-purpose compression methods. The specification of the Brotli Compressed Data Format is defined in RFC 7932. It is similar in speed with deflate but offers demonstrably denser compression than zopfli, LZMA and bzip2.

January 2018 Release

What’s New in NeoLoad 6.3?

NeoLoad 6.3 is now available. This latest release includes enhancements in the areas of NeoLoad platform openness and core load testing features. NeoLoad 6.3 includes several enhancements that make it more useful in environments like banking, healthcare and government that have stringent security concerns. Business that use Windows environments will also find that NeoLoad 6.3 is easier to use. Business that use Dynatrace as part of their performance testing ecosystem will find that NeoLoad 6.3’s enhanced integration features will lead to easier use and higher operational efficiency.

NeoLoad Web – Expanded REST API Support

NeoLoad Web’s REST API provides methods to enable the following actions (which are accessible through the GUI):

• Modify the name, description or success status of a test
• Delete a test result

The ability to modify the success status of a test through the API enables a tester to completely define and customize success or failure criteria for tests. Testers can programmatically (using the REST API) define what success/failure means, based on data from test results which they can access using the same REST API.

Enhanced Security for Test Credentials

After making a recording for a test, the credentials used to make the recording are not stored in plain text. Because of this, a person cannot use NeoLoad’s configuration files to access credentials to improperly gain access to a system.

• Testers can declare and use “password variables” that are always encrypted when stored, but are unencrypted when used during tests
• Recorded forms containing passwords are identified; passwords on those forms are replaced by password variables. This means the stored version of the generated script will contain an encrypted version of the password
• Passwords in recorded requests are hidden so that nothing is stored clear on disk

Enhanced Dynatrace Integration

NeoLoad 6.3 includes enhancements to both Neoload’s native integration with Dynatrace, as well as a bundle of Advanced Actions leveraging the analysis of load testing using Dynatrace’s OneAgent. The expanded capability means tighter integration with a key element of the testing ecosystem, leads to faster test cycles, and enables pre-production (“Shift Right”) as well as Component/API-level testing (“Shift Left”) testing.

These new features make it easier and more effective to interact with Dynatrace APM deployed in the testing environment while load testing an application with NeoLoad. With that setup, testers can precisely analyze how the whole application and its ecosystem is behaving.

Details – Native Integration

The native enhancements for Dynatrace support in NeoLoad 6.3 are as follows:

• Testers can now target several system profiles during a session recording with Dynatrace
• During a Dynatrace session recording, testers will now know exactly to which test the recording is associated with, in addition to the NeoLoad project name and scenario

Details – OneAgent Custom Actions bundle
A bundle of Advanced Actions is available for download from Neotys Labs that provides the following actions :

• DynatraceEvents: Links a load testing event to all services used by an application monitored by Dynatrace.
• DynatraceMonitoring: Inbound from Dynatrace to NeoLoad: Retrieve Infrastructure and Services metrics from DynaTrace (AppMon or OneAgent) and insert them in NeoLoad External Data so that you can correlate NeoLoad and DynaTrace metrics within NeoLoad.

Microsoft Monitoring Enhancements

Monitoring a Windows machine or a Microsoft Server (SQL Server, IIS, .Net) offers new authentication capabilities. Instead of using the account of the user that launched NeoLoad or the Monitoring Agent, NeoLoad also offers the possibility to specify the account to be used to connect to each Windows machine or service (SQL Server, IIS, ASP.Net).

Access to NeoLoad Web URLs from within NeoLoad

A tester/developer writing “glue code” within NeoLoad’s GUI that integrates with other tools can easily access URLs related to NeoLoad Web making the integration tighter with NeoLoad Web. The tester/developer can access the following URLs:

• The NeoLoad Web front-end
• The entry point of the NeoLoad Web APIs
• A running test in NeoLoad Web

Testers/developers can also access Proxy settings in different situations and points of the product:

• From the standard command-line output (Stdout) when running a test from there, the URL of the running test is clearly displayed
• When using the NeoLoad GUI Runtime API access to the running test URL
• When using either the Custom Action API or the JS API, access is available to both the URL of the running test and the NeoLoad Web front-end URL

November 2017 Release

What’s New in NeoLoad 6.2?

