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AppsWatch

http://www.automai.com/

Getting Started: AppsWatch

© 2019 Automai, Corp. All rights reserved.

Contents

INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................................................... 3

PURPOSE ......................................................................................................................................................... 3

PERFORMANCE MONITORING PROCESS OVERVIEW ........................................................................................... 4

GETTING STARTED .................................................................................................................................................... 6

CREATE USER SCENARIO .................................................................................................................................. 6

open SSRDPMANAGER ......................................................................................................................................................... 7

Create a Scenario using ScenarioBuilder .................................................................................................................. 10

Play and Send Scenario .................................................................................................................................................... 16

Launch AppsWatch Base ................................................................................................................................................. 18

CONFIGURE AN APPLICATION MONITOR ......................................................................................................... 21

Create an Application Monitor ...................................................................................................................................... 21

Observe Application Monitor ........................................................................................................................................ 23

Test Failures and Screenshots .................................................................................................................................... 26

HOW TO RUN A PERFORMANCE MONITORING WITH MULTIPLE STATIONS? ............................... 28

GETTING HELP AND SUPPORT ........................................................................................................................ 30

SEND US FEEDBACK .............................................................................................................................................. 30



Introduction

AppsWatch is Automai’s application monitoring solution that tackles the ultimate performance

monitoring challenge: Measuring availability and response times of ANY application from the end-user’s

perspective.

In minutes, AppsWatch reveals answers to questions that have been plaguing you for months, or even years!

• Where are the slow points in my application?

• When did performance degradation start?

• Is there a trend to this behavior?

• Which transaction in my application is slow?

• What other activities are occurring during the slow period?

• Are performance problems caused by network, server, application or database issues?

Purpose

In this guide we will explain how to build a test scenario, send it to the Base, and start monitoring application

performance in under 5 minutes while providing tips, best practices and technical insights along the way. Our

goal is that you can apply the examples demonstrated in this document to a performance monitoring in your

environment. At the end, we will explain how you can monitor different applications performance with multiple

stations with a few simple steps!



Performance monitoring process overview

Creating Test Scenario

You begin the performance monitoring process by determining the sections of application you want to emulate.

You then develop these sections into scenarios by creating the same types of requests that your application invoke

on the server. Each section will have its own scenario. ScenarioBuilder lets you easily create full-function

scenarios.

Validating and Sending Test Scenario

When you are done with creating your test scenario(s), you need to send them to the Base. But before sending,

you should individually validate the scenario(s) you plan to use by playing them on the ScenarioBuilder. If the

scenario finishes without any errors and runs multiple times without errors, it is valid to use for a performance

monitoring. If the scenario aborts on an error, debug the scenario with viewing the failure screenshot and run it

through a simple test again.

Creating Application Monitor

In the AppsWatch Base, when you add an Application Monitor, you need to specify some elements such as what

scenario(s) to run, how often the scenario will be executed, the station that application will be monitored, etc…

All of these factors that can help to better emulate real-system activity.

Running Performance Monitoring and Reporting

While a test is running on the ScenarioStation(s), you can dynamically view overall performance monitoring as

well as individual scenario execution on each station.

AppsWatch accurately monitors response time from the user standpoint because robots on ScenarioStations

repeatedly generate scenarios and ineract with your application exactly as a real user would. ScenarioStations

are situated at your key locations and report response times to the AppsWatch Base. Organized views of data for

troubleshooting, SLA reports, graphs, and alerting controls are available from the AppsWatch Base.



As shown in the following image, a performance monitoring setup consists of an AppsWatch Base, one or more

ScenarioStation(s), ScenarioBuilder, and the system (application) under test.

AppsWatch Base: The central console, from which tests are organized, managed and monitored.

ScenarioStation: The station simulating real-user interactions against the application under test with a specified

frequency.

ScenarioBuilder: The easy-to-use tool which facilitates the creation of a wide range of test scenarios for

performance monitoring. The test scripting tool that understands and interacts with any application accessible

from a graphical user interface.

