Zendesk Customer Support may occasionally need additional information about the network requests that are generated in your browser. A member of the team may ask you to record a HAR file, or a log of network requests, while that issue occurs. It's helpful to include any browser console logs in addition to a HAR file. Similarly, you may also collect Windows log files in addition to HAR files.
This article includes these sections:
Instructions for generating HAR files
Click the links below to read the instructions to generate a HAR file and console logs in the browser that you use.
- Generate a HAR file in Chrome
- Generate a HAR file in Firefox
- Generate a HAR file in Safari
- Generate a HAR file in Edge
Generate a HAR file in Chrome
- Open Chrome and go to the page where the issue is occurring.
- Look for the ⋮ button and select More Tools > Developer Tools.
- From the panel that appears, select the Network tab. You must keep the menu open while you reproduce the issue.
Optional: If Zendesk Customer Support requests a HAR file with WebSockets, select the WS option in the Network tab. Reload your browser to start seeing the traffic over the WebSocket. Note that WS option does not capture all logs when downloading the HAR file but for display filter purposes and download WebSocket logs only.
- Look for a round record button in the upper left corner of the tab, and make sure it is red. If it is grey, click the button once to start recording.
- If it isn't, check the Preserve log box.
- Click the grey crossed circle button to clear any existing logs from the network tab.
- Reproduce the issue while the network requests are recorded.
- Click the download button, Export HAR, to download, and save the file to your computer: Save as HAR with Content.
- Upload the HAR file to your ticket with Zendesk Customer Support for further investigation.
See Instructions for sending HAR files.
The instructions are the same for a MAC computer or a Windows computer. Find below a brief animation with the steps to retrieve a HAR file in Chrome.
For any issues generating this file, see this article from Google's Help Center: Capture web session traffic.
If you generate an empty HAR file, see the Why are exported Chrome HAR files returning zero bytes? troubleshooting article. You may need to enable HAR exports with sensitive data.
To retrieve console logs in Chrome
- Open Main Menu for Chrome.
- Navigate to More Tools > Developer Tools.
- Open the Console tab and screenshot any errors that appear.
Generate a HAR file in Firefox
- Open Firefox and go to the page where the issue is occurring.
- Open the Network Monitor.
- Reproduce the issue while the network requests are recorded.
- Right-click anywhere under the File column and click Save All As HAR.
- Save the HAR file somewhere convenient.
- Upload the HAR file to your ticket with Zendesk Customer Support for further investigation.
See Instructions for sending HAR files.
The instructions are the same for a MAC computer or a Windows computer. For any issues generating a HAR file in Firefox, see this article from Firefox Source Docs: Network Monitor.
To retrieve console logs in Firefox
- In the Tools menu, select Web Developer.
- Console logs will appear in a separate window.
- Screenshot any errors that appear.
Generate a HAR file in Safari
- Open Safari and go to the Develop menu. If you don't see theDevelop menu, follow the instructions in this article from the Safari User Guide: Use the developer tools in the Develop menu in Safari on Mac.
- Select Show Web Inspector.
- Click the Network tab. You must keep it open while you reproduce the issue.
- Reproduce the issue while the network requests are recorded.
- Click the Export icon and save the HAR file.
- Upload the HAR file to your ticket with Zendesk Customer Support for further investigation.
See Instructions for sending HAR files.
For any issues generating a HAR file in Safari, see this article from Safari Developer website: Web Inspector.
To retrieve console logs in Safari
- Open Preferences and navigate to the Advanced tab.
- Select Show Developer menu in the menu bar.
- Close Preferences.
- In the menu bar, select Developer > Show error console.
- Screenshot any errors that appear.
To generate a HAR file in Edge
- Open Edge and go to the Network tool.
- Reproduce the issue while the network requests are recorded.
- Export captured traffic as a HAR file.
- Upload the HAR file to your ticket with Zendesk Customer Support for further investigation.
See Instructions for sending HAR files.
For any issues generating a HAR file in Safari, see this article from Microsoft Edge website: Inspect network activity.
To retrieve console logs in Edge
- Select the three dots in the upper-right corner of your browser window.
- Click More tools > Developer Tools.
- In the DevTools panel, click the Console tab.
- Right-click the console and select Clear Console of any pre-existing logs.
- Check the Preserve Log checkbox.
- Replicate the issue that you experienced in the Edge browser.
- Screenshot any errors that appear.
Instructions for sending HAR files
Before you send a HAR file to Zendesk, you should both rename AND zip or compress your HAR files. Uncompressed HAR files are often over Zendesk attachment limits. Also, by default, HAR files use the page URL as the name of the file. Files with .com extensions look suspicious to spam and phishing filters. Give the HAR file a descriptive name that doesn't include their full URL.
20 comments
Brian Peters
These instructions need to be updated. You cannot right-click to download. There is a specific download button in Chrome.
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Brett Bowser
Hey Brian,
Thanks for taking the time to share this with us! I'll pass this feedback along to our documentation team so they can get this article updated.