NeoLoad 6.2 is now available. This latest release continues Neotys’ focus on enabling Agile and DevOps teams to execute superior performance testing while shortening the build/test cycle, enable collaboration across teams, and establish Performance Testing as a trusted partner within the software delivery chain. Enhancements or improved capabilities in this release center on the areas of CI/CD integration,Component/API Testing, NeoLoad platform openness, and core load testing features.

Native GIT Support

NeoLoad users who want to use the popular GIT distributed revision control system or who need to leverage corporate IT/Development environment standards can take advantage of native GIT support in NeoLoad 6.2 to:

• Improve collaboration and efficiency by having performance testers use the same Version Control as other teams
• Put performance Test assets in the same repository and tools as other test assets, close to the Code and configuration
• Let QA / Testers use GIT without being expert users of the tool

Graph Substitution in NeoLoad Web Dashboard

A tester can easily replace the graph of an existing test with another test in that same dashboard, as well as all other dashboards that use that same graph, in order to reproduce the analysis done on a test (including defined graphs, etc.) on a new test. This saves time and speeds up both the process of building dashboards as workspaces, and the analysis of a new test result.

Trends in NeoLoad Web

Users can graph trends of key statistics covering several tests to quickly identify performance regression. Trends are essential indicators of the progress (or regression) of daily performance testing of newly-released versions of application components. Spotting trends in performance regression more quickly and pinpointing which changes introduced the regression, leads to easier and cheaper resolution. Trends also give testers an immediate and clear idea of the general quality trend of tests in terms of performance.

Automated Tests Can Start and Use a Cloud Session

Users can specify the characteristic of a Cloud session for an automated test, using a mix of cloud and on-premises load generators, so that a Cloud session is automatically started and used by an automated test. The cloud session can refer to VUH, Cloud credits, or both. Tests automation allows more tests to be completed faster, saving time.

Cross-version Compatibility for Neotys Team Server (NTS)

NeoLoad users who have access to shared licenses for older versions of NeoLoad through the Neotys Team Server (NTS) can gain greater operational efficiency by making better use of existing NeoLoad licenses. Users can now lease an older, existing license to newer versions of NeoLoad – even if that license refers to an older version of NeoLoad. This means that testers can immediately use a new version of NeoLoad without having the NTS administrator upgrade the license. For example, NeoLoad 6.1 can lease an existing NeoLoad 5.5 license from NTS.

Try NeoLoad Web with your Standard or Professional Edition

With NeoLoad 6.2, you can an access NeoLoad Web Free Edition! If you have NeoLoad Free Edition, Standard Edition, Professional Edition or Enterprise Edition you can learn more about NeoLoad Web (and download it) here.

September 2017 Release

What’s New in NeoLoad 6.1?

Accelerate your DevOps and Agile Load Testing processes. NeoLoad Performance Testing gives your applications a competitive edge. Integrate with popular Continuous Integration (CI) and Continuous Delivery (CD) environments. Release flawlessly, every time. Achieve Speed and Quality without making tradeoffs.

NeoLoad 6.1 is now available. This latest release continues Neotys’ focus on accelerating DevOps team alignment with their internal Agile and DevOps processes for greater testing coverage and application reliability under load. This release includes several new capabilities that enhance DevOps use cases, further enable Component/API Testing, improve Collaboration, plus general capability enhancements.

DevOps Enhancements

NeoLoad Web On-Premises Deployment

NeoLoad Web, introduced in NeoLoad 6.0 as a SaaS deployment, is now available with NeoLoad 6.1 as an on-premises deployment Detailed documentation is provided for a standard (Docker-based) on-premises target.
Contact Neotys with regard to more-complex deployment.

