In this Loadrunner tutorial, we are listing huge list of Loadrunner interview questions and answers that are frequently asked by big companies and I am sure you will able to clear at least 80% of your interview with these questions.
We have divided Loadrunner interview questions and answers into different sections in order for you to practice the questions and answers easily.
Must Read for Beginner or Experienced
Have you started attending interviews?
In my experience the best way to get job is not to prepare too many interview questions and answers, instead attending as many interviews as possible, don’t hesitate to go to the interview. We never know how the interview goes.
Sometimes you know all about Loadrunner and performance testing but you still feel that you don’t know much. So, first thing to get a job is attend the interview and prepare as you go to the interviews. This way you feel you know what questions companies are asking.
Believe me, you will feel confident that you are going to get job soon.
Are you updating your profile in job portals daily?
Update your profile in job portal every morning once you wake up, that way companies will see your profile in top of their search results and chance of getting shortlisted for interview is very high.
Why job in Loadrunner and Performance Testing?
This is one of the job roles where the competition is less when compared with other testing or development jobs and there are only few people in the market who know about Loadrunner and Performance testing, so there is always demand for the performance testing tools and Loadrunner.
Have you trained properly?
Another key to get job is practice and practice, there are always openings for every technology and especially Loadrunner and performance testing. The only thing you need is proper training.
I train some people for free every month, leave comment below if you are badly require training and want to take some mock interview with me.
How many protocols do you know in Loadrunner?
Do you know at least three to four protocols in Loadrunner, some of the main protocols in Loadrunner are Web Protocol, Web Services, SAP Protocol, Siebel protocol, Flex Protocol and Oracle NCA protocol. Learn at least web and web services to get started.
What are the different monitoring tools you know?
You should know at least two to three monitoring tools without knowing monitoring tools cracking interview is impossible so practice some tools like, Dynatrace, Appdynamics and Wily Introscope.
Do you know how to integrate monitoring tool with your performance tool?
If you know this, it is a big point to crack the interview, so learn how to integrate Loadrunner and any monitoring tool.
Do you know how to integrate Jenkins with your performance testing tool and monitoring tool?
This has become the key, automate everything and relax. Install Jenkins in your local PC and see online some documents how to integrate Loadrunner and Jenkins and some monitoring tools and try to automate everything. Are you struggling to Integrate need some help, leave a comment below, I will contact you and see what I can do.
Have you trained in Docker and Kubernetes?
Train in Docker and Kubernetes, these days everything is Docker and containers. Every app is installed in Docker, even performance testing tools are installed in Dockers now.
Do you know how to install Docker Load generator?
Yes, I can install using docker load generator. Follow this link for docker load generator commands. Docker Load Generator
Frequently Asked Questions in Loadrunner
Tell me overview about Loadrunner?
- One of the best automated performance tools. It uses ANSI C as the default programming language and other languages like JAVA & VB.
- It supports all types of protocols (HTTP, FTP and SMTP).
- Easy to analyze the results and generate scripts.
- Load Runner was invented by Mercury and acquired by Hewlett – Packard Organization and now part of Micro focus.
What are the components in Loadrunner?
Load Runner Components:
1. VuGen (Virtual User Generator) – It will allow you to record and replay script. And allow you to enhance your script.
2. Controller – It will allow you to design the scenarios and execute the test with multiple users.
3. Analyzer – It will allow to analyze the statistics and finding out the bottlenecks
4. Load Generator -It generates the load against the application.
5. Agent Process – It will establish the connection between Load Generator & Controller.
What is the difference between Loadrunner and Performance Center?
Loadrunner is a Standalone application with components of Controller, VuGen, Load generators and analysis.
Performance center is a web based tool and you can configure the tests, run the tests and schedule the tests.
Do you know any other performance testing tools other than Loadrunner?
Yes, I worked on performance tools like JMeter and NeoLoad.
Can’t we conduct the performance testing without tool?
We can conduct the performance testing without a tool. In realistic environment application accessed by 10,000 people, to simulate the realistic environment we must require 10,000 people, which is not possible to require these many resources. Below are the constraints stopping us to conduct the PT without tool.
- Accuracy
- Time
- Budget
- Resources
To overcome the above issue. We must use tools instead of manual resources.
What are the tools available in market?
- Load Runner- Micro focus
- RPT- IBM
- JMeter- Open Source (Blaze meter)
- Neo Load- Neotys
- OpenSTA- Open Source
- Oats – Oracle
- VSTS – Microsoft
- SPT- Borland
- SOASTA – Akamai
- Web Load – Open Source
Tell me about your architecture of the application?
You should be able to tell what is your application server and data base server etc.
Example 1: My application is Websphere and my database server is Oracle Database.
Example 2: Node JS is application server and mango DB is our database server.
What is the difference between Get and Post Request?
