Canceling Scenarios on ByteBlower Endpoints

Introduction

Sometimes you have a test running and realize that you want to modify some settings and start all over.
Then you want to cancel your active test: 

ByteBlower Endpoints can be canceled remotely since version 2.19.0.

You can now choose if you want the ByteBlower Endpoint to

  • keep contact with its MeetingPoint at regular intervals ("Heartbeat Mode")
  • remain completely silent ("Silent Mode")

Every heartbeat signal is an opportunity to exchange information. This way, a command can be sent to each ByteBlower Endpoint to cancel the running scenario.


Heartbeat vs Silent

Heartbeat Mode

  • In the GUI, you can configure this here, under File>Project Properties>Scenario:

When enabled, you can cancel tests from within your GUI. 

  • In the API, you can configure this by using the ScenarioHeartbeatIntervalSet command on a ByteBlower Endpoint.  It has one argument, representing the interval in nanoseconds.


Silent Mode

For some tests, it is crucial that the configured test traffic is the only network traffic. 

  • In the GUI, you can configure this here, under File>Project Properties>Scenario:

  • In the API this is the default behavior.
Old Versions

In old ByteBlower Endpoints, with a version before 2.19.0, the app stopped heartbeating to the Meeting Point while a test scenario was running. While running a test, all ByteBlower Endpoints went into "Silent Mode".
This behavior was chosen because it often is undesired to have additional management traffic on top of the actual test traffic.

The downside of this is that you have to wait until the end of the test until the Wireless Endpoint becomes reachable again. So, you can not cancel such a test remotely.
If you want to cancel the test, you have to walk to each Wireless Endpoint, and push the "Abort" button.