X-Ray 3.
X-Ray Guide
September 24, 2020
Contents
1. Overview...................................................................................................................... 3
Requirements...............................................................................................................................................................4
Network Requirements............................................................................................................................................4
X-Ray Limitations.......................................................................................................................................................5
2. Deploying X-Ray......................................................................................................6
Installing X-Ray on VirtualBox..............................................................................................................................6
Installing X-Ray on vCenter...................................................................................................................................6
Installing X-Ray on AHV......................................................................................................................................... 7
Installing X-Ray on Hyper-V with SCVMM..................................................................................................... 13
VMM Permissions on Hyper-V............................................................................................................................ 14
Enabling IPMI on Cisco UCS................................................................................................................................15
Enabling IPMI Discovery on ESXi...................................................................................................................... 16
Zero-Configuration Networking..........................................................................................................................17
Network Configuration...........................................................................................................................................18
Using an AWS Cluster as an X-Ray Target...................................................................................................20
3. Managing X-Ray.................................................................................................... 22
Connecting to the X-Ray Interface.................................................................................................................. 22
Tests Dashboard.......................................................................................................................................................22
Metro Availability.........................................................................................................................................23
Creating an X-Ray Test Target.............................................................................................................. 24
Creating an X-Ray Test.............................................................................................................................29
Importing Test Results............................................................................................................................... 31
Results Dashboard.................................................................................................................................................. 32
Examining Test Results............................................................................................................................. 33
Creating Comparisons...............................................................................................................................34
4. Test Scenarios........................................................................................................ 35
Workload Types....................................................................................................................................................... 35
Custom Tests.............................................................................................................................................................36
Creating Custom Tests..............................................................................................................................36
Adding Custom Scenarios....................................................................................................................... 37
Deleting Custom Scenarios.....................................................................................................................37
FIO Files..........................................................................................................................................................38
Managing Scenarios in Repositories............................................................................................................... 39
1
OVERVIEW
X-Ray is an automated testing framework and benchmarking application for enterprise-
grade datacenters. The X-Ray application is a downloadable virtual machine (VM) with a user
interface and complete documentation. Once installed, X-Ray can test and analyze several
different systems and report comparable information for your use.
X-Ray provides test scenarios for hyperconverged platforms that demonstrate variations in
areas such as performance, data integrity, and availability.
Note: X-Ray supports clusters of virtually any size, but Nutanix designs most test scenarios for
clusters of at least three nodes.
Note: X-Ray runs one test scenario per target at a time.
CAUTION: Do not install the X-Ray VM on a cluster that you are using as an X-Ray test target, or
on a cluster that you are planning to use as an X-Ray test target.
X-Ray test scenarios cover the following areas:
Availability
X-Ray tests how a hyperconverged solution tolerates a node failure during a workload. X-
Ray can measure how the failure of one node affects the availability of the whole system.
Performance
X-Ray tests how the system handles mixed workloads. The solution can include any of
the following:
• Running databases on a single node
• Simultaneously running VDI workloads on multiple nodes
• Mixing VM snapshot, VDI boot storms, VM provisioning, and multiple workloads or
stability over an extended period
Data Integrity
Data integrity is key for any storage device or file system by avoiding loss or corruption.
This application tests data safety by simulating power outages or component failures.
Feature Set
To take full advantage of available X-Ray tests, your system should include:
• Clones for VM provisioning
• Deduplication
• Compression
• VAAI support
• Native VM-level replication
X-Ray | Overview | 3
• 1-click software and hypervisor upgrades
• Compatibility with multiple hypervisors
• Ability to migrate and convert between hypervisors with the same solution
Requirements
Requirements for X-Ray.
CAUTION: X-Ray is a tool for test environments, and not intended for production environments.
The following table details the system requirements for X-Ray to deploy.
Area Requirements
System
• At least one cluster that is not part of a production
environment, with at least one storage target
• Network access to management UI (Prism, vCenter, or
SCVMM) and guest VMs
• IP addresses for the nodes (for test targets)
• User name, password, and IP address for each IPMI interface
• Do not use the system where you deploy X-Ray as an X-Ray
test target
Supported hypervisors
• AHV (x86-64, IBM POWER)
• ESXi (x86-64)
• Hyper-V 2016
Supported browsers
• Chrome
• Safari
• Firefox
Network Requirements
Networking requirements and port numbers for X-Ray.
