Hiding passwords in the Synthetic Script Manager

Store passwords as variables in your synthetic scripts to hide password values in the Synthetic Script Manager.

Before you begin

This procedure requires you to edit a synthetic script. Record a synthetic script by using Selenium IDE. For more information, see Recording synthetic scripts.

About this task

Manually modify your synthetic scripts in the Selenium IDE to store your password as a variable. You can then create synthetic transactions with hidden passwords in the Synthetic Script Manager. Hidden passwords are displayed as asterisks in the Synthetic Script Manager.

Important: It is recommended that you store your passwords in synthetic scripts so that the password values are not displayed in the Synthetic Script Manager. Hidden passwords make your web applications more secure by preventing others from viewing passwords.

Procedure

Open the script that you want to modify in Selenium IDE. Use the store command to assign a password to the variable password, following the example that is described in this step; then, save the script.

Important: You must store the password as the variable name password so that the password is not displayed in the Synthetic Script Manager.
For example, the following synthetic script contains a user name test@example.com and a password value ibm4value.
```
<tr>
   <td>type</td>
   <td>id=username</td>
   <td>test@example.com</td>
</tr>
<tr>
   <td>type</td>
   <td>id=password</td>
   <td>ibm4value</td>
</tr>
```
The following script shows how to assign the password value ibm4value to the variable password by using the store command.
```
<tr>
   <td>store</td>
   <td>ibm4value</td>
   <td>password</td>
</tr>
<tr>
   <td>type</td>
   <td>id=username</td>
   <td>test@example.com</td>
</tr>
<tr>
   <td>type</td>
   <td>id=password</td>
   <td>$(password)</td>
</tr>
```
Optional: To hide the password at script level, assign a blank value to the variable password by using the store command; then, save the script.
You can set the password later in the Synthetic Script Manager.
For example, the following script shows how to assign a blank value to the variable password by using the store command.
```
<tr>
   <td>store</td>
   <td></td>
   <td>password</td>
</tr>
<tr>
   <td>type</td>
   <td>id=username</td>
   <td>test@example.com</td>
</tr>
<tr>
   <td>type</td>
   <td>id=password</td>
   <td>$(password)</td>
</tr>
```
Log in to the Cloud APM console and open the Synthetic Script Manager. Create a transaction and upload your script to that transaction. Click the Advanced Settings tab.
The password for each location is hidden. You can change the password for each location. For more information, see Managing synthetic transactions.