Recording a Citrix test

You can record a Citrix session with the Citrix XenApp or XenDesktop. When you record, the recording wizard automatically starts the client and configures it for recording. When you have finished recording the session, the wizard generates a Citrix performance test.

Before you begin

  • Install Citrix Receiver and connect to Citrix XenDesktop. For information about supported versions, see the System Requirements document. Rational® Performance Tester V9.1 supports Citrix Receiver 4.5 or 4.6 and Citrix XenDesktop 7.8.
  • If you use Microsoft Windows 2008, you must have Citrix Receiver 3.3 or 4.1. To run a citrix test on Microsoft Windows 2008, you must install Citrix Receiver 3.3 or 4.1 and .Net Framework 3.5. To install the .Net Framework 3.5 feature, open Control Panel and click Turn Windows features on or off. In the Add Roles and Features Wizard, on the Features page, select the .Net Framework 3.5 Features check box, and click Next. To specify the source files path of the feature, click Specify an alternate source path, specify the path, click OK, and click Install.
  • The behavior of the recording wizard is controlled by recorder preferences. To inspect the current settings, click Window > Preferences, expand Test, and click Citrix Recording. This procedure assumes that default settings are used.
  • After you record a test or when you run a test on Windows 2008, the Citrix Image Synchronization tab does not display the captured screenshot for Actual Image. The bitmap hash code also varies for the actual and expected screenshot. You must use the bitmap hash code of the Expected Image for Actual Image. To do that, in the Citrix Image Synchronization, click the Add Value icon and click Yes in the confirmation message. The Image Synchronization entry is added to the test. Save the test.
  • By default, IBM® Rational® Performance Tester Agent starts as a service. If you run a Citrix test on an agent, you must start Rational® Performance Tester Agent as a process.
    To start an agent as a process:
    1. Open the Windows Services window.
    2. For the Majordomo service, change the Startup Type to Manual and then change the Status to Stop.
    3. From the agent's installation directory, open the Majordomo folder, and double-click the Majordomo.exe file.

About this task

You can also record and generate a test by using REST APIs. The API documentation to record a test is located at C:\Program Files\__VENDOR_NAME__\__VENDOR_NAME__IMSHARED\plugins\com.ibm.rational.test.lt.server.recorder.jar. The API documentation to generate a test after the recording completes is located at C:\Program Files\__VENDOR_NAME__\__VENDOR_NAME__IMSHARED\plugins\com.ibm.rational.test.lt.server.testgen.jar.

Procedure

To record a Citrix test:
  1. In the Performance Test perspective, click the New Test from Recording toolbar button New Test from Recording button or click File > New > Test from Recording.
  2. In the New Test from Recording wizard, select Create a test from a new recording, select Citrix Test, and click Next.
    If you are recording sensitive data, you can select a Recording encryption level.
  3. On the Select Location page, select the project and folder locations to contain the new test, type a name for the test, and click Next.
    If necessary, click the Create Parent Folder Create Parent Folder push button push button to create a new project or folder.
  4. On the Citrix Connection Settings page, specify how to connect to the Citrix server. Complete one of these tasks:
    • If your Citrix administrator has provided you with an ICA file, complete these steps:
    1. Select With ICA file to use its settings to connect to the server.
    2. Click Browse to locate and select the ICA file on your computer.
    3. Click Next to continue.
    • If you want to manually specify the Citrix server to use for the session, complete these steps:
    1. Select On server to connect directly to the server.
    2. Specify the name or IP address of the server or click Browse to locate a server or server farm on your local network.
    3. Optional: If you need to change the Citrix farm parameters, click Farm Settings.
    4. To record a Windows™ desktop session, leave Initial program blank.
    • If your Citrix administrator has published applications on the network, complete these steps:
    1. Select On published application, and click Browse to choose the application from the list of published applications on the server or server farm.
    2. Optional: If you need to change the Citrix farm parameters, click Farm Settings.
    In this case, the server farm performs the load balancing and selects the server automatically.
  5. To make the logon sequence part of the session parameters, select Logon with user-specified credentials, type your credentials, and specify the domain name. If this option is disabled, your credentials are recorded as part of the logon sequence during the recording.
    Note: If you use the With ICA file option and the ICA file contains the LogonTicket command, even after you type your credentials as part of this step, you must type your credentials again on the Citrix server to start a Citrix test. To avoid entering credentials twice, you can manually remove the LogonTicket command from the ICA file.
  6. Click Next to continue.
  7. On the Citrix Session Preferences page, you can provide a description for the test, change the video settings, encryption mode, and advanced options for the Citrix XenApp client. Click Next to continue.
    Note: Because Citrix performance tests are based on low-level interactions with the server, including mouse and window coordinates, the Citrix desktop must be large enough to support the application under test. You must particularly avoid scrolling windows during the recording.
  8. If this is the first time you record a Citrix performance test, read the Privacy Warning, and then select Accept to proceed.
  9. To start the recording, click Finish.
    The Citrix Recording window opens, displaying the Citrix XenApp session and a set of recorder controls.
  10. In the Citrix Recording window, complete the tasks to test.
    You can use the recorder controls in the toolbar to add comments, record synchronizations, or take screen captures during the recording.
    1. To add a user comment to the recorded test, click the Insert user comment icon Insert user comment icon.
      Because Citrix tests can be long and difficult to read, meaningful comments can help you locate important elements.
    2. To add an image synchronization to the recorded test, click the Insert image synchronization icon Insert image synchronization icon, select an area of the screen to be used for synchronization, and then click the Insert image synchronization icon again.
      Image synchronizations enable the test to keep track of the contents of a screen area during the replay instead of focusing only on window events. You can use these screen captures to maintain synchronization of a test in applications that do not create or modify many windows, but update the contents of a window regularly. The contents of an image can be evaluated either as a bitmap hashcode or as a text value obtained by optical character recognition.
    3. To insert a response time measurement during the recording, click the Insert response time icon Insert response time icon to create a start for the measurement in the recording, and click the icon again to create a stop.
    4. To add a screen or window capture to the recorded test, click the Capture screen icon Capture screen icon or Capture window icon Capture window icon.
      Screen and window captures make your tests easier to read and help you visualize the recorded test. To change the settings for screen and window captures, click the Screen capture preferences icon Screen capture preferences icon, and then select one of these options:
      No automatic screen capture
      Select this option if you do not want the test recorder to record screen captures automatically. When this option is selected, you can still record screen captures manually. This option is selected by default.
      Capture screen every
      Select this option to automatically record a periodic screen capture and specify the time between captures.
      Capture screen on window creation
      Select this option to record a screen capture each time a window object is created in Citrix.
      Exclude tooltips
      When Capture screen on window creation is selected, enable this option to prevent creating a screen capture each time a tooltip event is displayed during the recording. If this option is disabled, screen captures are recorded when tooltips are displayed.

      To preview all screen captures, window captures, and image synchronizations on the side of the Citrix Recording window, click the Screen capture preview button icon Screen capture preview icon.

  11. When you have completed the sequence of actions to be tested, close the session, and stop the recorder by clicking the Stop recording icon Stop recording icon.
    A progress window opens while the test is generated. On completion, the Recorder Control view displays the Test generation completed message, the Test Navigator lists your test, and the test opens in the test editor.