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HTTP/3 Testing with Web Browsers

This guide walks you through setting up a local Apache httpd server running mod_http3 and verifying HTTP/3 (QUIC) connections using Google Chrome or Chromium.

High-Level Overview

We provide two main helper scripts to automate the local build and browser configuration: 1. scripts/debugger.sh: Builds the module, copies it to the test httpd installation, generates self-signed SSL/QUIC certificates, sets up a sample document root, and writes a test configuration file. 2. scripts/browser.sh: Launches a Chrome/Chromium instance configured to trust the local self-signed certificate and forces the browser to use HTTP/3 for localhost connections.

Step 1: Set Up the Server Environment

First, run the debugger script to compile the module and configure the server files:

./scripts/debugger.sh

What this script does under the hood:

  • Invokes cmake and ninja to build mod_http3.
  • Copies mod_http3.so into the test HTTPD modules folder.
  • Generates a self-signed certificate and key under container/certs/ (if they do not exist) and copies them to the server configuration directory.
  • Populates the test document root (htdocs) with a sample page.
  • Creates the server configuration file (conf/httpd.conf) listening on port 8443.

Step 2: Start the Apache Server

Start the Apache server in single-process debug mode (-X) so you can view all logs directly in your terminal:

./dependencies/httpd-dist/bin/httpd -D FOREGROUND -f conf/httpd.conf

Step 3: Launch Chrome/Chromium with QUIC Enabled

Browsers normally disable HTTP/3 over localhost or block untrusted self-signed certificates. Run the helper script to open a clean browser instance with the correct development flags:

./scripts/browser.sh

Step 4: Verify HTTP/3 in the Browser

  1. In the newly launched browser window, navigate to https://localhost:8443/.
  2. Open the browser's Developer Tools by pressing F12 (or Ctrl + Shift + I).
  3. Click on the Network tab.
  4. Right-click on any of the column headers in the table (such as Name, Status, etc.) and select Protocol to show the Protocol column.
  5. Reload the page (F5 or Ctrl + R).
  6. In the Protocol column for the request, you should see h3 (confirming that HTTP/3 was successfully used).