Distributed load testing with JMeter

This tutorial shows how to distribute JMeter tests across multiple nodes.

Running large load tests with Apache JMeter often requires distributing test executions across multiple nodes. This approach is necessary when a single node lacks the capacity to generate the target load or when you need to simulate load from multiple geographic locations.

This tutorial shows how to distribute existing JMeter tests across multiple nodes using Step.

Prerequisites

Access to a Step cluster: Get started quickly by setting up a free SaaS cluster in the Step Portal, or, if preferred, follow the Installation page to configure your own on-premise cluster.
Install the Step CLI on your local machine as described on the Download page of Step

Test scenario

For the sake of this tutorial, we’ll simulate 10 parallel users visiting our demo online store.

For this simulation we have an existing JMeter test: JMeter sample test

Checkout the sample

Clone the sample project from GitHub:

  git clone https://github.com/exense/step-samples

Navigate to the sample directory:

  cd step-samples/automation-packages/load-testing-jmeter/

Project structure

Automation package descriptor

The automation-package.yaml file located at the root of our sample project serves as the automation package descriptor, outlining the details of our load test scenario:

  ---
schemaVersion: 1.0.0
name: "distributed-load-testing-with-jmeter"
keywords:
  # Declare a Keyword which runs the JMeter test Demo_JMeter.jmx
  - JMeter:
      name: 'JMeter test'
      jmeterTestplan: Demo_JMeter.jmx
plans:
  - name: "Load Testing plan"
    # The agents (workers) are automatically determined and provisioned upon execution
    agents: auto_detect
    root:
      testScenario:
        children:
          # Declare a ThreadGroup that distributes the execution of the Keyword (and thus the JMeter test)
          - threadGroup:
              # Distributes across 10 workers
              users: 10
              # Each worker executes the Keyword 100 times
              iterations: 100
              children:
                - callKeyword:
                    # Call the defined Keyword
                    keyword: "JMeter test"
                    inputs:
                      # Pass the variable 'URL' to JMeter via Keyword Input
                      - url: "opencart-prf.exense.ch"

For more details about the syntax, refer to the official documentation of the Automation Package Descriptor.

JMeter test

The JMeter test simulating our user journey is Demo_JMeter.jmx. It is a standard JMeter test based on JMeter version 5.

For more details about JMeter, refer to the official documentation of the JMeter.

Execute locally

Optionally, you can run the JMeter test locally:

  jmeter -n -t Demo_JMeter.jmx

Execute in Step

Before executing the test in Step, you’ll need the URL of your Step instance and an API key. For instructions on generating an API key, refer to Generate an API Key.

To execute the test in Step, run the following command at the root of the sample directory load-testing-jmeter:

  step ap execute --stepUrl=https://<Hostname of your Step cluster> --projectName=Common --token=<Your API key>

This command uploads the content of the automation package to Step and triggers the execution of the plans contained in the automation package descriptor.

Refer to the official documentation of the Step CLI for more details.

The execute command outputs a direct link to the execution report in Step:

  Execute automation package with parameters: {}
The automation package source is ...\step-samples\automation-packages\load-testing-jmeter
Preparing AP archive: ...\Temp\stepcli97053271864881569\load-testing-jmeter.stz
Execution(s) started in Step:
- 'Load Testing plan' (https://<Host name of your Step cluster>/#/executions/66fd1171fda0775568ae802f)
  Waiting for execution(s) to complete...
Execution 'Load Testing plan' (https://<Host name of your Step cluster>/#/executions/66fd1171fda0775568ae802f) succeeded. Result status was PASSED

Analyze the result

Open the execution report in Step by clicking the direct link printed by the execute command above.

In the Performance tab, you can explore the performance metrics:

Performance view of the execution report

There you’ll find all performance metrics of your test:

The metrics related to the samples reported by JMeter
The total execution time of our Keyword: “JMeter test” which executes the JMeter test

Note: The total execution time of the Keyword “JMeter test” contains the total time of the JMeter test including the time spent in the JMeter runner. This is useful for diagnosis purposes. For application performance measurements, use the metrics reported by JMeter.

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