Speed Tests

Ookla speed tests are used on our VPSs via their cli tool. The first two are from the old Virmach ones; the third is recent from the first Ethernetservers reseller account.

Mar. 2026: The one I was using is unsupported now, but it still works so far with speedtest-cli --share. Below is how to replace it with the new version when it stops working.

Step-by-step installation on Ubuntu/Debian

  1. Remove the old conflicting package (important to prevent binary name clashes):Bashsudo apt remove speedtest-cli sudo apt autoremove # Optional, cleans up leftovers
    • If it was installed via pip: pip3 uninstall speedtest-cli (or pip uninstall if using Python 2).
    • Also check for any old repo files:Bashsudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/speedtest.list sudo apt update
  2. Install curl if not already present (needed for the repo setup script):Bashsudo apt update sudo apt install curl
  3. Add the official Ookla repository:Bashcurl -s https://packagecloud.io/install/repositories/ookla/speedtest-cli/script.deb.sh | sudo bash
    • This script detects your distro/version and adds the correct repo source (works on Ubuntu 20.04+, Debian 10+, and recent derivatives like 24.04).
  4. Install the official Speedtest CLI:Bashsudo apt update sudo apt install speedtest
  5. Accept the license and GDPR terms on first run (required only once):Bashspeedtest --accept-license --accept-gdpr
    • After this, plain speedtest works without flags.

Quick verification

speedtest --version
  • You should see something like Speedtest by Ookla 1.2.x.x (exact build varies).

How to get your sharable PNG now

  • Run a test: speedtest
    • In recent versions, it often prints a Result URL: line directly (e.g., https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx).
  • For guaranteed structured output (best for scripting/wiki): speedtest -f json-pretty or speedtest --format=json-pretty
    • Look for the “result”: { “url”: “https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/…” } field.
    • Append .png → that’s your embeddable image: https://www.speedtest.net/result/c/xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx.png
  • One-liner for just the PNG URL speedtest -f json | grep -oP '(?<="url": ")[^"]+' | sed 's/$/.png/'

If you hit any errors during installation, you can download manual binaries directly from https://www.speedtest.net/apps/cli (pick your architecture: x86_64 for most VPS, arm64 if ARM-based). Untar and move the speedtest binary to /usr/local/bin/.

For future changes / automation,

If you ever run into version drift again, flaky share URLs, or just want to automate grabbing the PNG links (e.g., cron job → append to wiki page or Discord/Telegram notification), feel free to ping me with the output of speedtest –version or whatever error pops up. Happy testing, and enjoy those speedy RackNerd links! 🚀
Grok

The rest is probably redundant but will have some useful info still.

Below Is Redundant

Test output is presented in the console, and a url is given for a shareable page. Adding .png to the url will give an image to share. With some installations, it doesn’t by default provide a url; you can use --share and it will give you a .png link. Removing the .png from the link will give the page instead. Bizzarre.

update 2025-04: Now you have to use –secure as well because http now gives a 403 forbidden.

Installation.

The cli tool link above has instructions for different OSes — for Ubuntu: (now in the repos)

sudo apt update
sudo apt ugrade
sudo apt-get install curl
curl -s https://packagecloud.io/install/repositories/ookla/speedtest-cli/script.deb.sh | sudo bash
sudo apt-get install speedtest-cli

Then run speedtest. Use --share –secure – It will give the data and also a link to the speedtest.net page showing most of that info. Use man speedtest for more, I am sure there were ways to get it to do regular tests and keep them on a page. Maybe it was using cron or something. More research is needed!

Manual Installation

Sometimes the easy install fails; even on a supported version, it can still say:

andy@satoshihost-oc2:/home/ubuntu$ curl -s https://install.speedtest.net/app/cli/install.deb.sh | sudo bash
This distribution version is not currently supported via package management, please use the direct download builds per architecture found at https://www.speedtest.net/apps/cli

Manual installation can be done as outlined here.