Performance testing is critical for ensuring that your applications can handle real-world traffic without degrading user experience. However, manually triggering load tests every time you need to validate your system can be inefficient. With the new scheduling feature in Azure Load Testing, you can now automate test runs at a predefined time or cadence, ensuring seamless performance validation without manual intervention.
Why Schedule Load Tests?
Automating your load tests through scheduling enhances performance validation in multiple ways:
- Consistent performance monitoring – Set up tests to run daily, weekly, or monthly, ensuring continuous assessment of your application's stability and scalability.
- Reduced development disruptions – Schedule tests to run during off-peak hours, minimizing interference with active development and live production environments.
Key Features of Scheduled Load Testing
Azure Load Testing’s scheduling functionality offers flexible options to meet different testing needs:
- Customizable scheduling – Set up tests to run once, hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly.
- Cron-based scheduling – Define complex recurrence patterns using cron expressions.
- Controlled test runs – Set an end condition based on a specific date or number of occurrences.
- Failure handling – If three consecutive test runs fail, the schedule is automatically disabled, ensuring you can resolve issues before resuming testing to avoid unnecessary costs.
How to Schedule a Load Test in Azure Load Testing
Setting up a scheduled test is straightforward:
- Navigate to your Load Testing Resource in the Azure portal.
- Select the test you want to schedule.
- Click on 'Add Schedule' in the Schedule pane.
- Configure Scheduling Parameters:
- Start date & time
- Recurrence pattern (hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or cron-based)
- End condition (specific date, number of occurrences, or never-ending)
- Save the Schedule, and the test will run automatically as per the configured recurrence.
Monitoring and Managing Scheduled Tests
- View schedules and the status in the Schedule pane.
- Modify, pause, or resume an existing schedule as needed.
- Track scheduled test runs under the Test Runs grid, where they are labeled as ‘Scheduled’ or filter to see only the scheduled runs.
Get Started Today
Let us know how scheduling load tests enhances your testing strategy, and stay tuned for more exciting updates! You can learn more how to schedule load tests here.
Have questions or feedback? Drop a comment below or share your feedback with us in the Azure Load Testing community!
Updated Feb 06, 2025
Version 2.0
Nikita_Nallamothu
Microsoft
Microsoft
