eBook > The JMeter Playbook: Build, Scale, and Optimize Performance Tests

Appendix: Example Test Plan

This appendix provides a complete, annotated JMeter test plan that ties together every concept from this playbook. The test targets the free Demoblaze online store.

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Scenario

Simulate a user who:

  1. Opens the homepage of the demoblaze.com online store.
  2. Lists products by calling the backend API.
  3. Extracts the product ID from the response using a JSON Extractor.
  4. Opens product details page for the selected product.
  5. Adds the product to the cart via a POST request with dynamic parameters.
  6. Verifies the add-to-cart request returns a successful response.
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Test Plan Tree

Test Plan
└── Thread Group                                  ← Chapter 2: Thread Groups
    │   Threads : ${__P(threads,1)}                 (parameterized via properties)
    │   Ramp-Up : ${__P(ramp-up,1)}
    │   Loops   : ${__P(loops,1)}
    │   Duration: ${__P(duration,60)}
    │
    ├── HTTP Request Defaults                     ← Chapter 2: Samplers
    │     Protocol: https, Server: demoblaze.com
    │     Retrieve All Embedded Resources (6 parallel)
    │
    ├── HTTP Cookie Manager                       ← Chapter 2: Samplers
    │
    ├── HTTP Cache Manager                        ← Chapter 2: Samplers
    │
    ├── CSV Data Set Config (products.csv)        ← Chapter 3: CSV Data Set
    │     Variable: product (read from header row)
    │
    ├── open homepage - GET /                     ← Chapter 2: Samplers
    │
    ├── get products - GET /entries               ← Chapter 2: Samplers
    │   (server: api.demoblaze.com)
    │   └── JSON Extractor → ${productId}         ← Chapter 3: Extractors
    │         JSONPath: $.Items[?(@.title=='${product}')].id
    │
    ├── product details - GET /prod.html?idp_=${productId}  ← Chapter 3: Correlation
    │
    ├── add to cart - POST /addtocart             ← Chapter 2: Samplers
    │   (server: api.demoblaze.com)
    │   Body: {"id":"${__UUID()}","cookie":"user=${__UUID()}",
    │          "prod_id":${productId},"flag":false}
    │   ├── HTTP Header Manager                   ← Chapter 2: Samplers
    │   │     Content-Type: application/json
    │   └── Response Assertion                    ← Chapter 4: Assertions
    │         Response Code Equals 200
    │
    ├── View Results Tree (disabled)              ← Chapter 2: Listeners
    ├── Summary Report (disabled)                 ← Chapter 2: Listeners
    └── Backend Listener (disabled)               ← Chapter 5: Results & Reporting
          InfluxDB: http://localhost:8086/write?db=jmeter
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Sample CSV File (products.csv)

product
Samsung galaxy s6
Nokia lumia 1520
Nexus 6
Samsung galaxy s7

Note: The header row (product) is used by JMeter to automatically create the ${product} variable. Leave the Variable Names field empty and set Ignore first line to False in the CSV Data Set Config.

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The JMX File

Below is the complete .jmx file you can save as example-test-plan.jmx and open in JMeter:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<jmeterTestPlan version="1.2" properties="5.0" jmeter="5.6.3">
  <hashTree>
    <TestPlan guiclass="TestPlanGui" testclass="TestPlan" testname="Test Plan">
      <elementProp name="TestPlan.user_defined_variables" elementType="Arguments"
                   guiclass="ArgumentsPanel" testclass="Arguments"
                   testname="User Defined Variables">
        <collectionProp name="Arguments.arguments"/>
      </elementProp>
      <boolProp name="TestPlan.functional_mode">false</boolProp>
      <boolProp name="TestPlan.serialize_threadgroups">false</boolProp>
    </TestPlan>
    <hashTree>

