macOS
Homebrewverified · 100%
brew install httperflocal Homebrew formula metadata
MacPortsverified · 94%
sudo port install httperfMacPorts ports tree · www/httperf/Portfile · source: api.github.com
brew
Install httperf with Homebrew, apt, dnf, MacPorts, zypper
Tool for measuring webserver performance. Version 0.9.0 via Homebrew; verified 2026-06-19.
install
Additional install commands
Linux
Debian aptverified · 92%
sudo apt install httperfDebian stable package indexes · httperf · source: deb.debian.org
Fedora dnfverified · 92%
sudo dnf install httperfFedora Rawhide package metadata · httperf · source: dl.fedoraproject.org
openSUSE zypperverified · 92%
sudo zypper install httperfopenSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata · httperf · source: download.opensuse.org
overview
Package summary
Tool for measuring webserver performance
Project links
Commands and aliases
- httperf
- idleconn
history
Project history and usage
httperf is an HTTP load generator and measurement tool associated with HP Research Labs. It is aimed at constructing web-server workloads rather than encoding a single benchmark recipe.
Project history
The HP Research Labs paper by David Mosberger and Tai Jin describes httperf as a flexible facility for generating HTTP workloads and measuring server performance. The maintained source tree presents the same identity: a robust, high-performance tool for both micro- and macro-level web benchmarks, with HTTP/1.1 and SSL support.
The GitHub-hosted tree uses the traditional GNU autotools build flow and documents `httperf` plus the companion `idleconn` program. Its README notes that `idleconn` stopped being built by default as of httperf 0.9.1, which is a small but useful marker of the tool's evolution from research utility into packageable Unix software.
Adoption history
httperf became part of the older Unix web-performance toolkit alongside ApacheBench and other load generators. The batch input records packages for Homebrew, Debian, Fedora, MacPorts, Ubuntu, and openSUSE, reflecting its role as a packaged benchmarking utility rather than a single-vendor service.
How it is used
Typical usage is to issue controlled HTTP request streams with options such as target server, request count, request rate, timeout, and SSL support. The README explicitly warns that a client should usually run only one copy because httperf attempts to consume available CPU to generate an accurate workload.
Why package nerds care
Package nerds care about httperf because it is a compact example of research software that survived as a distro tool: C source, autotools, a manpage-oriented CLI, optional SSL, and output that can feed reproducible performance investigations.
Timeline
- 1998: HP Research Labs authors described httperf as a web-server performance measurement tool.
- 2015: The public GitHub repository under the `httperf` organization was created.
- 0.9.1: `idleconn` stopped being built by default according to the README.
Related projects
- Related tools include ApacheBench (`ab`), Siege, wrk, curl-based smoke tests, and the bundled `idleconn` companion program.
Sources
security posture
Risk level: blue
broad file, network, media, or database tool signal.
Risk classifier
blue risk · medium confidence · tool
Why
- broad file, network, media, or database tool signal
Signals
- text:http,server
Install behavior
- No Homebrew post-install hook is recorded in formula metadata.
- Homebrew bottle metadata is available for 6 platform targets.
- Installs with 1 runtime dependencies.
Recommended review
Before unattended agent use, check whether the tool reads plaintext credentials, writes remote state, publishes artifacts, or shells out to plugins.
executables
Installed executables
| Command | Kind | Exposure | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
httperf | cli | global executable | |
idleconn | cli | global executable |
freshness
Version and freshness
These signals separate page generation age, package-manager activity, and upstream release comparison. Version lag is warned only when an evidence URL and comparable versions are present.
page generated2026-07-08
manager version0.9.0
manager updated2026-06-19
local dataok
upstreamnot checked
latest detectednot detected
https://github.com/httperf/httperf
- infoNo cached GitHub release or tag data was available.https://github.com/httperf/httperfnone confidence
install metadata
Package metadata
| Package key | brew:httperf |
|---|---|
| Version | 0.9.0 |
| Package manager | Homebrew |
| Package manager page | https://formulae.brew.sh/formula/httperf |
| Homepage | https://github.com/httperf/httperf |
| Repository | https://github.com/httperf/httperf |
| Upstream docs | https://github.com/httperf/httperf#readme |
| License | GPL-2.0-or-later |
| Source archive | https://storage.googleapis.com/google-code-archive-downloads/v2/code.google.com/httperf/httperf-0.9.0.tar.gz |
| Last updated | 2026-06-19T12:31:21-07:00 |
| Pulse | updated |
| Dependencies | openssl@4 |
| Bottle | available (on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, sonoma, x86_64_linux) |
| Homebrew post-install | not defined |
| Service | none declared |
registry facts
Source database details
| Source Database | Homebrew formula API |
|---|---|
| Tap | homebrew/core |
| Full Name | httperf |
| Version Scheme | 0 |
| Revision | 3 |
| Head Version | HEAD |
| Bottle Stable Root URL | https://ghcr.io/v2/homebrew/core |
| Deprecated | no |
| Disabled | no |
| Keg Only | no |
| URL Keys |
|
source database matches
Other package-manager records
Matches are pulled from external package-manager indexes and kept separate from local Automic Vault package links.
Debian apt95%
httperf 0.9.0-10
HTTP server performance tester
https://github.com/httperf/httperf
sudo apt install httperf- Section: web
- Architecture: amd64
- 2 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Httperf
Ubuntu apt95%
httperf 0.9.0-9build3
HTTP server performance tester
https://github.com/httperf/httperf
sudo apt install httperf- Section: universe/web
- Architecture: amd64
- 2 dependencies
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Httperf
dnf95%
httperf 0.9.1-0.16.20200929git6342b16.fc44
Tool for measuring web server performance
https://github.com/httperf/httperf
sudo dnf install httperf- License: LicenseRef-Callaway-GPLv2+-with-exceptions
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: httperf
- 6 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Httperf
zypper95%
httperf 0.9.0+git.20201206-2.3
A tool for measuring web server performance
https://github.com/httperf/httperf
sudo zypper install httperf- License: SUSE-GPL-2.0+-with-openssl-exception
- Category: Unspecified
- Architecture: x86_64
- Source Package: httperf
- 4 dependencies
- 1 provides
- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Httperf
MacPorts95%
httperf
sudo port install httperf- normalized package name match
- Matched by: Httperf
source trail
Generated from repository data
This page is generated by av-web from the private package SQLite artifact built by scripts/generate-pkg-sqlite.py.
Combined YAML source
View the package source record on GitHub.
Used sources
- Geiger risk classifier
- Nucleus package database
- av.db category and tag curation
- cross-ecosystem install command graph
- curated package history
- external package-manager database matches
- package relationship graph
- package version freshness
- package-page enrichment