mod_pagespeed console beta release

[Shawn Ligocki]

Hello everyone and welcome to the mod_pagespeed beta testers list. (For those of you already on this list from Critical CSS beta-testing, thanks! And feel free to try out the console as well if you'd like).

A prototype of the mod_pagespeed console is now available in as either binary packages (.deb and .rpm) or to build from source.

Installation

Binaries:

1) Download the appropriate version from http://modpagespeed.com/release_archive/1.5.28.2/

2) Install with either:

$ dpkg -i mod-pagespeed-*.deb

$ apt-get -f install

or

$ rpm -U mod-pagespeed-*.rpm

3) Add this to your pagespeed.conf:

<Location /mod_pagespeed_console>

    Allow from localhost

    Allow from 127.0.0.1  # Or whatever access restrictions you want/need to access this page.

    SetHandler mod_pagespeed_console

</Location>

4) Restart server

Source:

1) Follow normal instructions using "gclient config http://modpagespeed.googlecode.com/svn/tags/1.5.28.2/src" instead of the latest-beta or bleeding edge versions: https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/module/build_mod_pagespeed_from_source

2) Add this to your pagespeed.conf:

<Location /mod_pagespeed_console>

    Allow from localhost

    Allow from 127.0.0.1  # Or whatever access restrictions you want/need.

    SetHandler mod_pagespeed_console

</Location>

3) Restart server

Accessing the Console

Now you can see the console by visiting http://yourhostname.example.com/mod_pagespeed_console. it should look something like: http://www.modpagespeed.com/mod_pagespeed_console. It is based on in-memory statistics, so it will not be very useful immediately after restarting the server (stats are wiped). But after a day or so (less if your page has higher traffic) the console should have better information.

Currently the information is very basic, simply a list of 9 things we know of that could lead to sub-optimal rewriting. Each one has a percentage (higher is worse) and they are sorted from most important (worse problem) to least important. Eventually these will be linked to pages that describe the issue more clearly and suggest possible solutions, but for now ignore the "(Click through for the links for info on how to fix these problems)" claim.

Feedback

Please provide us with this feedback emailed to this list (or me personally if you prefer):

* Have you noticed effectiveness problems with mod_pagespeed before using the console? Please explain specifically what you noticed. For example, "WebPage Test showed little improvement after installing mod_pagespeed", "Google Analytics showed increase page load time after installing mod_pagespeed", "Looking at the HTML source, most resources weren't rewritten by mod_pagespeed" or "Everything seemed to be working great".

* A day or so after you installed the beta, please copy-and-paste the full sorted list of "notable issues" for your site.

* Did you know about these issues? Were any surprising? Do you know how you would solve the top few "notable issues"? What extra information would be helpful?

Thanks again for helping us develop and improve the mod_pagespeed console!

-Shawn

[Hardey]

Sorry for my question but if i have already installed mod pagespeed, can i change only mod_pagespeed_ap24.so file with the new one?
Currently i have installed mod pagespeed 1.5.27.2-2912

[Shawn Ligocki]

I think that should work, let me know if there are any problems.

[Shawn Ligocki]

Note, you may want to use this, expanded section in your Apache config:

<Location /mod_pagespeed_console>

    <IfModule mod_rewrite.c>

        RewriteEngine Off

    </IfModule>

    Order allow,deny

    Allow from localhost

    Allow from 127.0.0.1

    SetHandler mod_pagespeed_console

</Location>

Specifically "RewriteEngine off" will stop mod_rewrite from hijacking the /mod_pagespeed_console request and "Order allow,deny" will make sure that you actually deny access from non-whitelisted IP addresses.

Cheers,

-Shawn

[Anthony George]

Up and running with a multi-site server. Will report back!