IMPORTANT: No additional bug fixes or documentation updates will be released for this version. For the latest information, see the current release documentation.
« Monitor resources on private networks Synthetic tests configuration »
Elastic Docs ›Observability Guide [8.6] ›Uptime and synthetic monitoring

Synthetics command reference

edit

Synthetics command reference

edit

This functionality is in beta and is subject to change. The design and code is less mature than official GA features and is being provided as-is with no warranties. Beta features are not subject to the support SLA of official GA features.

elastic-synthetics

edit

Heartbeat uses the npx @elastic/synthetics command to run and report synthetic tests. It can also be used locally to help develop your tests.

npx @elastic/synthetics [options] [files] [dir]

You will not need to use most command line flags — they have been implemented purely to interact with Heartbeat. However, there are some you may find useful. They are documented below.

--debug
Prints debug info.
--match <name>
Filters journey with the name or a matching tag.
--tags <name...>
Filters journey with the given tag(s).
--reporter
One of junit, default, or json. Use the JUnit reporter to provide easily parsed output to CI servers like Jenkins.
--no-headless
Runs with the browser in headful mode.
--inline
Instead of reading from a file, cat inline scripted journeys and pipe them through stdin. For example, cat path/to/file.js | npx @elastic/synthetics --inline.
--playwright-options <jsonstring>
JSON object to pass in custom Playwright options for the agent. Options passed will be merged with Playwright options defined in your synthetics.config.js file. Options defined via --playwright-options take precedence.
--screenshots <on|off|only-on-failure>
Captures screenshots for every step in the journey.
-h, --help
Shows help for the npx @elastic/synthetics command.

elastic-synthetics init

edit

Scaffold a new project using Elastic Synthetics.

This will create a template Node.js project that includes the synthetics agent, required dependencies, a synthetics configuration file, and example journey files. These journeys can be edited and then pushed to Kibana to create monitors.

npx @elastic/synthetics init <name-of-project>

elastic-synthetics push

edit

Create monitors in Kibana by using your local journeys.

npx @elastic/synthetics push --auth <api-key> --url <kibana-url> --project <id|name>

The push command includes interactive prompts to prevent you from accidentally deleting or duplicating monitors. You will see a prompt when:

  • You push a project that used to contain one or more monitors but no longer contains any monitors. Select yes to delete all monitors associated with the project ID being pushed.
  • You push a project that’s already been pushed using one project ID and then try to push it using a different ID. Select yes to create duplicates of all monitors in the project.

If the journey contains external NPM packages other than the @elastic/synthetics, those packages will be bundled along with the journey code when the push command is invoked. However there are some limitations when using external packages:

  • Bundled journeys after compression should not be more than 800 Kilobytes.
  • Native node modules will not work as expected due to platform inconsistency.
--auth

API key used for Kibana authentication.

If you are pushing to a private location, you must use an API key generated in 8.4 or higher.

To create an API key, you must be logged into Kibana as a user with the following privileges:

  • Cluster privileges: At least one of manage_own_api_key, manage_security, or manage_api_key

  • Kibana privileges:

    • If using one or more public locations: All for Synthetics and Uptime in the Observability section.
    • If using one or more private locations: All for both Fleet and Integrations in the Management section.
--url
The Kibana URL for the deployment to which you want to upload the monitors.
--project
A unique id associated with your project. It will be used for logically grouping monitors. If you used init to create a project, this is the <name-of-project> you specified.
--yes

The push command includes interactive prompts to prevent you from accidentally deleting or duplicating monitors. If running the CLI non-interactively, you can override these prompts using the --yes option. When the --yes option is passed to push:

  • If you push a project that used to contain one or more monitors but no longer contains any monitors, all monitors associated with the project ID being pushed will be deleted.
  • If you push a project that’s already been pushed using one project ID and then try to push it using a different ID, it will create duplicates of all monitors in the project.

elastic-synthetics locations

edit

List all available locations for running synthetics monitors.

npx @elastic/synthetics locations --url <kibana-host> --auth <api-key>

Run npx @elastic/synthetics locations with no flags to list all the available global locations managed by Elastic for running synthetics monitors.

--url
The Kibana URL for the deployment from which to fetch all available public and private locations.
--auth
API key used for Kibana authentication.
« Monitor resources on private networks Synthetic tests configuration »