Hi all,
I installed the private instance according to the docs - but am having trouble with a test actually completing. All I get is:
Waiting behind 2 other tests...
but it never actually advanced past that. I have changed the .sample files as noted in the docs - and other than that, the only other mod I have done is substitute the ShowSlow beacon URL to a private install I have of that.
I believe I might be getting mixed up on is:
There are several settings files in the settings folder that can be used to configure the site. Make a copy of all of the .sample files (removing the .sample extension) as a template for your configuration settings. Most of the settings can be used as-is with the exception of locations.ini (particularly if you are configuring more than one test location).
Is there something specific I should be changing on here? I’m trying to use this on a Mac (with Firefox) if that makes… any difference at all. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
That usually means the test agent isn’t communicating with the server or the location strings don’t match. Do you also have a windows PC (or VM) running as a test agent? If so, check your web server access log for requests to /work/getwork.php
Hi Patrick,
Thanks for the response. I think I might be getting a little confused with the actual “test machines” that you can run.
My goal here is to just use the ‘www’ not the ‘agent’ for WebPageTest so that someone can just use the server itself. Do I need to have something locally installed for this to work? I am using a Mac - but haven’t had to open up an instance of vmWare Fusion for this.
I looked at my raw access logs - but don’t see anything related to /work/getwork.php
If it helps, I’m attempting to run the ‘www’ on http://yhsites.com Thanks!
The server can’t actually do anything unless there is something to run the actual tests. With WebPagetest, real browsers on real windows machines are used to run the testing and gather the information. The www side just handles all of the user-facing UI but it can’t actually DO any testing itself. Both pieces are needed for a working system.
Hi Patrick,
Ah - makes perfect sense. Okay - just wondering, how do you have all those locations for WebPageTest (the public one). Are there physical computers with all those settings that make it possible?
My ultimate end-goal (and you may be able to clear this up right now for me which would be a huge help) is to determine why certain sites load slow for certain users. Is it their network, their hardware or a combo of both? I’d like to be able to use a service like WebPageTest - it sounds like I’d need to add their “location” into the www, is that correct? Thanks again!
For each different physical location there is a different physical machine installed there (and the partners run the machines). For each version of IE in a given location there are also different physical machines.
If you want to have a private version then you would have to deploy test machines whever you wanted to do testing from (or use EC2 to get some of it). Otherwise you can use the public WebPagetest to do testing from areas where we have machines.
Hi Patrick,
Thanks for the quick response. Okay, so it sounds like we could use a Private Instance and all of WebPagetest’s locations (just as long as we know that some of the data might be passed onto the public site). It looks like… well, you would be the person I should request an API from 
Is there a more formal place to do this - or would that work? Thanks!
Sort of. Usually private instances use private agents but there is support for bridging specific locations to the public WebPagetest (in which case test results will still be private). Those bridged requests are subject to the testing limits of the API keys (usually 100-200 page loads per day).
There is an example of a “remote” location in the locations.ini sample that bridges to one of the public webpagetest locations. Supporting ALL of the locations would be quite a bit of configuring since they have to be done individually but it is possible.
Ok, thanks for clarifying further![hr]
Ah, sorry - so if I needed an API key (believe we will stick with the public WebPageTest.org instanse) to be able to record and store ShowSlow data - could you help me with that please? Thanks.
Pmeenan, I also would like to ask you for an API key if it is possible. It can be temporary or minimized by requests rate - I need it for my standalone setup’s tests. I had the same issue as Yellowhousedesign with 2 other tests in queue, making some work for cancanit. Thanks to you for your work and support!
You need to email me at pmeenan@webpagetest.org for keys.