JavaScript tooling

Run Gatling simulations written in JavaScript/TypeScript from the command line, and package them to run on Gatling Enterprise

Versions#

Check out available versions on the npm registry.

Pre-requisites and compatibility#

You need:

• Node.js v18 or later (we only support using LTS versions)
• npm v8 or later, which comes pre-installed with Node.js

Using another compatible package manager (such as Yarn) should also work, but you need to adapt the equivalent npm commands and configuration on your own.

Setup#

Cloning or downloading our demo projects on GitHub is definitely the fastest way to get started. The repo includes both a JavaScript and a TypeScript projects.

If you prefer to manually configure your npm project rather than clone one of our samples, you will need to add the following dependencies:

npm install --save-dev "@gatling.io/cli"
npm install --save "@gatling.io/core"
npm install --save "@gatling.io/http"

The @gatling.io/cli package contains the gatling command-line interface (CLI) tool. Once added to your project’s dev dependencies, you can execute it with the command npx gatling without having to install it globally or add it to your shell’s path (see also the npx documentation).

You can explore all available commands with npx gatling --help, and all options for a given command with npx gatling command-name --help. The most typical usages are explained below.

Remember that you can define aliases for commonly used commands in the scripts section of you package.json file, as shown in the npm documentation.

Project layout#

By default, the gatling CLI tool expects that:

• Gatling simulation files are located in the src folder (can be overridden with the --sources-folder option).
  • The gatling tool will find simulations defined in files named with a .gatling.js or .gatling.ts extension at the root of this folder.
• Resource files accessible to Gatling (e.g. feeder files) are located in the resources folder (can be overridden with the --resources-folder option).
• When running locally, it will create test reports in the target/gatling folder (can be overridden with the --results-folder option).
• When running locally or packaging for Gatling Enterprise, it will create a code bundle file at target/bundle.js (can be overridden with the --bundle-file option).
• When packaging for Gatling Enterprise, it will create the package file at target/package.zip (can be overridden with the --package-file option).

Dependency management#

You can add other library dependencies from npm, as long as:

• they do not rely on native (non-JavaScript) binaries
• they do not use JavaScript APIs which are specific to Node.js

You can also use dev dependencies normally for other tools you might want to run on your code; e.g. our demo projects include a Prettier configuration for automatic code formatting.

Upgrade the JavaScript SDK version#

Gatling periodically releases new versions of the JavaScript SDK to maintain compatibility with Gatling Enterprise, add new functionality, and improve performance. Be sure to check the Gatling upgrade guides for breaking changes.

Use the following procedure to upgrade your SDK version:

1. Update the following in the package.json to the latest version and save the file:

   • version
   • @gatling.io/core
   • @gatling.io/http
   • @gatling.io/cli

2. Run npm install

Internet access#

The gatling CLI tool requires Internet access to:

• Automatically download the Gatling runtime bundle, required to execute your Gatling simulations (from https://github.com/gatling/gatling-js/releases/).
  • By default, it is installed in the folder ~/.gatling (Linux/macOS) or %USERPROFILE%\.gatling (Windows). You can override this with the --gatling-home option.
• Access the Gatling Enterprise API (https://api.gatling.io) when executing commands such as npx gatling enterprise-deploy or npx gatling enterprise-start.
• Access your Control Plane when using the Private Packages feature with the same commands.

Configuring a proxy#

If a proxy configuration is required to access the Internet, simply make sure it is configured for NPM. The gatling CLI tool will inherit the NPM proxy settings when run with npx gatling. NPM proxy settings can be configured using environment variables (HTTP_PROXY, HTTPS_PROXY, NOPROXY) or a .npmrc file, as shown in the official NPM documentation for the following configuration keys:

• proxy
• https-proxy
• noproxy

Configuring a trust store#

When using the Private Packages feature, the CLI tool needs to call your Control Plane to automatically upload your packaged simulations. If your Control Plane uses an HTTPS certificate signed by an internal Certificate Authority (CA), or a self-signed certificate, it will not be trusted by default. In that case, you can configure a trust store containing the required certificate using the options:

• --trust-store <path to trust store> to point to a trust store in PKCS#12 or JKS format
• --trust-store-password <password> in case your trust store requires a password (usually not needed)

You can check out more details with npx gatling enterprise-deploy --help or npx gatling enterprise-start --help.

