CI/CD: Optimize Disk Space on AIQ Controller and Test Nodes

Reduce

CI/CD: requiredOptimize hardDisk drive sizeSpace on AIQ Controller and Test Nodes

MakeUse surethis youarticle arewhen usingCI/CD latestactivity versionor available of AIQ. Previous offrequent AIQ have known issues where temporary files were not always deleted in some circumstances.

Do not install MySQL on a Test Nodes.

Do not configure any repository on a Test Node.

Setup your root folders that are used when running Bulk Scenarios so they contain only the required files.

Avoid storing anything that is not required to run a scenario in your repositories. This includes things like reports, images, historical data, etc. In particular, store any generated AISG executions (formerly known as Blueprints) in an AWS S3 type repository, which is more suited for big files than GIT repositories.

Consider organizing your assets in multiple root folders. For example if you have two different web apps , divide the test assets into two root folders, one for every web app. This might involve duplicating shared test assets.

Reduced required hard drive size on the Controller

Make sure you are using latest version available of AIQ. Previous of AIQ have known issues where temporary files were not always deleted in some circumstances.

Do not install MySQL in the controller. A separate server should host the MySQL server.

Avoid storing anything that is not required to run a scenario in your repositories. This includes things like reports, images, historical data, etc. In particular, store any generated AISG executions (formerly known as Blueprints) in an AWS S3 type repository, which is more suited for big files than GIT repositories.

Consider organizing your assets in multiple root folders. For example if you have two different web apps, divide the test assets into two root folders, one for every web app. This might involve duplicating shared test assets.

Make sure that your AIQ users only have the required repositories in their accounts.

If your GIT repository size is too large, this might be because there are a lot of past commits stored in the GIT database to preserve history. This history can be removed by creating a new repository and copying the current files in your repository and then using this new repository in your AIQ repository configurations. Doing this can have a huge impact in reducing the space needed for storing the local copies of your repository on the Controller.

When running CICD pipelines there is a mode where the pipeline will assume that the required test assets for the scenario are already present in a Controller configured repository. This prevents the CICD agent cloning the repository and then copying the root folder from the CICD agent to the Controller before starting the scenario. That process takes time and uses hardconsume disk space on the Controller.Controller or Test Nodes. Clean up only approved files and keep execution evidence required for reporting or troubleshooting.

Common disk consumers

• Execution artifacts, screenshots, videos, logs, and downloaded files.
• Browser caches, temporary folders, package-manager caches, and build outputs.
• Old installers, archived reports, and unused test assets.
• Database backups or exports stored on the same host.

Safe cleanup workflow

1. Measure disk usage before deleting anything.
2. Confirm the retention requirement for evidence, reports, logs, and backups.
3. Remove only files that match the approved cleanup target and date range.
4. Automate cleanup through CI/CD or scheduled maintenance only after the manual process is verified.
5. Run a small AIQ execution afterward to confirm the node and controller still operate normally.

Warning: Do not delete active execution folders, current logs needed for troubleshooting, or database files unless the maintenance plan explicitly covers them.

To enable this mode you need to provide the full path, including the repository name of the scenario, in the ${scenario} variable in the build.xml file.

For example, assuming the AIQ user specified in the controller.json is cicduser@example.com, you must login with that user and configure the repository and annotate the name of the repository you specified when configuring it. If you named it as ‘MyRepo’ then assign the following value to your scenario parameter:

scenario=REPOSITORY/MyRepo/<path_to_scenario>/<scenario_file_name>