4. Execution

The RTI Perftest test is provided in C++ (modern and traditional), C#, and Java. The sections below describe how to run the executables, once you have built them, and how to pass configuration parameters to them. For detailed descriptions of the test parameters, see Test Parameters for Publishing and Subscribing Applications. For example test configurations, see Example Command Lines for Running the Performance Test.

When running the test, keep in mind that a throughput test will necessarily place a heavy load on your network and potentially on your CPU(s) as well. For accurate results, and the fewest complaints from your coworkers and IT department, run the test when and where you have a subnet to yourself. The test is designed to measure latency under loaded network conditions; it will produce those loads itself: there is no need to produce them externally (and your throughput results may not be meaningful if you do).

4.1. C++ and C# Executables

The C++ and C# executables are in these directories:

<installation directory>/bin/<architecture>/release
<installation directory>/bin/<architecture>/debug

The <architecture> depends on your architecture, such as i86Linux3gcc4.8.2 or i86Win32VS2012.

You can differentiate the executables for the two C++ implementations (Traditional and Modern) by the name: the Traditional C++ API implementation uses perftest_cpp and the Modern C++ API implementation uses perftest_cpp11.

The RTI Perftst test uses an XML configuration file and locates this file based on paths relative to the directory from which the test is run. Therefore, to use this configuration file without the need of adding extra command line parameters:

Traditional C++:

bin/<architecture>/<release or debug>/perftest_cpp <-pub|-sub(default)> [parameters]

Modern C++:

bin/<architecture>/<release or debug>/perftest_cpp11 <-pub|-sub(default)> [parameters]

C#:

bin/<architecture>/<release or debug>/perftest_cs <-pub|-sub(default)> [parameters]

4.1.1. With dynamic linking

If you compiled the performance test executable dynamically, add the $NDDSHOME/lib/<architecture> folder to:

the $LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable if you are on Linux systems
the $DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH variable if you are on macOS systems
the %PATH% variable if you are on Windows systems

4.1.2. When using RTI Security Plugins and using dynamic linking

In this case, add the OpenSSL or wolfSSL libraries in $SSLHOME/<debug or release>/lib to:

the $LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable if you are on Linux systems
the $DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH variable if you are on macOS systems
the %PATH% variable if you are on Windows systems

4.1.3. With VxWorks kernel mode

After compiling for VxWorks (see Compilation), the shared object needs to be loaded in the kernel:

ld 1 < bin/<architecture>/release/perftest_cpp.so

Now, the code can be executed by calling the perftest_main_cpp function with a string as an argument containing all of the Command-Line Parameters. For example:

perftest_cpp_main "-pub -domain 0 -latencyCount 1 -dataLen 1000 -latencyTest -multicast"

4.2. Java Executable

RTI Perftest provides a .sh script and .bat script to run the Java .jar file. Those scripts are located in:

bin/<debug or release>/perftest_java.sh for Linux/macOS/QNX systems
bin/<debug or release>/perftest_java.bat for Windows systems

When using the RTI Perftest scripts, you will need to set the environment variable $RTI_PERFTEST_ARCH to your specific architecture as well as set your $NDDSHOME variable.

For example: If you are using a Windows 32-bit architecture and the Visual Studio 2012 libraries:

set NDDSHOME=<path to your RTI Connext DDS installation>
set RTI_PERFTEST_ARCH=i86Win32VS2012

If you are using the Linux i86Linux3gcc4.8.2 architecture:

export NDDSHOME=<path to your RTI Connext DDS installation>
export RTI_PERFTEST_ARCH=i86Linux3gcc4.8.2

Make sure the correct java executable is in your path before running the script.

Alternatively, you can directly run the Java .jar files:

java -cp "<RTI Perftest path>/bin/<release or debug>/perftest_java.jar:<NDDSHOME>/lib/java/<nddsjava.jar or nddsjava.jar>" com.rti.perftest.ddsimpl.PerfTestLauncher

If you run the .jar files directly, add the $NDDSHOME/lib/<architecture> and $NDDSHOME/lib/java folders to:

the $LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable if you are on Linux systems
the $DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH variable if you are on macOS systems
the %PATH% variable if you are on Windows systems

When using Java on Linux/macOS systems with RTI Security Plugins: Add the OpenSSL/wolfSSL libraries in $SSLHOME/<debug or release>/lib to:

the $LD_LIBRARY_PATH variable if you are on Linux systems
the $DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH variable if you are on macOS systems
the %PATH% variable if you are on Windows systems

4.3. Launching the Application

The RTI Perftest test uses an XML configuration file. It locates this file based on its path relative to the directory from which the test is run. To use this configuration file, move to RTI Perftest's top-level location.

Then start the test applications. You can start the publisher or subscribers first, the order does not matter. When selecting your optional parameters, choose parameters that allow the test to run for at least 15 seconds to get any kind of meaningful results.

To choose the test run time, use the -executionTime command-line option or set the total number of samples by using the -numIter command-line option. The longer the test runs, the more accurate the results will be. Ideally, run the test for at least 100 seconds.