Network Requirements
X-Ray must be connected to a network that can communicate with all components of the
infrastructure under test (vCenter, SCVMM, library servers, hosts, CVMs, IPMI, and so on.)
X-Ray must be able to communicate with the VMs it deploys over TCP/IP, so you must
configure the network where you deploy the VMs in one of the following ways:
1. Create or configure a DHCP server to assign DHCP addresses to all VMs (there must be
enough DHCP addresses for all VMs in the test) and X-Ray must be able to communicate to
that subnet; OR
2. Deploy X-Ray on the same layer-2 network, so the VMs can communicate over link-local
IPv4 addressing (self-assigned/ zero-configuration. See Zero-Configuration Networking on
page 17.)
X-Ray | Overview | 4
Port Numbers
X-Ray uses the following ports to communicate with system components.
Table 1: X-Ray Port Numbers
Component Port number
vCenter 443 (HTTPS)
Prism/API 9440 (HTTPS)
IPMI 623 (IPMI out-of-band)
Deployed VMs 22 (ssh); 5001 (agent)
Browser 443 (HTTPS)
TCP for ESXi hosts 5989 (HTTPS)
SCVMM (WSMAN) 5985 (HTTPS)
Note: On Windows Server 2016 and later, port 5985
is enabled by default. If you are using an older version
of Windows Server, or if you have disabled remote
PowerShell access, enable the port manually with
the Enable-PSRemoting PowerShell cmdlet on your
SCVMM server.
Information from the workload VMs 9100
Nutanix cluster ICMP
X-Ray Limitations
Disable cluster elements that interfere with X-Ray.
About this task
When running scenarios, X-Ray creates and deletes VMs so frequently that the cluster can run
out of memory. To avoid this issue, disable the cluster recycle bin when using X-Ray.
Procedure
1. Using SSH, log on to any Controller VM in the cluster as user nutanix.
2. Disable the recycle bin with the following command.
nutanix@cvm$ recycle_bin -operation update_time_to_live -recycle_bin_ttl_secs -1
3. After you have finished using X-Ray, reenable the recycle bin with the following command.
nutanix@cvm$ recycle_bin -operation update_time_to_live -recycle_bin_ttl_secs seconds
Replace seconds with any positive integer.
X-Ray | Overview | 5
2
DEPLOYING X-RAY
Installing X-Ray on VirtualBox
X-Ray caveats for VirtualBox.
Procedure
1. If you are deploying the X-Ray VM on VirtualBox, you must set the hardware clock by
opening Settings > System > Motherboard and enabling Hardware Clock in UTC Time.
2. For other VirtualBox information, see https://www.virtualbox.org/manual/
ch03.html#settings-motherboard.
Installing X-Ray on vCenter
Deploy X-Ray on a utility node or other location connected to (but independent of) your test
hardware.
About this task
Nutanix provides an OVA file for the ESXi hypervisor.
Procedure
1. Browse to the site where the X-Ray software is located and download the X-Ray OVA to
your host.
2. Open vCenter and log on.
3. In vCenter, choose the host where you want to install X-Ray.
4. To deploy the OVA file in the standalone client, select File > Deploy OVA Template.
5. Right-click the X-Ray VM and select Deploy OVA Template.
6. Select Browse and browse to xray.ova.
7. Complete the necessary fields for the X-Ray VM:
a. Specify a name for the X-Ray VM.
b. Specify the datastore where you want to place the VM.
c. Select the Thin Provision option.
d. Select a preferred network, following the requirements described in Network
Requirements on page 4.
8. Click Next.
The Summary window displays the X-Ray VM information.
X-Ray | Deploying X-Ray | 6
9. Optionally, select the Power On the VM after configuration checkbox.
10. Configure your NICs, if necessary.
11. Click Save.
The X-Ray VM appears on your list in vCenter. To access the X-Ray UI, enter the IP address
of the X-Ray VM in a web browser .
