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The .NET Agent uses a single configuration file to control agent behavior and .NET Machine Agent behavior. The configuration file specifies Controller connectivity, .NET Machine Agent operations, and app agent functionality for IIS applications, Windows services, and standalone applications. The single configuration file lets you:

  • Maintain agent configurations separately from web.config files
  • Enable instrumentation of Windows services and standalone applications without environment variables
  • Control agent behavior for specific applications with hierarchical configuration

The AppDynamics Controller allows you to upload and manage .NET Agent configuration files. From the Controller, you can deploy a configuration to a machine or multiple machines where the agent is installed. See Manage Configuration for .NET.

Where to Configure Agent Properties

Configure the agent properties in the config.xml file in the agent Config directory. To edit the config.xml, you must launch the editor as an administrator. When you run the .NET Agent Configuration Utility, it writes the config.xml file to one of the following locations:

Windows Server 2008 and later

%ProgramData%\AppDynamics\DotNetAgent\Config\config.xml

Windows Azure

For Windows Azure deployments, the .NET Agent NuGet package contains the config.xml file.

Sample config.xml files install to the following location:

%ProgramFiles%\AppDynamics\AppDynamics .NET Agent\SampleConfigurations

After you edit the config.xml file, you must restart the AppDynamics.Agent.Coordinator service. Then restart your IIS services, Windows services or standalone applications for your instrumentation changes to take effect.

Customize .NET Agent Behavior in config.xml

Some .NET Agent configurations require that you edit the config.xml:

  1. Shut down the AppDynamics.Agent.Coordinator service.

  2. Edit the config.xml file as an administrator.

  3. Modify the XML file according to the configuration instructions.

  4. Save the config.xml file.

  5. Start the AppDynamics.Agent.Coordinator service.
  6. In some cases, you may need to restart IIS, instrumented Windows services, or instrumented Standalone applications. See individual .NET Agent administration topics.

Sample Minimal config.xml

The most basic configuration demonstrates the required sections for agent configuration. This sample instruments all IIS applications using the automatic element, <automatic />. AppDynamics does not instrument Windows services or standalone applications in this case.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<appdynamics-agent xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <controller host="mycontroller.mycompany.com" port="8090" ssl=false">
    <application name="MyDotNetApplication" />
	<account name="customer1" password="changeme" />
  </controller>
  <machine-agent />
  <app-agents>
 
    <IIS>
      <automatic />
    </IIS>
 
  </app-agents>
</appdynamics-agent>
CODE

Agent Log Files

The configuration file that controls log files for the .NET Agent is located at:

%ProgramFiles%\AppDynamics\AppDynamics .NET Agent\AppDynamicsAgentLog.config
CODE

The configuration file uses NLog configuration format.