Test Conductor™ Composer

Making Multivendor Test Automation Work

Traditional test applications are designed for the interactive user and are excellent for interactive test development and debugging.

For example, IxNetwork and IxLoad facilitate rapid test development, with captures and traces for quick troubleshooting. This, however, is only useful when a test engineer is available to run the test. Once a test is perfected, it may well be run tens, if not hundreds of times for regression and troubleshooting purposes. Test engineers require a means to easily transition from interactive to automated testing.

True test automation involves more than just automatically launching traffic generation and collecting the results from the test application. Test automation must also include automating the DUT/SUT configuration and lab test bed topology. Ideally each automated test should run end-to-end completely unattended. To accurately assess the DUT, tests must be highly repeatable so that results from multiple runs can be easily compared.

The increase in DUT/SUT complexity also presents numerous challenges to test engineers. More time is required to become domain experts on the systems being tested, leaving less time to build and execute test plans. Furthermore, as DUTs become more complex, so do the testing tools needed to test them. As new protocols are added to a system and layered onto networking topologies, the creation and configuration of real-world simulated traffic becomes more difficult. To provide test engineers maximum traffic configuration flexibility, configuration settings necessarily must become more complex. Multiply this by the number of different testing technologies required to fully test a DUT and the test engineer is expected to become an expert at very complex DUTs and a variety of complex test applications.

For the QA manager, finding enough test engineers with the right set of skills can be extremely difficult. QA managers must often choose between someone who understands the DUT/SUT and underlying networking technology, or someone who is proficient at scripting the testing gear. QA managers are looking for testing technologies that simplify the testing process so that the network experts can focus on learning the DUT and designing effective test cases and not on trying to figure out how to implement their vision of the test.

By reducing the time to automate new testing scenarios, companies can reduce the overall time-to-test, increase the number of automated tests produced, and ultimately achieve the business goals of getting the product to market faster with higher quality.

Composer is a multi-vendor test automation scripting interactive development environment (IDE) that reduces the time to develop a test while unifying the configuration and results collection of different test tools and DUTs into a single script. Composer allows the user to create tests using multiple devices and test equipment simultaneously. Testers can quickly develop tests by capturing live sessions, use prewritten procedures or enter commands directly into the script.

Composer has an extensible command interface that allows test vendors and users to customize the set of available commands used to develop tests. Ixia plug-ins are guaranteed to work in Composer in conjunction with the other vendor plug-ins. Test teams no longer need to invent the automation glue to bring these test tools together.

Composer has the ability to passively monitor the system log messages produced by the DUTs and take proactive steps to flag the event or take corrective action. This instantaneous response to negative events during a test makes it easier to analyze and diagnose failed tests and ideally recover from the event so the test cycle is able to productively continue to conclusion or truncate the test and avoid wasting time by proceeding on with a failed test.

Once the test has been written, Composer then provides a debugger that allows for quick verification of the validity of the test.

By using the various multivendor plug-ins within Composer, test engineers can coordinate the sequence of steps across tools and DUTs in a way that allows creation of real-world test cases more efficiently.

Key Features

• Test IDE - provides a working environment that simplifies the test development process.
• Multi-vendor test authoring - provides a unified scripting environment that coordinates and synchronizes test steps. Composer tracks the commands executed in the different test tools and DUTs and replays them as a script in the desired order.
• Open architecture framework - an open architecture framework that can accept command plug-ins developed by other vendors. Plug-ins can be easily added to the framework to extend and enhance the user's ability to control and script interactions with other test vendors' tools.
• Comprehensive Ixia application support - complete coverage of the Ixia portfolio of products including IxNetwork, IxLoad, IxAutomate, IxChariot and many more. Test Composer has the broadest list of supported applications and the deepest level of command support of any product in the industry.
• Live interactive capture/replay - create a test by simply entering commands in one or more live sessions connected directly to the DUT and/or test tool, then craft the captured sequence into an automated test or procedure that can be used by many tests.
• Passive DUT Monitoring - configure live sessions to passively monitor session logs and consoles for various messages, such as errors or warnings, and then take proactive steps to flag the errors and optionally recover from the errors. Supported sessions include SNMP and SYSLOG among others.
• Customizable Report Generation - automatically generate test reports as part of the test execution. The report can include any number of tables, graphs, images and text. A table of contents is automatically generated based on the content added by the test. The report content and format can be tailored dynamically by the test in real time.
• Built-in CSV file analyzer - easily read and analyze CSV files as part of the automated test. Many test tools produce output in CSV formats. The CSV Analyzer can read these files in, extract relevant data, and even aggregate the data for analysis. Then use the data to determine success or failure of the test automatically.
• Shared Test Resources - create a variety of shared resources like procedures and device profiles that allow the test team to leverage their work among the different test cases and make those test cases more portable.
• Full -featured debugger - a debugging environment that shortens the time between creating and debugging a test. The debugger has a full set of features, including breakpoints, execution progress indicators, variable watches, global and session logging streams for diagnosing failures within the test.
• Simplified test development process - a unique combination of capturing live interactions with the devices and test tools plus the full flexibility of a script editor and debugger.

Product Ordering Information

931-3000
Test Conductor Test Authoring Bundle – designed for individual developer's testing requirements

931-2200
Composer — Test Authoring IDE for authoring multi-session test scenarios within the Test Management System

931-2201
IxLoad Composer Integration, Advanced test automation using the IxLoad Plug-in

931-2202
IxExplorer Composer Integration, Advanced test automation using the IxExplorer Plug-in

931-2203
IxNetwork-FT Composer Integration, Advanced test automation using the IxNetwork-FT Plug-in

931-2204
IxNetwork Composer Integration, Advanced test automation using the IxNetwork Plug-in

931-2205
IxAutomate Composer Integration, Advanced test automation using the IxAutomate Plug-in

931-2207
IxChariot Composer Integration, Advanced test automation using the IxChariot Plug-in

931-2221
DUT CLI Configuration Interface Integration, Advanced test automation for Devices under Test

931-2222
DUT SNMP Configuration Interface Integration, Advanced test automation for Devices under Test

931-2223
DUT SYSLOG Configuration Interface Integration, Advanced test automation for Devices under Test

931-2225
Reporter Interface Integration, Advanced customized test report generation

P/N: 915-2109-01 Rev C - December, 2009

This material is for informational purposes only and subject to change without notice. It describes Ixia's present plans to develop and make available to its customers certain products, features and capabilities. Ixia is only obligated to provide those deliverables specifically included in a written agreement between Ixia and the customer.

[ back | top of page | back to products ]