This is one of the important Loadrunner Interview Questions and Answers
| GET | POST |
| Easy to script the get request and it is less secure as all the data is sent through URL | it is more secure and the data is not stored anywhere either it is browser or server logs. |
| Can be cached and different parameters are save in history | Cannot be cached and not be saved in history. |
| Get request is generated as web_url | Post request is generated as web_submit_data and web_custom_request. |
Loadrunner Functions
In this section you will be asked at least 4 to 5 questions during your interview. You should practice all the main Loadrunner functions
Most people ask you questions on lr_paramarr_idx, lr_paramarr_len and lr_paramarr_random
When do you use the lr_save_string?
Read this article on lr_save_string
When do you use the lr_error_message in your Loadrunner Script?
Use these examples on lr_error_message
What is the difference between lr_output_message vs lr_log_message?
Read these two articles lr_output_message and lr_log_message
When do you use lr_abort function?
Read this article on lr_abort
Parameterization
You will be asked at least two to three questions in this question. We have written some of the important questions, go through this link.
Recording options
In this section you will be asked following questions.
What are the different settings you keep before recording the application?
Go through all the recording options before your interview. You can say I will ensure that the protocols are selected, and select proper correlation rules like automatic and manual correlation options for the application
What is the different between HTML based and URL based script? And when do you use them?
- HTML based groups multiple requests of a page and send the requests.
- URL based creates a request for each individual request
How do you generate automatic web_reg_find functions for page titles Automatically?
There is an option in HTTP Properties -> Advanced -> and select Generate web_reg_find for page titles automatically.
I have written a detail article on different recording options, go through this link.
Web Functions
You will be asked at least three to four questions in this section.
What is the difference between web_url and web_submit_data?
Web_URL is used to send a get request and where as web_submit_data is used to send a post request.
What are the different argument we have in web_url?
In web_url we have like step name, URL, TargetFrame, Resource, Referer, Mode and EXTRARES
What is the difference between web_submit_data and web_custom_request in Loadrunner?
Web_submit_data and web_custom_request both are post requests, web_submit_data is generated when there is form which Loadrunner able to understand, but there will be some forms and data structure which Loadrunner understand, then during these situations web_custom_request is generated.
Do you know how to compose web_custom_request in Loadrunner?
Yes, web_custom_request is used to send a data in the body, I will compose the in a structured way that application accepts and send it through web_custom_request.
Correlation
What is correlation in Loadrunner?
It is the process of capturing dynamic values and passing those values in the subsequent requests.
What is the difference between manual correlation and automatic correlation?
Manual correlation is the process in which manually done by the person, in previous version of Loadrunner there was no automatic correlation and we used to all manually.
In the newer version of Loadrunner, there is automatic correlation you can easily correlate multiple values fast.
What are the different functions we have for correlation?
There are mainly 6 functions
- Web_reg_save_param
- Web_reg_save_param_attrib
- Web_reg_save_param_ex
- Web_reg_save_param_json
- Web_reg_save_param_regexp
- Web_reg_save_param_xpath
How do you handle left or right dynamic boundary?
I will use SaveLen and SaveOffset to handle dynamic boundaries. I can also use regular expressions to handle the dynamic values.
Runtime Settings
In this section you will be asked at least five questions during the interview.
How do you set Run Logic in VuGen?
In Run Logic we can insert different actions and blocks and also have option to set run logic as sequential or random.
How do you debug the script issue in VuGen?
I usually set extended log and parameter substitution option in logs and run the script and go through the replay log what exactly the issue is and act accordingly.
What happens when you keep continue on error?
When you continue on error in runtime settings the script will keep running even through there is a error in the script
Difference between run Vuser as a thread and Vuser as a Process?
While thread consumes less resources and process will consume high resources. It is always advisable to run the script as thread until unless there is a need.
How can you do browser emulation in VuGen?
Browser emulation is used to emulate the browser behavior what type of browser you are using, like Chrome, Mozilla and Internet Explorer and versions.
This can be done under Runtime settings -> Browser Emulation
Controller
What is the difference between manual and goal oriented scenario?
See this link for differences
What are the different options we have in goal oriented scenario?
We have goals like Virtual Users, Hits per second, transactions per second, Transaction response time, pages per minute.
What is the difference between real-world schedule and basic schedule?
What are the different monitoring tools you can integrate with the Controller?
You can integrate HP Sitescope, HP diagnostics and also you can integrate the linux servers with the controller.
Analysis
What are the different metrics you monitor in the analysis?
I will mainly monitor response time and throughput. I will see if the transaction response times are less than given SLA (Home Page should load in 4 sec).
How do you monitor CPU and memory of the server?
I will monitor through using monitoring tools like HP Sitescope and Diagnostics. If there are no monitoring tools available, I will run NMON in the Linux servers and pull the different metrics. I can also monitor by executing different commands like VMSTAT, PS, IOSTAT etc.
Hope you liked our Loadrunner Interview Questions and Answers
For more information on Loadrunner start learning our Loadrunner Tutorial