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Jamie Starke

I develop for my career, but I also develop for fun, and whenever I think it can solve a problem I'm having. This has lead me to create side projects, such as Rental Map and BusTimes, among others.

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How to collect a Network Log for Google Chrome

Overview

Are you having some weird networking problems and want to report a bug to Google Chrome? The most helpful thing you can do to speed up the process is get a network log so that the Chromium team can have a better chance at diagnosing the problem.

In this tutorial, we will walk you through how to collect a Chrome Net-Internals log, and a WireShark Capture.

Pre-requisites:

What is Wireshark?

Wireshark is a tool for collecting network traffic. This will allow the Chrome team to get a better idea of what might be causing the network issues.

Reduce Background Noise

Before attempting to make a network log, it is important to try to reduce the background noise. Normally our computers have a number of programs running in the background, many of which are connecting to external sources. To give yourself the best chance for success, turn off all unnecessary programs, for the duration of the log. After you finish, feel free to turn everything back on.

Collecting the Logs

To collect your network logs, perform the following steps:

  1. Close Google Chrome and all it’s windows
  2. Restart Google Chrome (if it isn’t already open)
  3. Open the Net-internals page in a new window or tab (make sure to leave this open) using the following address: about:net-internals
  4. Open Wireshark
    1. From the Capture menu, select Interfaces
    2. Find the Description describing your network interface (It will likely have the growing number next to it). Press the Start button to the right of this connection
  5. Return to Google Chrome
  6. Open a new tab or window and perform whatever operation you want to log (For example, go to gmail.com if you want to demonstrate a slow loading behaviour). Continue until you feel you have a sufficient sample (in the case that it never completes)
  7. Open the net-internals page you left open.
    1. Under Dump data press the Dump to file button
    2. This log will be downloaded to your downloads folder
  8. Go to Wireshark
    1. From the Capture menu, select Stop
    2. From the File menu, select Save As…
    3. Enter a descriptive File name (for example ‘gmail-capture’) and for convenience, save it to a location you will remember (such as “My Documents”)

You will now have both a Google Chrome net-internals log, and a wireshark log. Make sure to keep track of where you saved them, and when appropriate, attach them to the bug report.

If you have any questions about this tutorial, please let me know.

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