Speedtest Tracker on Google Cloud Run

Speedtest Tracker is a free, open-source, self-hosted internet speed test monitoring tool built on Laravel (PHP). It runs Ookla speed tests on a recurring schedule, stores results in a database, and presents them as historical charts through a web dashboard and REST API. This module deploys Speedtest Tracker on Cloud Run v2 on top of the App_CloudRun foundation, which provisions and manages the shared Google Cloud infrastructure.

This guide focuses on the cloud services Speedtest Tracker uses and how to explore and operate them from the Google Cloud Console and the command line. For the mechanics common to every Cloud Run application — service identity, ingress and load balancing, scaling and concurrency, CI/CD, Cloud Armor, IAP, Binary Authorization, VPC Service Controls, backups, and the deployment lifecycle — refer to the App_CloudRun foundation guide rather than repeating them here.

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1. Overview

Speedtest Tracker runs as a PHP container on Cloud Run v2. The deployment wires together a focused set of Google Cloud services:

Capability	Google Cloud service	Notes
Compute	Cloud Run v2	PHP (LinuxServer) container, 1 vCPU / 1 GiB by default, always-on (not scale-to-zero)
Database	Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.0	Required — this module fixes MySQL; the upstream image's SQLite default is bypassed
Cache & sessions	Redis (optional)	Disabled by default; Speedtest Tracker uses the local file/sync cache driver
Secrets	Secret Manager	Auto-generated Laravel APP_KEY; database password
Ingress	Cloud Run URL / Cloud Load Balancing	Default run.app URL; optional external HTTPS load balancer + custom domain

Sensible defaults worth knowing up front:

• MySQL 8.0 is mandatory. The database engine is fixed by the shared application layer (database_type = "MYSQL_8_0"); PostgreSQL is not supported. Speedtest Tracker's own SQLite default (used when no DB env vars are set at all) is never reached because this module always wires MySQL.
• The prebuilt linuxserver/speedtest-tracker image is used directly. There is no custom Cloud Build for the default deployment; the official LinuxServer.io image is mirrored into Artifact Registry (enable_image_mirroring = true) and deployed as-is. Fallback: ghcr.io/alexjustesen/speedtest-tracker (Alpine-based, no s6-overlay) if the LinuxServer image is ever found incompatible with Cloud Run's gVisor sandbox — a documented risk class for s6-overlay images in this catalogue (confirmed on Prowlarr, though not universal; BookStack, also LinuxServer, works fine on Cloud Run).
• The container listens on port 80 (container_port = 80, container_protocol = "http1").
• Always-on by design, not by cost default. cpu_always_allocated = true and min_instance_count = 1 / max_instance_count = 1. The SPEEDTEST_SCHEDULE cron expression drives an in-process Laravel scheduler that fires speed tests independent of any inbound HTTP request — under request-based billing or scale-to-zero, the schedule silently never completes its work (the same failure class documented for n8n/Kestra in this catalogue). max_instance_count is capped at 1 because the scheduler has no cross-instance locking; more than one warm instance risks firing duplicate speed tests on the same tick.
• APP_KEY is immutable after first boot. The Laravel app key is generated once and stored in Secret Manager; rotating it makes all encrypted DB values undecryptable.
• The image runs php artisan migrate --force automatically on start, so the schema is created on first boot after db-init provisions the database and user — there is no separate migration job.
• No storage by default. Speedtest Tracker stores all results and configuration in Cloud SQL, with no user-file-upload workflow — create_cloud_storage and enable_nfs default off.
• Cloud Run connects to Cloud SQL over private-IP TCP. enable_cloudsql_volume = false by default, so DB_HOST is the instance private IP; MySQL over private-IP TCP needs no SSL.

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2. Google Cloud Services & How to Explore Them

All commands assume PROJECT and REGION are set. Service and resource names are reported in the deployment Outputs.

A. Cloud Run — the Speedtest Tracker service

Speedtest Tracker runs as a Cloud Run v2 service kept always-on (min_instance_count = 1) so its in-process cron scheduler keeps firing. Each deployment creates an immutable revision; traffic can be split across revisions for safe rollouts.

