Synthetics Test Settings

The Test Control Center (TCC) in Synthetics is used both to view test results, which is covered in Test Control Center, and to configure synthetic tests, which is covered in the following topics:

• About Test Settings
• Add Test Page
• Test Settings Page
• Test Settings Tabs
• Manage Synthetics Tests

Notes:
- For general information about the Test Control Center, see Test Control Center.
- For information about the types of tests that you manage in the Test Control Center, see Synthetics Test Types.
- For information about how test status (Healthy, Warning, Critical) is derived from test results, see Synthetics Test Status.
- For information about the consumption of test credits and how it is calculated, see Synthetics Test Credits.

In Kentik Synthetics, a test is a collection of subtests that generally involve pings and traceroutes from a set of agents (global or private) toward a target. The type of a test is typically determined by the nature of its target, with each type falling into one of the categories described in Synthetics Test Types.

The configuration settings for a given test type are the same whether you are creating or editing a test, but the page for editing existing tests includes additional Test Management Controls.

Test settings are accessed in the following contexts:

• Create a test: To configure settings for a new test:
  - On the Test Control Center page, click the Add Test button at the upper right to go to the Add Test Page.
  - Choose the type of test you'd like to add (see Add a Test).
• Copy a test: To create a duplicate of an existing test and modify its settings:
  - In the Tests List on the Test Control Center page, click the Copy icon in the row of the test you’d like to duplicate, which opens a Test Settings Page for the duplicate test (see Copy a Test).
• Edit a test: To modify the settings of an existing test:
  - In the Tests List on the Test Control Center page, click the Edit icon in the row of the test you’d like to modify; or
  - On the Tests Details Page of the test you’d like to modify, click the Edit Test button on the SubNav (see Edit a Test).

Note: If your organization's test credit balance (see About Test Credits) is below zero, a notification will appear to the right of the title on the main Test Control Center Page as well as on any Add Test Page or Test Settings Page. To add more credits, click the link in the notification (see Adding Test Credits).

The Add Test page enables you to create a new test by choosing from a list of test types that are categorized as described in Synthetics Test Types. The list is organized into two columns:

• Category: For each category, the left column gives the name of the category, a brief description, and a link that pops open a drawer from the right of the page that gives an explanation of how the tests in this category work.
• Test type: Within each category the right column includes a set of tiles, one for each test type. The tiles include the name of the test, and a brief description. Click a tile to go to the Test Settings page for a new test of that type.

At the top of the page, you’ll see four tabs just below the title:

• All Tests: This tab (default) lists all of the test types for which you can create for your organization (see Synthetics Test Types).
• Routing: This tab lists all test types available in the BGP category (see Routing Tests).
• Network: This tab lists all test types available in the Network category (see Network Tests), which includes the following subcategories:
  - Agent-to-Agent: Agent-to-Agent and Network Mesh tests
  - Agent-to-Server: Server IP Addresses, Server Hostname, and Network Grid tests
  - Autonomous Tests: ASN, CDN, Country, Region, and City tests
  Note: If your system does not yet include flow data, Autonomous Tests will be unavailable (grayed out) and you’ll see a notification that includes a Get Started button. To start the setup for up flow data, click the button, which will take you to the Which Data setup screen (step 4 in the setup tasks described in Initial Setup Login).
• Application: This tab lists all test types available in the Application category, which includes the following subcategories:
  - DNS: DNS Server Monitor and DNS Server Grid tests
  - HTTP: HTTP(S) or API, Page Load, and Transaction tests

Notes:
- As described in Settings by Test Type, test settings vary depending on the type of the test. - When your organization has no remaining Synthetics Test Credits a notification appears just below the heading on the settings tabs. The notification includes a Submit a Request button, which opens a version of the Contact Support popup (see Support Request) that is pre-populated with a request for a quote for additional credits.

The Test Settings page is covered in the following topics:

• About the Test Settings Page
• Test Management Controls
• Test Settings Sidebar
• Settings Status Indicators
• Settings Tabs
• Required and Optional Settings
• Select Agents Dialog

The Test Settings page enables you to configure a new test or modify an existing test or a newly duplicated test. The settings (e.g. name, frequency, notifications, etc.) are mostly the same whether you are adding or modifying a test (differences are indicated in the sections below). Controls for the settings are distributed across a set of tabs that you navigate via the sidebar at the left of the page. The page also allows you to initiate a Test Preview (see Test Preview Overview) to validate your settings and see the impact of this test on your test credit consumption.

A Test Settings page includes the following main areas:

• SubNav: A silver-gray strip across the top that contains the breadcrumbs.
• Title and controls: General controls for the test (see Test Management Controls).
• Sidebar: A list of the tabs containing required and optional settings as well as a credit consumption estimator (see Test Settings Sidebar).
• Notification: When your organization has no remaining Synthetics Test Credits, the page a notification id displayed just below the Test Management Controls. The notification includes a Submit a Request button, which opens a version of the Contact Support popup (see Support Request) that is pre-populated with a request for a quote for additional credits.
• Tabs: The tabs containing settings for the test (see Test Settings Tabs).