Installing X-Ray on AHV
Deploy X-Ray on a utility node or other location connected to (but independent of) your test
hardware.
Before you begin
To deploy the qcow2 image, be sure to have the minimum following requirements:
• vCPU: 8
• RAM: 8 GB
About this task
Nutanix provides a QCOW2 X-Ray image for AHV.
Procedure
1. Log into Prism.
2. Click the gearbox icon in the upper right corner. In the sidebar that appears, select Image
Configuration.
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3. In the dialog box that appears, click Upload Image.
4. Give the image a name in the Name field, set the image type to DISK, and specify the
upload location.
» If you are retrieving the image directly from the link provided by Nutanix, enter the URL
in the From URL field.
» If you have saved the image on your own system and want to upload it from there,
select the Upload a file option and click Choose File to specify the image location.
5. Click Save to upload the image.
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6. Once you have uploaded the image, open the drop-down menu in the Prism toolbar and
select VM.
7. Click Create VM.
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8. In the Create VM dialog box, specify a VM name, the number of virtual CPUs, and the
memory size.
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9. Create a disk.
a. Scroll further down in the Create VM dialog box and click Add New Disk to open the
Add Disk dialog box.
b. Set the Operation field to Clone from Image Service.
c. In the Image field, specify the X-Ray image you just created.
d. Click Add to add the disk and return to the Create VM dialog box.
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10. Add a NIC.
a. Scroll further down in the Create VM dialog box and click Add New NIC to open the
Create NIC dialog box.
b. Specify the NIC properties and click Add to create the NIC and return to the Create VM
dialog box.
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11. If you do not have DHCP configured, or if you want to run the test VMs on a separate
VLAN, define a second interface on the X-Ray VM. The second interface controls zero-
configuration access from the X-Ray VM to the test VMs. For zero-configuration purposes,
configure the second interface to use the same layer-2 network as the user VMs in the test
cluster.
12. Click Save to create the VM.
13. In Prism, click Table to display a tabular view of all VMs, and highlight the VM you just
created.
The Summary displays the current state of your VM.
14. In the Summary toolbar, click Power On to start the VM.
15. In the Summary toolbar, click Launch Console to watch the VM start.
The console shows an IP address where you can load the X-Ray UI.
Installing X-Ray on Hyper-V with SCVMM
Deploy X-Ray on a utility node or other location connected to (but independent of) your test
hardware.
About this task
Nutanix provides a compressed VHDX file for the Hyper-V hypervisor.
X-Ray | Deploying X-Ray | 13
Procedure
1. Browse to the site where the X-Ray software is located and download the X-Ray zip file to
your host.
2. Extract the zip file on your host and copy the VHDX file to an SCVMM library share.
3. Use the SCVMM console to connect to your SCVMM server.
4. In the Library pane, right-click on the library share where you copied the VHDX file and select
Refresh.
The Jobs pane shows the progress of the refresh operation.
5. In the VMs and Services pane, select Create Virtual Machine.
6. In the Create Virtual Machine wizard that appears, complete the following steps.
a. In the Select Source field, click Browse and select the xray.vhdx file that you copied to
your library share.
b. In the Identity field, specify a name for the X-Ray VM and select the machine type
Generation 1.
c. In the Configure Hardware field, configure the X-Ray VM to use eight processors and
eight GB of RAM. Under Network Adapters, connect at least one adapter to the network
that you are using for X-Ray communication. (To use zero-configuration networking, you
need at least two NICs.)
d. In the Select Destination field, select a host group for the X-Ray VM.
e. In the Select Host field, specify the Hyper-V host for the X-Ray VM.
Note: Do not use the same hardware as both an X-Ray test target and a host for the X-Ray
VM.
f. In the Configure Settings field, specify locations for VM hard disk files and network
connections.
g. In the Add Properties field, edit properties, if necessary.
h. (Optional): In the Summary field, select Start the virtual machine after deploying it.