• Console: Cloud Run → select the service for revisions, traffic, logs, and metrics.
• CLI:

  gcloud run services list --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION"
  gcloud run services describe <service-name> --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION"
  gcloud run revisions list --service <service-name> --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION"

See App_CloudRun for scaling, concurrency, execution environment, and traffic splitting.

B. Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.0

Speedtest Tracker stores all speed test results and application configuration in a managed Cloud SQL for MySQL 8.0 instance. The service connects over the Cloud SQL private IP via VPC egress (enable_cloudsql_volume = false); DB_HOST is set to the instance private IP and no public IP is exposed. On first deploy an initialization Job creates the application database and user.

• Console: SQL → select the instance for connections, backups, flags, metrics.
• CLI:

  gcloud sql instances list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud sql instances describe <instance-name> --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud sql connect <instance-name> --user=speedtesttracker --database=<db-name> --project "$PROJECT"

The instance name, database, user, and password secret are in the Outputs. See App_CloudRun for the connection model, backups, and password rotation.

C. Redis (optional cache & sessions)

Redis is disabled by default (enable_redis = false); Speedtest Tracker uses its local file/sync cache and session drivers, which is fine for a single-instance deployment. When enable_redis = true is set, the shared layer injects REDIS_HOST and REDIS_PORT.

• Console: Memorystore → Redis (if using a managed instance).
• CLI:

  redis-cli -h <redis-host> ping
  # Confirm the DB/schedule wiring in the running revision:
  gcloud run services describe <service-name> --region "$REGION" \
    --format='value(spec.template.spec.containers[0].env)' | tr ',' '\n' | grep -E 'DB_|REDIS_|SPEEDTEST_'

D. Secret Manager

One cryptographic secret is generated automatically and stored in Secret Manager: the Laravel APP_KEY (base64:<44-char base64>), used to encrypt all application data that Speedtest Tracker stores encrypted. The database password is managed separately by the foundation.

• Console: Security → Secret Manager.
• CLI:

  gcloud secrets list --project "$PROJECT"
  gcloud secrets versions access latest --secret=<secret-name> --project "$PROJECT"

See App_CloudRun for injection and rotation details.

E. Networking & ingress

The service is reachable at its run.app URL by default (ingress_settings = "all"). An external HTTPS load balancer with a custom domain, Cloud CDN, and Cloud Armor can be layered on; ingress settings and VPC egress control connectivity.

• Console: Cloud Run (service URL); Network services → Load balancing.
• CLI:

  gcloud run services describe <service-name> --region "$REGION" --format='value(status.url)'
  gcloud compute addresses list --project "$PROJECT"

See App_CloudRun.

F. Cloud Logging & Monitoring

Container logs flow to Cloud Logging; Cloud Run and Cloud SQL metrics flow to Cloud Monitoring, with optional uptime checks and alert policies.

• Console: Logging → Logs Explorer; Monitoring → Dashboards / Alerting.
• CLI:

  gcloud run services logs read <service-name> --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION" --limit 50

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3. Speedtest Tracker Application Behaviour

• First-deploy database setup. An initialization Job runs db-init.sh using mysql:8.0-debian. It detects the Cloud SQL socket or TCP endpoint, waits for MySQL to be reachable, creates the application database and user, grants privileges, verifies the app user can connect, and gracefully shuts down the Cloud SQL Auth Proxy sidecar. The job is idempotent and safe to re-run (max_retries = 3).
• Schema auto-migration on start. The LinuxServer Speedtest Tracker image runs php artisan migrate --force automatically on every container start, so the schema is created on first boot and upgraded on later boots — there is no separate migration job.
• APP_KEY is immutable after first boot. The Laravel app key is generated once and written to Secret Manager. Rotating it makes all encrypted DB values permanently undecryptable. Only rotate during a planned maintenance window with a re-encryption plan.
• In-process cron scheduler. SPEEDTEST_SCHEDULE (default "0 * * * *", hourly) drives Speedtest Tracker's own Laravel scheduler to run automated speed tests. This fires with no inbound HTTP request, so the deployment defaults cpu_always_allocated = true + min_instance_count = 1 specifically to keep it reliable — do not flip these unless the schedule is disabled entirely.
• Result pruning. PRUNE_RESULTS_OLDER_THAN (default "0", disabled) automatically deletes speed test results older than the configured number of days.
• Health path. The liveness probe targets /api/healthcheck — Speedtest Tracker's unauthenticated JSON health endpoint. The startup probe is a TCP check on port 80. Allow a generous first-boot window: the liveness probe has a 300-second initial delay to accommodate the automatic migrations.
• First-run setup. Speedtest Tracker's web UI walks through account creation on first visit — there is no seeded default admin account to change.
• Inspect job execution:

  gcloud run jobs list --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION"
  gcloud run jobs executions list --job <job-name> --project "$PROJECT" --region "$REGION"

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4. Configuration Variables

Variables are grouped exactly as they appear on the deployment platform. Only settings specific to or notable for Speedtest Tracker are listed; every other input is inherited from App_CloudRun with its standard behaviour.

Group 1 — Project & Identity

Variable	Default	Description
project_id	(required)	Target Google Cloud project.
region	us-central1	Region for the service and regional resources.

Group 2 — Deployment Environment

Variable	Default	Description
tenant_deployment_id	demo	Short suffix that makes resource names unique per environment.
support_users	[]	Emails granted project access and monitoring alerts.
resource_labels	{}	Labels applied to all resources.

Group 3 — Application Identity

Variable	Default	Description
application_name	speedtesttracker	Base name for resources. Do not change after first deploy.
display_name	Speedtest Tracker	Human-readable name shown in the Console.
description	Speedtest Tracker — automated internet speed test monitoring and history	Service description.
application_version	latest	linuxserver/speedtest-tracker image tag; pin (e.g. version-v1.6.3) in production.
speedtest_schedule	0 * * * *	Cron expression for the automated speed test schedule.
prune_results_older_than	0	Days after which old results are pruned; 0 disables pruning.

Group 4 — Runtime & Scaling

Variable	Default	Description
deploy_application	true	Set false to provision infrastructure only.
container_image_source	prebuilt	Deploy the mirrored LinuxServer image directly — no custom build.
container_image	""	Override image reference; leave empty to use the mirrored default.
cpu_limit	1000m	CPU per instance; 1 vCPU by default.
memory_limit	1Gi	Memory per instance.
cpu_always_allocated	true	Must stay true — the cron scheduler needs CPU with no inbound request.
min_instance_count	1	Must stay ≥ 1 — the scheduler needs an always-running instance.
max_instance_count	1	Keep at 1 — avoids duplicate scheduled speed tests across instances.
container_port	80	Speedtest Tracker listens on port 80.
container_protocol	http1	HTTP/1.1.
execution_environment	gen2	Gen2 execution environment.
timeout_seconds	300	Maximum request duration (0–3600 seconds).
enable_cloudsql_volume	false	Connect over Cloud SQL private-IP TCP (correct for MySQL on Cloud Run).
enable_image_mirroring	true	Mirror the LinuxServer image into Artifact Registry.
max_revisions_to_retain	7	How many old revisions to keep.

Group 5 — Ingress & VPC

Variable	Default	Description
ingress_settings	all	all allows public access to the dashboard.
vpc_egress_setting	PRIVATE_RANGES_ONLY	Route only RFC 1918 traffic via VPC.
enable_iap	false	Require Google sign-in.
iap_authorized_users / iap_authorized_groups	[]	Who may access through IAP.

Group 6 — Environment Variables & Secrets

Variable	Default	Description
environment_variables	{}	Extra non-secret settings (e.g. DISPLAY_TIMEZONE, SPEEDTEST_SERVERS). Do not set APP_KEY or DB_* here.
secret_environment_variables	{}	Map of env var → Secret Manager secret name.
secret_propagation_delay	30	Seconds to wait after secret creation before proceeding.
secret_rotation_period	2592000s	Secret Manager rotation notification frequency.

