K6

warning

Features described in this document are being deprecated as part of the transition to Test Workflows - Read More.

Testkube's k6 executor provides a convenient way of running k6 tests.

• Default command for this executor: k6
• Default arguments for this executor command: <k6Command> <envVars> <runPath>

Parameters in <> are calculated at test execution:

• <k6Command> - cloud or run depending on the test type
• <envVars> - list of environment variables
• <runPath> - path to the test files

See more at "Redefining the Prebuilt Executor Command and Arguments" on the Creating Test page.

🎓What is k6?

• k6 is a free, developer-centric, and extensible open-source load testing tool that makes performance testing easy and productive for engineering teams.

What can I do with k6?

• With k6, you can test the reliability and performance of your systems and catch performance regressions and problems earlier. K6 will help you to build resilient and performant applications that scale.

K6 is developed by Grafana Labs and the Open-Source community.

Check out our blog post to follow tutorial steps to harness the power of k6 load testing in Kubernetes with Testkube's CLI and API.

Example k6 test

In this example we will use the following k6 test: https://github.com/kubeshop/testkube/blob/main/test/k6/executor-tests/k6-smoke-test-without-envs.js

import http from "k6/http";

export default function () {
  http.get("https://testkube.kubeshop.io/");
}

Test Source

K6 tests may vary significantly. The test may be just a single file, but may also consist of multiple files (modules, dependencies, or test data files). That's why all of the available Test Sources may be used with K6:

• Git file
• Git directory
• File
• String

Creating and Running a Test

Dashboard

If you prefer to use the Dashboard, just go to Tests, and click Add a new test button. Then you need to fill in the test Name, choose the test Type (k6 script), and then choose Test Source.

File

If the source is File, the test file is uploaded directly.

Git File

If the source is a Git file, you need to fill in repository details - Git repository URI (in this case https://github.com/kubeshop/testkube.git), branch (main), and the path to k6 script in your repository (test/k6/executor-tests/k6-smoke-test-without-envs.js). In this example, the repository is public, but in the case of private ones you would need to additionally fill in Git credentials.

String

If the source is a String, the test script is added directly.

CLI

If you prefer using the CLI, you can create the test with testkube create test.

You need to set:

• --name (for example, k6-test)
• --type (in this case k6/script)

Then choose the Test Content type based on Test Source you want to use:

File

In the case of File test source:

• --test-content-type (file-uri)
• --file (path to your k6 script - in this case test/k6/executor-tests/k6-smoke-test-without-envs.js)

testkube create test --name k6-test --type k6/script --test-content-type file-uri --file test/k6/executor-tests/k6-smoke-test-without-envs.js

Expected output:

Test created testkube / k6-test 🥇

Git file

• --test-content-type (git-file, so specific file will be checked out from the Git repository)
• --git-uri - repository URI (in case of this example, https://github.com/kubeshop/testkube.git)
• --git-branch
• --git-path - path to the k6 script in the repository (in this case test/k6/executor-tests/k6-smoke-test-without-envs.js)

testkube create test --name k6-test --type k6/script --test-content-type git-file --git-uri https://github.com/kubeshop/testkube.git --git-branch main --git-path test/k6/executor-tests/k6-smoke-test-without-envs.js

Expected output:

Test created testkube / k6-test 🥇

Git Directory

• --test-content-type (git-directory, so the whole directory will be checked out from the Git repository)
• --git-uri - repository URI (in case of this example, https://github.com/kubeshop/testkube.git)
• --git-branch
• --git-path (path to the directory that should be checked out)
• --executor-args (whole directory will be checked out - specific test file must be set as k6 argument - in this example test/k6/executor-tests/k6-smoke-test-without-envs.js)

testkube create test --name k6-test --type k6/script --test-content-type git-dir --git-uri https://github.com/kubeshop/testkube.git --git-branch main --git-path test/k6/executor-tests --executor-args test/k6/executor-tests/k6-smoke-test-without-envs.js

Expected output:

Test created testkube / k6-test 🥇

Using Additional K6 Arguments in Your Tests

Additional arguments can be passed to the k6 binary both on test creation (--executor-args), and during test execution (--args).

testkube run test -k6-test --args '--vus 100 --no-connection-reuse'

Custom Resource

Git File

apiVersion: tests.testkube.io/v3
kind: Test
metadata:
  name: k6-test
  namespace: testkube
spec:
  type: k6/script
  content:
    type: git-file
    repository:
      type: git
      uri: https://github.com/kubeshop/testkube.git
      branch: main
      path: test/k6/executor-tests/k6-smoke-test-without-envs.js

Git Directory

Check out the entire Git directory (in the following example test/k6/executor-tests), and run a specific test file (test/k6/executor-tests/k6-smoke-test-without-envs.js):

apiVersion: tests.testkube.io/v3
kind: Test
metadata:
  name: k6-test
  namespace: testkube
spec:
  type: k6/script
  content:
    type: git-dir
    repository:
      type: git
      uri: https://github.com/kubeshop/testkube.git
      branch: main
      path: test/k6/executor-tests
  executionRequest:
    args:
      - test/k6/executor-tests/k6-smoke-test-without-envs.js

String

apiVersion: tests.testkube.io/v3
kind: Test
metadata:
  name: k6-test
  namespace: testkube
spec:
  type: k6/script
  content:
    type: string
    data: "import http from 'k6/http';\n\nexport default function () {\n  http.get('https://testkube.kubeshop.io/');\n}"

K6 Test Results

A k6 test will be successful in Testkube when all checks and thresholds are successful. In the case of an error, the test will have failed status, even if there is no failure in the summary report in the test logs. For details check this k6 issue.