7. If you need to configure the network from the command line, use Connect To Console.
8. When the refresh operation is complete, start the X-Ray VM.
a. Find the IP address of the X-Ray VM in the SCVMM console under Network Adapters.
b. Enter the VM IP address in a web browser to connect to the X-Ray VM.
VMM Permissions on Hyper-V
When deploying X-Ray on Hyper-V, you must configure two users:
• System Center Virtual Machine Manager user (scvmm.username)
• System Center Library Server user (scvmm.library_server_user)
The SCVMM user needs the following permissions:
• Must be able to create a remote PowerShell session to the SCVMM Server, or to any other
Windows system with the SCVMM Management Console installed. The system you are
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connecting to must be enabled for remote use. Local administrators have this permission by
default; add permission for other users with the Set-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet.
• The SCVMM user role must be configured on the SCVMM server. A user may only belong to
one user role. Allowed user roles are Administrator or Fabric Administrator. Make sure that
you configure the correct library server and that the host group that contains the cluster
under test.
The Library Server user needs the following permissions:
• Must be able to create a remote PowerShell session to the SCVMM library server (the server
must be enabled for remote use.) Local administrators have this permission by default; add
permission for other users with the Set-PSSessionConfiguration cmdlet.
• Must have read/write permissions on the library server share that you use for storage.
Enabling IPMI on Cisco UCS
Enable IPMI on Cisco UCS nodes to allow X-Ray target discovery.
Procedure
1. For stand-alone CIMCs, do the following.
a. To configure communication services, follow the instructions here.
Note: X-Ray requires administrator privileges.
b. Set the encryption key to 40 zeroes (0000000000000000000000000000000000000000) .
X-Ray | Deploying X-Ray | 15
2. For UCS manager, do the following.
a. Create an IPMI access profile and apply the policy as the IPMI policy for all the nodes.
X-Ray requires administrator privileges.
Figure 1: UCS IPMI
b. Set the encryption key to 40 zeroes (0000000000000000000000000000000000000000) .
Enabling IPMI Discovery on ESXi
Enable web-based enterprise management (WBEM) for IPMI discovery on ESXi.
About this task
On ESXi 6.5, the IPMI discovery process is disabled by default, which results in unsuccessful
connections during target creation.
If you do not have WBEM enabled, enable WBEM and then retry IPMI discovery. Otherwise,
enter the IPMI data manually during X-Ray target creation.
Note: X-Ray supports the following ESXi versions for IPMI discovery.
• vSphere ESXi 6.7
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• vSphere ESXi 6.5
• vSphere ESXi 6.0
• vSphere ESXi 5.5
• vSphere ESXi 5.1
• vSphere ESXi 5.0
Note: If you have third-party CIM provider vSphere installation bundles (VIB) installed, WBEM
services run automatically.
Procedure
Connect WBEM as a root user on each ESXi host.
a. Run the following command on each ESXi host.
esxcli system wbem set --enable true
b. To verify that WBEM enabling was successful, use the following command.
esxcli system wbem get
Zero-Configuration Networking
When no DHCP server is available, or where creating a scope large enough for X-Ray VMs is not
possible, use zero-configuration for self-assigned IP addressing.
Zero-configuration networking is a standard for IP addressing where a host self-assigns an IP
address. X-Ray uses IPv4, which uses the reserved addresses 169.254.0.0/16.
This feature eliminates the need for manual IP address configuration or DHCP.
X-Ray | Deploying X-Ray | 17
Figure 2: Zero-configuration Networking
To use zero-configuration networking, configure the workload VMs and the second NIC of the
deployed X-Ray VM to use the same layer-2 network.
For ESXi, the .ova adds the second NIC automatically. For AHV or Hyper-V, add the second NIC
manually.
The second NIC automatically picks up the zero-configuration settings when you add it, so no
extra configuration is necessary.
Network Configuration
Change the network settings using the installed interface through GNOME (a prepackaged
desktop environment).
About this task
By default, the first NIC (eth0) is on a DHCP network and the second NIC (eth1) is configured
for zero-configuration (link local addressing).
When X-Ray deploys test VMs, the test VMs always try DHCP first on the network (VLAN)
defined in the X-Ray target configuration. If DHCP fails on that VLAN, then the test VMs use
zero-configuration.