Group 7 — Backup & Maintenance

Variable	Default	Description
backup_schedule	0 2 * * *	Automated backup cron (UTC).
backup_retention_days	7	Retention; raise for production/compliance.
enable_backup_import / backup_source / backup_uri / backup_format	restore options	Restore from a backup on deploy.

Group 8 — CI/CD & Binary Authorization

Standard App_CloudRun Cloud Build / Cloud Deploy integration — see App_CloudRun. Key inputs: enable_cicd_trigger, github_repository_url, github_token, enable_cloud_deploy, enable_binary_authorization.

Group 9 — Custom SQL Scripts

enable_custom_sql_scripts, custom_sql_scripts_bucket, custom_sql_scripts_path, custom_sql_scripts_use_root — run SQL from a GCS bucket after provisioning. See App_CloudRun.

Group 10 — Cloud Armor, CDN & Custom Domain

Variable	Default	Description
enable_cloud_armor	false	Provision Global HTTPS LB + Cloud Armor WAF.
admin_ip_ranges	[]	CIDR ranges exempted from WAF rules.
application_domains	[]	Custom domain names for the HTTPS LB.
enable_cdn	false	Enable Cloud CDN on the HTTPS LB backend.
max_images_to_retain / delete_untagged_images / image_retention_days	7 / true / 30	Artifact Registry cleanup policy.

Group 11 — Cloud Storage & NFS

Variable	Default	Description
create_cloud_storage	true	Create any buckets declared in storage_buckets (empty by default).
storage_buckets	[]	GCS buckets to provision. Not needed by default.
enable_nfs	false	Not required by default — all state lives in Cloud SQL.
nfs_mount_path	/config	Mount path if NFS is enabled (e.g. for custom certs).
gcs_volumes	[]	GCS Fuse volume mounts (requires gen2).
manage_storage_kms_iam / enable_artifact_registry_cmek	false	CMEK options.

Group 12 — Database

Variable	Default	Description
database_type	MYSQL_8_0	Fixed — Speedtest Tracker requires MySQL 8.0 in this module.
db_name	speedtesttracker	MySQL database name (tenant-prefixed). Immutable after first deploy.
db_user	speedtesttracker	Application database user (tenant-prefixed). Password auto-generated in Secret Manager.
database_password_length	32	Generated password length.
enable_auto_password_rotation / rotation_propagation_delay_sec	false / 90	DB password rotation.

Group 13 — Workload Automation

Variable	Default	Description
initialization_jobs	[]	Leave empty to use the built-in db-init job.
cron_jobs	[]	For unrelated maintenance tasks — Speedtest Tracker's own speed-test schedule runs in-process via SPEEDTEST_SCHEDULE.

Group 14 — Observability & Health

Variable	Default	Description
startup_probe	TCP port 80, 30s delay	Startup probe (port-listening check).
liveness_probe	HTTP /api/healthcheck, 300s delay	Liveness probe against the unauthenticated health endpoint.
uptime_check_config	{ enabled=false, path="/api/healthcheck" }	Optional Cloud Monitoring uptime check.
alert_policies	[]	Metric alert policies.

Group 21 — Redis Cache & Sessions

Variable	Default	Description
enable_redis	false	Inject REDIS_HOST/REDIS_PORT so Speedtest Tracker can use Redis for cache/sessions. Not required by default.
redis_host	""	Redis endpoint. Leave empty to use the NFS server IP (requires enable_nfs = true).
redis_port	6379	Redis port.
redis_auth	""	Optional Redis auth password (sensitive).

Group 22 — VPC Service Controls & Audit Logging

Variable	Default	Description
enable_vpc_sc	false	Enforce a VPC-SC perimeter (requires organization_id).
vpc_cidr_ranges / vpc_sc_dry_run	(set)	Access level CIDRs / dry-run mode.
enable_audit_logging	false	Detailed Cloud Audit Logs.

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5. Outputs

Returned on a successful deployment — the quickest way to locate and explore the running resources.

