ABSTRACT
This paper details the recording, replaying
tips for Citrix scripts using Load Runner and the Best practices that can be
implemented while Performance testing the Citrix clients
INTRODUCTION
Citrix provides server and desktop
virtualization, networking, software-as-a-services (SaaS), and cloud computing
technologies, including Xen open source products
Citrix Terminology:
Citrix
Server: Citrix Server work as a remote connection
by users and allows multiple users that allows multiple applications at
the and allows multiple users that
allows multiple applications at the same time.
Citrix
Farm: Group of citrix servers with a load
balancer which work as a traffic management in all servers using own effective
algorithms.
Citrix
XenApp: A thin client product that allows users to
connect to their corporate applications. XenApp can either hostapplications on
central servers or allow users to interact with them remotely or stream and
deliver them to user devices for local execution.
Independent Computing Architecture
• A protocol used to provide desktop
virtualization across different platforms but it is not bound to any platform.
• Data transfers from the server to the
client generally involve a highlevel view of the display rather than a full
image of the screen, dramatically saving bandwidth and reducing the dependency
on latency.
• Utilizing this protocol, thin clients on
a variety of end-user platforms may access applications on a centralized server
that may not necessarily be supported on the end-user platform.
Recording and Validating the Citrix scripts
Citrix
Recording Options:
•Using Server Credentials with published
applications or by using ICA file.
•If you have an existing .ica file
(provided by Citrix administrator/developer) with the entire relevant
configuration information, select Use ICA file for connection parameters.
Citrix Script Validation:
Citrix
provides three types of mechanism for Scriptvalidation:
1.
ctrx_sync_on_text
A synchronization function that waits for a
specified string to appear at the specified position before continuing.
2.
ctrx_sync_on_window
It is a synchronization function that waits
for a window to come into existence or become active.
3.
ctrx_sync_on_bitmap
It is a synchronization function that waits
for a specified bitmap to appear before continuing. The function can be
manually recorded by clicking on the rectangle icon in VuGen's Citrix recording
toolbar.
What are Common problems encountered while running the scripts Issue:
Error: Connect cannot be established - Last
Error=70, Last
client error=1030
Error: Failed to create channel agent
Solution:
The above mentioned error usually can be resolvedby
clearing the citrix client cache and
registry, and re-running the citrix clearing the citrix client cache and
registry, and re-running the citrix registry patch.
Steps
for Clearing the citrix client cache and registry
• Close all the citrix based applications.
• Exitfrom "citrix program
neighborhood agent“.
• Right click on the citrix program
neighborhood agent icon and select "Exit"
• Run command regedit
• My Computer > HKEY_CURRENT_USER >
Software>Citrix
• Delete Citrix Folder
• Delete Citrix Folder - right click Citrix folder and select
Delete –Click Yes to 'Confirm key Delete' alert message.
• If c:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\Application Data
has ICAClient and/or Citrix folders, delete these folders
•Reboot the machine.
•Run LRCtrxClient10Support_enableVC.reg citrix
clientloadrunner
registry patch.
Best Practices:
1. Pre-Recording tips
2. Recording tips
3. Replay tips
Pre-Recording tips:
In the recording options we need to specify the user name,
password, domain, connection type, citrix server name and published
application. To find out which server to hit, follow these steps: To find out
which server to hit, follow these steps:
• Open the application in Citrix - Right-click on Citrix
Program Neighborhood Agent icon and chose the desired application.
• Get the server name - Right click on the Citrix Program
Neighborhood Agent icon and click on Connection Center.
Recording tips:
• When recording a session, make sure to perform the
complete business process, starting with
the connection and ending with the
cleanup. End your session at a point from where you could start the
entire process from the beginning.
•Always make sure that your script is able to run for
multiple iterations.
• Record the connection process into the vuser_init section,
and the closing process in the vuser_end
section. This will prevent you from
performing iterations on the connection process.
• Try to use keyboard as much as possible, use mouse only
when there is no alternative for
keyboard shortcut.