If your eth0 network does not have DHCP, you must configure a static IP address, using the
network settings in the X-Ray VM. You can access the X-Ray VM using the Launch Console
button in Prism.
CAUTION: Restart the X-Ray server after you set a static IP address, to make sure that
authentication does not fail.
Your X-Ray installation includes the GNOME UI.
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Before you begin
Configure the networks for the following:
• Communication with the cluster under test (see Requirements on page 4.)
• Connectivity to the hypervisor running on the cluster under test
• Workload VMs
Procedure
1. Open the X-Ray console.
» AHV: in the Prism web console of the cluster with the X-Ray VM, select Home > VM.
Select the X-Ray VM from the VM list and click Launch Console.
» vSphere: in the vSphere client, select the X-Ray VM and click Open Console.
2. In the X-Ray VM console, open the network settings by clicking the Ethernet symbol in the
top corner.
3. Select the network that you want to change.
Figure 3: Network Configuration using GNOME for X-Ray
4. Change the settings by clicking the gear icon in the Network window.
5. Select IPv4 and add the Ip address of a DNS server in the Server field.
6. To change the network proxy server settings, return to the Network page and select
Network proxy.
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Using an AWS Cluster as an X-Ray Target
Use a cluster on AWS as an X-Ray target.
About this task
To use a cluster on AWS as an X-Ray target, you must use a virtual IP address (VIP) as the
single resilient endpoint. In AWS, you can set the VIP from the cluster private subnet during
cluster creation.
Procedure
When you create your cluster, in the Cluster Details page, specify an address in the Virtual IP
field. use an address that belongs in the cluster subnet range.
Figure 4: Cluster Details
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In this example, the cluster subnet is 10.1.2.0/24. Any unused IP address in this range can serve
as the cluster VIP.
X-Ray | Deploying X-Ray | 21
3
MANAGING X-RAY
Use the X-Ray dashboards to create targets and tests and examine test results.
Connecting to the X-Ray Interface
Connect to the X-Ray web interface for the first time.
Procedure
1. Open a browser window and enter the IP address for the X-Ray VM.
2. Agree to the EULA that appears, and (optionally) to collection of Pulse metadata.
3. Log on with your Nutanix credentials.
Tests Dashboard
The X-Ray tests dashboard shows available X-Ray tests.
X-Ray Tests Dashboard
The X-Ray tests dashboard shows which tests are available. Click View and Run Test for details
of each test.
X-Ray | Managing X-Ray | 22
Figure 5: X-Ray tests dashboard
Metro Availability
Metro targets have both a primary site and a remote site. Some X-Ray scenarios require only
one metro site, while others require both.
An X-Ray target can contain only nodes from one metro site. If you create a target with both
primary and remote nodes, target validation fails.
Configure metro primary and remote targets at target creation:
• When you create a metro primary target, delete the nodes that belong to the metro remote
site for the container you chose in the Cluster tab of the Create Target page. With those
nodes deleted, X-Ray only uses the nodes on the metro primary site.
• When you create a metro remote target, delete the nodes that belong to the metro primary
site for the container you chose in the Cluster tab of the Create Target page. With those
nodes deleted, X-Ray only uses the nodes on the metro remote site.
If you create a target with nodes that belong to the wrong container, target validation does
not fail, but performance suffers. An example is a case where you specify primary nodes in the
Node tab but you specified the remote container in the Cluster tab. To resolve the conflict,
return to the Cluster tab and specify the correct container.
X-Ray scenarios that require two targets include drop-downs for both the primary site and the
remote site.
X-Ray | Managing X-Ray | 23
Figure 6: Metro-aware test scenario
For metro environments that mix an ESXi cluster with a cluster that runs a different hypervisor,
enable VMware DRS on the ESXi cluster. The clusters need DRS enabled for VM migration, to
make sure that both clusters have the appropriate CPU instructions for the VMs. Configure DRS
with a CPU family that both clusters support.
Creating an X-Ray Test Target
Create a test target in X-Ray.