If you have not installed AppsWatch Suite (AppsWatch Base, ScenarioStation, and ScenarioBuilder) yet,

please do so before continuing.

To view installation steps, please refer to the AppsWatch Installation Guide document.

https://www.automai.com/hubfs/sdl/appswatchinstallationguide.pdf



Getting started

Remote desktop connections need to be maintained 24/7 to all the ScenarioStations in order for the scenario

images to be buffered and to prevent any errors in scenario playback. Keep the following in mind before you start

creating your scenario(s):

No matter which installation method you choose, there are various approaches that let you create scenarios and

monitor ScenarioStation(s). The sections below describe two of them.

➢ Monitor stations using the Console

There are several tools (i.e. VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, VMware Workstations and etc.) that can

be used to connect to a machine.

For information on how to do this, see the VM software documentation.

➢ Monitor stations using the ScenarioStation RDP Manager (SSrdpManager)

Besides using one of the consoles mentioned above, you can also use SSrdpManager to connect to stations.

Using the ScenarioStation RDP Manager tool for RDP connections to ScenarioStations provides two

distinct advantages. First, with the SSrdpManager, you can maintain an active RDP to multiple

ScenarioStations with a single remote session tool. Second, the SSrdpManager can be minimized without

interrupting scenario play back. It is ideal for monitoring one or more ScenarioStations from a single

desktop, and it provides a non-intrusive way to keep a ScenarioStation session active while running in

Standard mode.

Create user scenario

It is a good practice to create your scenario(s) using SSrdpManager. The reason for doing this is that by creating

the scenario in the environment that the test will run, the differences in scenario creation environment and test

environment are minimized.

For this purpose, you need to install ScenarioBuilder on the same machine in which the ScenarioStation will be

installed. Therefore, there will not be any differences between the scenario creation environment and the

performance monitoring environment.

Please follow the next steps in order to learn how to create user scenario(s).

http://www.nrgglobal.com/how-to/application-monitoring/how-to-run-scenariostation-standard-vs-dedicated-mode



OPEN SSRDPMANAGER

If AppsWatch and ScenarioStation are both installed on the same PC, skip this step. SSrdpManager is not

needed when running AppsWatch and a single instance of Scenariostation on a PC. In addition, the

SSrdpManager.exe can be copied onto and ran from any machine.

The SSrdpManager is an option that is offered by AppsWatch to monitor ScenarioStations. SSrdpManager

allows users to create RDP connections to one or all the ScenarioStations. Through these connections the user can

create Scenarios and monitor the ScenarioStations.

Once you install AppsWatch, SSrdpManager will also be installed. You can find it in the AppsWatch’s folder in your

machine.

[....\NrgGlobal or Automai\AppsWatch\apps\install\SSrdpManager.exe]

Launch SSrdpManager.exe

The SSrdpManager will open.

Click “Create a connection file”



Enter a File Name and click “Save”.

A new connection form will open;

Click “Add” to create a new connection.



Once all the fields are filled out, click “Save” to complete the configuration and connect to the Station.

Upon connecting, the Station will open inside of a window within the SSrdpManager.



Note that the connection credentials should be correct. Otherwise, SSrdpManager will not be able to establish

the connection. To test that connection credentials are correct, try to connect to the user using a Windows Remote

Desktop Connection.

Create a Scenario using ScenarioBuilder

Scenarios are the action sequences which emulate real user interactivity with your application. Creating your first

scenario is simple. If you know how to use your application, then you know how to create a scenario with

ScenarioBuilder.

In order to start creating your scenario, Double-click the ScenarioBuilder shortcut to launch the splash

screen.

When it launches for the first time, ScenarioBuilder will ask you to create a new project.

Enter a project name and click “Create”.



In this section, we want to create a simple scenario that opens Citrix Receiver in a web browser and logon to Citrix

Web Interface with parameterized user name/password. You can see the steps below, or create your own scenario

to test your software.

Click “New” from ScenarioBuilder toolbar or click the “New Scenario” from the Splash

Screen to create a new scenario.

