When designing tests with JMeter, elements are organized into a hierarchical tree. Within this hierarchy, some elements act as containers and contain child elements. Other elements may appear side-by-side with other elements at the same level, with a typical test plan structure similar to below: While it may be intuitive to envision test plan execution to take place sequentially, there are several rules which JMeter applies to determine the order that test plan elements are executed.Read More →

Using the JMeter Plugins Manager

In the space of performance testing, designers have a range of tools at their disposal. Despite being first being introduced more than two decades ago, JMeter has retained a position of popularity. One reason this is true rests in the diverse extensibility of JMeter through the use of plugins. In this post, we will introduce the JMeter Plugins Manager and explain how you can easily add plugins to your test to best achieve your performance testing goals.Read More →

Step-by-Step Guide to Testing with JMeter

If you are new to JMeter, you have come to the right place. In this post, we will walk you step-by-step through creating your first, functional JMeter test plan from scratch. We will guide you through how to install JMeter on your local device and navigate the user interface of the test plan editor. Starting from a blank canvas, we will create a basic test plan. From there, we will use RedLine13 to run your testRead More →

A Gentle Introduction to Load Testing

Suppose you are suddenly tasked with the responsibility to prove application performance through load testing. You have never done this before. Where would you begin? In this article, we will discuss how to approach the planning, selection of tools, and architecture through the typical phases of load testing. Defining Capacity Metrics First, you would have some homework to do. Based on testing goals, there are a number of key performance metrics that should be defined. ItRead More →

Getting a “Grounded” Test to Launch

RedLine13 makes it easy to scale your load tests in the cloud, but sometimes there are a few moving parts to coordinate. While it can be disappointing when a test fails to start, in most cases there are only a few common reasons preventing such a “grounded” test from launching. In this article, we will walk through some of these common scenarios. In each of these cases we will discuss troubleshooting steps and potential solutions. NetworkRead More →

The JMeter Loop Controller

Logical flow is an essential aspect of most performance tests. In previous posts we have explored conditional flow elements such as the If Controller, and deterministic test flow using Assertions. In other cases, we may simply want to have control over running a repeating set of requests. The JMeter Loop Controller is a built-in component providing this functionality, which will iterate over a collection of elements and execute them a predetermined number of times. In thisRead More →

JMeter Test Plan Check Tool

When scaling your JMeter test, preparation is important. Often, very large tests will require significant coordination in terms of resources. The target test environment will need to be scaled up to match production conditions. Likewise, simulating a large number of users will require launching many load generator servers. As part of this preparation, you may want to check JMeter test plans for consistency before running the test. The JMeter Test Plan Check Tool provides this capability.Read More →

JMeter Best Practices

In the decades since the very first release of JMeter, there has been considerable collective experience gained not only in best practices for performance test design in general, but also in the specific methods for creating JMeter tests. In this article, we will summarize best practices for creating a JMeter test plan. For further reading, a more in-depth discussion about best practices can be found in the JMeter users manual. Targeting the Latest Version of JMeterRead More →

Running JMeter from the Local Command Line

JMeter can be run in two modes, with the more familiar GUI mode for designing tests. However, when running your load tests for production data gathering, it is recommended that it is run in non-GUI mode from a command line. This is in fact how load tests are run with RedLine13. But it is also possible to run JMeter in non-GUI mode on your local machine. There are instances where this is desirable, including debugging specializedRead More →

Using the JMeter If Controller

JMeter contains a built-in component that can assist in controlling the logical flow of a load test based on internal conditions. Using the If Controller, conditional logic can be set up to either run once for a group of elements, or optionally for each element within a set. Only if the specified condition is “true” will items within the If Controller be executed. Once added to a test plan, the If Controller acts as a containerRead More →