Handling many RunTests instances

When you start a number of stubs with IBM® DevOps Test Virtualization (Test Virtualization), you see that many RunTests instances are running and the amount of available system memory is reduced.

When you start a stub, IBM DevOps Test Integrations and APIs Agent (Test Integrations and APIs Agent) downloads a copy of the project from IBM DevOps Test Virtualization Control Panel (Test Virtualization Control Panel) and starts a RunTests instance to run it. Test Virtualization Control Panel attempts to use an instance of RunTests that is already running in the selected domain/environment, if possible. Each instance of RunTests can run only one version of a project in one environment.

For example, suppose that you start version 2.0 of stub X from project A in environment Test and you have one instance of RunTests running. Next, you start more stubs. You can see what happens when each stub starts.

Action	Result
You start version 2.0 of stub Y from project A in environment Test.	The existing RunTests instance is used as the stub version is already loaded for this environment.
You start version 3.0 of stub Y from project A in environment Test.	A new RunTests instance is started as this stub is a different version from the one already loaded.
You start stub Y from project A in environment UAT.	A new RunTests instance is started as this environment is new.
You start stub Y from project B in any environment.	A new RunTests instance is started as this project was not loaded for this environment.

You can view the RunTests instances and stop them.

To view the current running status of RunTests instances in Test Virtualization Control Panel:

Log in to Test Virtualization Control Panel.

The application window is displayed.
Click the Infrastucture icon or navigation link.

The Infrastructure Dashboard is displayed with all registered agents.
Expand the relevant agent and click the Engines tab to view the details of the engines.

A RunTests instance remains running after the stub was stopped. This behavior means a quicker start the next time that you start a stub for a project that is already loaded.
Tip:
To stop all running stubs click the Stop Stubs icon to stop the stubs and close all RunTests instances that are not running scheduled tests. This action affects all stubs and RunTests instances in the selected domain/environment.
Notes:
Unused RunTests instances are reused. For example, if no stubs are running on a RunTests instance, when you start a new stub, it uses the empty RunTests instance. If the project settings are different, the old project is unloaded and the new project is loaded.

Extra RunTests instances are started when you run scheduled tests from the Test Integrations and APIs Agent and when you run tests from IBM Rational® Quality Manager. These instances stop when the test run completes.