      <!-- ==================== THREAD GROUP ==================== -->
      <ThreadGroup guiclass="ThreadGroupGui" testclass="ThreadGroup"
                   testname="Thread Group">
        <stringProp name="ThreadGroup.num_threads">${__P(threads,1)}</stringProp>
        <stringProp name="ThreadGroup.ramp_time">${__P(ramp-up,1)}</stringProp>
        <stringProp name="ThreadGroup.duration">${__P(duration,60)}</stringProp>
        <boolProp name="ThreadGroup.same_user_on_next_iteration">true</boolProp>
        <boolProp name="ThreadGroup.scheduler">true</boolProp>
        <stringProp name="ThreadGroup.on_sample_error">continue</stringProp>
        <elementProp name="ThreadGroup.main_controller" elementType="LoopController"
                     guiclass="LoopControlPanel" testclass="LoopController"
                     testname="Loop Controller">
          <stringProp name="LoopController.loops">${__P(loops,1)}</stringProp>
          <boolProp name="LoopController.continue_forever">false</boolProp>
        </elementProp>
      </ThreadGroup>
      <hashTree>

        <!-- HTTP Request Defaults -->
        <ConfigTestElement guiclass="HttpDefaultsGui" testclass="ConfigTestElement"
                           testname="HTTP Request Defaults">
          <boolProp name="HTTPSampler.image_parser">true</boolProp>
          <boolProp name="HTTPSampler.concurrentDwn">true</boolProp>
          <intProp name="HTTPSampler.concurrentPool">6</intProp>
          <stringProp name="HTTPSampler.domain">demoblaze.com</stringProp>
          <stringProp name="HTTPSampler.protocol">https</stringProp>
          <stringProp name="HTTPSampler.path">/</stringProp>
          <elementProp name="HTTPsampler.Arguments" elementType="Arguments"
                       guiclass="HTTPArgumentsPanel" testclass="Arguments"
                       testname="User Defined Variables">
            <collectionProp name="Arguments.arguments"/>
          </elementProp>
          <stringProp name="HTTPSampler.implementation">HttpClient4</stringProp>
        </ConfigTestElement>
        <hashTree/>

        <!-- HTTP Cookie Manager -->
        <CookieManager guiclass="CookiePanel" testclass="CookieManager"
                       testname="HTTP Cookie Manager" enabled="true">
          <collectionProp name="CookieManager.cookies"/>
          <boolProp name="CookieManager.clearEachIteration">false</boolProp>
          <boolProp name="CookieManager.controlledByThreadGroup">false</boolProp>
        </CookieManager>
        <hashTree/>

        <!-- HTTP Cache Manager -->
        <CacheManager guiclass="CacheManagerGui" testclass="CacheManager"
                      testname="HTTP Cache Manager" enabled="true">
          <boolProp name="clearEachIteration">false</boolProp>
          <boolProp name="useExpires">true</boolProp>
          <boolProp name="CacheManager.controlledByThread">false</boolProp>
        </CacheManager>
        <hashTree/>

        <!-- CSV Data Set Config -->
        <CSVDataSet guiclass="TestBeanGUI" testclass="CSVDataSet"
                    testname="CSV Data Set Config" enabled="true">
          <stringProp name="delimiter">,</stringProp>
          <stringProp name="fileEncoding"></stringProp>
          <stringProp name="filename">products.csv</stringProp>
          <boolProp name="ignoreFirstLine">false</boolProp>
          <boolProp name="quotedData">false</boolProp>
          <boolProp name="recycle">true</boolProp>
          <stringProp name="shareMode">shareMode.all</stringProp>
          <boolProp name="stopThread">false</boolProp>
          <stringProp name="variableNames"></stringProp>
        </CSVDataSet>
        <hashTree/>

        <!-- GET / - open homepage -->
        <HTTPSamplerProxy guiclass="HttpTestSampleGui" testclass="HTTPSamplerProxy"
                          testname="open homepage">
          <boolProp name="HTTPSampler.follow_redirects">true</boolProp>
          <stringProp name="HTTPSampler.method">GET</stringProp>
          <boolProp name="HTTPSampler.use_keepalive">true</boolProp>
          <boolProp name="HTTPSampler.postBodyRaw">false</boolProp>
          <elementProp name="HTTPsampler.Arguments" elementType="Arguments"
                       guiclass="HTTPArgumentsPanel" testclass="Arguments"
                       testname="User Defined Variables">
            <collectionProp name="Arguments.arguments"/>
          </elementProp>
        </HTTPSamplerProxy>
        <hashTree/>