To access a Test Settings page:

• New test: Click a test type on the Add Test Page.
• Duplicated test: Click the Copy icon at the right of the test’s row in the Tests List on the TCC landing page.
• Existing test:
  - Click the Edit icon at the right of the test’s row in the Tests List on the TCC landing page; or
  - Click Edit Test on the test’s details page (see Test Details SubNav Controls).

The following test management and control elements are distributed across the top of the Test Settings page (under the SubNav):

• Test Type: The type of the new or existing test (see Synthetics Test Types).
• Info: An icon that opens a pop-up explaining how this type of test works.
• Cancel: A button that exits the Test Settings page without saving any changes to settings.
  Note: If you’ve made changes and you then cancel, the Leave Page? dialog will appear, asking you to confirm that you don’t want to save the changes.
• Pause/Resume (present only for existing tests): A button that does one of the following:
  - Pause: If the test is active, it stops all testing related to this test.
  - Resume: If the test is paused, it resumes all testing related to this test.
• Preview: A button that opens (in a new browser tab) a Test Preview Page for this test. This button is only active when the current settings are sufficient to create a test. or if editing a BGP test, the BGP Route Viewer (see BGP Route Viewer).
  Notes:
  - Once the Test Preview page is opened, the Preview button on the Test Settings page will be greyed out. To run the preview again, do so from the Test Preview page.
  - If the test type is BGP Monitor, the button opens the BGP Route Viewer.
  - This button is not currently available for Autonomous tests.
• Create Test (new tests only): A button that saves the configuration and starts the test, which will be added to the Tests List on the TCC landing page.
• Save (existing tests only): A button that saves changes to the test. The button is active only when the current settings are sufficient to create a test.
• Delete (existing tests only): A button that opens a confirmation popup in which you can permanently remove the test from your organization's collection of tests.

This sidebar at the left of a Test Settings page is primarily used to navigate the page's tabs, which each contain a group of settings for the test. The sidebar includes the following UI elements:

• Settings tabs list: A list of the settings tabs, each of which corresponds to one group of settings that are available to be configured for this test (see Test Settings Tabs). The number of tabs in the list (up to nine) will vary depending on the type of the test (see Settings by Test Type). Tabs with required settings are listed first, followed by tabs with optional settings. Click on a tab name to display the corresponding group of settings in the Settings Tabs.
• Status indicators: Indicators that show the status of the settings group on each tab (see Settings Status Indicators).
• Monthly Credit Usage Estimate: A card at the bottom of the sidebar showing the impact of the test, as currently configured, on your organization’s consumption of credits available for the current month (see About Test Credits). The card includes:
  - the number of credits the test will use in the current month;
  - the credits that will remain available in the current month if this test is active;
  - a bar graph illustrating the above;
  - how many credits the test uses per minute; and
  - the number of targets and agents used for the test.

The table below shows which Test Settings tabs are available for each of the test types.

The indicators listed in the table below, which appear to the left of the tabs in the sidebar's tabs list, are used to show the status of the settings on each tab.

The settings in the settings tabs appear in the page’s main display area to the right of the sidebar, below the Test Management Controls. Each tab contains the following UI elements:

• Title: The name of the group of settings, which corresponds to the tab you’ve selected from the Test Settings Sidebar.
• On/Off: A switch at the upper right that enables/disables the settings on the tab:
  - The switch is present only in the situations listed in Enable or Disable Settings.
  - When a tab is enabled its settings are fully editable and will be applied when the test is run.
  - When a tab is disabled its settings are grayed out, they can’t be edited, and they won’t be applied.
  - The enabled/disabled state determines the status indicated for the tab (see Settings Status Indicators).
• Previous/Next: Navigation buttons at the upper and lower right of the tab that change the displayed tab to the one before or after the current tab.
  Note: The Next button will be disabled until you've completed the required settings on the current tab.
• Tab Settings: The test settings available for the current tab (see Test Settings Tabs).

The table below shows the tabs whose test settings may be disabled, depending on the type of the test:

For each test type, the settings on some tabs are required and on other tabs are optional. The topics below show the required and optional settings for various test types.

The table below shows the available test types and the required settings for tests in each of the categories described in Synthetics Test Types. Every test requires that you enter a name as well as the settings listed below.

Note: The test types in each of the categories listed above are also listed on the Add Test Page.

The tabs listed under Optional Settings in the Test Settings Sidebar enable you to customize settings that are otherwise set by default, giving you finer control over the details of how a test is conducted. Depending on test type, the following tabs may be found under Optional Settings:

• Flow-Based Targeting: Available only for Autonomous tests (see Flow-Based Targeting).
• HTTP Settings: Available only for HTTP tests (see HTTP Settings).
• Ping and Traceroute: Available for all tests, except BGP Monitor, DNS, and Transaction tests (see Ping and Traceroute).
• DNS Settings: Available only for DNS Server Monitor and DNS Server Grid tests (see DNS Settings).
• Health Settings: Available for all tests (see Health Settings).
• Alerting and Notifications: Available for all tests (see Alerting and Notifications).

