Appvance IQ Production System Requirements

  • Testers - Browsers accessing Appvance IQ via a browser.

  • Appvance IQ Controller - The Controller is the primary point of communication and information exchange for Appvance IQ. Runs on an individual machine.

  • Database - The relational database is required to store test results. Both the Controller and the Test Nodes write to the database. Results are generated from data the Controller reads from the database.

  • Appvance Test Node(s) - Runs on individual machines. Test Nodes are also known as Load Generators. The Controller provides tests to each Test Node to run.

  • Repository - Stores all test components, including scenarios, scripts and data files. The Repository can use local file storage or point to a source control repository.

  • Application Under Test (AUT) - The application being tested by AIQ.

These are the recommended configurations and hardware sizing for AIQ production level systems.

Controller

The AIQ Controller is the primary point of communication and information exchange for Appvance IQ.

Minimum Recommended System Configuration

Linux

  • Ubuntu Server 20.24 / 22.04
  • 8+ CPU Cores minimum
  • 64 GB RAM
  • 200 GB SSD
    Note: This is regardless of cloud provider (Azure, Google Cloud, etc).
  • Java GraalVM 11 (64-bit)

AWS Examples

  • Small deployment t3.2xlarge
  • Medium deployment c5.2xlarge
  • Large deployment c5.4xlarge
  • SSD io HD (not gp)

EBS should be set to IO1 with 3000-5000 IOPS

Installing the Controller on a Windows machine is no longer a supported configuration.

Test Node

Appvance Test Node(s) run on individual machines. Test Nodes are also known as Load Generators. The Controller provides tests for each Test Node to run.

Sizing of the Test Node is dependent on the number of concurrent tests you want to run. The more concurrent tests, the more CPU and memory required. Refer to the Test Node Capacity Load Generator Table below.

Minimum Recommended System Configuration

Windows

  • Windows Server 2019 or newer
  • 8+ CPU Cores
  • 16 GB RAM (bare minimum - 64GB+ memory recommended for production-level testing)
  • 60 GB SSD
  • Java GraalVM 11 (64-bit)

AWS Examples

  • c5a.2xlarge/ c5a.4xlarge (16CPU 32GB RAM)

EBS should be set to IO1 - 5000 IOPS

Test Node Capacity Load Generator Table

Estimated capacity per server or VM. This can vary greatly with application complexity.

Refer to the table below to determine Test Node capacity and configuration needs:

CPU Cores

 Minimum Memory Minimum

UX-Level Browsers		 Max likely

UX-Level Browsers		 HAR Protocol Level VU JMeter Protocol Level tests
4 8 GB 4 8 100 20
6 12 GB 6 12 150 30
8 16 GB 8 16 250 40
12 24 GB 12 24 500 60
16 32 GB 16 32 1000 80
32 64 GB 32 32 2500 160
64 128 GB 32 64 5000 320
128 256 GB 32 64 10000 640

Using the latest Chrome browser, poor linear scalability is experienced after 30 browsers regardless of the size of the test node.

Example System Requirement Calculation

If a test specification requires UX tests to run 1000 virtual users, and each test node has an 8 Core CPU with 12 GB RAM, then 20 test nodes are required.

Calculated as:

  • Test Nodes Required = Total Virtual Users / Virtual Users per Test Node

  • (from the above example) 20 Test Nodes = 1000 Virtual Users / 50 Virtual Users per Test Node

Security Port Requirements

Following are the list of ports that need to be open in the server that will host Appvance IQ.

These port configurations apply to both the Controller and the Test Nodes.

Port Description

3306

Port access between AIQ Controller and MySQL service/server (if applicable)

9095 -9100

From end-user computer outbound to AIQ Controller (required only for recording HTTP traffic from end-user computer)

8080

HTTP port. Outbound access from the Controller and between all Test Nodes (Either 8080 or 8443 is required, not both)

8443

HTTPS port. Outbound access from the Controller and between all Test Nodes (Either 8080 or 8443 is required, not both)

9090

Test Designer port, required for internal use within Controller and Test Nodes (not external)

9091

Test Designer port, required for internal use within Controller and Test Nodes (not external)

8090

Security Testing required only within the controller and test nodes (internal to each system only)

8079

Java processes shutdown port required only within the controller and test nodes (internal to each system only)

In addition to these ports, the Database must be enabled to allow incoming connections from Controller (recommended on same box for trials) and Test Node machines.