        <!-- GET /entries - get products (server: api.demoblaze.com) -->
        <HTTPSamplerProxy guiclass="HttpTestSampleGui" testclass="HTTPSamplerProxy"
                          testname="get products">
          <stringProp name="HTTPSampler.domain">api.demoblaze.com</stringProp>
          <stringProp name="HTTPSampler.path">/entries</stringProp>
          <boolProp name="HTTPSampler.follow_redirects">true</boolProp>
          <stringProp name="HTTPSampler.method">GET</stringProp>
          <boolProp name="HTTPSampler.use_keepalive">true</boolProp>
          <boolProp name="HTTPSampler.postBodyRaw">false</boolProp>
          <elementProp name="HTTPsampler.Arguments" elementType="Arguments"
                       guiclass="HTTPArgumentsPanel" testclass="Arguments"
                       testname="User Defined Variables">
            <collectionProp name="Arguments.arguments"/>
          </elementProp>
        </HTTPSamplerProxy>
        <hashTree>
          <!-- JSON Extractor: productId -->
          <JSONPostProcessor guiclass="JSONPostProcessorGui"
                             testclass="JSONPostProcessor"
                             testname="JSON Extractor" enabled="true">
            <stringProp name="JSONPostProcessor.referenceNames">productId</stringProp>
            <stringProp name="JSONPostProcessor.jsonPathExprs">$.Items[?(@.title=='${product}')].id</stringProp>
            <stringProp name="JSONPostProcessor.match_numbers">1</stringProp>
            <stringProp name="JSONPostProcessor.defaultValues">NOT_FOUND</stringProp>
          </JSONPostProcessor>
          <hashTree/>
        </hashTree>

        <!-- GET /prod.html?idp_={productId} - product details -->
        <HTTPSamplerProxy guiclass="HttpTestSampleGui" testclass="HTTPSamplerProxy"
                          testname="product details">
          <stringProp name="HTTPSampler.path">/prod.html?idp_=${productId}</stringProp>
          <boolProp name="HTTPSampler.follow_redirects">true</boolProp>
          <stringProp name="HTTPSampler.method">GET</stringProp>
          <boolProp name="HTTPSampler.use_keepalive">true</boolProp>
          <boolProp name="HTTPSampler.postBodyRaw">false</boolProp>
          <elementProp name="HTTPsampler.Arguments" elementType="Arguments"
                       guiclass="HTTPArgumentsPanel" testclass="Arguments"
                       testname="User Defined Variables">
            <collectionProp name="Arguments.arguments"/>
          </elementProp>
        </HTTPSamplerProxy>
        <hashTree/>

        <!-- POST /addtocart - add to cart (server: api.demoblaze.com) -->
        <HTTPSamplerProxy guiclass="HttpTestSampleGui" testclass="HTTPSamplerProxy"
                          testname="add to cart">
          <stringProp name="HTTPSampler.domain">api.demoblaze.com</stringProp>
          <stringProp name="HTTPSampler.path">/addtocart</stringProp>
          <boolProp name="HTTPSampler.follow_redirects">true</boolProp>
          <stringProp name="HTTPSampler.method">POST</stringProp>
          <boolProp name="HTTPSampler.use_keepalive">true</boolProp>
          <boolProp name="HTTPSampler.postBodyRaw">true</boolProp>
          <elementProp name="HTTPsampler.Arguments" elementType="Arguments">
            <collectionProp name="Arguments.arguments">
              <elementProp name="" elementType="HTTPArgument">
                <boolProp name="HTTPArgument.always_encode">false</boolProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.value">{&#xd;
  &quot;id&quot;: &quot;${__UUID()}&quot;,&#xd;
  &quot;cookie&quot;: &quot;user=${__UUID()}&quot;,&#xd;
  &quot;prod_id&quot;: ${productId},&#xd;
  &quot;flag&quot;: false&#xd;
}</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.metadata">=</stringProp>
              </elementProp>
            </collectionProp>
          </elementProp>
        </HTTPSamplerProxy>
        <hashTree>
          <!-- HTTP Header Manager (child of POST only) -->
          <HeaderManager guiclass="HeaderPanel" testclass="HeaderManager"
                         testname="HTTP Header Manager" enabled="true">
            <collectionProp name="HeaderManager.headers">
              <elementProp name="" elementType="Header">
                <stringProp name="Header.name">Content-Type</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Header.value">application/json</stringProp>
              </elementProp>
            </collectionProp>
          </HeaderManager>
          <hashTree/>

