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Scripted HTTP load testing with Pandora

Written by
Updated at March 3, 2025

You can use Load Testing to run scripted load tests over HTTP with the Pandora load generator.

To perform load testing:

  1. Prepare your cloud.
  2. Prepare a test target.
  3. Prepare your infrastructure.
  4. Create an agent.
  5. Prepare a file with test data.
  6. Prepare a script file.
  7. Run a test.

If you no longer need the resources you created, delete them.

Prepare your cloud

Sign up for Yandex Cloud and create a billing account:

  1. Go to the management console and log in to Yandex Cloud or create an account if you do not have one yet.
  2. On the Yandex Cloud Billing page, make sure you have a billing account linked and it has the ACTIVE or TRIAL_ACTIVE status. If you do not have a billing account, create one.

If you have an active billing account, you can go to the cloud page to create or select a folder for your infrastructure to operate in.

Learn more about clouds and folders.

If the agent is hosted on Yandex Cloud, you pay for computing resources (see Yandex Compute Cloud pricing).

At the Preview stage, Load Testing is free of charge.

Prepare a test target

In this example, we will test a service with internal IP address 172.17.0.10 in the same subnet as the agent.

Make sure the service is accessed over HTTPS using the default port: 443.

You can also use Load Testing for load testing of a service that is public or located in a subnet and security group other than those of the agent.

For a public service, allow incoming HTTPS traffic on port 443.

For a service whose subnet and security group is different from the agent's ones, create a rule for incoming HTTPS traffic on port 443 in the security group where the test target is located.

Prepare the infrastructure

Create a service account

  1. Create a service account named sa-loadtest in the folder to host the agent that will generate the load.
  2. Assign the following roles to the service account:
    • loadtesting.generatorClient: Allows running the agent, performing tests on the agent, and uploading the results to storage.
    • compute.admin: Allows managing VMs in Compute Cloud.
    • vpc.user: Allows connecting to Virtual Private Cloud network resources and using them.

Configure a network

Create and configure a NAT gateway in the subnet where your test target is and where the agent will reside. This will enable the agent to access Load Testing.

Configure security groups

  1. Set up the test agent's security group:

    1. Create an agent security group named agent-sg.
    2. Add rules:

      1. Rule for outgoing HTTPS traffic to the Load Testing public API:

        • Port range: 443
        • Protocol: TCP
        • Destination name: CIDR
        • CIDR blocks: 0.0.0.0/0

        This will allow connecting the agent to Load Testing to manage tests from the interface and get test results.

      2. Rule for incoming SSH traffic:

        • Port range: 22
        • Protocol: TCP
        • Destination name: CIDR
        • CIDR blocks: 0.0.0.0/0

        This will allow you to connect to the agent over SSH and manage tests from the console or collect debugging information.

      3. Rule for outgoing traffic when generating load to the test target:

        • Port range: 0-65535
        • Protocol: Any
        • Destination name: Security group
          Select From list. Specify the security group where the test target is located.

        Create this rule for each test target with a unique security group.

  2. Set up the test target's security group:

    1. Create the test target's security group named load-target-sg.

    2. Add a rule for incoming traffic when generating load to the test target:

      • Port range: 0-65535.
      • Protocol: Any.
      • Select From list. Specify the security group where the test target is located.

      This rule allows agents to generate load to this target or enable additional monitoring tools.

Create a test agent

  1. If you do not have an SSH key pair yet, create one.

  2. Create an agent.

    1. In the management console, select the folder where you want to create the agent.

    2. In the list of services, select Load Testing.

    3. In the Agents tab, click Create agent.

    4. Enter a name for the agent, e.g., agent-008.

    5. Specify the same availability zone where the test target is located.

    6. Under Agent:

    7. Under Access, specify the information required to access the agent:

      • Select the sa-loadtest service account.

      • Under Login, enter a username.

        Alert

        Do not use root or other reserved usernames. To perform operations requiring root privileges, use the sudo command.

      • In the SSH key field, paste the contents of the public key file.

    8. Click Create.

    9. Wait for the VM instance to create. Make sure the agent status has changed to Ready for test.

      Note

      If the agent creation process has stopped at Initializing connection, make sure the following conditions are met:

      • The agent has a public IP address and access to loadtesting.api.cloud.yandex.net:443.
      • A NAT gateway is set up in the target subnet.
      • The service account assigned to the agent has the required roles.

