Multi-Machine Testing in a Terminal Server Environment

This functionality is supported only if you are using the Classic Agent.

Note: This functionality is tested only for C++ applications. Whether any other extension will work is unconfirmed. If a non-C++ environment does not work, then it is still considered a non-supported environment and is not something that will be addressed by technical support.

Terminal Server

Terminal Server is an optional setup of Windows where the server is used in a similar fashion as a Unix server. In a network of this type you have a server with a lot of memory to serve many workstations. Each workstation has its own operating system and is connected through TCP/IP to the server machine. Each client is required to have only one program installed; the terminal client.

The terminal client is a program that displays a complete Windows desktop, including a taskbar, just like the one you see when you run Windows. Using the mouse and keyboard you are able to use this Desktop to start and use Windows Applications like Word, PowerPoint and Silk Test Classic. When these applications are running, they are not using the CPU or memory of the client machines, but are running on the server machines. The display of the desktop however is being set to the terminal client programs. They do this by sending many compressed images in cartoon fashion through TCP/IP from the server to the terminal emulators, which in turn display the images and make it appear as though the Desktop and the applications are running on the client machine.

Each terminal emulator has its own virtual mouse and keyboard port. You can have several different Terminal Clients running on the same machine and each window will have its own mouse pointer. When you use the physical mouse on the terminal client, the virtual mouse reacts to the commands.

Installing Silk Test Classic on the Controller Machine

In a Terminal Server environment the copy of Silk Test Classic is only installed on the server machine. Only one copy is needed. When installing the product, you must follow the Terminal Server instructions for installing the application in 'multi user' mode. This is done from the Add/Remove Programs feature found in the Control Panel. When this is complete, you can start Silk Test Classic from a terminal client and create and run tests as you do when Silk Test Classic is installed on one machine.

Setting Up the Terminal Server Clients

In order to have multiple terminal clients running Silk Test Classic or other Agents, some configuration must take place. If you want to be able to run test scenarios in different terminal client windows from a single point of control, each client needs to start its own Agent process. Each Agent must be configured for network use. You can either use the NetBios protocol and give each Agent instance a separate name, or use the TCP/IP protocol and assign each Agent instance a different port.

Silk Test Classic does not support multiple-user sessions for a single target system. Using standalone Silk Test Classic you can only service one Agent on a particular machine. However, using Silk Performer as controller for Silk Test Classic scripts, you can also service multiple user/Agent sessions on a single system (Silk Performer Gui level testing).

Starting Agents

Silk Test Classic has a -p option for Agent.exe that lets you specify a port number for the Agent. Therefore, it is recommended that you use TCP/IP protocol and start Agents using agent -p <unique port number>.