Note: The settings on each of the above tabs vary depending on test type.

The Select Agents dialog opens from buttons on the Target and Agents tab of a Test Settings page. The dialog contains a list from which to choose one or more agents to be used for a test. The dialog varies slightly depending on the setting for which it is opened:

• Single-select version: In an Agent-to-Agent test, the target agent is set with the dialog that opens from a Choose Agent button. Radio buttons to the left of each available agent enable selection of a single agent.
• Multi-select version: In most test types the agent(s) to test from are selected from the dialog that opens from a Choose Agent(s) button (if no agents are already chosen) or an Edit Agents button (if agents have previously been selected). Checkboxes to the left of each available agent enable selection of multiple agents. A checkbox above the list enables you to select or unselect all agents.

The Select Agents dialog includes the following fields and controls:

• Filter IP Version: A drop-down from which you can choose to filter the agents list by IP version, either 4 + 6 or 4 only.
• Filter agents by label: A drop-down from which you can choose to filter the agents list by one or more labels.
• Search: A field that filters the list to agents whose name or location contains the entered text.
• Close: An X icon in the upper right corner that exits the dialog without saving changes to the list of selected agents.
• Selections: A pane at left listing the agents you’ve selected from the Agents List. Each agent is shown in a lozenge that includes its name, its location, and an X icon that you can click to deselect the agent. Any labels assigned to the agents will display as lozenges beneath the agent’s main lozenge.
  Note: A red icon beside the agent name indicates an error (hover over the icon for more information).
• Select All (multi-select version only): A checkbox (to the left of the Agent column heading) that selects all agents currently shown in the Agents List (excludes agents hidden by filtering). Individual checkboxes can still be checked/unchecked even when Select All is checked.
• Agents List: A list of agents available for this test. If the test allows selection of both Private and Global agents, the list will be broken into four sections (Private Network Agents, Private App Agents, Global Network Agents, and Global App Agents). The list includes the following columns:
  - Agent: The name of the agent.
  - Location: The name of the site or cloud region in which an agent is deployed.
  - IP Version: The IP version of the agent (v4 + v6 or v4 only)
• Cancel: A button that exits the dialog without saving changes to the list of selected agents.
• Save: A button that updates the test’s selected agents to those shown in the Selections pane and then exits the dialog.

Note: When Global Agents are selected for Agent-to-Agent or Network Mesh tests, the Protocol setting on the Ping and Traceroute tab must be changed from TCP to ICMP or UDP.

Synthetic test settings are grouped onto tabs that are accessed via the tab names listed in the page’s left sidebar. The settings on these tabs are covered in the following topics:

• Test Information
• Target and Agents
• BGP Monitoring
• Flow-Based Targeting
• HTTP Settings
• Ping and Traceroute
• DNS Settings
• Health Settings
• Alerting and Notifications

Notes:
- To see which test settings tabs are available for each test type, see Settings by Test Type.
- When your organization has no remaining Synthetics Test Credits a notification appears just below the heading on the settings tabs. The notification includes a Submit a Request button, which opens a version of the Contact Support popup (see Support Request) that is pre-populated with a request for a quote for additional credits.

This tab includes the following general test settings:

• Name (required): The name by which you want the test to appear in the Kentik portal.
• Description: Notes or comments that will appear when you hover over the Notes icon in the top right corner of a Test Details Page.
• Labels: A selector for applying labels to the test:
  - Click in the field to choose one of your organization’s existing labels from the drop-down list, which can be filtered by label name.
  - Click the Add Label link to open the New Label Dialog, where you can add a new label.
  - When labels are assigned they are displayed as lozenges in the field.
  Note: Labels for tests can also be managed on the TCC landing page (see Label Controls).
• Test Frequency/DNS Lookup Frequency: The interval at which the test should be run. Available intervals vary by test type (see Intervals by Test Type).

Note: The Name, Description, and Labels settings are common to all test types.

The table below shows how interval settings vary by test type.

Notes:
- BGP Monitor tests don’t have this setting.
- The default interval for Page Load tests is 5 minutes.
- All probes for each subtest in a test (see Ping and Traceroute) will be sent at the start of the test interval.

The New Label dialog includes two fields that you can use to create a new label that will be applied to the test. The dialog includes the following UI:

• Close: An X icon at the upper right that exits the dialog without creating a label.
• Swatch: A popup color selector to choose the color of the label.
• Name: A text field in which to enter a name for the new
• Cancel: A button that exits the dialog without creating a label.
• Save: A button that creates a label with the specified color and name.

Note: A new label is not currently added automatically to the test. To add it, click in the Labels field to open the drop-down selector.

This tab includes settings for a test’s target and its source agents, as well as related settings that vary by test type.

