Recording reliable HTTP tests

You use a web browser to capture the HTTP test. To record reliable HTTP tests, certain configuration of the web browsers are required. Read the guidelines in this topic for robust HTTP tests.

Remove temporary files

To ensure that your recording accurately captures HTTP traffic, remove temporary files from the web browser's cache before you record a test.

To remove temporary files from the Microsoft Internet Explorer cache:
  1. Open Internet Explorer, and click Tools > Options.
  2. On the General tab, click Delete.
  3. In the Delete Browsing History window, click Delete, and then click OK.
To remove temporary files from the Mozilla FireFox cache:
  1. Open Mozilla Firefox and click Tools > Options.
  2. Click the Advanced tab and then the Network tab.
  3. Click Clear Now.
  4. Click OK.

Allow recorded pages to load completely

When recording, wait for each page to load completely. This wait does not affect performance results, because you can remove extra think time when you play back the test.

Recording with IP addresses

When recording, you can enter the IP address of the website to connect to instead of entering the host name. When you play back the test, however, make sure that the IP address can resolve to a host name. Typically, this resolution occurs via a reverse DNS lookup.
Note: While recording a test in Internet Explorer, if you use localhost in the URL, Internet Explorer does not route the traffic through Rational® Performance Tester Agent. The test will not contain any recorded data. You must use a host name or IP address to record the traffic.

To resolve the IP address, map each IP address to a host name in the /etc/hosts file. On a Windows system, the file is typically stored in C:\windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts.

If an address cannot be resolved, your test shows a slower connection time. This time might be delayed by as much as 8 seconds, depending on the network configuration of the computer.