Performance testing is an essential part of today's DevOps workflows. It requires the capability to run load tests both locally and in the cloud to address different users' needs at different stages of the software development cycle.
The DevOps methodology allows development and IT operations teams to significantly increase the speed and frequency of deployment of software. In the 2018 State of DevOps Report, 75% of respondents to the survey increased frequency of deployments. And, 79% of DevOps teams reported improved quality and performance of their software.
Performance testing tools that fit into DevOps workflows help teams to shorten the development cycle and deliver high performance software (websites, apps, and APIs) faster.
k6 is our open source load testing tool available on GitHub.
k6 is developer-centric and fits into your DevOps environment:
- You use ES6 JavaScript to create your test scenarios-- it's powerful and flexible
- It has a modern command line interface (CLI)
- It easily integrates into your Continuous Integration workflow-- integrate with CI tools such as: GitLab, Jenkins, Circle CI, TeamCity, etc.
- The Thresholds feature allows you to specify Pass/Fail criteria for your load tests
- Run tests locally, behind the firewall, or in the cloud (more on this below)
Run load tests locally or in the cloud
With k6, you can run performance tests locally, behind the firewall. This is great for developers that want to run load tests to get quick performance feedback before pushing code to the version control system (VCS) and CI tool. Its like doing unit testing, but for performance.
Load Impact recently announced the availability of our new Load Impact Insights product. It let's you store and analyze k6 load test results in the cloud.
Local test results can easily be streamed to Load Impact Insights. Just add -o cloud to the command line:
$ k6 login cloud
$ k6 run -u 1 -d 10s -o cloud https://github.com/loadimpact/k6/samples/http_get.js
Developers and QA teams can run larger tests (up to 5000 virtual users) later in the development cycle using k6 and Load Impact Cloud Execution. This uses our cloud infrastructure to support large test scenarios.
Cloud execution also provides load testing that can be distributed geographically, with loads being generated from up to 10 different global locations. Cloud Execution is now in public beta and is included when you sign up for the free trial of Load Impact Insights.
Performance Testing Results Analysis
Load Impact Insights automated results analysis gives you faster insight into performance problems. For example, through Performance Alerts you can home in on an issue quickly, even if you're not a load testing expert. In the screenshot above, the performance alert identifies an issue with having "too many URLs" and then provides guidance to help you improve your test.
Check out k6 and sign up for a free trial to Load Impact Insights and Cloud Execution.