The test type determines which of the following target fields is included in the settings:

• Target Agent: A control set for selecting the agent to test toward, which includes:
  - Agent list: A field showing the agent that’s currently selected.
  - Choose Agent: A button that opens the Select Agents Dialog so you can select an agent.
• Target IP Addresses: A field in which to enter a comma-separated list of IP address(es) to target.
• Target Hostname: A field in which to enter a hostname to target.
• ASN, CSN, Country, Region, or City to Target: See Autonomous Target Control.
• URL or IP Address to Target: A field in which you enter the URL/IP that will be the target of the selected HTTP request.

The remaining settings on the tab vary depending on the test type (see Target and Agents by Test Type).

• Agent(s) to Test From: A control set for selecting agents to test from. The controls include:
  - Agents list: A field that lists the agents that are currently selected.
  - Choose/Edit Agent(s): A button that opens the Select Agents Dialog so you can select agents.
  Note: For Autonomous tests, see Autonomous Agent Control.
• IP Version: A drop-down from which you can choose the type of IP addresses that will be targeted by the test: IPv4 only, IPv6 only, or both (default). The default is particularly useful for tests of type Hostname or ASN, where there could be a mix of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.
• Test Bidirectionally: A switch that enables/disables testing in both directions when testing between agents.
• Use Agent Private IPs: A switch that enables/disables private IPs for mesh testing between your private agents. Kentik will test using the local IP that can be assigned to each private agent via the Private IP field in the Configure Agent Dialog, resulting in a more direct path than testing using the public IP addresses of the private agents.
• DNS Server IP(s) to Query: A field in which to enter a comma-separated list of the IP addresses of a DNS server to query.
• DNSSEC Validation: A switch that enables/disables validation of the authenticity of each signing entity in the chain, from the authoritative name server up to the root server. The result is a healthy or critical result displayed in the DNSSEC column of the Test Details Table on the Results tab of the Test Details page.
• Hostname to Look Up: A field in which you enter the hostname that you want this test to resolve via the specified DNS server(s).
• Method: A drop-down from which you can choose the type of HTTP request: - GET, HEAD, PATCH, POST, or PUT.
• URL or FQDN: A field in which to enter the URL or Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) that will be the target of the selected HTTP request.
• Enable Ping and Traceroute Testing: A checkbox that, when on (default) enables the following on the Subtest Details pages for this test (see Subtest Details Tabs):
  - Display of timeline charts for latency, packet loss, and jitter on the Metrics tab.
  - Display of traceroute results on the Path View tab.
• Puppeteer script: A textbox that, by default, contains an example Puppeteer script that you can use to experiment with transaction tests. To create a test, overwrite the example script with a script that executes the steps that you'd like to test (see About Transaction Test Scripts).

Notes:
- The subtests in a test are always run from an agent to an IP. For a private agent in your AS, a subtest runs from your AS to the target IP. For a global agent, a subtest runs from the global agent to the target IP.
- To test your own AS, select it as a target, then select the global agent from which to test.

The table below shows which Target and Agents settings are available for each type of test.

Note: Settings pages for BGP tests don’t include a Target and Agents tab.

The settings pages for tests in the Autonomous category include controls to identify a specific instance of a dimension whose IPs will be tested toward. The dimension corresponds to the type of test (ASN, CDN, Region, Country, or City) and the control’s label varies accordingly (e.g. for an ASN test the control is labeled “ASN to target”).

The target control for autonomous tests includes three tabs where you can choose the target instance. Using an ASN test as an example, these tabs would be as follows:

• By Inbound Traffic: A table listing the top-X ASNs sending traffic to your network (based on the flow data your organization sends to Kentik), including volume and status information. Click the Select button to choose one ASN.
• By Outbound Traffic: Same as the By Inbound Traffic tab but lists the top-X ASNs to which your network sends traffic.
• Manual:
  - Target: A drop-down from which you choose the target (e.g. ASN) from a filterable list of instances of the dimension corresponding to this test.
  - Target is the: A drop-down with which you specify whether the target is tested as the Destination of outbound traffic (default) or the Source of inbound traffic.

Note: You must select a target (either inbound or outbound) before you can select any agent(s) to test from.

Once you’ve selected a target for an Autonomous test (see Autonomous Target Control), you’ll be able to select an agent to test from. The agent control includes the following three tabs from which you can choose agent(s):

• By Inbound Traffic: A table listing agents that are available to select for the test. Kentik’s Network Flow engine will look at inbound traffic from the selected target (e.g. ASN) and identify the inbound Sites used by live traffic, offering them for testing. If the none of the sites pulled from this flow query have an agent we will offer to set one up.
• By Outbound Traffic: Same as the By Inbound Traffic tab, but with available agents chosen from sites involved in delivering traffic to the configured target (e.g. ASN).
• Manual: Any agents you’ve selected on the other two tabs will appear here. You can also add agent(s) manually by clicking the Choose/Edit Agents buttons to open the Select Agents Dialog.

Notes:
- At least one agent must be selected in order to be create/save the test.
- If no agents are available, you can add agents by clicking Add an agent on the right side of the tab to open the Agent Management page in a new tab.