Starting the C++ Traditional API test:

bin/<architecture>/<release or debug>/perftest_cpp <-pub|-sub(default)> [parameters]

Starting the C++ Modern API test:

bin/<architecture>/<release or debug>/perftest_cpp11 <-pub|-sub(default)> [parameters]

Starting the C# API test:

bin/<architecture>/<release or debug>/perftest_cs <-pub|-sub(default)> [parameters]

Starting the Java API test:

bin/<release or debug>/perftest_java <-pub|-sub(default)> [parameters]

The <architecture> depends on your architecture, such as x64Linux3gcc4.8.2 or i86Win32VS2012.

After the publisher recognizes that the specified number of subscribers (see the -numSubscribers <count> option) are online and the subscriber recognizes that the specified number of publishers (see the -numPublishers <count> option) are online, the test begins.

4.4. Output Example

The following is an example of the expected output from the performance test.

Publisher:

> perftest_cpp -pub -noPrint -domain 27 -latencyCount 100000 -scan 32:64:256:1024:8192:32768:63000 -exec 30 -nic lo0
RTI Perftest 2.3.2 (RTI Connext DDS 5.3.0)

Mode: THROUGHPUT TEST
    (Use "-latencyTest" for Latency Mode)

Perftest Configuration:
    Reliability: Reliable
    Keyed: No
    Publisher ID: 0
    Latency count: 1 latency sample every 100000 samples
    Data Size: 32, 64, 256, 1024, 8192, 32768, 63000
    Batching: 8192 Bytes (Use "-batchSize 0" to disable batching)
    Publication Rate: Unlimited (Not set)
    Execution time: 30 seconds
    Receive using: Listeners
    Domain: 27
    Dynamic Data: No
    Asynchronous Publishing: No
    XML File: perftest_qos_profiles.xml

Transport Configuration:
    Kind: UDPv4 & SHMEM (taken from QoS XML file)
    Use Multicast: False

Waiting to discover 1 subscribers ...
Waiting for subscribers announcement ...
Sending 50 initialization pings ...
Publishing data ...
Length:    32  Latency: Ave    100 us  Std  202.5 us  Min     62 us  Max   5543 us  50%     88 us  90%    107 us  99%    180 us  99.99%   5543 us  99.9999%   5543 us
Length:    64  Latency: Ave     70 us  Std   53.7 us  Min     45 us  Max   1076 us  50%     63 us  90%     84 us  99%    142 us  99.99%   1076 us  99.9999%   1076 us
Length:   256  Latency: Ave     45 us  Std   12.0 us  Min     32 us  Max    106 us  50%     41 us  90%     69 us  99%     78 us  99.99%    106 us  99.9999%    106 us
Length:  1024  Latency: Ave     28 us  Std    4.5 us  Min     25 us  Max     68 us  50%     27 us  90%     31 us  99%     52 us  99.99%     68 us  99.9999%     68 us
Length:  8192  Latency: Ave     33 us  Std   12.6 us  Min     28 us  Max     86 us  50%     29 us  90%     34 us  99%     86 us  99.99%     86 us  99.9999%     86 us
Length: 32768  Latency: Ave     46 us  Std   32.9 us  Min     35 us  Max    172 us  50%     36 us  90%     53 us  99%    172 us  99.99%    172 us  99.9999%    172 us
Length: 63000  Latency: Ave     57 us  Std   25.2 us  Min     45 us  Max    136 us  50%     48 us  90%     55 us  99%    136 us  99.99%    136 us  99.9999%    136 us
Finishing test...
Test ended.

Subscriber

> perftest_cpp -noPrint -domain 27
RTI Perftest 2.3.2 (RTI Connext DDS 5.3.0)

Perftest Configuration:
    Reliability: Reliable
    Keyed: No
    Subscriber ID: 0
    Receive using: Listeners
    Domain: 27
    Dynamic Data: No
    XML File: perftest_qos_profiles.xml

Transport Configuration:
    Kind: UDPv4 & SHMEM (taken from QoS XML file)
    Use Multicast: False

Waiting to discover 1 publishers ...
Waiting for data ...
Length:    32  Packets: 85900000  Packets/s(ave): 2880385  Mbps(ave):   737.4  Lost: 0 (0.00%)
Length:    64  Packets: 66500000  Packets/s(ave): 2232093  Mbps(ave):  1142.8  Lost: 0 (0.00%)
Length:   256  Packets: 37200000  Packets/s(ave): 1248203  Mbps(ave):  2556.3  Lost: 0 (0.00%)
Length:  1024  Packets: 15200000  Packets/s(ave):  506920  Mbps(ave):  4152.7  Lost: 0 (0.00%)
Length:  8192  Packets:  1900000  Packets/s(ave):   60350  Mbps(ave):  3955.2  Lost: 0 (0.00%)
Length: 32768  Packets:  1600000  Packets/s(ave):   52506  Mbps(ave): 13764.4  Lost: 0 (0.00%)
Length: 63000  Packets:  1100000  Packets/s(ave):   35481  Mbps(ave): 17882.6  Lost: 0 (0.00%)
Finishing test...
Test ended.