To upgrade the AppDynamics Java Agent, you copy the existing agent directory to a backup location and replace it with the new agent directory. You then copy configuration file changes made in the old directory to the new agent directory and restart the application server.

This page provides additional background information and step-by-step instructions.

About the Upgrade

Before you begin, review the Release Notes for changes that affect your environment. If you are upgrading both the Controller and agents, first upgrade the Controller and then upgrade the Java Agents.

Also, if upgrading multiple agents in your monitored environment, upgrade the agents for the tiers on which business transactions are originated last. For more information about this requirement, along with Controller and agent compatibility information, see Agent and Controller Compatibility. 

Upgrading the agent requires a restart of the application server.

An agent upgrade requires no action on the Controller.

Before starting, download the latest version of the Java Agent for your JVM from the AppDynamics Download Center. 

Upgrade the Java Agent

  1. Shut down the application server where the Java Agent is installed.
  2. Create a backup copy of the current agent installation directory.
  3. Extract the Java Agent archive to a new directory
  4. Rename the existing agent directory. 
  5. Rename the new directory to the original name of the old agent directory. The new agent directory and its containing files should have the same directory path as the original one. Using the same directory path avoids the task of manually changing the agent-related configurations in your JVM startup script.

  6. Copy controller-info.xml and, if necessary, agent.properties from the old agent config directory to the following location in the new directory: 

    <agent_home>/<version>/conf

     For example: 

    appd_javaagent/ver4.0.0.0/conf

     

  7. If you previously made changes to the app-agent-config.xml or other configuration files, copy those changes to the new file as well.

    If you are using an SSL port (ssl-enabled=true) to communicate with the Controller UI, make sure that you copy the TrustStore files to the new directory. For example, copy the cacerts.jks from the old backup agent directory (<version>/conf/) to the new upgraded directory (<agent_home>/<version>/conf/). Also, make sure that the agent TrustStore file (cacerts.jks) is readable by the agent user.


  8. Restart the application server.

Once completed, you can archive the original directory and remove it from the application server home.