Getting started

OctoPerf is a commercial Saas and on Premise platform. It allows to simulate thousands of concurrent users on websites or mobile applications. And since it is based on JMeter, many other technologies or plugins.

Quick start

Create an account

If you haven't already, you need to create an OctoPerf account. To that end you can use either:

• Our SaaS application,
• Your own OctoPerf On-Premise infra.

On premise infra

Using your own OctoPerf On-Premise infra allows you to keep all your data safely inside your own network. Other than that, it works exactly like our public SaaS version. We use Docker and Docker compose to make the installation process as easy as possible. The installation can even be performed completely offline, although it is easier if you can do it from a machine with an internet access since we will automatically download the required Docker images.

Sample project

When you first connect to OctoPerf you will land inside the sample project.

This is a project with a virtual user and a few other resources. If you are familiar with load testing, you can execute this test script since it runs on our public demo application.

Info

It's a quick way to get a feeling of the OctoPerf capabilities but to get a deeper understanding it is usually better to follow the self training below.

Self training

Tutorials

Now that you are inside OctoPerf, a good way to get started is to follow our website's tutorials.

Contextual help

If you prefer learning by doing, try to use the contextual documentation panel. It is updated based on your actions in OctoPerf:

Critical path

The goal of this section is to list the most important documentation pages that you should read if you want to learn OctoPerf quickly and efficiently. We've sorted them in a way that guarantees you will not miss a critical step in your first test campaign:

Name	Description
Navigation concepts	This page describes features that are widely used across OctoPerf, such as menus, sorting and filtering. That makes it a good place to stop first.
Record a new HAR	In order to get started with a new test script, a Firefox recording is the way to go. Chrome works as well but it will lack the response bodies and they can be useful when you want to benefit from advanced features like comparison with recording or correlation rules.
Import from JMeter	If your starting point is JMeter, you might want to check this page first. Not only will it describe the import process but it also lets you know what's automatically supported and what might require some adaptation.
The design screen	You will probably spend quite some time on this screen, make sure to check all the features here. It's easy to miss some advanced functions like the search and replace or the autocompletion.
Interacting with the virtual user tree	When you need to reorganize or simply add/remove elements to your virtual user, the tree will be your best friend.
List of available actions/processors	This page is especially useful is you're wondering what kind of actions are available inside OctoPerf. And each one with a link to the dedicated documentation page where you can find practical examples.
Validate your virtual user	Before moving on to a load test, perform a unit test to make sure that your virtual users are working as expected.
Analyze validation results	Compare the requests/responses from your validation with your HAR recording, or simply evaluate the results of your post processors. This panels is a mandatory stop in your debugging efforts.
The runtime screen	You can create as many distinct runtime profiles as you'd like. Each one of them with its own configuration.
Edit your runtime scenario	Learn how to edit the load policy of your runtime scenario. For details of every option check the Edit User Profile folder next to this page.
Launch the test	The test launch wizard and test starting screen.
Analysis screen	The analysis screen lists all existing reports. You can create comparison reports or simply duplicate an existing report.
Analysis tutorial	This in-depth tutorial will take you through all the items of a standard report and explain what you can do with them.
Troubleshooting guide	Troubleshooting is a difficult task, to assist you, we've covered the most common scenarios in this tutorial.
Advanced analysis tips	This page is really helpful if you've been using OctoPerf for a while but are looking for more advanced analysis tips.

flowchart TD
    nav[<a href="navigation/">Navigation concepts</a>]
    isJMeter{Are you a JMeter User?}
    har[<a href="design/create-virtual-user/har-recorder/record-firefox-har/">Record a new HAR</a>]
    importJMeter[<a href="design/create-virtual-user/import-jmeter-jmx/">Import From JMeter</a>]
    design((fa:fa-car <a href="design/edit-virtual-user/">The Design screen</a>))
    vuTree[<a href="design/edit-virtual-user/virtual-user-tree/">Interacting with <br/>the virtual user tree</a>]
    actions[<a href="design/edit-virtual-user/actions/">List of available <br/>actions/processors</a>]
    validate[<a href="design/edit-virtual-user/validation/">Validate your <br/>virtual user</a>]
    analyseValidation[<a href="design/edit-virtual-user/debug/">Analyse validation <br/>results</a>]
    runtime((<a href="runtime/">The Runtime screen</a>))
    editScenario[<a href="runtime/edit-scenario/">Edit your runtime Scenario</a>]
    launchTest[<a href="runtime/edit-scenario/launch-test/">Launch the test</a>]
    analysis((<a href="analysis/">The Analysis screen</a>))
    analysisTutorial[<a href="https://octoperf.com/blog/2020/07/09/analyze-your-load-tests/">Analysis tutorial</a>]
    troubleShooting[<a href="https://octoperf.com/blog/2021/01/21/troubleshoot-your-tests/">Troubleshooting guide</a>]
    advancedAnalysis[<a href="analysis/tips/">Advanced analysis tips</a>]

    nav -- To design --> isJMeter
    isJMeter -- Yes --> importJMeter
    isJMeter -- No --> har
    har --> design
    importJMeter --> design
    design --> vuTree
    vuTree --> actions
    design --> validate
    validate --> analyseValidation
    analyseValidation --> validate
    design -- Done with your VU --> runtime
    runtime --> editScenario
    runtime --> launchTest
    launchTest -- Test launched --> analysis
    analysis --> analysisTutorial
    analysisTutorial --> troubleShooting
    analysisTutorial --> advancedAnalysis