•After every screen or step, apply text check. The
function ctrx_sync_on_text() can only be
used if LoadRunner agent is installed on
the Citrix server. Here you cannot take image text from the screen.
•Avoid using ctrx_sync_on_bitmap() for synchronization. It is
because synchronization on bitmaps can
lead to replay failure if different
machine is used.
•If you still need to use ctrx_sync_on_bitmap() thenfirst of
all check for the consistencies between
the recorded and replay machines: for the consistencies between the recorded
and replay machines: Window Size (resolution), Window Colors, System Font and
the other Default Options settings for
the Citrix client. These settings affect the
hash value of bitmaps, and inconsistencies may cause replay to fail.
Replay Tips:
• For best results, do not disable think time in the Run-Time
settings. Think time is especially relevant before the
ctrx_sync_on_window and ctrx_sync_on_bitmap functions, which
require time to stabilize.
• After replay failure use different Login ID to login to the
Citrix Server. Since each login ID has
some fixed specificsession time span,
logging in with the same ID before the session time has expired would cause to take the user to same
screenwhere it had expired would cause
to take the user to same screenwhere it had
left when the error occurred.
•Use the function ctrx_set_waiting_time before wait functions
to set the desired waiting time as shown
in below snapshot. The parameters
connect and waiting timeout in runtime settings apply only for connection event and synchronization
functions, respectively and not for wait
functions.
Script Enhancements:
• To get proper response time for any particular transaction,
keep only the synchronization function
inside it withoutthink time in between.
• Use think time in between tabs to provide proper time for
page loading so that no events/hits are
missed while replay.
• In some Citrix sessions, the active window name changes
while you • In some Citrix sessions, the
active window name changes while you are
recording. If you try to replay the script as is, the Vuser uses the original window name and the replay may fail
then in that case we can use wild card
(*) in the same place.
E.g.: ctrx_sync_on_window ("User *", ACTIVATE, 187,
83, 427, 351,"snapshot1", CTRX_LAST);
Citrix agent – Friend or Foe?
•The LoadRunner Citrix agent was designed to make
scripting easier by recognizing objects.
But sometimes when agent is installed on
the Citrix server, VuGen no longer works. Certain windows in the application
would not even pop-up when doing a single mouse-click, and the only solution
was to turn the Citrix agent off.
•If you get to certain screens and everything seems to run at
a •If you get to certain screens and
everything seems to run at a crawl, or it seems like your session is hanging,
rename the LoadRunner Citrix agent on the server to turn it off . Then record a
new script without it. If things are faster it may be the agent causing the
problem. As always, ensure the agent isthe same version as the rest of your LR
software.
Lost in Citrix Error:
• Following code is helpful when you are lost in a Citrix
error where expected windows are not appearing where they are supposed to,
or they are not the right ones. Many
times this will help you expose just
what the window and X/y coordinates are that are causing a problem.
•At the top of the script initialize the variables, and when
you get to
•At the top of the
script initialize the variables, and when you get to a portion of the code
where a problematic window has been stopping the script, place the
ctrx_get_window_name and
ctrx_get_window_position right before it.charwindow_name[100];
long xpos,ypos, width,height;
ctrx_get_window_name(window_name);
ctrx_get_window_position(window_name, &xpos, &ypos,
&width, &height);
lr_output_message("Window = %s. x= %ld, y= %ld, width=
%ld,
height = %ld", window_name, xpos, ypos, width,height);
• The ctrx_execute_on_window is a great way to handle
unexpected screens that might appear anywhere in your script. If you know
there is a chance you will get hung on
an unexpected screen, you can always code a separate function to use some known
key sequence that can be used to get out safely (the example below uses the
ENTER key). A function called enterkey_form_handler has been created and put
into vuser_init section of the script in the VERY TOP before the vuser_init()
is made:
• Intenterkey_form_handler(char win_title[]) {
•
Intenterkey_form_handler(char win_title[]) {
ctrx_key("ENTER_KEY", 0, "snapshot130",
CTRX_LAST);
return 0;
}
THANK
YOU
End of Document
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