Cheers!
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Nova Dawn
Cheers Brett, I have updated the article accordingly :)
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Dae Kim
Hi Zendesk support team. We were recently asked to produce a HAR file for troubleshooting. Can you please tell me what data is being captured in a HAR file? I would like to understand this before sending this file to you.
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Tudor-George Pascu
Hi Dae,
Thank you for contacting Zendesk Support! I'm George from the Advocacy Team and I will be pleased to help you with this
HAR (HTTP Archive Format) is a JSON archive file format that stores session data over many browsers (IE, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, etc.) between client and server. In the network environment, when the communication between the sender and the receiver occurs, HAR contains HTTP response and request headers.
HAR files can contain sensitive data, so make sure you store these files securely. We from Zendesk are compromised to store the data that you will be sending to us. If If you wish please have a look at our Privacy policy regarding our customers data safe.
HAR file are used to inspect what is happening behind the scenes of your browser. More specifically, it has all the details about operations your browser performed. It includes information like requests made, response times, response status code etc. What is more significant it also includes sensitive data that should not be shared with untrusted parties. That is why you should only share your HAR files with Auth0 employees.
I will tentatively solve this ticket for now as this information should assist you with your query. However don't hesitate to reply to this email if you have any further follow up questions or queries.
Have a great day!
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William Grote
Where is the specific download button in Chrome?
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Dave Dyson
It's possible that Chrome has changed its UI for this since this article was written. Look for the down arrow in the same row as the Preserve log checkbox (the tooltip for the arrow will say "Export HAR..." if you hover your cursor over it):
I'll contact our docs team to get this updated (and to fix the broken image later in the article).
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William Grote
Thanks Dave
That did the trick!
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Dave Dyson
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Dheeraj Giroti
Hi , Facing Few issue with Mobile Messaging , trying to contact the customer support , but no resolution till now even no ETA for same has been provided.
Issues - 1. Bot responses being added on top of your first reply and not giving the option to continue - Android 11 Samsung
2. Crash For Android 12 via selecting image from Camera from Zendesk AttachmentActivity
Logs
Caused by java.lang.IllegalArgumentException
Couldn't find meta-data for provider with authority com.zendesk.native_messaging.fileprovider
androidx.core.content.FileProvider.parsePathStrategy (FileProvider.java:662)
androidx.core.content.FileProvider.getUriForFile (FileProvider.java:441)
zendesk.messaging.android.internal.conversationscreen.attachments.AttachmentActivity.startCamera (AttachmentActivity.kt:220)
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rassalas
So I downloaded the HAR file and am wondering what is a good app for viewing it? Libre Calc has troble with it. any suggestions?
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Anne Ronalter
on the MacBook, you can open a HAR file with TextEdit.
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Trinity Opoka
Hey there. Is there any chance that the instructions will be updated to coincide with the most recent versions of these browsers? I'd like to use these instructions for our end users by sharing the link, but some information may be outdated, particularly the Chrome one where it asks us to click in the preserver log box. I have not checked any of the other instructions. Thanks
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Jupete Manitas
We are going to pass this along with our documentation team to have a closer look. Thank you for this heads-up!
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Jupete Manitas
Hello Trinity, we're glad to inform you that the steps especially for Chrome have been updated. Thank you!
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Pierre Joudy
I have been asked to generate a HAR file for an existing ticket. I have tried several times and am only allowed to Save as type: "MS-DOS Application".
Please help.
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Jimmy Rufo
Hi All,
Is anyone aware of what developments Zendesk has made with automated HAR file sanitization, upon receipt of attached file, per the blog post below from October 2023? CC Cory Vegel , Ana Jones .
https://blog.cloudflare.com/introducing-har-sanitizer-secure-har-sharing
What’s next
Over the coming months, we will launch additional security controls in Cloudflare Zero Trust to further mitigate attacks stemming from session tokens stolen from HAR files. This will include:
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Lucia Spisiakova
Did anyone experiencing issues with downloading the file? I hover over the downwards arrow and see "Export HAR" and clicking on it I even get the little change of colour signalling the button has been clicked but then nothing happens. I checked my download and pop up settings for Chrome and these do not seem to be the issue. I am using Mac. thanks
0
Destiny
Thank you for getting in touch. I regret to hear that you're encountering difficulties with downloading HAR files in the Google Chrome browser.
For reference, I'm currently using Chrome Version 122.0.6261.94 on my Mac with Ventura 13.6.3 OS, and I can download the HAR file without any issues via the arrow button, as shown in this screen capture.
Although this issue doesn't directly pertain to Zendesk, I'd still recommend that you try reinstalling Chrome or updating your software to eliminate any potential obstacles that might prevent the downloading of the HAR file. It's also a good idea to check if any applications on your device might be interfering with the functionality for the pop-up to appear.
I apologize for not being able to offer more specific help, but I hope this advice proves to be beneficial for you.
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Lucia Spisiakova
this worked!! Thank you Destiny not sure why I never thought of just updating the browser... yipee!
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