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

If your organization's test credits balance (see About Test Credits) is below zero, a notification will appear on the main Test Control Center Page as well as on any Add Test Page or Test Settings Page. (The position of the notification varies depending on the page.) To add more credits, click the Submit a Request button, which opens a version of the Contact Support popup (see Support Request). The popup will be populated with a request for a quote for additional credits (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 explains 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 that 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 the page will display a Credits Balance Notification.

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
• Credentials Vault Popup

The Test Settings page (accessed as described in Test Settings Access) enables you to configure a new test or to 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 topics 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 will display a Credits Balance Notification.

• Tabs: The tabs containing settings for the test (see Test Settings Tabs).

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 popup explaining how this type of test works (may not be available for all tests).
• 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, or if editing a BGP test, the BGP Route Viewer (see BGP Route Viewer). This button is active only when the current settings are sufficient to create a test.
  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 Test Settings Tabs, each of which corresponds to one group of settings that are available to be configured for this test. 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 group of settings in the corresponding tab.
• 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; present only in the situations listed in Enable or Disable Settings.
• 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 tabs that can be disabled/enabled:

• 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).

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 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). agents are selected with checkboxes, which operate only on agents that are shown based on current filter settings:
  - A checkbox at the left of the list's column headings enables you to select/unselect all shown agents.
  - Checkboxes in the heading row for each agent category (Private Network Agents, Private App Agents, Global Network Agents, and Global App Agents) enable you to select/unselect all shown agents in one or more categories.
  - Checkboxes to the left of each available agent enable you to select/unselect one or more agents individually.

The Select Agents dialog includes the following fields and controls:

• Filter IP Version: A field that displays a lozenge for each selected IP version and filters the Agents list to agents of those versions. To select a version, click in the field and choose v4 + v6 or v4 only from the drop-down list. To remove a version, click the X at the right of that version’s lozenge.
• Filter agents by label: A field that displays a lozenge for each selected label and filters the Agents list to agents with those labels. To select a label, click in the field and choose the label from the drop-down list. To remove a label, click the X at the right of that label's lozenge.
• 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 card that includes its name, its location, and an X icon to deselect the agent. Any labels assigned to the agents will display as lozenges within the agent’s card.
  Note: A red icon beside an 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 include a heading row for each of four collapsible categories (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 either ICMP or UDP.

The Credentials Vault popup enables you to apply credentials from the Credentials Vault to tests in Synthetics, where they can be used for purposes such as authentication. Credentials are currently supported for the following types of tests, where the popup is opened via the Credentials Vault button:

• Page Load and HTTP(S) or API: The button appears in the HTTP tab of the settings page. It is present when the current tab of the table in the Configure Request pane is either Headers or Body.
• Transaction: The button appears in the Targets and Agents tab of the settings page, just above the Puppeteer Script field.

Note: A step-by-step procedure for using a credential in an HTTP test is covered in Set HTTP Test Credentials.

The Credentials Vault popup appears beside Credentials Vault button when clicked, and has the following UI elements:

• Close: The X in the upper right corner closes the popup, as does clicking the Credentials Vault button again.
• Filter by name: This field filters the Credentials list to show only credentials whose name contains the entered text.
  Note: This field is case sensitive.
• Filter by labels: A field that displays a lozenge for each selected label and filters the Credentials list to credentials with those labels. To select a label, click in the field and choose the label from the filterable drop-down list. To remove a label, click the X at the right of that label’s lozenge.
• Credentials list: A list of all of the credentials to which you have access, as filtered by the credential’s name or label fields (see Credentials Popup List).

The Credentials Vault popup contains a set of cards that each represent a credential that is available to apply in the current test. By default each card is collapsed, showing only the credential name and any labels that are applied to it.

When a credential card is expanded by clicking the down arrow, the following additional elements are displayed:

• Values list: A list of the key names of each key/value pair saved to the credential.
  Note: The number of key/value pairs saved to the credential is shown in parentheses beside the Values header.
• Copy (icon): A button to the right of each key name that copies to your clipboard a programmatic representation of the key’s value (see Value Variables).
• Notes: The text, if any, entered in the Description field when the credential was created or edited (see Credential Settings Definitions).
• Updated: The last time that this credential was modified.

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 field that displays a lozenge for each label selected to apply to the test. To select a label, click in the field and choose the label from the filterable drop-down list. To remove a label, click the X at the right of that label's lozenge.
  Note: Labels for tests can also be managed on the TCC landing page (see Label Controls).
• Add Label: A link to open the New Label Dialog, where you can add a new label.
• 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 to choose the version of IP addresses 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 to choose the method 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 with which you can choose a target from a filterable list of instances of the dimension corresponding to this test type (e.g. ASNs, CDNs, etc.). The label of the drop-down varies depending on the test type.
  - 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 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.

In Transaction tests, the Target and Agents tab is used to specify a script that performs the actions that you'd like to test. To do this, our Synthetics App Agent embeds 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 Puppeteer Script field on the 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).

