OpenSearch Benchmark includes a set of [workloads](https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-benchmark-workloads) that you can use to benchmark data from your cluster. Additionally, if you want to create a workload that is tailored to your own data, you can create a custom workload using one of the following options:
- An OpenSearch cluster with an index that contains 1000 or more documents. If your cluster's index does not contain at least 1000 documents, the workload can still run tests, however, you cannot run workloads using `--test-mode`.
- You must have the correct permissions to access your OpenSearch cluster. For more information about cluster permissions, see [Permissions]({{site.url}}{{site.baseurl}}/security/access-control/permissions/).
The following example response creates a workload named `movies` from a cluster with an index named `movies-info`. The `movies-info` index contains over 2,000 documents.
As part of workload creation, OpenSearch Benchmark generates the following files. You can access them in the directory specified by the `--output-path` option.
-`workload.json`: Contains general workload specifications.
-`<index>.json`: Contains mappings and settings for the extracted indexes.
-`<index>-documents.json`: Contains the sources of every document from the extracted indexes. Any sources suffixed with `-1k` encompass only a fraction of the document corpus of the workload and are only used when running the workload in test mode.
By default, OpenSearch Benchmark does not contain a reference to generate queries. Because you have the best understanding of your data, we recommend adding a query to `workload.json` that matches your index's specifications. Use the following `match_all` query as an example of a query added to your workload:
### Creating a workload without an existing cluster
If you want to create a custom workload but do not have an existing OpenSearch cluster with indexed data, you can create the workload by building the workload source files directly. All you need is data that can be exported into a JSON format.
To build a workload with source files, create a directory for your workload and perform the following steps:
1. Build a `<index>-documents.json` file that contains rows of documents that comprise the document corpora of the workload and houses all data to be ingested and queried into the cluster. The following example shows the first few rows of a `movies-documents.json` file that contains rows of documents about famous movies:
{"title": "Back to the Future", "director": "Robert Zemeckis", "revenue": "$212,259,762 USD", "rating": "8.5 out of 10", "image_url": "https://imdb.com/images/32"}
{"title": "Avengers: Endgame", "director": "Anthony and Joe Russo", "revenue": "$2,800,000,000 USD", "rating": "8.4 out of 10", "image_url": "https://imdb.com/images/2"}
{"title": "The Grand Budapest Hotel", "director": "Wes Anderson", "revenue": "$173,000,000 USD", "rating": "8.1 out of 10", "image_url": "https://imdb.com/images/65"}
{"title": "The Godfather: Part II", "director": "Francis Ford Coppola", "revenue": "$48,000,000 USD", "rating": "9 out of 10", "image_url": "https://imdb.com/images/7"}
2. In the same directory, build a `index.json` file. The workload uses this file as a reference for data mappings and index settings for the documents contained in `<index>-documents.json`. The following example creates mappings and settings specific to the `movie-documents.json` data from the previous step:
3. Next, build a `workload.json` file that provides a high-level overview of your workload and determines how your workload runs benchmark tests. The `workload.json` file contains the following sections:
-`indices`: Defines the name of the index to be created in your OpenSearch cluster using the mappings from the workload's `index.json` file created in the previous step.
-`corpora`: Defines the corpora and the source file, including the:
-`document-count`: The number of documents in `<index>-documents.json`. To get an accurate number of documents, run `wc -l <index>-documents.json`.
-`uncompressed-bytes`: The number of bytes inside the index. To get an accurate number of bytes, run `stat -f %z <index>-documents.json` on macOS or `stat -c %s <index>-documents.json` on GNU/Linux. Alternatively, run `ls -lrt | grep <index>-documents.json`.
The following example `workload.json` file provides the entry point for the `movies` workload. The `indices` section creates an index called `movies`. The corpora section refers to the source file created in step one, `movie-documents.json`, and provides the document count and the amount of uncompressed bytes. Lastly, the schedule section defines a few operations the workload performs when invoked, including:
4. For all the workload files created, verify that the workload is functional by running a test. To verify the workload, run the following command, replacing `--workload-path` with a path to your workload directory:
Use the `opensearch-benchmark execute-test` command to invoke your new workload and run a benchmark test against your OpenSearch cluster, as shown in the following example. Replace `--workload-path` with the path to your custom workload, `--target-host` with the `host:port` pairs for your cluster, and `--client-options` with any authorization options required to access the cluster.
Results from the test appear in the directory set by `--output-path` option in `workloads.json`.
## Advanced options
You can enhance your custom workload's functionality with the following advanced options.
### Test mode
If you want run the test in test mode to make sure your workload operates as intended, add the `--test-mode` option to the `execute-test` command. Test mode ingests only the first 1000 documents from each index provided and runs query operations against them.
To use test mode, create a `<index>-documents-1k.json` file that contains the first 1000 documents from `<index>-documents.json` using the following command:
```
head -n 1000 <index>-documents.json > <index>-documents-1k.json
```
Then, run `opensearch-benchmark execute-test` with the option `--test-mode`. Test mode runs a quick version of the workload test.
After using your custom workload several times, you might want to use the same workload but perform the workload's operations in a different order. Instead of creating a new workload or reorganizing the procedures directly, you can provide test procedures to vary workload operations.
To add variance to your workload operations, go to your `workload.json` file and replace the `schedule` section with a `test_procedures` array, as shown in the following example. Each item in the array contains the following:
-`default`: When set to `true`, OpenSearch Benchmark defaults to the test procedure specified as `default` in the workload if no other test procedures are specified.
-`schedule`: All the operations the test procedure will run.
If you want to make your `workload.json` file more readable, you can separate your operations and test procedures into different directories and reference the path to each in `workload.json`. To separate operations and procedures, perform the following steps:
1. Add all test procedures to a single file. You can give the file any name. Because the `movies` workload in the preceding contains and index task and queries, this step names the test procedures file `index-and-query.json`.
2. Add all operations to a file named `operations.json`.
3. Reference the new files in `workloads.json` by adding the following syntax, replacing `parts` with the relative path to each file, as shown in the following example:
- For more information about configuring OpenSearch Benchmark, see [Configuring OpenSearch Benchmark]({{site.url}}{{site.baseurl}}/benchmark/configuring-benchmark/).
- To show a list of prepackaged workloads for OpenSearch Benchmark, see the [opensearch-benchmark-workloads](https://github.com/opensearch-project/opensearch-benchmark-workloads) repository.
