Configuring Continuous Testing

Overview

Continuous Tests, also known as Continuous Monitoring, refer to a series of Tests that run consecutively to continuously monitor end-user experience. These Tests aim to promptly alert you to any issues in your infrastructure, preempting the need for users to report problems.

How It Works

A Continuous Test records all timers defined in your Application scripts, along with session metrics from Windows and your connection broker. It can also execute our EUX Applications to gauge user experience on your hardware. Each metric can be charted over extended periods within your Test.

Continuous Tests initiate a session to log in as a specific user, execute the designated Test, and log out upon completion. The results from all executions are displayed as a single, continuous set, allowing you to monitor performance graphs over extended periods. You can configure email alerts to notify you when specific counters exceed their assigned threshold values within a specified interval, helping you identify performance degradation.

When viewing a Continuous Test in the Login Enterprise sidebar menu > Results > Continuous Testing, you'll initially encounter a chart displaying your metrics. This enables you to promptly assess the success of your Test and the consistency of your results. For more information, see Viewing Continuous Testing Results.

Creating a Continuous Test

1. In the Login Enterprise sidebar menu, navigate to Configuration > Manage Tests, and select Continuous Tests.

2. In Continuous Tests, click “+“ on the top right to create a test.

3. Define the connection settings:

4. Click Save to apply the changes.

Configuring Continuous Test Settings

Once you’ve created a Continuous Test, you need to configure the Test settings, such as:

Enabling Scheduling

Continuous Tests, unlike other available Test types, offer various scheduling options:

Daily and Weekly Schedules

You can implement detailed scheduling for Continuous Tests, choosing between daily or weekly schedules. The following examples illustrate a Continuous Test schedule from 6 am to 5 pm on both a daily and weekly basis. This flexibility allows administrators to exclude scheduled downtime from the testing schedule.

Session Metrics Settings

Within a Continuous Test, you can also configure Session Metric settings, such as:

For more information on Session Metrics, see Managing Session Metrics and Viewing Session Metrics.

Actions

You can add the preferred Applications for the Virtual User to test. You can also add Application Groups, and “Waits.” For details, see Configuring Applications for Testing.

Notifications

One of the major advantages of Continuous Testing is that Virtual Users operate independently of any active real-user sessions. This allows them to effortlessly execute workloads, detect failures or performance degradation, and promptly and proactively alert IT Operations teams. For more information, see Managing Notifications.

Citrix Published Apps

You can connect to a Published Application using either the StoreFront or NetScaler Connector. The key difference between connecting to a Virtual Desktop and a Published Application is that the resource configured is an Application rather than a desktop. For details, see Citrix Netscaler 12.1 and 13.0 and Citrix Storefront.

Schedule Configuration

Define the time schedule during which the virtual user is active.

Actions List Configuration

You can configure Applications in the Actions list. It is recommended to set up Application scripts that correspond with the published apps. While you can add other Application scripts, they may not function correctly if they are not intended for the published Applications defined for that user. Ensure that each Application script includes "mainWindowTitle: *ApplicationTitle*" in the START parameter.

How It Works

When the Launcher initiates the session, it receives information from StoreFront or NetScaler indicating that the configured resource is a Published App. This information instructs the Virtual Appliance script executor not to start the Application as it would in a virtual machine (VM) or desktop environment. As a result, you can use existing scripts for published apps, such as the default Microsoft Word scripts.

Access

You can assign roles to Tests to control access to the Test configuration and results. By assigning roles, only users with the designated roles will be able to view or modify the Test configuration and results, depending on their permissions. For detailed instructions on creating and managing roles, permissions, and dependencies, see the Role-Based Access Control (RBAC).

Adjusting the Engine Start Timeout

The timeout for the Engine-start setting controls how long the Virtual Appliance will wait for the Engine on the Target to come online after a session is launched, and before the connection is considered a failure (login failure). Since we cannot see what is happening during the login phase, all we can do is wait for the Engine to communicate with the Appliance. Or give up and abort the session.

The default timeout is 300 seconds (5 minutes).

You can modify this timeout on an individual Test by using the Public API to reconfigure the Test. A PowerShell script is available to make this process easier. For specific directions on setting the appropriate parameter for an individual Test, see Setting the Engine Start Timeout on a Test.

Key considerations:

• Default timeout: If no value is specified, or the value is set to 0, the timeout defaults to 300 seconds (5 minutes).

• Web interface limitation: This option is not available through the Appliance web interface. If you create a Test via the web interface, the timeout will be left empty and default to 300 seconds.

• Update via API: To modify the timeout, first create a Test, then use the update endpoint to set the timeout. The timeout cannot be set during Test creation.

Starting a Continuous Test

In the Continuous Tests, switch the toggle next to the Test you’d like to start.

Enabling Continuous Tests in Bulk

If you have multiple Continuous Test runs, you can enable or disable them in bulk. This way, you’ll provide increased ease of management for larger Login Enterprise deployments. To perform bulk start/stop operations, select the checkboxes of all Tests that should be considered, and click Enable all.

Locations

If Launchers are attached to configured locations when a Continuous Test type is in progress, these Launchers will be visible in the map view. For more details, see Configuring Locations.

Best Practices

Continuous Tests provide flexible scheduling options that allow administrators to automate test execution and monitor environments over time. The following tips help ensure reliable scheduling and avoid common issues.

Choosing the Right Connector for Scheduling

Scheduling Continuous Tests requires a Connector capable of initiating user sessions.

The Desktop Connector cannot initiate sessions, so it cannot run scheduled tests based on specific times or intervals. If you need to schedule tests automatically, configure a real Connector that supports user logon.

Using Scheduling Options to Match Testing Needs

Continuous Tests can be configured in several ways:

• Run continuously

• Run during specific hours of the day

• Run on specific days of the week

• Run at fixed intervals

• Run with a defined number of concurrent test instances

These options allow you to simulate ongoing workloads or periodic validation checks depending on your testing goals.

Time Zone Considerations

When scheduling a test, the appliance converts the configured time from your browser to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) based on your current time zone.

However, the system does not store the original time zone or automatically adjust for daylight saving time (DST).

If your test schedule aligns closely with working hours and your region observes DST, you may need to manually adjust the scheduled time after the seasonal change.

Using Continuous Tests for Automation

Although the appliance is primarily designed as a measurement platform, Continuous Tests can also be used for other automation tasks, such as scheduling interactive actions or operational checks.

Because of their flexibility, Continuous Tests can function similarly to a task scheduler for executing scripted workflows.

Manually Triggering Tests with Desktop Connector

The Desktop Connector provides an alternative method for running tests manually.

You can trigger a Test Run directly from a machine by launching the connector .exe file with the appropriate parameters. This approach is useful when you need manual control over when tests start.

Continuous Test Results and Comparison

• For information on the Continuous Test results, consult Viewing Continuous Testing Results.

• For general guidelines on how to analyze Continuous Testing Session Metrics, see Viewing Session Metrics.