About this task
Note: The X-Ray node discovery feature automatically gathers information about available
nodes, following the General tab in the Create Target wizard. To enable IPMI on platforms where
IPMI discovery is unsupported, see Enabling IPMI on Cisco UCS on page 15.
Note: For AHV, you must manually add the out-of-band vendor during the target discovery
process.
Procedure
1. Open the Create Target page in one of the following ways:
» Go to the Targets dashboard in X-Ray and click Add Target.
» Go to the Tests dashboard in X-Ray and click the View and Run button in any test. In the
test, click Create Target.
The Create Target window appears.
X-Ray | Managing X-Ray | 24
2. Complete the General fields.
Figure 7: General fields
a. Name: Type the name for the new test target.
b. Manager Type: Click the drop-down to select the management application.
» For AHV, select Prism.
» For ESXi, select vCenter.
» For Hyper-V, select SCVMM.
c. Cluster Type: Select the type of cluster (if the Manager Type does not automatically
complete it.)
d. Hypervisor: Select the type of hypervisor (if the Manager Type does not automatically
complete it.)
e. If you selected Prism as the Manager Type, complete the Prism Config fields.
X-Ray | Managing X-Ray | 25
Figure 8: Prism Configuration
f. If you selected vCenter as the Manager Type, complete the vCenter Config fields.
Figure 9: vCenter Configuration
g. If you selected SCVMM as the Manager Type, complete the SCVMM Config fields.
Figure 10: SCVMM Configuration
X-Ray | Managing X-Ray | 26
3. Complete the Power Management Configuration fields.
Figure 11: Power Management fields
a. In the TYPE field, select IPMI to enable IPMI discovery, or None to continue without IPMI
discovery.
Note: If you select None, some X-Ray scenarios are unavailable.
b. For USERNAME, enter the user name for the IPMI.
c. For PASSWORD, enter the password for the IPMI.
4. Click Next to proceed to the Cluster tab.
5. Complete the Cluster fields. (These fields might be empty if the IPMI discovery feature is
disabled.)
Figure 12: Create Target Cluster Tab
6. Click Next to proceed to the Node tab.
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7. Complete the Node fields. (These fields might be empty if the IPMI discovery feature is
disabled.)
Note: On Hyper-V targets running on hardware from SuperMicro, IPMI discovery does not
work, so you must add node information manually. The node ID for a Hyper-V target is the
fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the Hyper-V host in the cluster under test.
You can also add a node by clicking +Add Node.
Figure 13: Node tab when creating a new test target
8. If you are creating a Metro target, remember that a Metro target can contain either primary
or remote nodes, but not both. Follow the guidelines described in Metro Availability on
page 23.
If you create a target with both remote and primary nodes, target validation fails. Return to
the Node tab and delete the remote nodes.
9. Click Next to proceed to the Validation tab.
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10. Optionally, run validation to make sure that the target is in a state that allows running test
scenarios.
Figure 14: Validation
» To run validation, click the Run Validation button.
» To skip validation, click Done.
X-Ray creates the target and displays it in the Targets dashboard.
Creating an X-Ray Test
Create and run an X-Ray test.
About this task
Note: For ESXi target discovery, ensure that the datacenter and the target are outside of
vSphere folders.
X-Ray | Managing X-Ray | 29
Procedure
1. Open your X-Ray VM to the Tests dashboard.
Figure 15: Tests dashboard
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2. Open a test by clicking View and Run in one of the displayed tests.
Note: Clicking View and Run does not immediately begin the test.
Figure 16: Test page (single target test)
Figure 17: Test page (metro target test)
X-Ray displays the test, with a full test description in the left sidebar. The right sidebar lets
you specify a target (two targets for metro tests) and select any necessary variants.
3. Select a target.
» To choose an existing target, click the drop-down arrow in the Choose test targets box
and select one or more targets.
» To create a new target, click Create Target. Follow the procedure described in Creating
an X-Ray Test Target on page 24.
4. Click Run Test.
X-Ray runs the test. Examine the results in the Results dashboard.
Importing Test Results
Import test results from a different X-Ray VM.