View the Pass/Fail Status of a Test

All tests that are run are assigned an externally-available status showing whether a particular test run was completed successfully or failed, based on defined SLAs.

Define Load Test Environment at Runtime

At runtime, the same NeoLoad project can be used to launch a test in a specific environment (integration, preprod, etc.) without having to modify the project or having several versions of the project for each target environment. This greatly simplifies NeoLoad projects in this context and makes it very easy in a CI/automation scenario to programmatically target a specific environment.

Component/API Testing Enhancements

Generic REST/JSON Support

NeoLoad 6.1 now natively and fully supports JSON, which is used to express requests and responses for popular REST-based APIs. This enhancement makes it easier and more natural to load test REST-based APIs. Native and full JSON support means:

• JSONPath expressions are supported in order to extract or validate data from JSON data in Variable Extractors, Validators and Framework parameters
• JSON pretty printing

Easily Create Requests from External Content

Users can speed up their API testing by creating a new request in NeoLoad, using content that is cut-and-pasted “as-is” from an external source (for example from SoapUI and Postman).

NeoLoad Web Collaboration Enhancements

Multiple Customizable, Shareable Dashboards

This innovative and Neotys-exclusive NeoLoad Web feature allows users to create and use several customized dashboards to organize their work. These dashboards can be shared either for running tests or completed tests, with other users belonging to the same account, and who work as a team on that shared dashboard.

NeoLoad Web Integration Enhancements

REST API Access to Test and Monitoring Data

This NeoLoad Web centralized REST API provides access to test data for a running or terminated test. This data can be pushed to an external tool (for example Elastic Search, Tableau, etc.) or used to make a decision to continue or abort a process in a CI/automation scenario.

Docker Monitoring Using cAdvisor

Using the Generic JSON Monitor capability in NeoLoad 6.1, users can monitor Docker containers by using cAdvisor.

Generic REST/JSON Monitor

This new capability provides easy access to any monitoring element that provides a JSON/REST API. NeoLoad allows the user to choose the specific metrics to be monitored.

Miscellaneous/Other Enhancements

Advanced Actions Option – Consider as a Request

A new option is available for Advanced Actions so that its activity is taken into account in global statistics such as ‘All requests’ (impacting statistic value and graphs). The Advanced Action is also listed in reports and GUI, the same as for HTTP requests.

Scheduled Tests Can Send Data to NeoLoad Web

When scheduling a test, users can decide to send run-time test data to NeoLoad Web.

June 2017 Release

What’s New in NeoLoad 6?

Do the entire test cycle – from test design through analysis and reporting – faster. Monitor tests in real-time when executed from a Continuous Integration (CI) server (e.g. Jenkins) and compare with baseline results. Detect performance problems in real-time during tests, without waiting for the results before taking corrective action to address any issues. Share test results easily using a web-based SaaS interface, to stakeholders who would like to participate in (or just consume) the analysis, but who are not performance testing specialists.

NeoLoad 6.0 is now available. Like all previous releases of NeoLoad, this newest release highlights our commitment to, and progress towards, giving you the fastest, most automated performance testing and monitoring tools for Agile and DevOps testing environments.

Easier collaboration with NeoLoad Web

New Web-based SaaS interface can easily display and share charts and tables with anyone involved in performance test execution or analysis (testers, developers, QA Managers, business stakeholders/ product owners) who need to use and share test results.

All NeoLoad users have a free plan provisioned to use the new NeoLoad Web module as SaaS. So try it right now! Read the documentation to get started.

Additional set of test analysis features available in NeoLoad Web

More-accurate diagnosis and faster reaction time when a test detects a performance issue; no need to wait for the end of a test to react and fix the problem.

• Personalized graphical dashboards allow you to mix several KPIs in the same graph (e.g. average transaction times, average request response time, and total transaction failed)

• Statistics can be shown for each element delivered (e.g. min/max/average) for each individual element by request/ transaction/page, and monitoring counters (e.g. CPU).

To learn more about NeoLoad Web,click here