Intro
To allow our users to install a local agent and run tests on their private web applications we decided to rely on docker.
While Docker is pretty straightforward to install on linux, using it on windows (or Mac through GUI) might prove a bit more complex.
That’s why we created this tutorial, there you will find all the steps to install Kitematic and run an OctoPerf On Premises agent.
The very first step is to get the docker toolbox for windows or Mac, you get it from one of the following websites:
Then follow the installation procedure:
You will probably be asked for several drivers to install, that’s because Kitematic is build on top of
VirtualBox.
Just allow them all to finish the installation process.
Running Kitematic and VirtualBox for the first time
Now that the installation process is over, just run Kitematic from the shortcut:
You will get to this screen:
Note that you might have to activate virtualization (VT-x or AMD-V) in the BIOS of your computer as with any other virtualization software.
Once the VM starts, you will see the login screen:
Create or use your existing account and after login you will get inside kitematic:
Quick word about VirtualBox
Before moving on to the OctoPerf installation, note that if it is not clear at this point, the virtualization is made through VirtualBox.
Thus, any operation on the virtual machine must be done in VirtualBox itself.
For instance, by default the VM only uses 2 GB of memory.
To run more virtual users, you might need to increase that.
To do so, you must edit the configuration of the VM in VirtualBox.
First, launch the VirtualBox interface.
Docker Toolbox should have a placed a shortcut for VirtualBox on your desktop.
Else, you should find it in ‘C:\Program Files\Oracle\VirtualBox\VirtualBox.exe’
Now to edit the memory settings we will have to stop the VM:
Then right click and go to settings:
In the system section, you can edit the amount of memory the VM is allowed to use:
Congrats, it’s all done, you can quit VirtualBox. Next time you start Kitematic, the virtual machine will be started again with your new settings.
Installing OctoPerf agent
The next steps are already covered by a previous blog post.
Also, the video in the next section covers the same procedure than this section, so feel free to go have a look instead.
Once you created your provider in OctoPerf you get a command line that you need to copy paste:
To do so, in Kitematic, click the bottom left button ‘DOCKER CLI’:
This wil open a powershell window in which you can copy paste this command line.
Carefull though, you must remove the ‘SUDO’ at the beginning of this command because it was meant for linux:
When you launch it, the first automatic step will be the download of Rancher:
When done, you will automatically see 3 containers in Kitematic, 2 stopped and 1 launched:
This means that the installation was successful, back in OctoPerf you should see the machine appear when you select the right provider:
You can now run your tests using this machine!
Video
In case you feel more comfortable looking at a video tutorial, you can find it here:
