Real Browser Monitoring

Overview

Real Browser Monitor (RBM) provides live end-user experience measurement. RBM launches a browser and monitors a web application, mimicing the user's interaction with the site. Applications Manager uses behavioral scripts to describe the path that would be taken by a end-user on the site. These paths are monitored periodically to obtain performance metrics such as the availability and response time. We support playback from different geographical locations.

Why Applications Manager's Real Browser Monitoring?

Applications Manager uses a web browser to collect metrics, taking into consideration aspects such as the network latency content check and availability of web element. This results in greater accuracy than synthetic monitoring which simply emulates a web browser rather than launching an actual browser. Actual rendering of a web page does not occur in the traditional web monitoring. In RBM, we render the webpage, build the DOM and even execute the JavaScript in the web browser. Response time of the webpage includes CSS, images, links loaded from third party websites etc.

Assume you have users logging in to your application from different locations around the world like the UK, US, Germany, Australia, etc. You can monitor their experience from the central Applications Manager Server. You could have the Applications Manager running in a data center in India and have the Real Browser Monitor agents deployed in other geographical locations and have it report Web Application Performance data to the central site.

Browse through the following topics to understand Real Browser Monitoring in Applications Manager:

• Working of Real Browser Monitor
• Real Browser Monitoring using Mozilla Firefox
  • Deployment architecture & System Requirements.
• Real Browser Monitoring using Microsoft Edge
  • Deployment architecture & System Requirements
• Real Browser Monitoring using Google Chrome
  • Deployment architecture & System Requirements
• Adding Monitor using Web Transaction Recorder
• Importing Selenium IDE testcases as Monitor
• Adding Monitor using Browser Extension
• RBM Dashboards
• Monitored Parameters
• FAQ

Working of Real Browser Monitor

EUM agents register to ManageEngine Applications Manager on startup. You need to specify the "Host, Web Client SSL Port and EUM API key” (which is available under Settings → REST API → End User Monitoring) of the Applications Manager the first time the agent is installed and running. The agents are listed automatically.

Real Browser monitor is created in Applications Manager server by recording the web transaction and specifying the agent(s) where the playback should occur. Each EUM agent will periodically check Applications Manager Server if RBM monitor has been configured for it and replay the actions in the browser. Once the playback is complete, EUM agent will update the results of the playback [response time, response code, etc] in Applications Manager.

The availability and performance of the websites are monitored in real time by using the Real Browser monitor. If the health of the URLs is critical, then alarms can be generated. Based on the alarms, the admin can fix the issue.

Real Browser Monitoring using Mozilla Firefox

Deployment architecture & System Requirements

• Components of RBM - Web Transaction Recorder, EUM agent to be installed from where the playback has to be performed and Applications Manager Server.
• EUM agents (separate .exe downloads) have to be installed in the client locations on a dedicated Windows Machine - 256 MB RAM, 1 GB HD, with Mozilla Firefox v111. Firefox is bundled with our EUM Agent so users needn't worry about ensuring that the right version of Firefox is installed on their machine. However, Applications Manager can be installed on Windows or Linux. This works with the Professional Edition and Enterprise Edition (with Managed Server).
• Click here to know the system requirements for Mozilla Firefox version 111. 

Real Browser Monitoring using Microsoft Edge

Deployment architecture & System Requirements

• Components of RBM - Web Transaction Recorder, EUM agent (with Edge Support) to be installed from where the playback has to be performed and Applications Manager Server. The EUM Agent version should be 15.0.0 or higher.
• EUM agents (separate .exe downloads) have to be installed in the client locations on a dedicated Windows Machine which has Microsoft Edge Browser (versions 17 & above) installed in it. This works with the Professional Edition and Enterprise Edition (with Managed Server).
• Along with this Microsoft Edge WebDriver need to installed on the Windows machine where the EUM agent is installed.
• Click here to know the corresponding WebDriver version and the steps to install the same.
• Please note that there are different drivers required for different versions of Microsoft Edge browser. To find the version of Edge browser: Open Edge browser → More options → Settings → Scroll down to find the version.
  
• Once the WebDriver is downloaded, update the Microsoft Edge WebDriver Path in the EUM agent settings page and restart the EUM Agent once for the changes to take effect. Learn more

Real Browser Monitoring using Google Chrome

Deployment architecture & System Requirements

• Components of RBM - Web Transaction Recorder, EUM agent to be installed from where the playback has to be performed and Applications Manager server. The EUM Agent version should be 17.0.0 or higher.
• EUM agents have to be installed in the client locations on a dedicated machine which has Google Chrome (versions 65 & above) installed in it. This works with the Professional Edition and Enterprise Edition (with Managed Server).
• In addition, Chrome WebDriver needs to be installed on the machine where the EUM agent is installed. To know the corresponding WebDriver version and the steps to install the same, click here.
• Please note that there are different drivers required for different versions of Google Chrome browser. To find the version of Chrome browser, Open Google Chrome → Settings → About Chrome → Find Chrome version.
• Once the WebDriver is downloaded, update the Google Chrome WebDriver Path in the EUM agent settings page and restart the EUM Agent once for the changes to take effect. Learn more

Web Transaction Recorder

For Real Browser Monitoring we use the Web Transaction Recorder to record all user online transactions in their exact sequence. The Recorder is used to record the transactions which get stored as webscripts. These transactions will then be replayed at regular intervals of time and notifications will be sent when error is detected.

We support simultaneous playback of transactions in Firefox based EUM Agent. Multiple browsers can open at the same time and playback different transactions in Firefox based EUM Agent. The recorded actions will be replayed in the browser. Once the playback is complete, EUM agent will update the results of the playback [response time, response code, etc] in Applications Manager.

Alternatively, you can use the browser extension of the Web Transaction Recorder to record web transactions. To know more, refer here.

Browse through the following topics to use the Web Transaction Recorder tool:

• Getting Started
  • Hardware/Software Requirements
  • Download and Installation
• Recording a New Transaction

Getting Started

You must download and install the recorder tool to record the sequence of user transactions. Every step of the transaction will be captured and recorded. You also can modify or edit your transactions.

Hardware/Software Requirements

A minimum of at least 45MB of disk space is required for installing the software.

Security/Firewall Requirements: The website to be monitored should be accessible from the EUM agent installed machine.

Download and Installation

Download the new Recorder and start the installation process. The installation wizard takes you through a four-step process after which the Recorder will be started:

1. A welcome screen is displayed, after which you will be asked for confirmation of the license requirements. Click Yes.
2. After confirmation, a Choose Destination Location screen is displayed. The user is allowed to select the drive and directory where he wishes to install the Real Browser Recorder. Click Browse and select the Destination Location. The default location is "C:\Program Files (x86)\ManageEngine\RealBrowserRecorder". Click Next.
3. Choose the language in which to install the recorder. Click Next.
4. Review the settings in the confirmation dialog and click Back if you wish to make changes. If not, click Next. The Recorder will be installed in your machine.
5. After the installation is completed, click Finish. Make sure the "Launch Real Browser Recorder now" option is checked, if you would like to start the tool automatically after the installation is complete.

Recording a New Transaction

After installing, the Real Browser Recorder can be accessed under All Programs in Windows Start Menu. You can record a new transaction following these steps:

1. The user has to login first. Enter the hostname and SSL port.
2. Support for APM Plugin is provided. If you are an APM Plugin user, check the Is APM Plugin checkbox.
3. In the login screen, specify the username and password. Only admin and delegated admin users have the authorization to use the recorder.
4. Record the Sequence.
   • Click on the Record New button to start a new recording.
   • Enter the URL of the application you wish to monitor then press enter to load the corresponding web page.
   • Follow the sequence of steps that you wish to monitor.
5. After recording the sequence, click Preview & Save. A Preview & Save screen will be displayed with a list of transaction steps, their corresponding URLs and the actions performed in each page.
6. You can delete the actions which are not required, if necessary, and apply keyword checks and edit the step name.
7. Once you are done, click next to go to the save monitor page.
8. An optional test playback can be carried out by clicking on the "Perform Test Playback"button:
   • This takes you to the Select Agent page which lists out all the existing agents. The agents that are not compatible with the recorder are grayed out. Agents that are not currently running are shown in red.
   • Select the agent & the browser type where you want the test playback to take place. Click Next.
   • After successful playback, the test playback result page is shown where the result of the keyword checks placed earlier on are also displayed. Click next to go to the save monitor page.
9. In the save monitor page, provide basic details such as the monitor name, polling frequency, association with a monitor group etc. The user should also select the browser type & agent locations from which he wants to monitor the transactions.
10. After providing the necessary details, click Save to create the monitor. Repeat the process to create more monitors.
11. If you wish to add existing scripts, use the Import from Selenium IDE option.
12. Edit the captured URL's
    • You can edit the scripts once the monitor has been created. This can be done by selecting Edit Playback Script from the monitor actions drop down in the monitor details page.

