validpoint

A multipoint validation tool for your web and digital assets.

With validpoint's built-in commands, you can test many common health metrics of your website, such as SSL certificate validity and pending domain name registration expiration. See the Usage section below for a list of all built-in commands and configuration options.

validpoint was built with a plugin/addon architecture so that new and custom commands can be added to it easily. See the Addons section below for more information.

Installation

For local installation

npm install --save @laweval/validpoint

For global installation:

npm install -g @laweval/validpoint

Usage

The simplest way to use validpoint is to run the default commands against your domain:

validpoint -d mydomain.com

A list of built-in commands:

% validpoint --help
USAGE: validpoint <command> -d [domain1,[domain2,...]] [-f file] [-r] [-q] [-h]

Commands:
  validpoint local-network    Test local network connectivity
  validpoint local-dns        Test local DNS resolution
  validpoint http-port        Test response time of web server port 80
  validpoint https-port       Test response time of web server port 443
  validpoint domain           Test domain registrar configuration
  validpoint http-response    Test response code and redirection for http
  validpoint https-response   Test response code and redirection for https
  validpoint website          Combined test of http-port and http-response
  validpoint secure-website   Combined test of https-port and https-response
  validpoint website-content  Test website content for essential content
  validpoint ssl              Test website SSL certificate

Options:
  --version     Show version number                                    [boolean]
  -d, --domain  The domain name or a comma-delimited list of domain names
                                                                        [string]
  -f, --file    Use a JSON file for input configuration                 [string]
  -h, --help    Show this help screen                                  [boolean]
  -r, --raw     Include raw test results
  -q, --quiet   Suppress in-progress output and only show the result
  -i, --input   Input to send to the test

To run a specific command (for example):

validpoint https-port -d mydomain.com

Optional Configuration

To run validpoint automatically or for multiple domains and commands, you may supply configuration files. For global configuration of multiple domains, provide a file called validpoint.json and put it in the root directory from which you are running validpoint

Example validpoint.json:

{
	"preflight_commands":
	{
		"local-network": {}, 
		"local-dns": {}
	},
	"commands":
	{
		"http-port": {}, 
		"https-port": {}, 
		"domain": {},
		"http-response": {}, 
		"https-response": {}, 
		"website": {}, 
		"secure-website": {},
		"website-content": {}
	},
	"domains": 
	{
		"mydomain.com": {
			"domain": "mydomain.com",
			"name": "MY Domain",
			"commands": 
			{
				"local-network": {},
				"local-dns": {},
				"domain": {}
			}
		},
		"myotherdomain.com": {
			"domain": "myotherdomain.com",
			"url": "blog.myotherdomain.com",
			"name": "My other domain blog",
			"commands":
			{
				"https-response": {},
				"domain": {},
				"https-port": {}
			}
		}
	}
}

preflight_commands and commands are the default tests that will run if you execute validpoint with a domain name and without a command. For example:

validpoint -d mydomain.com

The contents of the domains object defines specific commands to run for multiple domains when no arguments are supplied to validpoint. Like this:

validpoint

The domains object accepts the configuration parameters name, domain, and url. Only domain is required.

Note: Running validpoint with no arguments and no validpoint.json file displays the help screen.

If you want to have multiple configurations, create a separate JSON file for each configuration and run them using the -f flag. For example:

validpoint -f myconfig.json
validpoint -f myotherconfig.json

Running validpoint with no arguments is synonymous with:

validpoint -f validpoint.json

Note that some commands may accept and/or require input parameters. When they do not, you may use an empty object ({}) as the input. An example of a command that accepts input:

	"commands":
	{
		"phone-number": 
		{
			"find": "(800) 872-6590",
			"referer": "https://googletagmanager.com",
		}
	}

If you are running commands for a single domain or wish to override the commands for a particular domain, provide a JSON file with the domain name as the file name. For example:

mydomain.com.json:

{
    "name": "My Domain",
	"domain": "mydomain.com",
	"url": "www.mydomain.com",
	"preflight_commands": 
	{
		"local-network": {},
		"local-dns": {}
	},
	"commands":
	{
		"https-port": {},
		"ssl": {},
		"website-content": {}
		"phone-number": 
		{
			"find": "(800) 872-6590",
		}
	}
}

Now you can run these tests for mydomain.com with:

validpoint -d mydomain.com

Note: If a mydomain.com.json file exists, it will override all settings and commands any time you run any command against mydomain.com

Addons

validpoint's addon architecture makes extending functionality simple.

For an example addon, look at the repository's addons directory. It contains a fully-working example, and the README file explains the steps required for using and making addons.