While browsing Docker Hub, I came across this
nifty Google Lighthouse Docker image (by Jay Moulin) which allows you to execute a Lighthouse audit against a given URL
in a containerized application -
made possible by the Google Chrome Headless Docker base
image. From a practical standpoint, this feels more reliable than running Lighthouse in the Chrome browser where extensions and other variables can easily interfere with the results of the audit.
You can check out the Dockerfile for this image here:
Consuming it is pretty straightforward. With
Docker installed and running while switched to Linux containers, two
commands are all you need:
Additional options for the Lighthouse audit, like controlling the emulated device form factor (mobile vs. desktop), controlling the throttling method (devtools, provided, simulate), or defining specific categories (Accessibility, Best Practices, Performance, PWA, or SEO) can be included after the URL.
However,
that's quite a bit of text to remember, and memorizing a bunch of Lighthouse CLI
options are not something I
see myself doing. 😋
BUT - we can make this tool more approachable by wrapping it in a PowerShell script. 😍
The name of the game is simplicity: execute .\LighthouseReport.ps1
from a PowerShell terminal, pass in a URL/standard Lighthouse options,
and let it run.
To take it a step further, we can open the $DestinationPath in Windows Explorer by using an Invoke-Item command:
Simple - yet effective!
👨💻 A Little PowerShell
In a new PowerShell file, we'll add a mandatory string parameter called $Url.
We'll also include non-mandatory string parameters:
- $FormFactor
- Valid
options for the '--emulated-form-factor='
flag are 'none', 'desktop', or 'mobile'.
- Default value when no parameter
is provided will be 'desktop'
- $Throttling
- Valid
options for the '--throttling-method=' flag
are 'devtools', 'provided', or 'simulate'.
- Default value when no parameter
is provided will be 'provided.'
- $Categories (array of strings)
- Valid options for the '--only-categories='
flag are 'accessibility', 'best-practices',
'performance', 'pwa', 'seo'.
- Default value when no parameter
is provided will a comma-delimited string of all
applicable categories 'accessibility,best-practices,performance,pwa,seo'
- $DestinationPath
- The
local path to where the report will be 'dropped.'
(used as a volume mapping to the container's '/home/chrome/reports'
directory)
- Default value when no parameter is provided will be "C:/lighthouse"
We'll add the docker pull command for femtopixel/google-lighthouse first. During the initial execution of the script, all required images will be downloaded from Docker Hub.
If your image becomes stale or a newer version is available, this will automatically update the image.
Then add the docker run command with the -v flag to mount a
volume to map the local $DestinationPath to the /home/chrome/reports directory on the container. Include the $URL parameter at the end, and all options following:
When the docker run command is executed, Docker will take over, and Lighthouse will begin to
execute on
the
container. Once completed, a .html file will be
available in
the $DestinationPath.
To take it a step further, we can open the $DestinationPath in Windows Explorer by using an Invoke-Item command:
If we want to open the .html report, we can set the
PowerShell
location to the $DestinationPath, followed by an Invoke-Item
where we pass in Get-ChildItem latest .html file.
Simple - yet effective!
🏁 Final Script
⌨ Example Usage
Desktop form factor auditing all categories:
Desktop form factor auditing Best Practices, Performance and SEO only:
Mobile form factor auditing Performance only:
💡 TIP: When setting a parameter (-FormFactor, -Throttling, -Categories), you can use
Ctrl+Space to display valid options and hit enter to select it.
🙌 Feel free to grab a copy and modify it to your liking.
👍 Result
🙌 Feel free to grab a copy and modify it to your liking.
