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Step-load HTTPS testing with Pandora

Written by
Updated at December 24, 2024

You can use Load Testing to run step-load tests of a service over HTTPS using 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. Create and 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

As a test target, create a VM from a public Linux image.

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 the username.

        Alert

        Do not use root or other usernames reserved by the operating system. To perform operations requiring superuser permissions, 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 payloads in URI format:

    [Host: 172.17.0.10]
[Connection: Close]
/ index
/test?param1=1&param2=2 get_test

    The Host parameter indicates the IP address of the test target. The Connection: Close parameter specifies whether to close the connection after each request. This mode is heavier on the application and load generator. If you do not need to close the connections, select Keep-Alive.

    There are also two requests tagged index and get_test. The load generator will repeat them within a given load profile.

  2. Save the payloads to a file named data.uri.

Create and 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 data.uri file you saved earlier.

  5. Under Test settings, select a configuration method: Form or Config.

  6. Depending on the selected method, specify the test parameters:

    1. In the Load generator field, select PANDORA.

    2. In the Target address field, specify the IP address of the service you are testing: 172.17.0.10.

    3. In the Target port field, specify 443 (default HTTPS port). Allow using a secure connection.

    4. In the Testing threads field, specify 5000.

      This means that the load generator can simultaneously process 5,000 operations: either create 5,000 connections or wait for 5,000 responses from the service at the same time.

      Tip

      For most tests, 1,000 to 10,000 threads are enough.

      Using more testing threads requires more resources on the part of the VM the agent is running on. Compute Cloud also has a limit of 50,000 of concurrent connections to a VM.

    5. In the Load type menu, select RPS.

    6. Click Load profile and enter the following description:

      • Profile 1: step
      • From: 1000
      • To: 5000
      • Step: 1000
      • Duration: 120s

      This is an instruction for the generator to increase the load from 1,000 to 5,000 requests per second in increments of 1,000 requests, 120 seconds each.

    7. In the Request type field, select URI.

    8. In the Attached files field, select Attached file.

    9. In the Autostop menu, click Autostop and enter the following description:

      • Autostop type 1: QUANTILE
      • Quantile: 75
      • Response time limit: 100ms
      • Window duration: 10s

      This criterion stops the test if the 75th percentile exceeds 100 milliseconds for 10 seconds (for 10 seconds, the time to process 25% of requests exceeds 100 milliseconds).

    10. Specify one more autostop:

      • Autostop type 2: INSTANCES
      • Limit: 90%
      • Window duration: 60s

      This criterion will stop the test if over 90% of the testing threads are busy for 60 seconds.

      As load increases, the system being tested will start to degrade at some point. Subsequent load increases will result in either an increased response time or an increased error rate. To avoid significantly increasing the test time, make sure to set Autostop as a termination criterion for these tests.

    11. Under Forced test termination time, specify the time to autostop the test unless it is stopped for other reasons. This parameter value should be slightly greater than the expected test duration.

    12. Under Test information, specify the name, description, and number of the test version. This will make the report easier to read.

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

      pandora:
  enabled: true
  package: yandextank.plugins.Pandora
  config_content:
    pools:
      - id: HTTP
        gun:
          type: http # Protocol.
          target: 172.17.0.10:443 # IP address of the test target.
          ssl: true
        ammo:
          type: uri
          file: data.uri
        result:
          type: phout
          destination: ./phout.log
        rps:
          - duration: 120s # Test duration.
            type: step # Load type.
            from: 1000
            to: 5000
            step: 1000
        startup:
          type: once
          times: 5000 # Number of testing threads.
    log:
      level: error
    monitoring:
      expvar:
        enabled: true
        port: 1234
autostop: # Autostop.
  enabled: true
  package: yandextank.plugins.Autostop
  autostop:
    - limit(5m) # Make sure to specify the time limit for the test.
    - quantile(75,100ms,10s) # Stop the test if, within 10 seconds, the 75 percentile
                             # exceeds 100 milliseconds (within 10 seconds, the time
                             #  to process 25% of requests exceeds 100 milliseconds).
    - instances(90%,60s)  # Stop the test if more than 90% of testing threads
                          # get busy within 60 seconds.
core: {}
uploader:
  enabled: true
  package: yandextank.plugins.DataUploader
  job_name: '[example][pandora][step]'
  job_dsc: 'example'
  ver: '0.5.5'
  api_address: loadtesting.api.cloud.yandex.net:443

    As load increases, the system being tested will start to degrade at some point. Subsequent load increases will result in either an increased response time or an increased error rate. To avoid significantly increasing the test time, make sure to set Autostop as a termination criterion for these tests.

    Tip

    View a sample configuration file. You can also find sample configuration files in existing tests.

  7. Click Create.

With that done, the configuration will pass the 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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Fixed-load HTTPS testing with Phantom
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Load testing using multiple agents