HTTP/S Remote Proxy Recorder

User Guide | HTTP/S Remote Proxy Recorder

By using an HTTP/S Proxy Recorder, the HTTP/S traffic from Web browsers and technical Web clients can be recorded and easily converted into a HTTP Test Wizard session.

The HTTP Test Wizard session can then be debugged and post-processed. Finally, an executable test program can be generated from the recorded session.

Note: Most users are using the Desktop Companion to record HTTP/S sessions. Alternatively, you can also use the Browser Recorder extension, where you can configure the remote proxy and record HTTP/S sessions. This extension can also use along with the Desktop Companion where the Configure proxy settings, Start Recording, Insert Page Breaks and Stop Recordings can be done using the Browser extension.

Functional Overview: Remote Proxy Recorder

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An HTTP/S Remote Proxy Recorder has two service ports:

A Control Port that is addressed by the portal server.
A Proxy Port that records the data traffic from a Web browser or from a technical Web client.

All data traffic that passes through the proxy port is first decrypted by the Proxy Recorder and then encrypted again before it is forwarded to the target Web server(s).

In order to record a Web surfing session by a Web browser you have to start two different Web browser products on your local machine. For example:

A Chrome browser to operate the portal server (Web Browser 1), and
A Firefox browser to record the Web surfing session (Web Browser 2)

We recommend to use always Firefox as Web Browser 2.

To be able to record a Web surfing session, you have to reconfigure Web Browser 2:

Import the Proxy Server CA Root Certificate into the Web Browser 2.
Configure the Network Settings of Web Browser 2 to use the Proxy Server.

Additional note: Before you start recording a Web surfing session in Web Browser 2, you must always clear the browser cache.

Once the recording is completed you should undo the configuration changes in Web Browser 2 (restore the original network settings and delete the Proxy Server CA Root Certificate).

Registering a Proxy Recorder at the Portal

After you have started a HTTP/S Proxy Recorder as a cloud instance or installed it on one of your systems, you have to register it at the Portal Server.

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You can set any user name and password for Proxy Authentication. The Control API Authentication Token was defined/set by the person who started or installed the Proxy Recorder.

Once you have registered the Proxy Recorder you can try to ping it on the application level:

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Then try to connect to the Control Port of the Proxy Recorder. If this works, the Proxy Recorder is now ready for use.

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Configuring Web Browser 2 for Recording

Import the Proxy Server CA Root Certificate

Click at the certificate icon and store the certificate at any location.

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Then open the Web browser settings and import the certificate.

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Since there is a small bug in some versions of Firefox, you have to close and reopen the Certificate Manager to view the imported certificate.

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Configure the Network Settings

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Recording a Web Surfing Session

Navigate with Web Browser 1 to the Proxy Recorder control menu.

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Then configure the “Hosts Recording Filter” and click on the “Start Recording” icon.

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In Web Browser 2, first clear the browser cache and then enter the URL where you want the recording to start.

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In Web Browser 1 you can now see the recording of the first page. Before navigating to the next page in Web Browser 2, first insert a “Page Break” in Web Browser 1 with a brief description of the next page.

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Then navigate to the next page in Web Browser 2.

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In Web Browser 1 you can now see the recording of the next page.

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Then continue as before. Insert a Page Break in Web Browser 1, navigate to a next page in Web Browser 2. and so on …

After you have done the recording click on the “Stop Recording” icon. Then convert the recording into an HTTP Test Wizard session.

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Converting the Recorded Session

Here you can select different options. The HTTP Status Code Filter also supports * as a wildcard. An exclamation mark in the font of a value means “do not / exclude”.

The option Enable Parallel Execution of HTTP Requests should be enabled if you have recorded a session with a Web browser (as described above), but should be disabled if the recording was performed by a technical Web client.

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Once you have clicked on the Convert button, the recorded session is converted and directly loaded into the HTTP Test Wizard.

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After that debug the converted session in the HTTP Test Wizard and then save the HTTP Test Wizard session. Finally generate and execute the test.