How to Validate Infrastructure and Network Changes

September 25, 2023

While we are known best for our workload automation and load testing functionality, customers are now expanding the use of Login Enterprise to other areas in the infrastructure. This includes a use case we see more often, from services started on specific servers to validating access to file shares or other data types.

When making significant changes to your environment, whether network infrastructure changes, adding additional security, modifying the users’ workspaces, or even changes in security on the network—which we see a lot of with cloud adoption and Zero Trust initiatives, it can be a daunting task to ensure that all connections and processes have been successfully completed.

Validating changes requires many manual hours spent checking connections, accounts, and even small things like icons and app availability to the end user.

Managing these changes, server and network configurations, and the manual testing procedures presents significant challenges from an administrative perspective. Manually testing every connection, user account, network path, etc., and in EUC, even verifying things like icon names, is time-consuming and error-prone.

Simplify Processes and Reduce Manual Effort

Login Enterprise offers a powerful solution in the form of a simple script that leverages our automation engine and APIs. Recently, our engineers worked with customers to develop this process and make it available to any Login VSI customer.

This simple configuration automates the validation of your network changes, creating a simple pass/fail list of tests to streamline post-change troubleshooting and validate all essential components in their operational environment.

Using a PowerShell script and leveraging the Login Enterprise API, you can run tests sequentially, log each success or failure, and ensure that tests are completed and data is logged before proceeding to the next test.

What You Need to Test Your Environment’s Known Good Configs Automatically

The primary requirement is, of course, a Login Enterprise environment configured with virtual users and launchers that will run the workloads doing the test. If you have this, then you are ready to leverage our base configuration in the script and modify it as needed for your environment.

What Can I Test Using This Model?

If you do it manually from a Windows desktop, you can add it to an automated model. You can accomplish this with something as simple as a network ping, port responsiveness test, or you might want to use a login to validate the functionality of each component and application.

Here are several items that we have seen tested in this fashion:

1. Verify user accounts and group memberships.
2. Test domain controllers’ responsiveness.
3. Validate systems are online and responding and accessible on the proper ports.
4. Verify shares and other data are available to the proper user groups.
5. Verify gateways and proxies are available.
6. Validate network connectivity to remote sites and test latency.
7. Check the workspace for apps, icons, and other customizations IT has assigned users.
8. Validate core application functionality.
9. Verify routing specifics of network connections.
10. Ensure components in the cloud are responding at an acceptable level.
11. Check disk space on the server side overall and disk space used by EUC processes for specific users.

Automate and Streamline Network Changes

When we make changes to our network, it can feel like quite a daunting challenge to go through each connection and make sure everything is working smoothly. Plus, handling shifts in accounts, servers, and tests can also be a bit of an administrative headache.

With Login VSI’s engine and automation, you can automate and streamline the verification of network changes, saving time and reducing the risk of manual errors in your administration tasks. Using this powerful tool ensures that your environmental changes are smooth and hassle-free, allowing you to focus on driving your business forward.

Want to learn more about the well-designed API script and how it can do all the manual work for you? Check out our knowledge-based article here.