Performance testing is a software testing process used for testing the speed, response time, stability, reliability, scalability, and resource usage of a software application under a particular workload. The main purpose of performance testing is to identify and eliminate the performance bottlenecks in the software application.

Key parameters of performance testing

Speed – determines whether the application responds quickly
Scalability – determines the maximum user load the software application can handle
Stability – determines if the application is stable under varying loads

Types of performance testing

Load testing – checks the application’s ability to perform under anticipated user loads. The objective is to identify performance bottlenecks before the software application goes live.
Stress testing – involves testing an application under extreme workloads to see how it handles high traffic or data processing. The objective is to identify the breaking point of an application.
Volume testing – Under Volume Testing a large amount of data is populated in a database, and the overall software system’s behavior is monitored. The objective is to check a software application’s performance under varying database volumes.

What is OctoPerf?

OctoPerf is a commercial SaaS and on-premise platform that offers a full-stack cloud load testing platform. It allows simulating thousands of concurrent users on any HTTP-based website or mobile application. On premise means you can install your own OctoPerf platform anywhere you want. It has the following key features: record and design realistic virtual users, monitor your servers, run scenarios from multiple locations (Europe, USA, and more), and analyze bench reports to find performance bottlenecks.

What is Katalon?

Katalon is a modern, comprehensive quality management platform that helps teams of any size deliver the highest quality digital experiences. Katalon Studio is a comprehensive toolset for web, API, mobile, and desktop app automation testing.

Katalon with OctoPerf

In the following section we will walk you through the steps to prepare an OctoPerf workspace with all the necessary performance activity and then call the OctoPerf APIs within Katalon Studio to generate a performance test report. Then, we will visualize the results of the test execution using Katalon TestOps™.

Prerequisites

Katalon Studio
OctoPerf account

Account setup in OctoPerf

Log in to the OctoPerf account.
Create a workspace and copy the Workspace Id from the URL.

Create a project and copy the Project Id from the URL.

Create Virtual User. A Virtual User represents a user journey through your application. It lets you simulate real user behavior. You are then prompted with several options:
- Website or REST API
- Browser record (HAR)
- JMeter project
- Postman collection
- Fragments

This tutorial uses Browser Record (HAR) for the Virtual User so you can generate a .har file on a browser (Chrome/Firefox) by recording all the action for test application.

Go with the Virtual User Validation check.
Click on Execute Load.

Click on Create Scenario and copy the Scenario Id from the URL.

Enter the Time of occurrence and number of concurrent users.

Click on Templates, then Extract Template, and copy Template Id from the URL.

Project setup in Katalon

Create a project.
Add all the store values for OctoPerf into the Katalon profile.
- Template Id
- Scenario Id
- Workspace Id
- Project Id
- OctoPerf API Key
- Add download-report.sh at the project root directory

Create APIs within the Object repository.
- API EndPoint - POST https://api.octoperf.com/runtime/scenarios/run/<scenarioId>?templateId=<templateId>
- Http Header - Authorization - Bearer ${apikey}

API EndPoint - https://api.octoperf.com/runtime/bench-results/progress/${benchResultId}
Http Header - Authorization - Bearer ${apikey}
Create Test Cases and Extract the values from APIs.
Test Case No. 1: TC001_Executes the scenario with the given ID.

Test Case No. 2: TC002_Track Run Progress.

Test Case No. 3: TC003_Download PDF Report.

Create a Test Suite and add all the above test cases.

Run Katalon test suite and verify the report downloaded on the project root directory.

Conclusion

Performance testing is a crucial part of software testing, ensuring that an application is stable, reliable, and scalable. Katalon and OctoPerf are two tools that can work together to provide comprehensive end-to-end test coverage in an automated way. The integration between these two tools allows for the automation of the build, test, and deployment of applications, making it easier for teams to identify and eliminate performance bottlenecks.

With OctoPerf's ability to simulate thousands of concurrent users and Katalon's comprehensive toolset for automation testing, the combined solution provides a powerful performance testing tool for teams of any size. By following the steps outlined in this article, teams can set up an OctoPerf workspace and integrate it with Katalon to generate performance test reports and identify performance issues efficiently.

Start Testing With Katalon Now

Read more: