Before you design and run tests, you must add the required resources to ALM. These include the hosts, the host pools to which the hosts belong, the location of the hosts, and MI Listeners for load generators that are located over a firewall. For an overview of lab resources, see Lab Resources Overview.

Before adding testing hosts, ensure the following:

• Testing tools were installed on your testing hosts.

• If a testing host you are adding is in a remote location, make sure that the location was added in the Lab Resources > Locations module.

• If a testing host you are adding is over a firewall, the host must communicate with a Performance host through an MI Listener. Make sure that the MI Listener was added in the Lab Resources > MI Listeners module.

• Micro Focus ALM Lab Service has been installed on testing hosts you are adding. For task details, see Installing ALM Lab Service.

To add a lab resource:

1. Create a new resource.

   • In Lab Management, under Lab Resources, select the relevant resource module, and click the New <Resource> button. See New Testing Host Dialog Box.

   • In ALM, under Lab Resources, select the Hosts module, and click the New Host button. See New Testing Host Dialog Box. Hosts created in ALM are private hosts and can only exist in one host pool at a time.

2. Register the testing host. For security reasons, a testing host must be registered using Micro Focus ALM Lab Service before it can be used. After the testing host has been registered, the testing host registration must be approved from within Lab Management.

   To download and install Micro Focus ALM Lab Service, select Help > ALM Tools to open the ALM Tools add-in page, and click the appropriate link. For task details, see Using ALM Lab Service.

   Note: Lab Service and the ALM server to which you are connecting must be of the same version in order to be compatible. If your version of Lab Service is not the same as the ALM server, the Hosts/Testing Host grid displays your testing host as Unavailable.

You can import a list of hosts from an Excel file (.xls or .csv) into ALM.

1. Ensure that the Excel file is set up so that the columns can be recognized and mapped by the Import feature.

   • The first row of the Excel file must contain the field names, or corresponding logical names, that appear in the table below. (Logical names are not case sensitive.)

     Some fields are mandatory, others are required or optional.

     • Mandatory indicates a field that must appear in the Excel file. If you omit this field, the import fails. If you omit a value in one of the rows of this field's column, the import of that specific row fails.

     • Required indicates a field that should appear in the Excel file. If you omit this field, the code adds the field with the default value for all rows. If you include the field, but omit a value in one of the rows of this column, the code adds the default value for that row.

     • Optional indicates a field does not have to appear in the Excel file. Omitting this field has no effect on the import procedure.

   • Fields representing virtual, reference, and invalid fields are ignored.

   • Empty columns are allowed.

   Set up the columns and values in the file as follows:

   Field name	Logical Name	Value	Field for
   HOST_NAME Mandatory	Name	Any string	The valid name of the host machine.
   HOST_PURPOSE Mandatory	Purpose	Controller, Load Generator, QTP, Sprinter, and so on.	The purpose of the testing host. Note: This can be any combination of the options. Options should be separated with a semicolon and be without spaces. Example: Controller; Data Processor; QTP
   HOST_STATE Required	Status	Operational Non-Operational Unavailable Default: Operational	The host state.
   HOST_INSTALLATION Required	Installation	Unix  Load Generator Windows  Host Windows Standalone LG Default: Windows  Host	The type of host installation. Note: There is a double space in: "Windows<space><space>Host" "Unix<space><space>Load Generator"
   HOST_PRIORITY Required	Priority	1-Lowest Priority 2, 3 ... 8 9-Highest Priority Default: 5	The priority of the host.
   HOST_SSL_ENABLED Required	Enable SSL	Y N Default: N	SSL-enabled
   HOST_USERNAME Optional	Username	Any string	The user name for logging in to the host.
   HOST_PASSWORD Optional	Password	Any string	The user password for logging in to the host.
   HOST_DOMAIN Optional	Domain	Any string	The host domain.
   HOST_DESCRIPTION Optional	Description	Any string	The host description.

   The fields specified in the table below must not be included in the Excel file. During the import of each host, these fields are assigned default values.

   Field name	Default value assigned
   Belongs to pools	General
   Location	Default
   MI Listener	None

   Note: If data for these fields is included in the Excel file, the data is ignored. Default values that are not relevant for a particular host must be modified manually in the Hosts module.

   Example:  

   The following image illustrates an Excel file set up with the following AUT hosts: [test]abc, [test]host, and a third host whose name was not provided.

   
   

2. Import the hosts:

   1. Under Lab Resources, select Hosts.

   2. In the Hosts module, select Hosts > Import.

   3. Browse to the Excel file containing the hosts, and click Open.

   At the end of the import process, a report displays the import results, and the imported hosts are listed in the Hosts module. Hosts that are not imported successfully must be added manually.

To modify or view a lab resource's details, in the relevant Lab Resources module, right-click the resource in the grid and select <Resource>Details. See Lab Resources Modules User Interface.

Under Lab Resources, select Hosts. Right-click a host in the grid, and select Check Host.

The Task Manager opens, and the overall result of each check performed on the host, Passed or Failed, is displayed.

You can view the progress of the host check in the Hosts module's Check Host Status tab.

Based on the purpose and location of the host, the following checks are performed on the host:

Alternatively, you can perform the above checks, together with an additional connectivity check from the host to a particular URL. Right-click a host in the grid, select Check Connectivity to URL, and enter the URL.

Under Lab Resources, select Hosts. Right-click the host in the grid that you want to reboot, and select Reboot Host.

Under Lab Resources, select Hosts. Right-click the host in the grid on which to install the patch and select Install Patch.

For user interface details, see Select Patch to Install Dialog Box.

Reconfiguring a host resets the host license, the Performance Center system user (IUSR_METRO), and the Communication Security passphrase on the host machine.

To reconfigure a host, under Lab Resources, select Hosts. Right-click the host in the grid that you want to reconfigure, and select Reconfigure Host.

To end a process on a Performance host, under Lab Resources, select Hosts. Select a host, and in the Processes tab, select the process and click .

You can populate host pools with hosts in one of the following ways:

• Hosts module. You can link a host to one or more host pools.

• Pools module. You can link one or more hosts to a particular host pool.

To link a host to one or more host pools from the Hosts module:

1. Under Lab Resources, select Hosts.

2. Right-click a host in the grid, and select Host Details.

3. Click the down arrow adjacent to Belongs to Pools, and select pools in which to include the host. Click OK.

   
   

To link one or more hosts to a host pool from the Pools module:

1. On the Lab Management sidebar, under Lab Resources, select Host Pools.

2. Select a host pool in the grid.

3. In the Linked Hosts tab, click Add Hosts to Pool . Select hosts from the grid and click Add.