About this task
X-Ray | Managing X-Ray | 31
Procedure
To import test results from a different X-Ray VM:
a. In the Tests dashboard, click the gear icon and select Import Test Results Bundle.
Figure 18: Select the Import button from the gear icon
The Import Test Results Bundle dialog appears.
Figure 19: Import Test Results Bundle
b. Click Select Files to specify an import file.
c. Click Upload.
Results Dashboard
The X-Ray Results dashboard displays information about X-Ray test results.
X-Ray Results Dashboard
Figure 20: Results Dashboard
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Examining Test Results
See the results of a test in X-Ray.
About this task
The X-Ray results dashboard allows you to view the test results reported by X-Ray.
Note: Tests run on AOS/AHV targets do not report cluster network traffic in their result graphs.
Procedure
1. In the X-Ray VM console, select the Results dashboard.
2. To see results for any individual test, click the test name.
3. For other options, select the check box next to the test and click one of the option buttons.
Figure 21: Results options
4. Choose an option:
» For the raw data, click Export Raw Results.
» To have X-Ray return a report with a description, summary tests results, and high level
information about each target in the test, click Generate Report.
Note: Pop-up blocking prevents the report from displaying, so either disable pop-up
blocking or add X-Ray to your browser whitelist.
» To delete the test results, click Delete.
X-Ray | Managing X-Ray | 33
Creating Comparisons
Compare the results of multiple tests.
Procedure
1. In the Results dashboard, select two or more sets of results for comparison. The results you
select must be from the same test scenario and variant.
Figure 22: Selecting results for comparison
2. Click Create Comparison.
X-Ray compares the results of the selected tests.
3. Select the My Comparisons heading to see a list of all comparisons you have created.
Figure 23: Comparisons
4. To generate a comparison report, click Generate Report.
5. To delete the comparison, click Delete.
4
TEST SCENARIOS
The X-Ray test scenarios offer predefined test cases that consist of multiple events and
predefined parameters. X-Ray executes scenarios against test targets to produce results for
analysis.
The test scenarios simulate OLTP, VDI, and DSS workloads (see Workload Types on
page 35).
To view detailed information about each test scenario, navigate to the X-Ray VM and click Run
Test to display the details.
Workload Types
X-Ray scenarios simulate real-world workloads on test targets.
The following list shows common workloads that are used in X-Ray test scenarios. Effective
virtualized data center solutions delegate resources so that workloads do not monopolize
resources from other workloads. Running different workloads in this manner helps evaluate how
multiple workloads interact with one another.
Workload Configuration
Online Transaction
Processing (OLTP) • 6 vDisks: 4 for database data workload component (28 GB
each), 2 for database log workload component (2 GB Each)
• Database Data workload: 50% Read, 80% Random, 10% 32k &
90% 8k Op Sizes
• Database Log workload: 100% Write, 10% Random, 32k Op
Size
Virtual Desktop
Infrastructure (VDI) • 1 vDisk: 10 GB total
• Read Range: 8 GB, 100% Read, 80% Random, 10% 32k & 90%
8k Op Sizes, 10 IOPS
• Write Range: 2 GB, 100% Write, 20% Random, 32k Op Size, 10
IOPS
Decision Support System
(DSS) • 6 vDisks: 4 for database data workload component (28 GB
each), 2 for database log workload component (2 GB Each)
• Database Data workload: 100% Read, 100% Sequential, 1MB
Op Size, 250 IOPS per vDisk
• Database Log workload: 100% Write, 5% Random, 32k Op
Size, 100 IOPS per vDisk
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Custom Tests
X-Ray allows you to manage customized test scenarios with add, export, and delete
capabilities. You can export and edit an existing scenario and then add the edited scenario back
into X-Ray. You can also create entirely new test scenarios following the X-Ray YAML scenario
specifications, described in the following sections. All custom tests are selectable in the existing
Tests dashboard.
For further information on the X-Ray YAML specification, see https://nutanix.gitlab.io/curie/.
Creating Custom Tests
Create a custom test for X-Ray.
About this task
You can create entirely new custom tests, but it's easier to take an existing test and modify it to
suit your needs, as described below.
