MSDN Magazine - September 2008 - (Page 97)

Dr. JameS mccaffrey TesT Run Configuration Testing With Virtual Server, Part 1 In this month’s column, I’ll introduce you to software configuration testing with Microsoft® Virtual Server. Configuration testing is a general term that simply means testing a software system on different combinations of hardware and software. The traditional way to perform software configuration testing is to set up a lab with multiple physical machines running different combinations of operating systems, Web browsers, and other software. This can be expensive and time consuming. Happily, Virtual Server allows you to perform some types of software configuration testing by creating multiple virtual machines on a single physical machine. In discussions with my colleagues, I learned that many of the techniques for configuration testing with Virtual Server are not widely known, so I set out to create a complete explanation of the process. This month’s column is intended for beginners, so I’ll assume you have no experience using Virtual Server. The screenshot in Figure 1 illustrates many of the key concepts of configuration testing with Virtual Server. It demonstrates the testing of a DLL file on a Windows® 2000 Professional machine. The physical machine is running Windows Server® 2008 and is called the host machine in Virtual Server terminology. Behind the scenes, Virtual Figure 1 Configuration Testing with Virtual Server Server is running as a Windows service on the host machine. The virtual machine instance, which is running Windows Installing Virtual Server 2000 Professional, is called the guest machine and is managed Installing Virtual Server is straightforward, but there are a few using a Web-based interface. In this example, I am running only factors you should take into consideration if you plan to perform one guest machine, but I can run multiple guests simultaneously configuration testing. Virtual Server 2005 R2 SP1, the current veron the host if I want. sion, is available as a free download from microsoft.com/downloads. In the guest machine, you can see that I have three windows Each guest virtual machine requires processor resources, RAM, open: two instances of Windows Explorer and a command shell. and hard disk space; as a general rule, the more of these resources The top instance of Windows Explorer is pointing to \\WIN-6- your host machine has, the better. When using Virtual Server for IN7WRUV5QY\Public, which is a share on the host machine. configuration testing, you will likely have a large number of virtual The bottom instance of Windows Explorer is pointing to C:\Tests, hard drives, but normally you’ll run only one virtual machine at a which is a directory on the guest. In my scenario, I copy two test time. So, ideally you want to have an environment where you have files, testHarness.js and testData.txt, from the host onto the guest. a large amount of disk space and a reasonable amount of RAM. Of I then execute a simple automated test that exercises a DLL on the course, the reality is that you will probably be using an old machine guest. Of course, I could have performed any type of manual or with very limited resources. automated test on the guest; the important idea here is that I have a fully functional Windows 2000 machine available to test any Send your questions and comments for James to testrun@microsoft.com. type of software I want. September 2008 97 http://microsoft.com/downloads

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of MSDN Magazine - September 2008

MSDN Magazine - September 2008 Contents Toolbox CLR Inside Out Data Points Advanced Basics Office Space Cutting Edge Hierarchy ID New Features for Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Prism Data Services Advanced WPF Test Run Security Briefs Foundations { End Bracket }

MSDN Magazine - September 2008

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