dynaTrace API Integration with VSTS

Performance Testing aside, Performance Engineering is becoming the need of the hour. For a Performance Test Engineer to effectively gauge to provide Performance Engineering solutions, there are plenty number of tools now being available in the market. dynaTrace is one such tool from Compuware, available now for Performance Engineering solutions.

We all know that VSTS tool from Microsoft cater to the Performance Testing solutions of HTTP and HTTPS protocols with utmost compatible support for Microsoft Technologies. Even though Performance Engineering solutions are provided from Microsoft as well, in terms of plug-ins (Refer: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms404677.aspx), the solution needs its own time and effort to come up to the level that the dynaTrace tool is providing today.

To close this gap, dynaTrace has developed a plug-in to VSTS and is available for download in the following location:

https://community.dynatrace.com/community/display/DL/Visual+Studio+2010+IDE+Plug-ins

To download the plug-in, you must have the dynaTrace community login ID and Password, which would be available if you register as a partner.

Step-by-Step instructions to integrate dynaTrace API with VSTS:

• After downloading the plug-in, unzip the downloaded content using an unzip utility other than provided natively in MS Windows OS. You would run into facing errors if you use the Windows native unzip utility. For more information read the following known issues:

https://community.dynatrace.com/community/display/KB/KB-424+Visual+Studio+Plug-in+will+not+work

https://community.dynatrace.com/community/display/KB/KB-462+Visual+Studio+shows+error+number+80131515+on+startup+when+Add-in+is+activated

 

• Place the unzipped content of the downloaded plug-in in the following location:

~\My Documents\Visual Studio 2010\Addins

  

• Then, in VSTS go to Tools -> Options… -> Environment -> Add-in/Macros Security

• Click on ‘Add…’

• Select the folder and click on ‘OK’.

• Then go to ‘Tools’-> ‘Addin Manager’:

• Select the checkbox available under ‘Available Add-ins’ and ‘Startup’ and click on ‘OK’. Restart VSTS (Close and launch VSTS again).

• After successful installation, the following two menu items would be available under ‘Tools’:

• Now, go to ‘Tools’ -> ‘dynaTrace Configuration’ in VSTS:

• Now, open the VSTS Test project, change the dynaTrace Server to the IP address, where dynaTrace server is installed. Provide the dynaTrace Server port accordingly.

•  In the ‘Solution Explorer’, right click on the References and ‘Add Reference…’:

• Browse and select the ‘dynaTrace.VSTS.WebTestPlug-in.dll’ from the unzipped plug-in folder:

• Click on ‘OK’. Then, the plug-in should be available under the ‘References’ as shown below:

• Save the project and right click on recorded script header and select ‘Add Web Test Plug-in…’:

• Select the plug-in and click on OK:

• Execute the web test and observe the pure path is being collected in the dynaTrace tab:

Now, have the dynaTrace client installed on the same machine as VSTS and click on each Pure Path link to observe the object level performance details.

Note:

• If the Pure Paths are not getting displayed, check whether the dynaTrace License is activated.

• Make sure that the dynaTrace .Net agent is injected in the application server. If the application is running on the same machine as VSTS, then configure the ‘Launcher’ tab in the dynaTrace plug-in installed (Tools -> dynaTrace Configuration in VSTS) and launch the application with Tools -> dynaTrace Launcher available in VSTS.