Manually downloading the Gatling runtime bundle#

If you cannot give Internet access to the gatling CLI tool, you can still manually install the required Gatling runtime bundle to be able to run simulations locally or package them for Gatling Enterprise.

To do so, manually download the file from the releases page, being careful to choose the same version configured in your package.json file and the correct variant for your system: we use the same names for the system type and architecture as in the Node os library. Then install it with the command:

npx gatling install <path-to-downloaded-file.zip>

Commands#

Running your simulations#

Use the gatling run command to execute Gatling simulations. For instance:

npx gatling run

Runs a simulation defined in a file matching the pattern src/*.gatling.js or src/*.gatling.ts, and writes the report inside the folder target/gatling. If several simulations are found, you will be asked to choose one.

You can also specify which simulation to run with the --simulation option; for instance, to run a simulation defined in src/my-simulation.gatling.js or src/my-simulation.gatling.ts:

npx gatling run --simulation "my-simulation"

You can pass options to you simulation using a key=value format, then read them using the getParameter function in your code (see the Passing parameters guide):

npx gatling run key1=value1 key2=value2

You can check out other options with npx gatling run --help.

Running the Gatling Recorder#

You can launch the Gatling Recorder:

npx gatling recorder

You can check out other options with npx gatling recorder --help.

Running your simulations on Gatling Enterprise#

Prerequisites#

You need to configure an API token for most of the actions between the CLI and Gatling Enterprise.

Since you probably don’t want to include you secret token in your source code, you can configure it using either:

• the GATLING_ENTERPRISE_API_TOKEN environment variable
• the --api-token option

Packaging your simulations for Gatling Enterprise#

Use the enterprise-package command to create a package of your simulations to deploy on Gatling Enterprise. For instance:

npx gatling enterprise-package

Will create a package target/package.zip, which contains all simulations matching the pattern src/*.gatling.js or src/*.gatling.ts, and all resources files found in the resources folder.

You may want to specify the package file name:

npx gatling enterprise-package --package-file "target/my-package-file.zip"

You can check out other options with npx gatling enterprise-package --help.

Deploying on Gatling Enterprise#

With the enterprise-deploy command, you can:

• Create, update and upload packages
• Create and update simulations

This command automatically checks your simulation project and performs the deployment according to your configuration.

By default, enterprise-deploy searches for the package descriptor in .gatling/package.conf. However, you can target a different filename in .gatling by using the following command:

npx gatling enterprise-deploy --package-descriptor-filename="<file name>"

Private packages#

To create, update, and upload private packages, you need to specify the --control-plane-url option on the enterprise-deploy command:

npx gatling enterprise-deploy --control-plane-url <your control plane URL>

You can check out other options with npx gatling enterprise-deploy --help.

Start your simulations on Gatling Enterprise#

You can, using the enterprise-start command:

• Automatically deploy your package and associated simulations
• Start a deployed simulation

By default, the Gatling plugin prompts the user to choose a simulation to start from amongst the deployed simulations. However, users can also specify the simulation name directly to bypass the prompt using the following command:

npx gatling enterprise-start --enterprise-simulation="<simulation name>"

Replace <simulation name> with the desired name of the simulation you want to start.

If you are on a CI environment, you don’t want to handle interaction with the plugin. Most CI tools define the CI environment variable, used by the Gatling plugin to disable interactions and run in headless mode.

It’s also possible to disable interactions by using the --non-interactive option.

Here are additional options for this command:

• --wait-for-run-end: Waits for the run to finish. The command will exit with an error status if any assertions fail.
• --run-title <title>: Sets a custom title for the run reports.
• --run-description <description>: Sets a custom description for the run summary.
• --control-plane-url <URL>: Specifies a control plane URL (essential for Private Packages).

You can check out other options with npx gatling enterprise-start --help.

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