  3. Assign a public IP to the agent to enable access over SSH:

    1. In the management console, select the folder where the agent is located.
    2. Select Compute Cloud.
    3. Select the VM named agent-008.
    4. Under Network interface, in the top-right corner, click and select Add public IP address.
    5. In the window that opens:
      • In the Public address field, select obtaining a Auto address.
      • Click Add.

Prepare a file with test data

  1. Generate test data in the users.csv file:

    user_id,name,pass
1,John,123
2,Jack,456
3,Jim,789
4,Joe,0asdf
5,Jane,12dasdf
6,Jill,asdf
7,Joy,zxcv
8,Joy,zxcv
9,Joy,zxcv
10,Joy,zxcv

Prepare a script file

In your test script, specify a sequence of HTTP requests to run during testing. A single file may include multiple scripts. The following file formats are supported:

  • hcl
  • yaml
  • json

  1. Prepare your script in the payload.hcl file:

    variable_source "variables" "variables" {
   variables = {
      auth_path = "/auth"
      order_path = "/order"
   }
}


variable_source "users" "file/csv" {
   file              = "users.csv"
   fields            = ["user_id", "name", "pass"]
   ignore_first_line = true
   delimiter         = ","
}

request "auth_req" {
   method  = "POST"
   uri     = "{{.source.variables.auth_path}}"
   headers = {
      Content-Type = "application/json"
      Useragent    = "Yandex"
   }
   body = <<EOF
{"user_id":  {{.request.auth_req.preprocessor.user_id}}}
EOF
   tag  = "auth"

   preprocessor {
      mapping = {
         user_id = "source.users[next].user_id"
      }
   }
}

request "order_req" {
   method  = "POST"
   uri     = "{{.source.variables.order_path}}?sleep=100"
   headers = {
      Useragent     = "Yandex"
   }
   body = <<EOF
{"item_id": test_item_id}
EOF
   tag  = "order"
}

scenario "test_scenario" {
   min_waiting_time = 1000
   requests = [
      "auth_req",
      "sleep(100)",
      "order_req(3, 100)"
   ]
}

    This script named test_scenario describes the requests named auth_req and order_req: You can provide arguments to a request to set the number of its runs and the delay time between them. In this example, order_req(3, 100) means that order_req will run three times with an interval of 100 milliseconds.

    The min_waiting_time parameter defines the minimum script execution time in milliseconds. If a script is completed faster, the remaining time will be appended to the script as a delay.

    The script features a variable source called variables containing the auth_path and order_path variables. Their values are used to specify uri in requests.

    Also, the script includes the users variable source which uses the data from the external users.csv file. To work with an array of users, the script employs a preprocessor with the following modifiers:

    • next to get the next array element.
    • last to get the last array element.
    • rand to get a random array element.

Run a test

  1. In the management console, select Load Testing.

  2. In the left-hand panel, select Tests. Click Create test.

  3. In the Agents parameter, select agent-008.

  4. Under Attached files, click Select files and select the users.csv and payload.hcl files you saved earlier.

  5. Under Test settings, select the Config configuration method.

  6. In the configuration input field, specify the testing thread settings in yaml format:

       uploader:
      enabled: true
      package: yandextank.plugins.DataUploader
      api_address: loadtesting.api.cloud.yandex.net:443
   pandora:
      enabled: true
      package: yandextank.plugins.Pandora
      config_content:
         pools:
            - id: Pool name
               gun:
                  type: http/scenario
                  target: 172.17.0.10:80
               ammo:
                  type: http/scenario
                  file: payload.hcl
               result:
                  type: phout
                  destination: ./phout.log
               rps:
                  - duration: 10s
                     type: line
                     from: 1
                     to: 5
               startup:
                  type: once
                  times: 5
         log:
            level: debug
   autostop:
      enabled: true
      package: yandextank.plugins.Autostop
      autostop:
         - limit (5m)
   core: {}

  7. Click Create.

Once you do that, the configuration will pass checks, and the agent will start loading the service you are testing.

To see the testing progress, select the new test and go to the Test results tab.

How to delete the resources you created

Some resources are not free of charge. To avoid paying for them, delete the resources you no longer need:

  1. Delete the agent.
  2. Delete the route table.
  3. Delete the NAT gateway.
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