Database

A relational database is required to store test results. Both the Controller and the Test Nodes write to the database. Results are generated from data the Controller reads from the database.

Recommended Configuration

  • MySQL Server (needs to be run as RDS or a standalone server)
  • MySQL database is required to store test results
  • The AIQ Controller and Test Nodes read and write to the database
  • The Database must be enabled to allow incoming connections from Controller and TestNode machines
  • Minimum 200 GB HD auto-increment
  • Should old data no longer be required, data can be dropped and/or backed up and dropped

AWS Examples

  • RDS db.t3.medium / Auto-increment 100 GB HD
  • RDS t2.xlarge / Auto-increment 200 GB HD

Repository

The Repository Stores all test components, including scenarios, scripts and data files. The Repository can use local file storage or point to a source control repository.

Supported repository types are:

  • Amazon S3
  • Git (most Git variations are supported: GitHub, GitLab, Azures Git)
  • Azure blob
  • SFTP **
  • FTP **

Certain repository types are not optimal for certain types of tests. For example, Appvance does not recommend using Git to store your images if your are using the Visual Accessor functionality. This is due to Git not being designed to handle large amounts of binary files efficiently.

** Starting with AIQ 5.3.0, SFTP and FTP will no longer be supported repository types.

Browsers

Browsers accessing Appvance IQ via a browser. AIQ supports the latest versions of the following browsers:

  • Apple Safari
  • Google Chrome
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Mozilla Firefox

AIQ no longer supports the use of Internet Explorer. Contact support@appvance.ai for questions regarding alternate browser versions.

End User Systems

Minimum Recommended System Configuration

  • 6+ CPU Cores (at least Intel® Xeon E5 Class processor) **
  • 8+ GB Memory**
  • Java GraalVM 11 (included with Appvance IQ end-user setup)
  • End user must have administrator permission to install AIQ's Test Designer (proxy) as well as the ability to modify system environment variables during the setup process.

Network Configuration

The end user systems will access AIQ only from a browser. The following ports must not be in use, and must permit internet access

Port Description Requirement
8080 | 8443 HTTP navigation to server Must permit internet access (not blocked by firewall for outbound traffic)
9090 | 9091 Test Designer client (internally open only) Must not be in use.

Designer Proxy

End user machines must have permissions to install a proxy in the browser. You must have the Designer Proxy installed before you can begin using AIQ. You will be prompted by AIQ to install the proxy.

Test Designer folder (AIQ 4.10.x and earlier)

  • Windows default path: C:\TestDesigner
  • Mac default path: $HOME/TestDesigner

Test Designer folder (AIQ 5.0.0+)

  • Windows default path: C:\WebDesigner
  • Mac default path: $HOME/WebDesigner

Anti-Virus Recommendations

The Appvance IQ installation package is sizable and the vast majority of the contents will never change between installations or upgrades. Because of this, you can exclude the AIQinstallation folder the from the scheduled daily / weekly / monthly scans. Doing so will reduce the time and resources devoted to these scans. Also if these folders are not excluded, you may see some unexpected behavior in AIQ.

For example, this may impact scenario executions, specially on DS and DS3 engines that write many temporary files for requests and responses.

Following are some of the top Anti-virus programs from which the files and folders of Appvance IQ should be excluded:

  • AVG Anti-virus
  • Avast Anti-virus
  • Kaspersky Anti-virus
  • McAfee Virus Scan
  • Norton Anti-virus
  • Symantec Endpoint protection
  • Windows Defender

Questions or need support?

Contact us at support@appvance.ai or by submitting a support request at https://appvance.ai/support,

See Contacts and Resources for additional options to contact Appance Support.