Name your scenario and click “Open web app:” button.

Next, enter the proper URL and click “OK”.

ScenarioBuilder will open the URL on the default web browser.



Then capture a proper image using ScenarioRecorder.

Enter an image name and click “Accept”.

After that, click on the textbox to start parameterization of login process using ScenarioRecorder.



To genuinely replicate real world impact on an application, parameterizing data is critical. In ScenarioBuilder

you can access unlimited rows of data values, stored in comma separated values (CSV) files, to make each playback

of a Scenario a unique, real-user experience.

Press the key Tab to go to the next textbox;

Finally, click “Log On” button.



These are the recorded actions for our script:

In the edit mode, you can simply add, delete or modify actions wherever necessary.

Add an “On Failure” series of actions to your scenario so that it recovers, re-sets and continues in your

performance monitoring environment. The “On Failure” section determines what actions to take in the event your

Scenario or component fails, and should always be located at the end of the scenario or component. A “Resume”

action in conjunction with “On Failure” will allow your scenario to pick up where it left off prior to the failure.

Note that “On Failure” is an excellent way to handle intermittent pop-ups like security warnings.

Increase image action Timeout values before sending your scenario to the Base. The default value of 10

seconds might be sufficient when playing back in ScenarioBuilder, but in your performance monitoring

environment resources will be taxed and pages will load more slowly. Recommended Timeout value = 30 or 60.

Here is the final scenario:



Done and done! ScenarioBuilder offers a rich array of Actions to emulate virtually any user activity in your

application. Start simple, there’s plenty of time to dig into ScenarioBuilder’s sophisticated feature set.

Note that you can create different scenario(s) for any application (i.e. Notepad, Medical application, etc.)

Please refer to the ScenarioBuilder Getting Started and ScenarioBuilder User Guide documents for more

information.

https://www.automai.com/hubfs/sdl/scenariobuilder_gettingstarted_a.pdf

https://www.automai.com/hubfs/sdl/scenariobuilderuserguide.pdf



Play and Send Scenario

Playback scenario (as many times as necessary) to ensure that it performs as expected.

Set reference time (in execution report window after a successful scenario playback).

Save scenario.

Send it to the Base.

You will see a dialog box indicating “Send successful” upon completion.



If scenario is not received by the Base, ensure that IP Address or Hostname of the AppsWatch Base is properly

configured in ScenarioBuilder.

1. Click “View” in ScenarioBuilder toolbar

2. Go to “Options”

3. Click “Base”

4. If you could not find the Base address (In this case, the IP address of the Base is the same as the IP

address of the Server), click “Add” button to enter your AppsWatch Base information.

5. Click “Test” button to test the connection between ScenarioBuilder and the Base.

Close or minimize ScenarioBuilder.



Launch AppsWatch Base

After installing AppsWatch, a shortcut will be created on the desktop.

Double-click the AppsWatch shortcut to launch the AppsWatch Base in your default browser.

You can also launch the AppsWatch Base by entering IP address of the Server (or “localhost”) and Web Server

Port number into the address bar of a web browser.

Log in to AppsWatch (User Name: admin / Password: admin)



“Dashboard” page is the main interface you see when you login to the AppsWatch Base.

Please refer to the AppsWatch User Guide document for more information.

https://www.automai.com/hubfs/sdl/appswatchuserguide.pdf



In order to start performance monitoring, you need to create an Application Monitor.

Once you go to “Applications” page, you will notice the ScenarioStation has registered itself with the AppsWatch

Base.

Ensure that your firewall is not blocking communication to the Base through web server port 8888.

If ScenarioStation does not appear on the “Applications” page, run the “Start ScenarioStation” program

from the ScenarioStation machine:

[Start> All Programs> ScenarioStation> Start ScenarioStation]

The ScenarioStation is robot that executes and runs tests configured in the Base.



