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There are three steps to configuring the browser:
- Configure Proxy Server
- Test Browser with Proxy Server
- Initialize Cache
- Delete Cookies
Step #1: Configure Proxy Server
In order to record a business/test case the browser needs to be configured to
use Web Performance TrainerTM as a proxy server.
What if your local network configuration requires you to use a proxy server to
access the internet? In order to do performance testing on a web site, you'll have to be able to connect to that
web site via a "fat pipe", or a network connection with enough bandwidth to saturate the web site. In
almost all cases this has to be a local LAN. If for example, you tried to do load testing via your internet connection,
you'd be limited by the bandwidth of that connection, and your connection would be unusable by others in your company
while the test was being performed. This means you are restricted to performing load testing on your own local
web servers on your local network. In the future we will offer the feature of doing testing through a proxy server,
but the cases in which a company has enough bandwidth to test through a proxy server and WAN internet connection
are limited, and so this feature wasn't included in Web Performance TrainerTM 2.1.
If your local LAN already uses a proxy server to access the internet, you'll have
to either use a separate test machine to do your recording, or reconfigure your browser when you need to access
the internet. While you have your browser configured to do recording via Web Performance TrainerTM, you'll only be
able to access the web servers on your local LAN.
Important:
- Before reconfiguring the browser, try to view the web site with the browser to
confirm the network and browser are currently working.
- While your browser is configured to use Web Performance TrainerTM as a proxy server,
your browser will only function while Web Performance TrainerTM is running. When you finish recording be sure to
set your browser back to not using a proxy server.
The following sections show how to configure:
Internet Explorer 4.0
Bring up the Internet Options Dialog by choosing the View Menu, and then Internet
Options. Click on the Connection Tab to view the screen below. In the Proxy Server section click the "Access
the Internet using a proxy server" box. Type in "127.0.0.1" for the Address, and 8081 as the port.
If you have any problems you can also try substituting the machine name "localhost".
The next step is to configure the HTTP connection for the browser for a proxy
using the "Advanced" tab of the same Options Dialog. Make sure that the "Use HTTP 1.1 through proxy
connections" option is unchecked.
The actual screen may look different on the various versions of IE, but the option exists on 4.x and 5.x browsers.
The next step is to test the proxy connection.
Internet Explorer 5.0
Bring up the Internet Options Dialog by choosing the Tools Menu, and then Internet
Options. Click on the LAN Settings button to view the screen below. In the Proxy Server section select "Use
a proxy server". Type in "127.0.0.1" for the Address, and 8081 as the port. If you have any problems
you can also try substituting the machine name "localhost".
The next step is
to click on the Advanced button of the Local Area (LAN) Settings
dialog, and find the box that says "Do not use proxy server
for addresses beginning with:". Make sure that this box
is empty so that the browser uses Web Performance TrainerTM to
access your local web servers.
The final step in the browser
configuraation is to configure the HTTP connection for the browser
for a proxy using the "Advanced" tab of the same Options
Dialog. Make sure that the "Use HTTP 1.1 through proxy
connections" option is unchecked.
The actual screen may look different on the various versions
of IE, but the option exists on 4.x and 5.x browsers in the
HTTP 1.1 settings heading.
The next step is to test the proxy connection.
Netscape Navigator
Select Preferences from the Edit Menu to bring up the following dialog. Click
on the Advanced Category on the left-side of the dialog, and select Proxies. The screen will appear as below:
Select the Manual Proxy Configure option and click on the View Button. Type in "127.0.0.1" or "localhost;"
in the HTTP row, using a port of 8081.
The next step is to test the proxy connection.
Step #2: Testing
the Proxy Configuration
To test the proxy configuration of your browser, start Web Performance TrainerTM
and try to use your browser as normal. The best web server to use in the test is the web server on your local LAN
you're planning to test. Try to browse the web site as you would normally and see if you can view any of the web
pages. If the web page does not appear as normal, try setting your browser back to its normal configuration and
verify that the web page is currently accessible.
Step #3: Initializing
Stored Cache Files
When you run a performance test you'll want the files to be transferred from the
web server, not taken from a browser's cache. Before recording a session you'll want to initialize the cache to
prevent this. Note that nothing bad will happen if you don't initialize the cache-- the only thing that will happen
is instead of transferring the entire file, the web server will simply report that the file hasn't changed.
Step #4: Deleting Cookies (optional)
Note: Skip this section if your back-end code does not take advantage of session
tracking.
If your web server uses session tracking, your web browser already has a cookie
for your web site. In order to test your web site in exactly the same way as a user, you'll need to delete those
cookies, so you can be identified as a new user.
The following sections show how to initialize cookies on the various operating
system/browser combinations. Be sure to quit your browser before following
these instructions!
Windows:
Internet Explorer
Cookies are stored in files with a ".dat" extension in the directory
C:\WINNT\Cookies. To make sure they
aren't used change the names from ".dat" to ".dat.old" or any other name. When you are done
testing change the names back to store your cookie settings.
Windows: Netscape
Cookies are stored in the file:
C:\Program Files\Netscape\Users\your_user_name\cookies.txt
The phrase "your_user_name" is the user name you used to log into NT.
Rename the file "cookies.txt" to "cookies.txt.old". When you are done testing delete "cookies.txt"
and copy "cookies.txt.old" to "cookies.txt".
UNIX: Netscape
Cookies are stored in the file:
~/.netscape/cookies
The notation "~/" signified to look in the home directory of your UNIX
account. Rename the file "cookies" to "cookies.old". When you are finished testing, simply
rename the file back to "cookies".
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