Loadrunner Load Generator on windows XP

Question

Client wants to use a stack of windows XP machines as load generators to test scripts I'm developing in Loadrunner 12.01 using web\http & Oracle Web App 11i protocals. HP's PAM for 12.1 doesnt list Windows XP compatibility for any components, I roughly remember XP Professional edition SP3 was supported by the Load Generator bundled in loadrunner 11.52 but not sure

Will the Load Generator bundled with loadrunner 12.01 work on an XP machine ? and are there any gotchas ?

NB: XP is stipulated by the client, The scenario will be on our PC instance and we will be talking over SSL on 443 using MI listener. Its just the LG they want to be XP.

Answer 1

This isn't even something we test, considering XP support status with Microsoft. That said, the 12.01 installer will likely fail due to OS checks.

If you were to use version 11.5x load generators with a later version of scripts and scenarios, we can't guarantee it will work as intended.

Answer 2

Why would you want to use an unsupported operating system in your test bed, which should be solid, stable and beyond question? You are only arming people who do not like your results with aluminum baseball bats with which to bash them and impugn their value, "Look, they are not even running the tests on supported operating system, we can't possibly trust the results of testing like that..."