Adding a Test Server
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Landslide Performance Test System – Release 24.3 September 2024

Adding a Test Server

Use the Test Server Administration window... to add your test servers to the system database.

To add a test server:

  1. Select Admin > Test Servers from the Main menu and the Test Server Administration window displays.

  2. Click Add at the bottom of the Test Server list.

  3. Enter a unique TS Name of no more than 64 characters.

TIP: If you decide to configure a test server with specific routing options or for a specific purpose, choose a name for the test server that indicates its nature.

NOTE:

  • If you try to register a C50-S4 TS/System on a Multi-Server TAS, a message displays to say that it is not supported and a real-time log message logs a warning message.
  • When setting up a Test Server (TS) to communicate to a TAS, ensure that the TS version is compatible with the TAS version (within one or two GA versions of each other).  If the versions are too different, there may be issues with TAS / TS communications and the TS may not register properly. The TS version can be retrieved by running the display-ts-version command at the command line on the test server. The TS should be upgradable from the Client as long the TS can be reached from TAS by SSH. If independent upgrade of the TS is needed, the upgrade-ts CLI Command Line Interface Commands can be used.

  1. Enter the IP Address of the test server's management port, normally eth0. This is the address that the TAS will use to communicate with the test server. As of Release 16.6, adding IP Address is optional:

    NOTE:

    • The TAS can now be put into a different mode, Discovery Mode, where test server IP addresses are not entered by the user, instead users should enter the TS's hostname as its name. When the TS registers with the TAS it includes its own hostname and the TAS then assigns the IP Address. We also use a TS fingerprint so that if a TS's IP address changes, when it registers with a new IP Address the TAS will trust to automatically assign the new IP Address. If a TS registers with a hostname that's already been assigned an IP Address, with a different fingerprint, the TAS will log an error to Real-Time Logs and the TS-Admin for the TS with the given hostname. See additional details about Discovery Mode below.
    • TS Admin will warn the user if they attempt to change a valid Management IP Address when the TAS is configured for TS IP Discovery mode.  If the TAS is in TS IP Discovery Mode, and the TS has already been discovered/registered and associated w/fingerprint, and the user attempts to change the management IP Address, when they click apply:

  2. Click OK and the test server is added to the database. You will receive a confirmation message that the test server has been added.

  3. Test the connection to the test server.

Discovery Mode

Discovery mode allows test servers to use DHCP to dynamically determine their IP Addresses at runtime. The TS will report its Hostname to the TAS and the TAS should have the TS's hostname set as the TS's Name and no Management IP Address set. When the TS Registers the TAS, it will associate the source IP Address of the received message with the TS associated with that Hostname/Name, and also the unique fingerprint reported by the TS. Once associated, the TAS will always treat messages from that IP address as being from that TS. I.E. Discovery mode. To dis-associate the TS from that IP Address, the user must recycle the TS to clear the association.

  1. Test Server Discovery mode is controlled by a license key or TAS Settings dhcp_test_servers=ON.  TAS Settings trumps the license, i.e. you can put dhcp_test_servers=OFF in TAS Settings and it will disable a license key =ON.  If no key in TAS Settings, then the license value will be used. 

  2. Discovery mode is ALL or NOTHING, reading License Keys and TAS Settings require a TAS restart, the feature is determined at TAS startup. Once started, ALL TSs are using Discovery mode or all TSs require an IP Address to be entered (Legacy). However in Discovery Mode, the user can still enter IP address manually to force-discovery and act like Legacy Mode.

  3. Discovery mode will still allow the user to enter an IP Address if the address is known up front. This will be useful if you want to immediately use TS-CONFIG or Recycle the TS, since the TAS won't know the IP Address at first.  But, since it's discovery mode, the user entered IP Address can be auto-replaced by a registering TS with matching hostname and different IP Address, if fingerprint is not established or matches.  

  4. Discovery mode will not require the user to enter an IP Address, instead the TS-Name must match the Hostname of the TS as reported in the TS Registration message.

  5. When you add a TS you enter the TS Hostname (as its name), and optionally the TS Management Address. (see section above - adding a Test Server)

  6. When a TS registers and its IP Address was not already established and its Hostname is not found as one of the TS-Names, you will get a RT Log like this:"Discover" is the new "Action/Verb" for all actions around discovering/assigning IP Addresses to TSs. So you could easily search Real-Time logs for related activities.

  7. When a TS registers and its IP Address was not already established and its Hostname is found as one of the TS-Names, you will get a Real-Time Log Like this:

  8. Rename the Test Server to match the hostname, it will be found and then fully registered.

As of Release 20.0, the TAS has been enhanced to cause the TS to automatically reply to any TS Status message that is not associated with a TS in the TAS with a Recycle/Re-register request to the sender. This should trigger the TS to properly re-register with the TAS and to get associated properly. This problem might happen if a TAS is shutdown for a long period of time and one or more of the previously connected TSs have their IP Addresses changed before the TAS restarts. Once the TAS restarts, it might send Recycle/Re-register commands to all the TSs and some are now at different IP Addresses, so they will go unanswered. But once the TAS is running it might receive the TS Status messages from the TSs now at new IP Addresses. Now, the TAS will reply with Recycle/Re-Register to those TSs. Then, the TS will re-register and the TAS will associated the new IP Address with the TS. In addition, we will allow the user to clear the Management IP Address of the TS and save it while in the DHCP/Discovery Mode. This should help reset the TS to make it ready for getting associated with new IP Address.

NOTE: Test Server names can be changed via the Rename button . When you Rename a Test Server, all Test Server to User Assignments will be automatically updated. You may want to logout/login to ensure the client is refreshed (or at least close all open windows that have references to the changed Test Server). A rename will not result in a recycle of the Test Server. In regular mode (Discovery mode = off) it's just an internal change of label.  But for Discovery mode, it has implications as HOSTNAME, clearing of information will occur. The TAS will expect the TS to register after a name change.  In this situation you have no access to the TS from the TAS, it is assumed that you run ipcfg on the TS to set the hostname to match and point it to this TAS, and it will register to establish the connection. OR, if the IP Address is known, add it by hand and apply and then use TS-Config to access it.   

After the test server has been successfully added, you can:

 

Related Topics

  1. Changing the Test Server Address
  2. Deleting a Test Server
  3. Managing Your Test Servers

 

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