The key to using Transaction tests is to create a script that performs the actions that you'd like to test and/or retrace complex user journeys programmatically. To do this, our App Agents embed Chrome’s Puppeteer, which is a Node runtime that gives JavaScript programmatic access to a Chrome browser.

You'll typically create a script in the Recorder tab of Chrome Developer Tools and paste it into the textbox in the Puppeteer script portion of the Transaction test's Target and Agents tab. You'll then be able to insert into the script, at whichever stages of the transaction you wish, a command to take a screenshot, which will be displayed in the Screenshots pane of the Results tab on any of the test's subtest details pages (see Create a Transaction Script, Validate a Transaction Script, and View Transaction Results).

The BGP monitoring tab is enabled by default for a BGP Monitor test (see Routing Tests), and is also available for some types of Application Tests (Page Load and HTTP(S) or API). In HTTP tests, the settings on the tab — and the inclusion of BGP data in the test — are enabled with the On/Off switch (see Settings Tabs).

The tab includes the following settings:

• Prefixes to Monitor: A field from which you can enter a comma-separated list of up to 10 prefixes to monitor.
• Add prefixes from.txt or.csv file: A button that opens an OS file selection dialog from which you can select a.txt or.csv file listing prefixes to monitor.
• Include more specific prefixes: A switch that’s available when all prefixes listed in the Prefixes to Monitor field are /15 or narrower (e.g. /16, /21, etc.). The switch tells Kentik to automatically discover and monitor more specific prefixes within the listed prefixes.
• Origin Hijack Detection: A field from which you can enter a comma-separated list of ASNs to monitor for route announcements and withdrawals.
• Add ASN(s) from.txt or.csv file: A button that opens an OS file selection dialog from which you can select a.txt or.csv file listing ASNs to monitor.
• Check RPKI: A switch (on by default) that determines whether ASNs that aren't explicitly listed in the Allowed ASNs field but are RPKI-valid will be treated as valid (on) or flagged as invalid (off).
• Upstream Leak Detection: A field in which to enter a comma-separated list of ASNs that you expect to be upstream of originating ASNs for the prefixes you provided. Alternatively, you can add ASNs from a.txt or.csv file. When ASNs are entered in this field, if there is an upstream leak, you can see the upstream leaking ASNs displayed on the BGP Monitor Details Page when you click the menu button and select Upstream.
• Add ASN(s) from.txt or.csv file: A button that opens an OS file selection dialog from which you can select a.txt or.csv file listing the ASNs expected to be upstream.

The Flow-Based Targeting tab is available only for Autonomous tests. The following settings are available on this tab:

• Top Source or Destination: A drop-down that determines whether the tested IPs of the entity to test toward (see Target and Agents) are the top source IPs (default) or top destination IPs.
• Target: A drop-down that determines whether Kentik will test toward IPs within the target entity that are sending traffic to your AS ("Source of inbound traffic") or receiving traffic from your AS ("Destination of outbound traffic").
• Max Number of Providers to Track: A slider that determines the maximum number of providers to track autonomously (see Provider Classification).
• Max Number of IP Targets to Track: A slider that determines the maximum number of IPs toward which Kentik should create subtests for this test. The actual number of subtests will depend on the number of IPs that meet the qualifications determined by other settings; this setting caps that number (and the consumption of test credits).
• Frequency to Scan for New Targets: A drop-down that determines the interval at which your organization's flow data will be evaluated by Kentik to identify new targets (IP addresses).
  Note: This setting does not affect test frequency.

The HTTP settings tab is available only for HTTP(S) or API, Page Load, and Transaction tests. The following settings are available on this tab:

• HTTP Timeout: A field in which to enter the duration (in ms) for which Kentik will wait for a response to a test HTTP request. If no response is received before the timeout, no results will be shown for the HTTP portion of the test, and health status will be determined by ping, if enabled.
  Note: The default timeout is 5 seconds (5000 ms) for Transaction and HTTP(S) or API tests and 20 seconds (20000 ms) for Page Load tests.
• Ignore TLS Errors: A switch that determines whether the test will ignore errors related to Transport Layer Security (encryption of data in transit). For HTTPS(S) or API tests and Page Load tests:
  - If the switch is on, the Certificate Expiry column does not display in the test results.
  - If the switch is off and the server certificate is expired, a Certificate Expiry column is shown in the test results and a red lozenge will read “SSL Certificate Expired.”
  - If the switch is off and the certificate has not expired, the Certificate Expiry column shows a lozenge that displays the certificate’s expiry date (see Certificate Expiry under Health Settings).
  Note: For Transaction tests, the only impact of selecting Ignore TLS Errors is that the test proceeds even if there are certificate issues.
• Configure Request (HTTP(S) or API test only): A set of tabs used to specify headers, parameters, and body for the HTTP request (see Configure Request Settings).
• Configure Request and CSS Selectors Validation (Page Load test only): Specify headers, parameters, and CSS selectors for the HTTP request (see Configure Request Settings).

