Preface

Welcome to the Oracle Load Testing User's Guide. This guide explains how to get started using the features and options of Oracle Load Testing for load testing of Web-based applications.

Audience

This guide is intended for Web test engineers who will be conducting load and scalability testing of a Web site or application. The guide does require an understanding of software or Web application testing concepts. Test engineers using Oracle Load Testing should be familiar with Oracle Functional Testing Visual Scripts and the concepts of Web application testing, load testing, scalability testing, and reporting.

Prerequisites

Oracle Load Testing does not require any programming experience to develop load scenarios. However, test engineers performing distributed load testing in a network environment should be familiar with networking concepts and how to verify communication between workstations in a network.

Using This Guide

This guide is organized as follows:

Chapter 1, "Introduction" provides an overview of the major features of Oracle Load Testing.

Chapter 2, "Planning for Load Testing" provides a basic methodology for testing scalability and performance of Web applications throughout the life cycle.

Chapter 3, "Basics" provides descriptions of the Oracle Load Testing main window features and menu options.

Chapter 4, "Defining Virtual User Profiles" explains how to define profiles that specify the actions of virtual users for load/performance testing.

Chapter 5, "Defining Virtual User Scenarios" Defining Virtual User Scenarios: explains how to define virtual user scenarios based upon the virtual user profiles.

Chapter 6, "Using the Autopilot" explains how to use the Autopilot to specify start and stop times for scenario profiles and the playback rampup specifications for each Virtual User.

Chapter 7, "Using Graphs and Reports" explains how to view real-time performance, statistics, and error information in graphs and reports.

Chapter 8, "Using the Virtual User Display" explains how to use the virtual user display to view virtual user actions during an Autopilot session.

Chapter 9, "Database and File Management" explains how to manage databases for use in Oracle Load Testing and how to upload and download files to and from the Oracle Load Testing Server.

Chapter 10, "Working With Sessions" explains how to attach and detach from running sessions.

Appendix A, "Internet Status Codes" lists the status codes and Internet error codes that can be returned from a server.

Appendix B, "Error Messages" provides a reference error messages and codes generated by Oracle Load Testing.

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Conventions

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