How to install Jmeter in easy steps

Operating system Support for JMeter

JMeter is a pure Java application and should run correctly on any system that has a compatible Java implementation.
Here is the list of operating system compatible with JMeter

Operating system
Java Virtual Machine
Architecture
Free BSD 9.0
Open JDK 6
amd64
Linux 2.4, 2.6, 3.1
Sun JDK 5, 6, 7 and Open JDK 6
i386, amd64
Mac OS
JDK6
Window XP
Sun JDK6, Sun JDK 7
32/64 bits
Window 7
Sun JDK 5, 6, 7.
32 bits
In this tutorial, we run JMeter on Window operating system

Steps to Install JMeter

Step 1) Install Java

Because JMeter is pure Java desktop application, it requires a fully compliant JVM 6 or higher. You can download and install the latest version of Java SE Development Kit.
After installation is finished, you can use the following procedure to check whether Java JDK is installed successfully in your system
  • In Window/Linux, go to Terminal
  • Enter command java -version
If Java runtime environment is installed successfully, you will see the output as figure below
If nothing displays, please re-install Java SE runtime environment

Step 2) Download Jmeter

As of this writing, the latest version of JMeter is Apache JMeter 2.9.You can download it here
Choose the Binaries file (either zip or tgz) to download as shown in figure below

Step 3) Installation

Installation of JMeter is extremely easy and simple. You simply unzip the zip/tar file into the directory where you want JMeter to be installed. There is no tedious installation screen to deal with! Simple unzip and you are done!
Once the unzipping is done installation directory structure should look like as figure below
Given below is the description of the JMeter directories and its importance JMeter directory contains many files and directory
  • /bin: Contains JMeter script file for starting JMeter
  • /docs: JMeter documentation files
  • /extras: ant related extra files
  • /lib/: Contains the required Java library for JMeter
  • /lib/ext: contains the core jar files for JMeter and the protocols
  • /lib/junit: JUnit library used for JMeter
  • /printable_docs:

Step 4) Launch JMeter

You can start JMeter in 3 modes
  • GUI Mode
  • Server Mode
  • Command Line Mode

Start JMeter in GUI Mode

If you are using Window, just run the file /bin/jmeter.bat to start JMeter in GUI mode as shown below
 
Following figure annotates the various components in the JMeter GUI
 

Start JMeter in Server Mode

Server mode is used for distributed testing. This testing works as client-server model. In this model, JMeter runs on server computer in server mode. On client computer, JMeter runs in GUI mode.
To start the server mode, you run the bat file bin\jmeter-server.bat as below figure

Start JMeter in command line mode

JMeter in GUI mode consumes much computer memory. For saving resource, you may choose to run JMeter without the GUI. To do so, use the following command options
This is a command line example
$jmeter -n -t testPlan.jmx - l log.jtl -H 127.0.0.1 -P 8000

Additional Packages

Based on your requirement, you will need one or more optional packages listed below.
  • Java Compiler
         Java Compiler allows developers to build JMeter source code and other JMeter plugins
  • SAX XML parser
         SAX is the Simple API for XML, originally a Java-only API. You can use SAX XML parser as an alternative to XML parser in JMeter
  • Email Support
         JMeter has extensive Email capabilities. It can send email based on test results and has a POP3(S)/IMAP(S) sampler. It also has an SMTP sampler.
  • JDBC driver
          If you want to test database server, you have to install JDBC driver

Use JMeter in Linux

  • Using JMeter in Linux is the same as in Window; you simply run the following shell script.
  • Run the script file jmeter (This file has no extension)- run JMeter (in GUI mode by default).
  • Run the script file jmeter-server - start JMeter in server mode (calls JMeter script with appropriate parameters)
  • jmeter.sh - very basic JMeter script with no JVM options specified.
  • mirror-server.sh - runs the JMeter Mirror Server in non-GUI mode
  • shutdown.sh - Run the Shutdown client to stop a non-GUI instance gracefully
  • stoptest.sh - Run the Shutdown client to stop a non-GUI instance abruptly

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