Title: Target a specific edge server location Author: WordPress VIP Documentation Published: November 26, 2024 Last modified: June 2, 2025 --- 1. [Infrastructure](https://docs.wpvip.com/infrastructure/) 2. [Edge servers](https://docs.wpvip.com/infrastructure/edge-servers/) 3. Target a specific edge server location # Target a specific edge server location By default, responses to a request are served by [an edge server](https://docs.wpvip.com/infrastructure/edge-cache/) geographically located closest to the user making the request. However for testing purposes or to debug issues related to caching behaviors it can be useful to target an edge server in a specific global location. To target an edge server in a specific global location: 1. **Determine the edge server’s hostname.** The hostname of each server location follows the pattern `lb-cache..vipv2.net`. 2. * `` is populated by the three letter abbreviation of the server’s location city. Refer to the table on “[Global locations of edge cache servers](https://docs.wpvip.com/infrastructure/edge-cache/global-locations/)” for city abbreviations. For example, the three letter abbreviation of an edge server in Vienna, Austria is `vie`. * `` is populated by an integer value between `1` and `8`. Each edge server location has multiple servers, but not all integers between `1` and `8` are valid for that location. Use `ping` to test if a hostname is valid. In this example command, `ping` is used to confirm that `2` is a valid server number in the Vienna, Austria (`vie`) location: ```lang-shell $ ping -c1 lb-cache2.vie.vipv2.net PING lb-cache2.vie.vipv2.net (185.138.29.29): 56 data bytes 64 bytes from 185.138.29.29: icmp_seq=0 ttl=46 time=191.748 ms --- lb-cache2.vie.vipv2.net ping statistics --- 1 packets transmitted, 1 packets received, 0.0% packet loss round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 191.748/191.748/191.748/nan ms ``` 2. **Retrieve the edge server’s IP address.** Use the hostname and the `dig` command to retrieve the server’s IP address. In this example command, the `dig` command is run for an edge server in Vienna, Austria (`vie`) with the determined hostname` lb-cache2.vie.vipv2.net`. In this command example, the output indicates that the edge server with the hostname` lb-cache2.vie.vipv2.net` has the IP address 185.138.29.29: ```lang-shell $ dig +short lb-cache2.vie.vipv2.net 185.138.29.29 ``` 3. **Target the edge server with a request.** Use the IP address retrieved in Step 2 to send a `curl` request for a URL of a site hosted on WPVIP to that specific server. Set up the command to output the value of the `x-rq` HTTP response header to confirm that the response came from the edge cache server location the command was intended to target. The `curl` should be structured as: `curl -Is "" -- resolve :443: | grep x-rq` In this command example, a `curl` request to the URL `https://docs.wpvip.com/caching/` is made with [the `--resolve` option](https://curl.se/docs/manpage.html#--resolve) to the edge server with the IP address 185.138.29.29: ```lang-shell $ curl -Is "https://docs.wpvip.com/caching/" --resolve docs.wpvip.com:443:185.138.29.29 | grep x-rq x-rq: vie2 111 254 443 ``` The response header and value `x-rq: vie2 111 254 443` in the output confirms that the response was served by the edge server in Vienna, Austria (`vie`). Last updated: June 02, 2025