Install the Controller

With the NeoLoad Controller you can perform the following actions:

  • Design scenarios using the GUI.

  • Manage the Load Generators during the test.

  • Collect test data.

  • Analyze the test results.

You can install the Controller on Windows, on OS X, on Linux, and on an Unsupported Unix platform.

The Controller has a Load Generator and a Monitoring Agent built in. By default, all communication between them is secured. To learn more about the security measures and how to change them, see how to customize your connection security.

Installing the Controller requires the administration rights.

When installing a Controller, you are prompted to decide if you want to also install Terminal Services for SAPGUI. You can also choose to install the WAN Emulation driver.

From NeoLoad 9.1, Services are installed without administration rights. To install services with administration rights, use the account Local System.

To install the Controller with the GUI installer, run neoload_2026.1_windows_<bitness>.exe and select the Controller installation option.

To install the Controller in console mode, run the following command:

start /wait neoload_2026.1_windows_<bitness>.exe -c

To install the Controller in silent mode, follow these steps:

  1. Install the Controller using the GUI installer on a reference machine first. This generates a response.varfile in the .install4j directory inside the installation folder.

  2. Copy the response.varfile from the .install4j directory to the machine where you want to run the silent install.

  3. Run the following command:

    neoload_2026.1_windows_<bitness>.exe -q -c -dir <installdir> -varfile response.varfile

The "windivert32.sys" (or 64) WAN emulation driver can be detected as malware on Windows depending on the antivirus configuration. It is not mandatory if you don't want to use WAN emulation. If you want to use WAN emulation, add "windivert64.sys" or "windivert32.sys" to your antivirus exceptions, depending on your system (32 or 64 bits).

To install the Controller with the GUI installer, follow these steps:

  1. Open neoload2026.1_osx.dmg.

  2. Run NeoLoad Installer.app.

  3. Select the Controller option.

To install the Controller with the GUI, follow these steps:

  1. Open the terminal and type the command:

    sudo sh neoload2026.1_linux_<bitness>.sh

  2. Select the Controller installation option.

Before installing and running NeoLoad on a headless Linux, install the following libraries using your package manager (RPM, DPKG, APT, YUM):

  • for a 32bit installer: "fontconfig" or "fontconfig:386" or "fontconfig.i686"

  • for a 64bit installer: "fontconfig" or "fontconfig.x86_64"

  • "urw-fonts" or "fonts-urw-base35"

For Debian 64bits: "sudo apt-get install fontconfig fonts-urw-base35"

For RedHat 64bits: "yum install fontconfig.x86_64 urw-fonts"

To install the Controller in console mode, follow these steps:

  1. Open the terminal and type the command: sudo sh neoload2026.1_linux_<bitness>.sh -c

  2. Select the Controller installation option.

To install the Controller in silent mode, follow these steps:

  1. Install the Controller using the GUI installer on a reference machine first. This generates a response.varfile in the .install4j directory inside the installation folder.

  2. Copy the response.varfile from the .install4j directory to the machine where you want to run the silent install.

  3. Open the terminal and run the following command:

    sudo sh neoload_2026.1_linux_<bitness>.sh -q -c -dir <installdir> -varfile response.varfile

If you intend to use WAN Emulation in your tests, you need to be part of the sudo group. Also, the WAN Emulation driver must be installed manually, as described here.

The root account is required to install the Controller.

To install the Controller on an unsupported Unix platform, follow these steps:

  1. Download the JVM BellSoft development kit for the required platform at least as recent as update 21.

  2. Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable that points to the JRE of the Java SE Development Kit (JDK) previously downloaded (<jdkinstalldir>/jre).

  3. Install NeoLoad either using the GUI or the command line interface.

  4. Copy the JRE for the Java SE Development Kit (JDK) previously downloaded (<jdkinstalldir>/jre) into the NeoLoad installation directory.