The optional Configure Request settings for HTTP(S) or API tests, and Page Load tests enable additional control over how the test is structured and what it looks for:

• Test structure: Use the following tabs to control HTTP configuration for the test:
  - Headers: Specify key and value for headers in the page’s HTTP request. Click Add Headers to add more as needed.
  Note: On the Headers tab, to hide a key’s value for future edits of the test (showing only asterisks), enable the Hide option. Once hidden, it cannot be unhidden, but future edits will be updated in the database.
  - Params: Specify parameters to send in the body of the page’s HTTP request. The parameters section lets you add QueryArg parameters, which are part of the URL section after the “?” (e.g. http(s)://server.domain.tld/route?param1=value1&param2=value2) Click Add Params to add more as needed.
• CSS Selectors (Page Load test only): Specify one or more CSS Selectors (click Add CSS Selectors to add more CSS Selectors). The test will look for those CSS selectors in the HTML of the web page that returns from the request. element was not found).
  Note: The union of all CSS Selectors declared in this table is atomic - if one of them doesn’t PASS, the whole CSS Validation column will mark it as “FAILED”.

If a CSS selector is specified in a given test:

• A CSS Validation column will appear in the Test Details Table on the details page for that test. The column will indicate PASS only if all specified selectors are found; otherwise, it will indicate FAIL.
  Note: This result is not used in computing test health (which drives alerts and notifications).
• The charts on the Metrics tab of the Subtest Details Page for this test will include a CSS Selectors chart (see Page Load tests in Additional Metrics Charts).

Notes:
- A count of the headers, params, and CSS selectors used for the test is displayed in brackets beside the tab label.
- Click the Remove icon (red trash can) to delete any header, param, or CSS selector from the test.

The Ping and Traceroute settings tab is available for all Network tests, as well as for HTTP tests except for Transaction. The tab includes two main settings panes: Ping Options and Traceroute Options.

The table below shows the categories of test types for which Ping and Traceroute settings are available.

The following ping-related settings, which vary by test type (see Ping and Traceroute by Test Type) appear in the Ping Options pane of the Ping and Traceroute tab:

• Number of Probes per Ping: A slider that determines the number of individual packets that will be sent per ping (default is 5).
• Overall Ping Timeout: A field in which to enter the duration (in ms) for which Kentik will wait for the full ping test to complete (default is 3000). A “per-probe” timeout is derived by dividing this number by the Number of Probes per Ping setting above.
• Inter-Probe Delay: A field in which to enter the delay (in ms) that will be added between consecutive ping probes. Default is 0 ms (no delay).
• Target Port: A field in which to enter the port to which the packets will be sent (default is 433).
• Protocol: A drop-down from which to choose the protocol in which packets will be sent, either ICMP or TCP (default).
  Note: Global Agents do not have TCP ports open. To use Global Agents, you must change the protocol to ICMP.
• DSCP: A drop-down from which to choose the Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) value to test along all classes of services you implement. Default is Best Effort (DSCP 0). See DSCP Options.

The table below shows the available DSCP options.

The following traceroute-related settings appear in the Trace Options pane of the Ping and Traceroute tab:

• Number of Probes per Hop: A slider that determines the number of individual packets that will be sent for each router in the path (default is 3).
• Overall Trace Timeout: A field in which to enter the duration (in ms) for which Kentik will wait for the full ping traceroute to complete (default is 22500). A “per-probe” timeout is derived by dividing this number by the Number of Probes per Hop setting above.
  Note: To minimize incomplete traces in the diagram on the Path View tab (see Test Path View) Kentik recommends a value of 7500 ms for each probe per hop.
• Inter-Probe Delay: A field in which to enter the delay (in ms) that will be added between consecutive traceroute probes. Default is 0 ms (no delay).
• Target Port: A field in which to enter the port to which the packets will be sent (default is 443).
• Protocol: A drop-down from which to choose the protocol in which packets will be sent, UDP, TCP (default), or ICMP.
  Note: Global Agents do not have TCP ports open. To use Global Agents, you must change the protocol to one other than TCP (use ICMP or UDP).
• Max Number of Hops (Max TTL): A field in which to enter the maximum number of hops to trace (default is 30).
  Note: If the route being traced involves more hops than the hop limit then traces in the diagram on the Path View tab will be truncated.
• DSCP: A drop-down from which to choose the Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) value to test along all classes of services you implement. Default is Best Effort (DSCP 0). See DSCP Options.

The DNS settings tab is available only for DNS tests. The following settings are available on this tab:

• Target Port: A field in which to enter the port on the DNS server being tested (default is 53).
• DNS Record Type: A drop-down from which to choose the type of record that the test will request from the server (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_DNS_record_types). When the selected type is A or AAAA, the Allowed DNS Results field will be visible in Health Settings.

