One Checkbox to Cloud: Migrating from Tosca DEX Agents to E2G

If you read my recent article on the Elastic Execution Grid (E2G), you’ll know I’ve been exploring some of the newer additions to the Tosca ecosystem. It’s been an interesting learning curve and raised a few thoughts about how we approach execution infrastructure.

That said, I realize many teams are still working smoothly with their existing DEX testing setups, and for good reason. If your workflows are stable and reliable, it can be hard to justify changing what already works. The effort to switch can feel like more hassle than it’s worth.

Still, I’ve found that transitioning to E2G is surprisingly straightforward. And depending on your setup, the potential benefits, like improved scalability and simpler maintenance, might make it a worthwhile shift to consider.

In this article, I’ll revisit Elastic Execution Grid, this time focusing on what the migration from DEX to E2G actually looks like in practice, and some of the reasons teams are choosing to make the move.

Should I Switch to E2G?

One of the main reasons I explored the switch to E2G was flexibility. Managing your own testing infrastructure, whether it’s a local setup or cloud VMs, can be time-consuming and rigid. E2G introduces more options when it comes to how and where your tests run.

It supports three agent types:

• Personal Agents: Local agents ideal for quick, ad hoc runs.
• Team Agents: Self-managed VMs, either on-prem or in the cloud.
• Cloud Agents: Fully managed, ephemeral instances with no long-term footprint.

You can choose the most appropriate agent for each test run, which offers a level of adaptability not always possible with DEX.

Another factor is simplicity. In many workflows, E2G removes the need for scripting, custom XML, or manual network configurations. You just select the agent type, configure parallel or sequential execution, and add test characteristics. And for use cases that still require specific hardware or middleware, the option to use team agents remains.

Cost efficiency is also worth noting. If you shift to cloud-based agents, there’s potential to cut down on infrastructure overhead, retiring underutilized machines, scaling back reserved VMs, or minimizing the maintenance burden of test-dedicated hardware.

Scalability rounds out the list. With cloud agents, E2G handles auto-scaling on demand, adding capacity as needed and tearing it down when idle.

When Staying on DEX Might Make Sense

Now let’s look at the other side. Here are some reasons you may not want to switch.

• You have strict requirements for on-prem or air-gapped environments. You can’t run on the cloud if you can’t get to the internet!
• You have highly predictable, always-on workloads. In some of these cases, a dedicated DEX VM might be more cost-effective and convenient. It’s worth evaluating to see.
• As I’ll mention later, there is a cold-start latency with the first run on E2G. If you have ultra-low-latency needs, you may not be able to handle the start time (~60s or less). If every second truly counts and there’s no workaround, a DEX solution is probably better.

How Can I Move from DEX to E2G?

Now that you know why (or why not) you should make the move, let’s get into how to move from DEX to E2G.

First, we all know that infrastructure changes can present risks. It takes many hours—and headaches—to make major changes. But in most cases, it actually takes minimal effort to change from DEX to E2G. Your core tests don’t need to change. While there will be some effort configuring agents (especially if you have a large number), the actual switching is easy. 

Team Agents

Your first option is to start with E2G Team Agents. Maybe your organization (or you) just isn’t comfortable with cloud yet. Maybe you have lingering requirements to continue using your boxes. With Team Agents, you still manage your own infrastructure, but E2G manages the Team Agents. So you can retire your old distribution server, but still keep the infrastructure. It’s a baby step to Cloud Agents.

This move is straightforward.

1. Spin down the DEX server. It’s probably safest to keep the machine provisioned, though, until you’re comfortable with the switch.

2. Create your E2G Team Agents. 

• Download and install the Tosca Cloud launcher 
• Follow the three-step wizard to name the agents, assign them to pool, and define their characteristics.

3. Execute your playlist! E2G will distribute the tests to available agents and report back with the results. 

Cloud Agents

You can also jump straight into Cloud Agents and run your tests on the cloud. No more managing and configuring local hardware. It’s still simple to get started—basically the difference is just a checkbox and some options.

1. Open the Playlist Details, find the Agent Characteristics tab, and check the “Cloud-agent” box.

2. Choose your options for run order and recording. If your tests can run in parallel, you could see significant time savings by choosing that option.

3. That’s it! Now execute your tests. 

Regardless of whether you choose Cloud, Person, or Team Agents, the results and logs are shown in the E2G dashboard.

Again, keep in mind that even if you’re using Team Agents, if you ever need specific hardware or configurations, you can always drop back to Team Agents. 

Edge Cases

The above clear path is pretty easy. But let’s look at some potential problems I’ve run across that you should watch out for:

• Mismatched characteristics — Tag mismatches can cause problems. If you mistype or forget to update a tag, E2G won’t find a matching agent, and your runs might get stuck on “Pending.” 
• Network/data access — Since Cloud Agents live on Tricentis-managed resources, if your app sits behind a VPN, you’ll need to configure appropriately for access.
• Cold starts — The first run of a fresh flow can take a bit of time (~60s or less) while the cloud VM spins up. 
• Custom plugins — If you use custom plugins, you may need extra packaging or installation scripts.

Once you’ve accounted for these edge cases, you should be good to go.

Conclusion

Overall, migrating to the Elastic Execution Grid is a relatively straightforward process. Compared to DEX Agents, E2G offers a simpler and more flexible approach to managing test execution. For teams looking to reduce overhead and increase scalability, it’s a model worth considering. With E2G, much of the manual infrastructure setup is abstracted away, often, running a test is as simple as selecting a checkbox. 

For more info, check out this detailed getting started guide.

Have a really great day!