# Azure Load Tests Part 2: Running Tests from Pipeline

In my last post, I blogged about how to use Artillery to run Load Tests from Azure Container Instances. Artillery is easy to use and Azure Container Instances offer a low cost and easy way to run containerized load tests. If cloud-based load tests are cheap and a great way to test your architecture, **how do you get the most out of them?**

Why?
----

I have worked with teams who create custom load tests and run them a few times … then simply **forgot** about them. In other cases, the load tests were being run from a VM that someone provisioned and only they knew how to use. That person was asked to run load tests all the time and they became a bottleneck in process. Lastly, it was easy to mix up test cases. Which tests ran when? Triggering load tests manually meant we made mistakes and without source control we had to trust that the right test parameters were set.

Running load tests from a pipeline is a great way to ensure that:

*   Any member of the team can kick off a load test
*   There is traceability on when/which test case is being run
*   They run frequently and they are consistently maintained by the team

How?
----

I like to run my load tests nightly. This means, I start the load tests from a pipeline that runs roughly at midnight each weekday. Once the load test completes, the results are sent to the members in the team. Often times, during the daily scrum meetings, we pull up load test results and quickly point out abnomalities.

### Azure DevOps

Create a pipeline and add a step to build and publish you load test to an Azure Container Registry.

    
    - stage: Build and Run
        jobs:
        - job: build
          displayName: Build and Push
          steps:
          - task: Docker@2
            displayName: Build and Push
            inputs:
              command: buildAndPush
              containerRegistry: $(ACR.ContainerRegistryServiceConnnection)
              repository: gaunastressyou/hello-load-test
              buildContext: .
              Dockerfile: Dockerfile
              tags: $(Build.BuildNumber)
    
    

`ACR.ContainerRegistryServiceConnnection` - is the name of a service connection to an Azure Container Registry. Here’s more [instructions](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/pipelines/library/service-endpoints?view=azure-devops&tabs=yaml#sep-docreg) on how to create one.

Then add a step to run the name Azure CLI commands you can use locally.

    
    - job: load_test
          displayName: Running Load Test
          steps:
          - task: AzureCLI@1
            inputs:
              azureSubscription: '[ subscription name ]'
              scriptLocation: 'inlineScript'
              inlineScript: 'az group deployment create -g $(LoadTest.ResourceGroup)-n $(LoadTest.ContainerGroupName) --template-file armdeploy.json --parameters loadTestName=$(LoadTest.Name) artillery-environment=$(Environment) artillery-file=$(LoadTest.File) image=$(LoadTest.FullImage) acrName=$(ACR.Name) acrResourceGroup=$(ACR.ResourceGroup) timeStamp=$(LoadTest.RunId)'
    
    

Lastly, configure a [scheduled trigger](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/pipelines/build/triggers?view=azure-devops&tabs=yaml#scheduled-triggers) for the pipeline

    
    schedules:
    - cron: "0 0 * * *"
      displayName: Nightly Load Test
      branches:
        include:
        - master
    
    

### All Together

    
    trigger:
      branches:
          include:
          - master
    
    schedules:
    - cron: "0 0 * * *"
      displayName: Nightly Load Test
      branches:
        include:
        - master
    
    variables:
      # ========================================================================
      #                          Mandatory variables 
      # ========================================================================
      ACR.ContainerRegistryServiceConnnection: [ conatiner registry service connection name ]
      ACR.Name: [ container registry name ]
      ACR.ResourceGroup: [ resource group  name]
    
      Service.Dockerfile: Dockerfile
      Service.Name: api-load-tests
      Service.Repository: gaunastressyou
    
      LoadTest.Counter: $[counter(format('{0:yyyyMMdd}', pipeline.startTime), 0)]
      LoadTest.Date: $[format('{0:yyyyMMdd}', pipeline.startTime)]
      LoadTest.Tag: $(LoadTest.Date)-$(LoadTest.Counter)
      LoadTest.Name: hello-world
      LoadTest.ResourceGroup: hello-world-rg
      LoadTest.ContainerGroupName: $(LoadTest.Name)
      LoadTest.File: load.yml
      LoadTest.RunId: $(LoadTest.Tag)
      LoadTest.FullImage: $(ACR.Name).azurecr.io/$(Service.Repository)/$(Service.Name):$(Build.BuildNumber)
      Environment: dev
    
    stages:
      - stage: Build and Run
        jobs:
        - job: build
          displayName: Build and Push
          steps:
          - task: Docker@2
            displayName: Build and Push
            inputs:
              command: buildAndPush
              containerRegistry: $(ACR.ContainerRegistryServiceConnnection)
              repository: gaunastressyou/hello-load-test
              buildContext: .
              Dockerfile: Dockerfile
              tags: $(Build.BuildNumber)
        - job: load_test
          displayName: Running Load Test
          steps:
          - task: AzureCLI@1
            inputs:
              azureSubscription: '[ subscription name ]'
              scriptLocation: 'inlineScript'
              inlineScript: 'az group deployment create -g $(LoadTest.ResourceGroup)-n $(LoadTest.ContainerGroupName) --template-file armdeploy.json --parameters loadTestName=$(LoadTest.Name) artillery-environment=$(Environment) artillery-file=$(LoadTest.File) image=$(LoadTest.FullImage) acrName=$(ACR.Name) acrResourceGroup=$(ACR.ResourceGroup) timeStamp=$(LoadTest.RunId)'