Output	Description
service_name	Cloud Run service name.
service_url	Default run.app URL of the service.
service_location	Region the service runs in.
stage_services	Stage-specific service URLs (Cloud Deploy).
load_balancer_ip / load_balancer_url	External HTTPS load balancer IP / URL (when enabled).
database_instance_name	Cloud SQL instance name.
database_name / database_user	Application database name / user.
database_password_secret	Secret Manager secret holding the DB password.
database_host / database_port	DB endpoint (private IP, sensitive) / port.
storage_buckets	Created Cloud Storage buckets (empty by default).
network_name / network_exists / regions	VPC network, presence, regions.
container_image / container_registry	Deployed image and Artifact Registry repo.
monitoring_enabled / monitoring_notification_channels / uptime_check_names	Monitoring status, channels, uptime checks.
initialization_jobs	Names of the setup jobs.
deployment_id / tenant_id / resource_prefix	Naming identifiers.
project_id / project_number	Project identifiers.
cicd_enabled / github_repository_url / github_repository_owner / github_repository_name / cicd_configuration	CI/CD status and details.
artifact_registry_repository / cloudbuild_trigger_name / cloudbuild_trigger_id	Registry and build trigger.
vpc_sc_enabled / vpc_sc_perimeter_name / vpc_sc_dry_run_mode	VPC-SC status.
audit_logging_enabled / artifact_registry_cmek_enabled	Audit logging and CMEK status.

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6. Configuration Pitfalls & Sensible Defaults

Risk: Critical (data loss / outage / security) — High (service degraded) — Medium (cost or partial degradation) — Low (minor).

Inherited plan-time validation. This module passes its configuration through the App_CloudRun foundation engine, which validates values and combinations at plan time — a read replica without its primary, IAP with no authorized identities, a gen1 runtime with NFS/GCS mounts, a database_type that does not match the engine Speedtest Tracker requires, an out-of-range redis_port/backup_retention_days. This module additionally validates that cpu_always_allocated=true implies min_instance_count >= 1, and that max_instance_count <= 1 whenever speedtest_schedule is set. Invalid configuration fails the plan with a clear, named error before any resource is created.

Setting	Sensible value	Risk	Consequence if wrong
APP_KEY (auto-generated)	Never rotate after first boot	Critical	Rotating it makes all encrypted DB values permanently undecryptable.
db_name / db_user	Set once	Critical	Immutable after first deploy; renaming recreates the DB/user and destroys all data.
enable_backup_import	false unless restoring	Critical	Enabling without a valid backup_uri fails the import job.
database_type	MYSQL_8_0	Critical	Speedtest Tracker requires MySQL in this module; any other engine breaks startup.
cpu_always_allocated / min_instance_count	true / 1	Critical	Flipping either silently stops SPEEDTEST_SCHEDULE from ever firing — it will look deployed and healthy but never actually run a scheduled speed test.
max_instance_count	1	High	Scaling beyond 1 with an active speedtest_schedule risks duplicate speed tests firing on the same schedule tick (no cross-instance locking).
memory_limit	1Gi	High	Lower values risk OOM kills during migrations or concurrent dashboard use.
enable_cloudsql_volume	false (private-IP TCP)	High	On Cloud Run, Speedtest Tracker connects over private-IP TCP; forcing the socket path is unnecessary and can break DB connectivity.
ingress_settings	all	High	Setting to internal blocks all external dashboard access.
enable_iap	only when readers must authenticate	High	IAP blocks all anonymous access.
container_image_source	prebuilt	Medium	Custom Cloud Build with no Dockerfile fails the build.
backup_retention_days	7 (raise for prod)	Medium	Too short for compliance retention.

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For the foundation behaviour referenced throughout — service identity, scaling and concurrency, ingress and load balancing, CI/CD, Cloud Armor, IAP, Binary Authorization, VPC-SC, backups, and image mirroring — see App_CloudRun. Speedtest Tracker-specific application configuration shared with the GKE variant is described in SpeedtestTracker_Common.