To insert a credential into the script, use the Credentials Vault button (located directly above the Puppeteer Script field) to open the Credentials Vault Popup, from which you can copy a credential value. When you paste the value into the script, it will be represented programmatically (see Value Variables).

Note: To ensure that a value variable is correctly interpreted, always enclose $vault(key) in double quotes, for example:
const vaultRef = "${vault('yourGroup yourKey') }"

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 in 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. For further details, see Visualizing Alert Prefixes.
• Origin Hijack Detection: A field that displays a lozenge for each ASN you’ve selected to monitor for route announcements and withdrawals. To select an ASN click in the field and choose the ASN from the filterable drop-down list. To remove an ASN, click the X at the right of that ASN’s lozenge.
• 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 list the ASNs that you expect to be upstream of originating ASNs for the prefixes provided. To add an ASN to the list, click in the field and choose the ASN from the filterable drop-down list; the ASN will appear as a lozenge in the field. To remove an ASN, click the X at the right of that ASN’s lozenge.
  Note: An upstream leak for any ASN listed in this field can be seen on the BGP Monitor Details Page when you choose Upstream from the Options button (vertical ellipses) at the top right corner of the Reachability/Visibility pane.
• 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 Include more specific prefixes switch has the following effect on the Reachability Time Series visualization (Test Details page) when a test generates an alert (see Alerting and Notifications):

• If the switch is off, the visualization won't indicate which of the prefixes in the Prefixes to Monitor field generated the alert.
• If the switch is on, the visualization will show the individual prefix that generated an alert, but only down to the level specified in the Prefixes to Monitor field ("more specific prefixes" are not displayed individually).

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 or top destination IPs (default).
• 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"; default).
• 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). The default is Every 12 hours.
  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 a test in the HTTP category will ignore errors related to Transport Layer Security (encryption of data in transit). See Ignore TLS Errors.
• 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 Ignore TLS Errors switch determines whether an HTTP-category test will ignore errors related to Transport Layer Security (encryption of data in transit). The effect of the switch varies depending on the specific test type:

• HTTPS(S) or API and Page Load:
  - 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).
• Transaction: If the switch is on then the test proceeds even if there are certificate issues.

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

• Test structure: Use the Headers, Params, and Body tabs to control HTTP configuration for the test (see HTTP Test Structure).
  Note: The Body tab is available only for HTTP(S) or API tests (see Configure Request Body).
• CSS Selectors (Page Load test only): Use the CSS Selectors tab to specify one or more CSS Selectors for the test to look for in a web page’s HTML (see CSS Selectors).

Notes:
- The tab heads for Headers, Params, and CSS Selectors include a count (in parentheses) of the number of each used for the test.
- The Key/Value rows on the Headers, Params, and CSS Selectors tabs each include a Remove button (trash icon) that you can click to remove a key/value pair.

The following tabs enable fine control of the HTTP configuration for a test:

• Headers: Specify key/value pairs for HTTP request headers. The Add Headers button adds a row for another key/value pair.
• Params: Specify key/value pairs to be passed as arguments in the query string of the test's URL. The Add Params button adds a row for another key/value pair.
• Body (HTTP(S) or API tests only): Specify the payload of the HTTP request (see Configure Request Body).
  Note: This tab is inactive when the test's Method is set to GET (see General Target and Agent Settings).

Notes:
- The Remove button (trash icon) at the right of each key/value row removes that key/value pair.
- On the Headers and CSS Selectors tabs, the Credentials Vault button opens the Credentials Vault Popup, where you can copy credential values to paste into the Key and/or Value fields.

The Body tab of the Configure Request pane allows you to set the payload for the HTTP Request of an HTTP(S) or API test. The tab is active unless the test's Method is set to GET (see General Target and Agent Settings).

Three radio buttons at the top of the tab are used to choose the format of the request body:

• none: The request will have an empty payload.
• x-www-form-urlencoded: The request body will be derived from the strings you enter into the Key and Value fields. The Add Form Values button adds a key/value row. The Remove button (trash icon) at the right of each key/value row removes that row.
• raw: The request body will be the text you enter into the blank text field, formatted in the format you choose from the drop-down to the right of the radio buttons (Text, JavaScript, JSON, HTML, or XML).

Note: The Credentials Vault button opens the Credentials Vault Popup, where you can copy credential values to paste into the text field.

The CSS Selectors tab (included only for Page Load tests) enables you to specify one or more CSS selectors that the test will look for in the HTML of the tested web page, resulting in the following:

• A CSS Validation column will appear in the Test Details Table on the test's Details page. The column will indicate PASS only if all CSS selectors listed in the CSS Selectors tab are found; otherwise, it will indicate FAIL.
  Note: This result is not used in computing test health (which drives alerts and notifications).
• 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).

Each selector to look for is specified on the tab with the following pair of fields:

• Name: The string (any string chosen by the user) by which the selector will be referred to in the above described UI, e.g. submit button.
• CSS Selector: The actual selector to look for in the CSS of the tested page, e.g. #submit.

The Add CSS Selectors button adds a row with another pair of fields. The Remove button (trash icon) at the right of each row removes that row.

