CLI Reference

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Command Structure

vex [OPTIONS] --target <TARGET>

Required Options

--target <TARGET>

The target host to test. Accepts: - Hostname: example.com - IPv4 address: 192.0.2.1 - IPv6 address: [2001:db8::1] - With port: example.com:8443, [::1]:9000

Examples:

vex --target example.com
vex --target 192.0.2.1
vex --target [2001:db8::1]:8443

Load Configuration

--workers <N>

Number of concurrent workers (tasks) executing requests in parallel.

  • Default: 1
  • Minimum: 1
  • Affects concurrency level and throughput
vex --target example.com --workers 100

--requests <N>

Total number of requests to send across all workers.

  • Default: 1000
  • Distributed evenly across workers using quotient + remainder logic
  • If combined with --duration, whichever limit is reached first stops the test
vex --target example.com --requests 5000

--duration <SECS>

Maximum time to run the load test in seconds.

  • Default: 30
  • Test stops when duration expires or all requests complete (whichever comes first)
  • Workers may not complete their assigned requests if duration limit is reached
vex --target example.com --duration 60

Connection Configuration

--port <PORT>

Target port number.

  • Default: 443
  • Port embedded in target takes precedence over this option
vex --target example.com --port 8443
vex --target example.com:9000 --port 443  # Uses port 9000

--path <PATH>

Request path for each HTTP request.

  • Default: /
  • Must start with /
vex --target example.com --path /api/v1/test

--insecure

Disable TLS certificate verification.

  • Default: Disabled (certificates are verified)
  • Use for self-signed certificates or testing
vex --target localhost --port 8443 --insecure

Output Configuration

--success-status <PATTERN>

Define which HTTP status codes count as successful requests.

  • Default: 2xx (HTTP 200-299 only)
  • Pattern syntax supports class (2xx, 3xx, 4xx, 5xx) or specific codes (comma-separated)

Examples:

# Default: only 2xx counts as success
vex --target example.com

# Count both 2xx and 3xx as success
vex --target example.com --success-status 2xx,3xx

# Count specific status codes as success
vex --target example.com --success-status 200,201,204,301,302

This affects the "Successful/Failed requests" counts in the output.

--verbose

Enable verbose output.

  • Default: Disabled
  • Prints response headers for each request (may reduce throughput)
  • Only captures response body when verbose is enabled
  • Useful for debugging
vex --target example.com --verbose

Full Example

All options combined:

vex --target api.example.com \
    --port 8443 \
    --workers 50 \
    --requests 5000 \
    --duration 120 \
    --path /api/v2/test \
    --insecure \
    --verbose

Short Options

Some options support short forms:

  • -n <N> for --requests
  • -w <N> for --workers
  • -t <SECS> for --duration

Example:

vex --target example.com -w 100 -n 5000 -t 60
Installation Examples