Importing Selenium IDE Test cases for RBM.

The user can import previously recorded HTML test cases from the Selenium IDE and create monitors automatically instead of recording them all over again. Here is how you can import a test case:

1. Click on New Monitor link.
2. Select Real Browser Monitoring under Add EUM Monitor category.
3. In the RBM page, click on the Create Selenium IDE Testcases option to import existing test cases from the Selenium IDE Firefox plugin.
4. In the ensuing form, fill in the display name and polling interval.
5. Click on the Browse button to import a Selenium IDE testcase from your local machine.
6. Select the location agents from the agents displayed where the current testcase has to be replayed periodically.
7. Click the Test button to perform a rudimentary test playback to see if Applications Manager has accepted the script and it is successfully executed. In case of failure, Applications Manager informs you of the reason for failure. Performing a test playback is recommended as it helps detect the errors in the testcase before data collection.
8. Click on the Save button to create a new Real Browser monitor.

RBM Dashboard

The RBM dashboard provides an overview of the status of your webscripts or transactions from multiple locations. If you click on the individual scripts listed, it will take you to a page which shows the following metrics:

This section provides a graphical representation of the total Transaction time of transactions across the different locations where the webscript is running.

This section provides a tabular representation of the current status and response time (in milliseconds) of the webscript from the locations where the script is running. The location showing maximum response time will be highlighted on the page. This indicates you the location from where the transaction is responding slow.

This section provides a good indication of how each individual URL present within a transaction performs from different geographical locations. This section lists all the URLs of the transaction and shows the response time of each URL from multiple locations. The location from which the URL has the maximum response time value will be highlighted. Click on any of the response time values listed to navigate to the 'Monitor Information' page of that particular URL.

• Transaction time of transactions across each location(agent):
• Current status and response time of the transaction across each location:
• Response time of the individual URLs in the transaction:

Monitored Parameters

Go to the Monitors Category View by clicking the Monitors tab. Click on Real Browser Monitoring under the Web Server/Services Table. The RBM bulk configuration view is displayed distributed into three tabs:

• Availability tab, gives the Availability history for the past 24 hours or 30 days.
• Performance tab gives the Health Status and events for the past 24 hours or 30 days.
• List view enables you to perform bulk admin configurations.

Monitor Information

Performance - Last One hour

Web Page Analysis:

Displays the screenshot of a webpage and performance information such as the load time and size of various components on this webpage like images, css, javascript,etc. This information can be used to optimize the website and reduce the page's loading time. The screenshots and metrics are displayed by default. This can be altered in the Edit Monitor page under Monitor Actions menu in the Monitor Details page.

FAQ:

1. How does Real Browser monitor differ from URL Sequence monitor?

 2. The Firefox browser does not launch for EUM agents installed on a Linux server

• Each version of Mozilla Firefox comes with a set of system requirements to ensure the proper functioning of the web browser. For Real Browser Monitoring, we use Mozilla Firefox version 111. The system requirements for Real Browser Monitoring can be found here.
• If the Linux environment meets all the requirements mentioned yet the browser doesn't launch, check if both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the libraries are present. In some 64-bit Linux instances, the 32-bit libraries may not be installed by default.
• To install the 32-bit libraries needed for the proper functioning of Mozilla Firefox version 111, perform the following steps :

i. Activate support for the installation of 32-bit applications in your 64-bit system

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386

ii. Update the APT database

sudo apt-get update

iii. Install the 32-bit libraries required by Mozilla Firefox

sudo apt-get install libdbus-glib-1.2:i386 libxt6:i386 libxcomposite1:i386 libstdc++6:i386 libgtk2.0.0:i386 libasound2:i386 -y --reinstall

• Once the libraries have been installed successfully, the Firefox browser should launch as expected and the RBM monitoring should proceed without any further complications.

3. What are the steps to enable the Playback using Microsoft Edge in an EUM Agent?

• Download the Microsoft Webdriver for the corresponding version of the Edge installed in the Windows server
• Please visit here to download Webdriver for Microsoft Edge versions 17 & below
• To install Microsoft WebDriver for Microsoft Edge versions 17 & above run the following in an elevated command prompt (Administrator mode)
  
  • DISM.exe /Online /Add-Capability /CapabilityName:Microsoft.WebDriver~~~~0.0.1.0

4. What are the steps to enable the Playback using Google Chrome in an EUM Agent?

To enable playback for Google Chrome, download and install the Chrome Webdriver for the corresponding version of the Chrome installed in the server. To download Webdriver for Google Chrome, click here.