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. The default, which depends on the Protocol setting, is 433 for TCP.
  Note: This field is inactive when Protocol is set to ICMP.
• Protocol: A drop-down from which to choose the protocol in which packets will be sent. Protocols vary by test type, but can include: UDP-ICMP, UDP-ECHO, ICMP, or TCP (default).
  Notes:
  - Tests involving Global Agents must be set to a protocol other than TCP.
  - Once a test is saved, the drop-down will be inactive and protocol can't be changed.
• DSCP: A drop-down from which to choose the Differentiated Services Code Point (DSCP) value to test along all of your classes of services. The 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).
  Note: If ICMP is selected as the traceroute protocol, you cannot select a target port and this field will be grayed out.
• Protocol: A field which shows the protocol in which packets will be sent: ICMP, TCP (default), or UDP (click the field to select the protocol from the drop-down list).
  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).
• Protocol: A drop-down from which to choose the protocol in which packets will be sent. Protocols vary by test type, but can include: UDP-ICMP, UDP-ECHO, ICMP, or TCP (default).
  Note: Tests involving Global Agents must be set to a protocol other than TCP.
• 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 of your classes of services. The default is Best Effort (DSCP 0). See DSCP Options.

The DNS settings tab is available only for tests whose category is DNS (DNS Server Monitor and DNS Server Grid). 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).
  Note: When the selected type is A or AAAA, the Allowed DNS Results field will be visible in Health Settings.

The settings on the Health tab vary depending on the type of test. The tab may include 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 (see Health Threshold Controls). The types of thresholds that can be set vary by test type (see Health Threshold Metrics).
• Expected Responses: One or more pairs of key/value fields with which you can specify headers that must be present in the response for it to be considered healthy. The Add Headers button adds a key/value row. The Remove button (trash icon) at the right of each key/value row removes that row.
• Valid HTTP Codes: A field that displays a lozenge for each selected HTTP status code that will be considered normal (rather than warning or critical). To select an HTTP code, click in the field and choose one or more codes from the filterable drop-down list. To remove a code, click the X at the right of the code’s lozenge.
  Note: When no codes are specified, all codes above 400 will result in a health status of critical.
• Valid DNS Codes: A field that displays a lozenge for each selected DNS code that will be considered normal (rather than warning or critical). To select a DNS code, click in the field and choose one or more codes from the filterable drop-down list. To remove a code, click the X at the right of the code’s lozenge.
  Note: When not specified, all codes above 400 will result in a health status of critical.
• Allowed DNS Results: A field used to specify (using a comma-separated list) the IPs whose presence in the test's DNS results should be considered healthy.
  Note: This field is only visible if the DNS Record Type (under DNS Settings) is set to A or AAAA.
• Subtest Threshold for Status: A field used to specify (using an integer) the minimum number of unhealthy (warning or critical) subtests that will result in overall test status being classified as unhealthy (default is 1).

Each threshold control determines how the subtest’s health status for a given metric (latency, jitter, etc.) is reported in the system. The following controls are included:

• Use: A drop-down from which to choose the type/unit of the threshold (e.g. milliseconds, percentage, standard deviation, or days). This control may not be present for all metrics.
• Warning: A field in which you can enter a precise value for the Warning threshold (which is then automatically reflected in the thresholds slider). The minimum valid value is 0.
• Critical: A field in which you can enter a precise value for the Critical threshold (which is then automatically reflected in the thresholds slider). This value can be greater than the maximum shown on the slider, unless the scale of the slider is in percentages.
• Thresholds: Two sliders that you can move along the colored bar to set the following thresholds for a metric:
  - Warning: The left slider sets the threshold below which the metric's health status will be considered Normal (green) and above which it will be Warning (orange).
  - Critical: The right slider sets the threshold below which the metric's health status will be considered Warning (orange) and above which it will be Critical (red).

Health Threshold Controls are available for the following metrics, though their presence on the Health tab for a given test depends on the test's type:

• 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: The number of days that you'll be notified in advance of the expiration of a certificate, as well as what color the lozenge should be for each state (appears under the Certificate Expiry column of the Test Details page).
• DNS 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: A field to specify 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 (default) 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, then click on a channel. To remove a channel, 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 alert 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. If Never Expire is on, the indicator says "Expires never."
• Silence window (present only when Never Expire is off): A field 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.
• Never Expire: A switch that determines whether the alert suppression is set to expire after a set period of time (off; the default) or never (on).
• Comment: A field for entering text that you’d like to pass along with the notification.
• Cancel: A button that closes the Alert Suppression controls without saving an alert suppression.
• Save: A button that sets an alert suppression based on the current settings and closes the controls.

Once saved, the settings appear in a table in the Alert Suppressions pane along with options to edit or delete the alert suppression. An alert suppression’s Started and Expires dates are green if active and red if expired.

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 popup, 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 popup, 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.
   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.
9. 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.
10. If desired, under Optional Settings, change default settings for Health Settings and/or Alerting and Notifications.
11. 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.