IBM Rational Performance Tester release notes for 10.0.0

This document contains information about what's new, known limitations, and problems in IBM® Rational® Performance Tester.

Contents

Description

Rational Performance Tester is a scripting-free environment for automating load and scalability testing of web, ERP, and server-based software applications. Rational Performance Tester provides rich and customizable reporting to help you identify the presence and cause of system bottlenecks. It captures the network traffic that is rendered when the application under test interacts with a server. This network traffic is then emulated on multiple virtual users while playing back the test. With Rational Performance Tester, you can test applications that use the following protocols or domains:
  • HTTP
  • SAP (GUI)
  • Citrix
  • Socket
  • TN3270
  • Service (SOA)
To scale up the load for tests without investing money in computers, you can create a schedule that runs in a cloud location. You can specify the number of agents required for a run. The cost of the cloud run is based on the number of virtual users and the number of hours.

System requirements

For information about hardware and software compatibility for Rational Performance Tester, see the http://www.ibm.com/software/reports/compatibility/clarity/softwareReqsForProduct.html.

What's new in 10.0.0

  • IBM Rational Test Automation Server is a server-based application that integrates with the desktop clients to manage test projects, play back tests, and view results. For more information, see Rational Test Automation Server Overview.

  • Starting from 10.0.0, you must have a standard license to work with the product.

  • Support to publish test logs and statistical reports to the Rational Test Automation Server from both Rational Performance Tester and command-line interface. See Publishing test results to the server and Running a test or schedule from a command line.

  • Support to add string values for a dataset in a browser-based CSV editor. As a result, you can set any row or data as the starting point for the test to select the values. See Managing datasets.

  • Support for OpenJDK 8 with Open J9 instead of IBM Java.
    Note: If you have tests with smart card authentication, you can use any of the previous versions of Rational Performance Tester.

  • Support to print the verdict and URL of the report in the console log for tests that ran from the command line. See Running a test or schedule from a command line.

Installing the product

You cannot upgrade Rational Performance Tester from a previous version to 10.0.0. You have to uninstall the existing version before installing 10.0.0. To install the product, see Installing Rational Performance Tester and Rational Performance Tester Agent.

Known problems

  • With 10.0, you might expect a reduction in the number of Virtual Users (VUs) supported by IBM Rational Performance Tester Agent depending upon workload characteristics. This variation is the result of the product shipping with OpenJDK 8 with OpenJ9 instead of IBM JRE.

    OpenJDK 8 with OpenJ9 JRE exhibits a higher utilization of CPU for the workload. Up to 30% or more decrease in the supported VUs capacity may be expected for CPU-bound workloads. However, for memory-bound workloads, a much smaller, if any reduction in VUs capacity may be expected.

    If you need higher performance and have access to IBM JRE 8.0.5.35 or later that contains latest security fixes, you can switch from OpenJDK 8 with OpenJ9 to IBM JRE. For more information, see http://www.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=ibm10956413.

  • The other known problems are documented in the download document. Select a download document from Fix list for Rational Performance Tester and Rational Service Tester for SOA Quality.

  • Known problems are also documented in the form of individual tech notes in the Support Knowledge Base. For more information, see All tech notes for Rational Performance Tester.

Contacting IBM Rational Software Support

  • For contact information and guidelines or reference materials that you will need when you require support, read the IBM Support Guide.

  • For personalized support, including notifications of significant upgrades, subscribe at Product notification.

  • Before you contact IBM Rational Software Support, gather the background information that you will need to describe your problem. When describing a problem to an IBM software support specialist, be as specific as possible and include all relevant background information so that the specialist can help you solve the problem efficiently. To save time, know the answers to these questions:
    • What software versions were you running when the problem occurred?
    • Do you have logs, traces, or messages that are related to the problem?
    • Can you reproduce the problem? If so, what steps do you take to reproduce it?
    • Is there a workaround for the problem? If so, be prepared to describe the workaround.

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