          <!-- Response Assertion: 200 OK -->
          <ResponseAssertion guiclass="AssertionGui" testclass="ResponseAssertion"
                             testname="Response Assertion" enabled="true">
            <collectionProp name="Asserion.test_strings">
              <stringProp name="49586">200</stringProp>
            </collectionProp>
            <stringProp name="Assertion.custom_message"></stringProp>
            <stringProp name="Assertion.test_field">Assertion.response_code</stringProp>
            <boolProp name="Assertion.assume_success">false</boolProp>
            <intProp name="Assertion.test_type">8</intProp>
          </ResponseAssertion>
          <hashTree/>
        </hashTree>

        <!-- View Results Tree (disabled for load tests) -->
        <ResultCollector guiclass="ViewResultsFullVisualizer"
                         testclass="ResultCollector"
                         testname="View Results Tree" enabled="false">
          <boolProp name="ResultCollector.error_logging">false</boolProp>
          <objProp>
            <name>saveConfig</name>
            <value class="SampleSaveConfiguration">
              <time>true</time>
              <latency>true</latency>
              <timestamp>true</timestamp>
              <success>true</success>
              <label>true</label>
              <code>true</code>
              <message>true</message>
              <threadName>true</threadName>
              <dataType>true</dataType>
              <encoding>false</encoding>
              <assertions>true</assertions>
              <subresults>true</subresults>
              <responseData>false</responseData>
              <samplerData>false</samplerData>
              <xml>false</xml>
              <fieldNames>true</fieldNames>
              <responseHeaders>false</responseHeaders>
              <requestHeaders>false</requestHeaders>
              <responseDataOnError>false</responseDataOnError>
              <saveAssertionResultsFailureMessage>true</saveAssertionResultsFailureMessage>
              <assertionsResultsToSave>0</assertionsResultsToSave>
              <bytes>true</bytes>
              <sentBytes>true</sentBytes>
              <url>true</url>
              <threadCounts>true</threadCounts>
              <idleTime>true</idleTime>
              <connectTime>true</connectTime>
            </value>
          </objProp>
          <stringProp name="filename"></stringProp>
        </ResultCollector>
        <hashTree/>

        <!-- Summary Report (disabled for load tests) -->
        <ResultCollector guiclass="SummaryReport" testclass="ResultCollector"
                         testname="Summary Report" enabled="false">
          <boolProp name="ResultCollector.error_logging">false</boolProp>
          <objProp>
            <name>saveConfig</name>
            <value class="SampleSaveConfiguration">
              <time>true</time>
              <latency>true</latency>
              <timestamp>true</timestamp>
              <success>true</success>
              <label>true</label>
              <code>true</code>
              <message>true</message>
              <threadName>true</threadName>
              <dataType>true</dataType>
              <encoding>false</encoding>
              <assertions>true</assertions>
              <subresults>true</subresults>
              <responseData>false</responseData>
              <samplerData>false</samplerData>
              <xml>false</xml>
              <fieldNames>true</fieldNames>
              <responseHeaders>false</responseHeaders>
              <requestHeaders>false</requestHeaders>
              <responseDataOnError>false</responseDataOnError>
              <saveAssertionResultsFailureMessage>true</saveAssertionResultsFailureMessage>
              <assertionsResultsToSave>0</assertionsResultsToSave>
              <bytes>true</bytes>
              <sentBytes>true</sentBytes>
              <url>true</url>
              <threadCounts>true</threadCounts>
              <idleTime>true</idleTime>
              <connectTime>true</connectTime>
            </value>
          </objProp>
          <stringProp name="filename"></stringProp>
        </ResultCollector>
        <hashTree/>

