N8Mail Initialization workload

Use the N8Mail Initialization workload to prepare for the N8Mail workload and the N7Mail workload. This workload creates the mail databases needed to run both workloads.

Procedure

  1. Make sure that you already set up clients and servers for Server.Load.
  2. From the Domino® Administrator client, start Server.Load.
  3. Run the Create NotesBench Mail Person Documents agent to create the desired number of Person documents in the Domino® Directory. When prompted, set these variables:
    Table 1. Variables for the Create NotesBench Mail Person Documents agent

    Variable

    Setting

    Message storage format

    0 (NOTES)

    Mail system

    1 (NOTES)
  4. In the Test Type field, choose Built-In, and then choose N8Mail Initialization Workload from the list.
  5. Click the Script Variables tab, and enter these values:
    Table 2. Script Variables
    Variable Action
    MailServer Enter the canonical name of the mail server -- for example, CN=MailServer1/O=Renovations.
    nb_dbdir Enter a database directory relative to the Notes® data directory. Recommended value is mail\.
    MailTemplate Enter the name of the mail file template.
    NumMailNotesPerUser Number of notes used to populate the mail file when the mail file is created (recommended value is 3000).
    NB_Mail_Save_Message Set to 0, for init, it is not necessary for sent messages to go to the Sent folder.
    TESTNSF_USEMAILDEPOSITTRANS Set to 1, so that sent mail is submitted via Mail deposit transaction.
    NB_MailRealFromField Set to 1 so the message sender is set to a mail user rather than the name corresponding to the Note ID file (When initializing, the mail user sends mail to itself. This changes the name of the From field for each message so that there is a mix of senders).
    MailRecipientBeginNumber The Beginning value of the range of mail users from which to select for recipients.
    MailRecipientEndNumber The Ending value of the range of mail users from which to select for recipients.
    ThreadStagger Set to greater than 0, this is the amount of time each thread should wait before starting. If not set, or set to 0, pause times will not be random.
    USESERVERNAB Set to 1.
    NABENTRIES Set to the total number of initialized users on the server.
    ColorProfile Set to 1 to enable adding a color profile to the mail database. (optional)
    BlockSenderOFF Set to 1 to disable creating a block sender rule. (optional)
  6. Click the Test Parameters tab, and do the following:
    • For Thread Creation Interval, enter the rate, in seconds, at which simulated users are created. The recommended value is 3 to 5 seconds.
    • If you are running the test on multiple clients, increment the value of the Starting Thread No. parameter when you run the test on each client.
  7. In the Build Recipient List using Name and Address Book field, enter the name of the SUT and its Domino® Directory in the format servername/org!!dominodirectory.NSF -- for example, Server1/Renovations!!NAMES.NSF.
  8. Verify that no errors occur while creating mail files on the client and SUT. If a mail file is not created, the test script creates the mail file during the first test iteration, a process that adds overhead on the server back end. As a rule, CPU on the client and SUT should not exceed 75%, and the percentage of disk time on the server's data directory should not be a factor.
  9. Optional: Click the Stop Conditions tab to set a stop condition.
  10. Click Execute.
  11. Optional: Select metrics to monitor.
  12. Optional: In the Server to receive console commands field, enter the name of the SUT.
  13. Click Start Test.
  14. Verify that the correct number of test mail files were created in the data directory. Each mail file is named MAILn.NSF, where n is a number.

Results

When the N8Mail Initialization workload completes successfully, there will be NumMailNotesPerUser number of mail messages, ten invitations, ten mail rules, five read messages, five replies in the inbox, and a folder called NotesBench. The the mail databases are ready to run the N8Mail and N7Mail workloads.

Note: Depending on what is set, mail from a blocked sender will not go through. Please see the command MAILRULEBLOCKSENDER in the Server.Load reference for details.

The size of mail databases has increased to make them more realistic. An average size is 250MB.