Configure an application monitor

An Application Monitor determines what (scenario) is executed; from where (ScenarioStation) it is executed; and

how often (determined by Group) it is executed. Each Application Monitor controls the execution of one scenario

on one ScenarioStation.

Create an Application Monitor

Click the “Applications” button to create an Application Monitor.

Next, select “Application Manager” from the top menu. The “Manage Applications” tab will

show up.

Then click “New Application” . The “New Application” page opens in a new tab;



Fill out the required information in each field. Here are the quick steps:

1. Select a Group from the drop-down list to establish the frequency – how often the Scenario is executed (e.g.

Every 5 minutes) and the profile – monitoring schedule (e.g. 24/7) associated with the Monitor.

2. Specify an Alias (name) for this Monitor

3. Select the ScenarioStation where this Scenario will be played.

4. Select the Scenario which will be played.

“Host/Server” field and “Events” part are optional. Please refer to the AppsWatch User Guide document for

more information.

Click “Submit” button.




Observe Application Monitor

Click on the “Show Stations” from the “Applications” section in the AppsWatch Base to display the

ScenarioStation(s). You can observe the playback of scenario(s) as they execute in accordance with the

Application Monitor that you created.

As you can see below, the ScenarioStaton status keeps changing while test is in progress.

Succeed:

Playing:



Failed:

AppsWatch provides a full page of graphs, charts, data and SLA statistics about the performance of your

Application Monitor.

Click on the “Backend Monitors” on the “Left Pane”, then click on the “Monitors” part in the “Metrics Tree”;

Expand the Group and highlight the Scenario.



You can check the status of the Application Monitor through this graph. The status includes of different parts:

Graph, SLA, Hourly Stats, Monthly Stats, Recent Failures, Last 24 Hours Activity and Graph Data.



Test Failures and Screenshots

In case of failure, hover over on any data point on the graph to see failure screenshots.



While a test is running, you can view the execution process through SSrdpManager.

You can add new services and dashboard to organize the monitoring and view performance information.

Please refer to the AppsWatch User Guide document for more information.




How to run a performance monitoring with multiple stations?

When setting up performance monitoring for more than one station, install ScenarioStation in all of the

appropriate servers/PCs that will be used to run the Application Monitors. If using SSrdpManager to maintain

connection to these ScenarioStations, then RDP connection credentials for each machine must be added to the

.srdp connection file.

In the SSrpdManager, click “Edit connection file”

The connection form will open;



When you are done editing, click “Save” to make the changes. The SSrdpManager will refresh all the remote

connections.

The same resolution, color depth, and font smoothing settings should be used for all of the connections to

simplify scenario creation and implementation.

As you see below, you can monitor multiple ScenarioStations through SSrdpManager.

The SSrdpManager window can be minimized without impacting Scenario play back.

Closing the SSrdpManager during the test would disrupt the test and you will get black screenshots.

Upon closing the SSrdpManager, configuration files will be saved.



Getting help and support

Free POC!

Need a Proof of Concept? Our experts will help establish AppsWatch’s viability so that your organization, from

stakeholders down to data entry clerks, is 100% behind your decision to go forward with AppsWatch!

Support Team

If at any point during your trial you need more help,

our technicians are waiting to help you! Don’t

hesitate to call our experts at +1 833-288-6624 (+1

833-AUTOMAI) or email Automai Support

[email protected].

Help Center

For one-on-one help, create a support request at

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can create one - just follow the prompts. When

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Online Help

If you can't find what you need in the documentation,

you can ask questions, search for answers, exchange

comments and suggestions on our Help Center, find

answers to your Frequently Asked Questions and

watch Training Videos.

Send us feedback

We love to hear your thoughts on AppsWatch and your ideas for future features and improvements. Also,

occasionally bugs do happen. If you find one, we'll do our best to fix it.

AppsWatch navigation pane includes a ticket form for you to submit your problems, questions and suggestions

about the product. Let us know what you think!

mailto:[email protected]

https://support.automai.com/

https://support.automai.com/

https://support.automai.com/hc/en-us/categories/115001243647-FAQ

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