        <!-- Backend Listener - InfluxDB (disabled by default) -->
        <BackendListener guiclass="BackendListenerGui" testclass="BackendListener"
                         testname="Backend Listener" enabled="false">
          <elementProp name="arguments" elementType="Arguments"
                       guiclass="ArgumentsPanel" testclass="Arguments">
            <collectionProp name="Arguments.arguments">
              <elementProp name="influxdbMetricsSender" elementType="Argument">
                <stringProp name="Argument.name">influxdbMetricsSender</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.value">org.apache.jmeter.visualizers.backend.influxdb.HttpMetricsSender</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.metadata">=</stringProp>
              </elementProp>
              <elementProp name="influxdbUrl" elementType="Argument">
                <stringProp name="Argument.name">influxdbUrl</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.value">http://localhost:8086/write?db=jmeter</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.metadata">=</stringProp>
              </elementProp>
              <elementProp name="application" elementType="Argument">
                <stringProp name="Argument.name">application</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.value">jmeter-essentials</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.metadata">=</stringProp>
              </elementProp>
              <elementProp name="measurement" elementType="Argument">
                <stringProp name="Argument.name">measurement</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.value">jmeter</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.metadata">=</stringProp>
              </elementProp>
              <elementProp name="summaryOnly" elementType="Argument">
                <stringProp name="Argument.name">summaryOnly</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.value">true</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.metadata">=</stringProp>
              </elementProp>
              <elementProp name="samplersRegex" elementType="Argument">
                <stringProp name="Argument.name">samplersRegex</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.value">.*</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.metadata">=</stringProp>
              </elementProp>
              <elementProp name="percentiles" elementType="Argument">
                <stringProp name="Argument.name">percentiles</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.value">90;95;99</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.metadata">=</stringProp>
              </elementProp>
              <elementProp name="testTitle" elementType="Argument">
                <stringProp name="Argument.name">testTitle</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.value">Test name</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.metadata">=</stringProp>
              </elementProp>
              <elementProp name="eventTags" elementType="Argument">
                <stringProp name="Argument.name">eventTags</stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.value"></stringProp>
                <stringProp name="Argument.metadata">=</stringProp>
              </elementProp>
            </collectionProp>
          </elementProp>
          <stringProp name="classname">org.apache.jmeter.visualizers.backend.influxdb.InfluxdbBackendListenerClient</stringProp>
        </BackendListener>
        <hashTree/>

      </hashTree>
    </hashTree>
  </hashTree>
</jmeterTestPlan>
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How to Run This Example

GUI Mode (for debugging)

  1. Save the XML above as example-test-plan.jmx.
  2. Save the CSV data as products.csv in the same directory.
  3. Open JMeter and load example-test-plan.jmx.
  4. Enable View Results Tree and Summary Report listeners (they are disabled by default).
  5. Click ▶ Start and inspect the results.

CLI Mode (for load testing)

jmeter -n \
  -t example-test-plan.jmx \
  -f \
  -l results.jtl \
  -Jthreads=50 \
  -Jramp-up=150 \
  -Jloops=-1 \
  -Jduration=300 \
  -e -o report-dashboard/

Then open report-dashboard/index.html in your browser.

Congratulations! You have completed JMeter Essentials. You now have the knowledge to design, parameterize, validate, and analyze performance tests with Apache JMeter. Happy testing! 🚀

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