# rpk cluster self-test start

> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/llms.txt). Component-specific: [streaming-full.txt](https://docs.redpanda.com/streaming-full.txt)

---
title: rpk cluster self-test start
latest-operator-version: v26.1.4
# EOL = End-of-Life (support lifecycle status)
page-is-nearing-eol: "false"
page-is-past-eol: "true"
page-eol-date: April 30, 2025
latest-console-tag: v3.7.3
latest-connect-version: 4.93.0
docname: rpk/rpk-cluster/rpk-cluster-self-test-start
page-component-name: streaming
page-version: "24.1"
page-component-version: "24.1"
page-component-title: Streaming
page-relative-src-path: rpk/rpk-cluster/rpk-cluster-self-test-start.adoc
page-edit-url: https://github.com/redpanda-data/docs/edit/v/24.1/modules/reference/pages/rpk/rpk-cluster/rpk-cluster-self-test-start.adoc
description: Reference for the 'rpk cluster self-test start' command. Starts one or more benchmark tests on one or more nodes of the cluster.
page-git-created-date: "2023-08-04"
page-git-modified-date: "2024-04-30"
support-status: past end-of-life
---

<!-- Source: https://docs.redpanda.com/streaming/24.1/reference/rpk/rpk-cluster/rpk-cluster-self-test-start.md -->

Starts one or more benchmark tests on one or more nodes of the cluster.

Available tests to run:

-   **Disk tests**

    -   Throughput test: 512 KB messages, sequential read/write

        -   Uses a larger request message sizes and deeper I/O queue depth to write/read more bytes in a shorter amount of time, at the cost of IOPS/latency.


    -   Latency test: 4 KB messages, sequential read/write

        -   Uses smaller request message sizes and lower levels of parallelism to achieve higher IOPS and lower latency.



-   **Network tests**

    -   Throughput test: 8192-bit messages

        -   Unique pairs of Redpanda nodes each act as a client and a server.

        -   The test pushes as much data over the wire, within the test parameters.




This command immediately returns on success, and the tests run asynchronously. The user polls for results with the [rpk cluster self-test status](https://docs.redpanda.com/streaming/24.1/reference/rpk/rpk-cluster/rpk-cluster-self-test-status/) command.

## [](#usage)Usage

```bash
rpk cluster self-test start [flags]
```

## [](#flags)Flags

| Value | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| --disk-duration-ms | duration | uint The in milliseconds of individual disk test runs (default 30000). |
| -h, --help | - | Help for start. |
| --network-duration-ms | duration | uint The in milliseconds of individual network test runs (default 30000). |
| --no-confirm | - | Acknowledge warning prompt skipping read from stdin. |
| --only-disk-test | - | Runs only the disk benchmarks. |
| --only-network-test | - | Runs only network benchmarks. |
| --participant-node-ids | - | ints IDs of nodes that the tests will run on. If not set, tests will run for all node IDs. |
| --config | string | Redpanda or rpk config file; default search paths are /var/lib/redpanda/.config/rpk/rpk.yaml, $PWD/redpanda.yaml, and /etc/redpanda/redpanda.yaml. |
| -X, --config-opt | stringArray | Override rpk configuration settings. See rpk -X or execute rpk -X help for inline detail or rpk -X list for terser detail. |
| --profile | string | Profile to use. See rpk profile for more details. |
| -v, --verbose | - | Enable verbose logging. |