If we want to model user activity that does not originate from a PC based browser what can we do?
A common example of this scenario would be to simulate user activity from a mobile / cell phone. In this case we’ll use an iPhone, of course any smart phone or tablet could be used for this purpose.
Before we start we’ll need to have access to a wireless network and we’ll need to know the IP address of the machine where AgileLoad is installed. To get the IP address just use ipconfig /all command at the command prompt in Windows (Start -> Run & type cmd). Take a note of that IP address as we’ll need to tell the device about that later.
Note: make sure you choose the correct adapter that connects you to the WiFi, this may not be the WiFi card especially if you are connected to a LAN which is connected to the WiFi where the device is.
Then we need to tell AgileLoad not to use its standard capture mechanism, in this case we are going to use AgileLoad’s proxy server to capture the traffic coming from the device. We do that by choosing Options -> Record from the menu bar and then choosing Proxy from the Record mode drop down list.
We’ll leave the advanced settings as default. These is more information on these in the on line help. If you do click on advanced you’ll see AgileLoad is configured to listen on port 90 by default, this can be changed if necessary.
Note: Ensure you firewall on your machine is disabled, or at least open port 90 on the firewall to allow traffic through it otherwise you will not be able to capture anything.
For the final part of the set up we need to configure the device to use the proxy that we have set up, please refer to your device instructions on how to do that and use your IP address and port 90 for the settings. For an example of setting up an iPhone please see the video accompanying this tutorial here: Mobile Capture for load testing
Now we are ready to record our transaction. Click the record button in AgileLoad script editor, that will start the listener and we are ready to interact with the mobile web. Navigate to your target on your device and you will start to see that the Script Capture Bar should have a number in it (it references the number of requests that have been captured) that increments. If you see nothing then nothing is being captured and something must be blocking the traffic or the traffic is not going through the proxy.
Once you have captured your transactions then you can click the stop button in the same way that you would when recording any other script with AgileLoad. You now have a script that can be parametrized or edited as necessary and added into a performance test scenario.
Next Mobile capture for load testing video