How to: Configure ASP.NET Profiler for Load Tests Using Test Settings

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Visual Studio 2010 Professional 

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You can use the ASP.NET profiler diagnostic data adapter to collect ASP.NET profiler information. This diagnostic data adapter collects performance data for ASP.NET applications.

Note

This diagnostic data adapter cannot be used for tests that are run using Microsoft Test Manager. You may use the ASP.NET Profiler diagnostic adapter with load tests using Web sites only which requires Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate.

The ASP.NET profiler diagnostic data adapter lets you collect ASP.NET profiler data from the application tier when you run a load test. You should not run the profiler for long load tests, for example, load tests that run longer than one hour. This is because the profiler file can become large, perhaps hundreds of megabytes. Instead, run shorter load tests by using the ASP.NET profiler, which will still give you the benefit of deep diagnosis of performance problems.

Note

The ASP.NET profiler diagnostic data adapter profiles the Internet Information Server (IIS) process. Therefore, it will not work against a development Web server. To profile the Web site in your load test, you have to install a test agent on the machine on which the IIS is running. The test agent will not generate load, but will be an agent for collection only. For more information, see Installing and Configuring Visual Studio Agents and Test and Build Controllers.

For more information, see How to: Create a Test Setting for a Distributed Load Test.

The following procedure describes how to configure the diagnostic data adapter for the ASP.NET profiler.

To Configure the ASP.NET Profiler for Your Test Settings

Before you perform the steps in this procedure, you must open your test settings from Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 and select the Data and Diagnostics page. For more information, see Create Test Settings to Run Automated Tests from Visual Studio.

To configure the ASP.NET profiler for your test settings

  1. Select the role to use to collect the ASP.NET profiler data.

    Warning

    This role must be a Web server.

  2. Select ASP.NET Profiler to enable collecting ASP.NET profiling data, and then click Configure.

    The dialog box to configure ASP.NET profiling data collection is displayed.

  3. In Profiler Sampling interval, type a value that indicates how many non-halted CPU clock cycles to wait between taking ASP.NET profiling samples.

  4. To enable tier interaction profiling, select Enable Tier Interaction Profiling.

    Tier interaction profiling counts the number of requests that are sent to the Web server for each artifact (for example, MyPage.aspx or CompanyLogo.gif) and the time it took to service each request. Additionally, tier interaction profiling collects which ADO.NET connections were used as a part of the page request, and how many queries and stored procedure calls were executed as a part of servicing that request.

    Two different sets of timing information are collected:

    • The timing information (Min, Max, Average, and Total) for servicing each web request.

    • The timing information (Min, Max, Average and Total) of executing each query.

With the ASP.NET profiler diagnostic data adapter configured in your test setting, you can now collect ASP.NET profiling data on your ASP.NET Web application. For more information about how to configure the IIS, the test agent that is required on the IIS machine, and how to test your ASP.NET Web application see How to: Run a Load Test Containing Web Performance Tests that Collects ASP.NET Profiler Data.

See Also

Tasks

Create Test Settings to Run Automated Tests from Visual Studio

How to: Create a Test Setting for a Distributed Load Test

How to: Run a Load Test Containing Web Performance Tests that Collects ASP.NET Profiler Data

Concepts

Setting Up Machines and Collecting Diagnostic Information Using Test Settings

Running Automated Tests

Testing Application Performance and Stress

Other Resources

Distributing Load Tests Across Multiple Test Machines Using Test Controllers and Test Agents