The Health tab includes the following settings related to health status:

• Thresholds: A control set that determines the thresholds for reporting the health status of a subtest as Warning and/or Critical. The types of thresholds that can be set vary by test type (see Health Threshold Metrics). The following controls are included:
  - Use: A drop-down from which to choose the type of threshold, e.g. milliseconds, percentage, standard deviation, or days.
  - Thresholds: A slider with which to set the values for the Warning and Critical thresholds.
• Valid HTTP Codes: If this switch is on, click in the field to open a drop-down from which you can choose the HTTP status codes that will be considered normal (rather than warning or critical).
  Note: When not specified, all codes above 400 will result in a health status of critical.
• Valid DNS Codes: If this switch is on, click in the field to open a drop-down from which you can choose the HTTP status codes that will be considered normal (rather than warning or critical).
  Note: When not specified, all codes above 400 will result in a health status of critical.
• Allowed DNS Results: If the DNS Record Type (under DNS Settings) is set to A or AAAA, this field is visible. Use the field to enter a list of comma-separated IP mappings that are considered healthy.
• Expected Responses: Specify a set of header keys and values that must be present in the response for it to be considered healthy.
• Subtest Threshold for Status: The minimum number of unhealthy (warning or critical) subtests that will result in overall test status being classified as unhealthy (default is 1).

Threshold settings are, depending on test type, available for the following metrics:

• BGP Reachability: The number of "vantage points" (public BGP routing data collectors) that are able to reach the tested prefixes as a percent of all such vantage points. If reachability drops below the specified thresholds for Warning and/or Critical, an alert will be triggered in the Synthetics Incident Log, and a notification will also be triggered if one is set for the test.
• Ping Latency: Latency in standard deviation or in milliseconds (choose the metric from the Use drop-down).
• Ping Jitter: Jitter in standard deviation or in milliseconds.
• Ping Packet Loss: Packet loss in percent (greater than 0% for warning and equal to or greater than 50% for critical).
• HTTP Latency: HTTP latency in standard deviation or in milliseconds.
• Certificate Expiry: Set the number of days before expiration when you’ll be notified of your certificates expiring and what color the lozenge should be for each state (appears under the Certificate Expiry column of the test’s Details page).
• Response Time: DNS response time in standard deviation or in milliseconds.
• Transaction time: Elapsed time of transaction.

Notes:
- For thresholds using standard deviation, default values are 1.5 for warning and 3 for critical.
- For thresholds using milliseconds, default values are 25 ms for warning and 75 ms for critical.

The table below shows which options are included in the Health settings for each test type.

The Alerting and Notifications tab, whose settings are enabled/disabled with the On/Off switch (see Settings Tabs), is used to configure alerts and notifications for all test types. Disabling the tab turns off the alerts and notifications but maintains existing settings. The available settings are covered in the topics below.

The settings of the Send alert when control set define the conditions that will trigger an unhealthy status alert. These controls include:

• Unhealthy incident count: A field to specify the number of incidents of unhealthy overall test status (default is 3).
• Maximum gap: The duration between incidents after which the count of incidents will reset (default is 2).
• Overall range: A field to specify the duration within which the number of incidents must occur (default is 5), and a drop-down to choose whether that is measured in minutes or hours.
• Conditions diagram: A dynamic illustration of the specified conditions.

This pane enables you to send test status notifications to notification channels defined in your organization (see Notifications). The following controls are included:

• Notification Channels: A field that shows lozenges for each of the channels to which notifications are currently assigned for this test:
  - To add a channel, click in the field to drop down a filterable list of channels in your organization. Click on a channel to add it to the field.
  - To remove a channel from this test, click the X in the channel’s lozenge.
• Test Notification Channels: A button that sends a test notification to the recipients in all of the currently selected channels.
• Add New: A button that opens the Add Notification dialog (see Add or Edit Notification), where you can create a new notification channel in your organization and automatically add it to the test.

This pane enables you to mute alerts and notifications for a specified period. The pane includes the following fields and controls:

• Create Suppression: A button that displays the control set for specifying an alert suppression.
  Note: The controls below are shown only after this button is clicked.
• Expires in: An indicator stating the time (e.g. number of days) until the test will resume sending alerts and notifications.
• Silence window (present only when Never Expire is off): A drop-down that displays the date-time at which the suppression will start and stop. Click it to open a time selector with the following elements:
  - Start: An editable field for the start date-time.
  - End: An editable field for the end date-time.
  - Calendar: A popup calendar from which you can choose start and end times.
• Start time (present only when Never Expire is on): A field stating the date-time at which the suppression will start. Click in the field to edit its text or choose a date from the calendar popup.
• Comment: A field for entering text that you’d like to pass along with the notification.
• Cancel: A button that closes the controls without saving an alert suppression.
• Save: A button that sets an alert suppression based on the current settings and closes the controls.