Procedure
1. In the X-Ray VM, go to the Tests dashboard.
2. In any test scenario, click the drop-down menu in the right upper corner of the test and
select Export.
X-Ray downloads a .zip file to your host.
3. Inside the .zip file is a directory named config, which contains a YAML file named test.yml.
CAUTION: The file name must remain test.yml.
4. Open test.yml in a text editor.
5. Edit both the name and display_name fields to new names so that X-Ray will recognize the test
as a unique scenario.
6. Edit the configuration fields to suit your needs.
» Summary -- A short explanation of the purpose of the test scenario.
» Description -- A full explanation of what the test scenario is supposed to do and how it will
do it.
» tags -- The type of benchmark the test belongs to; for example, performance or data loss.
» estimated_runtime -- A value in seconds.
» vms -- Use this heading to define the characteristics of your test virtual machines. The
template field specifies the disks used for FIO workloads. The vcpus field specifies the
number of vCPUS. The ram_mb field specifies the amount of RAM. The data_disks field
specifies the number and size of data disks.
» workloads -- Specifies the .fio configuration files for the test's FIO workloads.
» results -- Specifies how test results are reported.
» setup -- Configures pre-test workflow.
» run -- Specifies the order and duration of test workflow.
» teardown -- Configures operations when the test is completed.
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7. When you have finished editing test.yml, save the file.
8. Add the edited scenario to X-Ray by following Adding Custom Scenarios on page 37.
Adding Custom Scenarios
Add a custom scenario for use in X-Ray.
About this task
Custom scenarios cannot be overwritten. If you want to update an existing custom scenario,
you must delete the scenario from X-Ray before uploading a new version.
Procedure
1. In the X-Ray VM, click the gear icon and select Add Custom Scenario.
Figure 24: Add Custom Scenario
2. Click Select Files to choose files to upload.
A test scenario includes test.yml and one or more *.fio files.
3. Click Upload.
4. When file loading is complete, click Save.
Note: X-Ray parses the test.yml file before accepting the scenario. If your upload is
unsuccessful, make sure that test.yml is structured correctly and that all supporting files are
present.
The custom test appears in the Tests dashboard once the upload is successful.
Deleting Custom Scenarios
Delete a custom test from X-Ray.
About this task
Only custom test scenarios can be deleted.
Procedure
1. In the Tests dashboard, find the custom test you want to delete.
X-Ray | Test Scenarios | 37
2. Click the drop-down menu in the upper right corner of the test and select Delete.
Figure 25: Delete custom test
FIO Files
FIO Configuration file descriptions and details.
X-Ray uses the open-source Flexible I/O (FIO) benchmark tool to generate an I/O workload.
For general information on FIO, see http://github.com.
FIO files define the characteristics of the FIO workload. Each FIO file contains defined
parameters and job descriptions involved in the file.
A FIO file typically uses the following basic parameters. When creating a customized test, you
can modify these parameters.
• I/O type: Defines I/O pattern issued to the files.
• Block Size: The size of the I/O issued, in bytes. Block size can be a single value or a range.
• I/O Size: The amount of data to be read and written, in bytes.
• I/O Engine: The means of issuing the I/O (memory mapping, splice, regular read and write,
and so on.)
• I/O Depth: Sets queueing depth for the I/O engine.
• Target file/device: The files or devices to be written to or read from during workload
execution.
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• Threads, processes, and job synchronization: The number of threads or process spread over
this workload.
Managing Scenarios in Repositories
Manage scenarios in git repositories in X-Ray.
About this task
X-Ray allows you to store scenarios in git repositories. Use the repository to add, manage, or
delete scenarios.
Procedure
1. Click the gear button in the X-Ray toolbar and select Scenario Repositories.
Figure 26: Scenario Repositories
X-Ray | Test Scenarios | 39
2. In the Scenario Repositories page, click Add Repository.
Figure 27: Add a Repository
3. In the dialog box that appears, assign the new repository a name, enter the URL in the
Repository URL field, and click Import.
Figure 28: Sprecifying repository details
4. Manage the repository with the buttons in the Scenario Repositories page.
Figure 29: Managing the repository