The following topics walk you through common tasks related to synthetic tests:

• Add a Test
• Edit a Test
• Copy a Test
• Remove a Test
• Create a Transaction Script
• Validate a Transaction Script
• View Transaction Results

To add a new test in the Test Control Center:

1. On the TCC landing page, click Add Test at the upper right.
2. On the Add Test Page, click on the tile for the type of test you’d like to create.
3. On the Test Settings Page, choose Test Information from the Test Settings Sidebar. In the resulting Test Information tab, enter a name for the test.
4. Click Target and Agents in the sidebar. In the resulting tab, complete all of the required fields (see Target and Agents).
   Note: This step doesn’t apply to BGP Monitor tests.
5. Continue through the other tabs above the Optional Settings heading, completing any other required settings.
6. If desired, look at the settings on the Optional Settings tabs, and make any adjustments to tailor the test to your specific situation.
7. Check the Settings Status Indicators for any errors.
8. Click Preview to open a Test Preview Page, where you can check that the current settings are yielding your desired results.
   Note: Test Previews are not currently available for Autonomous tests.
9. Click Create Test to save the test and return to the TCC landing page.

To edit an existing test in the Test Control Center:

1. In the Tests List, find the row of the test whose settings you’d like to change.
2. Click the Edit icon at the right of the row.
3. In the sidebar of the resulting Test Settings Page, click on the name of the tab on which you’d like to make changes.
4. In the resulting tab, make your desired changes.
5. If needed, repeat the above two steps to make further changes.
6. When you’re done modifying settings, click Preview to open a Test Preview Page, where you can check that the current settings are yielding your desired results.
   Note: Test Previews are not currently available for Autonomous tests.
7. Click Save to save the test and return to the TCC landing page.

Note: You can also reach a test’s settings page by clicking Edit Test in the SubNav of the test’s Test Details Page.

To copy a test in the Test Control Center:

1. In the Tests List, find the row of the test whose settings you’d like to copy.
2. Click the Copy icon at the right of the row. A Test Settings page will open for the duplicated test.
3. In the Test Information tab, enter a new name for the test.
4. Use the sidebar to navigate to the tabs where you’d like to modify settings, and make any desired changes to the new test.
5. When you’re done modifying settings, click Preview to open a Test Preview Page, where you can check that the current settings are yielding your desired results.
   Note: Test Previews are not currently available for Autonomous tests.
6. Click Create Test at the upper right to save the test and return to the TCC landing page.

There are two ways that you can remove a test from your organization: from the Tests List on the Test Control Center page or on the test’s Test Settings Page itself.

To remove a test from the Tests List on the Test Control Center page:

1. In the Tests List, find the row of the test you’d like to remove.
2. Click the Remove icon (red trash can).
3. On the pop-up, click Remove to remove the test from the system.

To remove a test from a Test Settings page:

1. On the test’s Test Settings page, at the far right of the Test Management Controls, click Remove.
2. On the pop-up, click Remove to remove the test from the system and return to the Test Control Center page.

To create a Transaction test from a script:

1. Open Chrome Developer tools and go to the Recorder tab.
2. Record the sequence of actions that you'd like to test.
   Note: A test may include no more than five separate pages.
3. Export the recording to a Puppeteer script as described in https://developer.chrome.com/docs/devtools/recorder/#export-flows.
4. In the Kentik portal, choose Test Control Center from the navbar menu (under Synthetics).
5. On the TCC landing page, click the Add Test button at upper right.
6. On the Add Test page, in the Application category, under HTTP, click Transaction.
7. On the Test Information tab of the resulting Test Settings page, name the test.
8. On the Target and Agents tab, choose the agents from which to test.
9. In the Puppeteer Script textbox, select the entire contents and paste in the Puppeteer script that you created above.
   Notes:
   - Total script length can be a maximum of 10,000 characters.
   - You are permitted a maximum of five click navigations.
   - The script must include declarations of the consts puppeteer, browser, and page as shown at the start of the example script.
10. At each point in the series of actions where you'd like a screenshot taken of the page state, insert the following line at the corresponding point in the script:
    await page.screenshot({ path: "screenshot##.jpg" });
    Note: In the above line, replace ## with the number of the screenshot (01 for the first shot, 02 for the second, etc.). A test may include no more than 10 screenshots.
11. If desired, under Optional Settings, change default settings for Health Settings and/or Alerting and Notifications.
12. Click the Create Test button to save and start the test.
    Note: If the button is not active and you've specified the name and agents for the test, see Validate a Transaction Script.

To check that the script for a transaction test is valid, check that it meets the following requirements:

• The declarations for the puppeteer, browser, and page consts must match those in the default example script:
  const puppeteer = require('puppeteer');
  const browser = await puppeteer.launch();
  const page = await browser.newPage();
• There must be no more than five page.goto calls.
• There must be no more than ten page.screenshot calls.
• There must be no more than 10,000 characters.

Once a Transaction test is configured and running, here's how to see the results:

1. In the Tests List on the TCC landing page, click the link to the test.
2. On the resulting Test Details page, choose a subtest in the Test Details Table at the bottom of the Results tab, and click the Details button at the right of that row.
3. On the resulting Subtest Details Page, the Results tab will display a time series chart showing the time it took to complete the transaction during each time slice of the time range. The tab also displays the screenshots for the time slice corresponding to the currently selected segment of the timeline.