Set up PSA in Azure AKS with Docker Image

Set up the Web Monitoring PSA and API Monitoring PSA in Azure AKS as follows. If you want to set up PSA in an existing Kubernetes cluster, skip the Create the Kubernetes Cluster section.

Create the Kubernetes Cluster.
Build and customise the Docker image.
Tag and push images to the Registry.
Deploy the Web Monitoring PSA and API Monitoring PSA.
Monitor the Kubernetes cluster.

Most of the steps are common for both Web Monitoring PSA and API Monitoring PSA. Wherever applicable, the differences in steps are highlighted.

This document contains links to Azure CLI documentation. AppDynamics makes no representation as to the accuracy of Azure CLI documentation because Azure CLI controls its own documentation.

Create the Kubernetes Cluster

To create a Kubernetes cluster in Azure AKS:

Install and authenticate Azure CLI.

To create a resource group, enter

RESOURCE_GROUP=heimdall-onprem
az group create --name $RESOURCE_GROUP --location eastus

CODE

To create a container registry, enter:

ACR_NAME=heimdallonprem
az acr create --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP --name $ACR_NAME --sku Basic

CODE

To create a cluster, enter:
```
CLUSTER_NAME=heimdall-onprem
az aks create \
    --resource-group $RESOURCE_GROUP \
    --name $CLUSTER_NAME \
    --enable-managed-identity \
    --kubernetes-version 1.x.x \
    --node-count 4 \
    --node-vm-size Standard_D8s_v3 \
    --generate-ssh-keys \
    --attach-acr $ACR_NAME
```
CODE
Replace the kubernetes-version in the above code with one of the supported versions. See Supported Kubernetes versions.

The node-vm-size and node-count in the above code are selected according to the recommended configuration type. You can specify a configuration of your choice with a different type and number of nodes. See node-vm-size.

You must be the owner or administrator of the Azure subscription to run the --attach-acr command.

Access the Cluster

To access the Kubernetes cluster, follow these instructions to install kubectl, a utility to interact with the cluster.

To verify that the cluster is running, enter:

kubectl get nodes

CODE

(Optional) Configure Proxy Server

Configuring a proxy server is supported only on Web Monitoring PSA.

When you configure a proxy server, it applies to all the domains. To configure a proxy server only for certain domains, perform the following steps:

Navigate to the sum-chrome-agent/agent directory.
Open the chrome.py file.

Navigate to the following string:

if self._proxy_server: 
chrome_options.add_argument('--proxy-server={}'.format(self._proxy_server))

CODE

Append the following details:
```
bypass_list = ["*abc.com", "*xyz1.com", "*xyz2.com"]
chrome_options.add_argument('--proxy-bypass-list=%s' % ";".join(bypass_list))
```
CODE
Domain URLs that you specify in bypass_list are not redirected to the proxy server. You can add any number of domains in the bypass_list. All other unspecified domain URLs are redirected to the proxy server.
Specify the proxy server address on the values.yaml file. See Key-Value Pairs Configuration.

If you make any changes to the bypass_list after building the docker image, you must rebuild the docker image.

Build and Customise the Docker Image

You can download the zip file for Simple Synth PSA installation from the Appdynamics Downloads Portal or from the beta upload tool.

This file contains Dockerfiles to install the agents and set up monitoring:

Web Monitoring PSA: Dockerfiles for sum-chrome-agent, sum-heimdall, and Helm charts
API Monitoring PSA: Dockerfiles for sum-api-monitoring-agent, sum-heimdall, and Helm charts

To build an image for sum-chrome-agent, sum-api-monitoring-agent, and sum-heimdall, ensure that Docker is installed. If it is not installed, you can download and install Docker from here. You require internet access to install the dependant libraries.

Alternatively, you can use the pre-built image for sum-chrome-agent, sum-api-monitoring-agent, and sum-heimdall from DockerHub. The pre-built images include the dependant libraries, so you can use these images even when you do not have access to Internet.

docker pull appdynamics/heimdall-psa

docker pull appdynamics/chrome-agent-psa

docker pull appdynamics/api-monitoring-agent-psa

You do not require these steps if you are using pre-built image from the DockerHub repository.

For sum-chrome-agent:

Unzip the zip file to access the sum-chrome-agent directory.

Navigate to the directory and run the following command:

docker build -f Dockerfile-PSA -t sum-chrome-agent:<agent-tag> .

CODE

For sum-api-monitoring-agent:

Unzip the zip file to access the sum-api-monitoring-agent directory.

Navigate to the directory and run the following command:

docker build -f Dockerfile-PSA -t sum-api-monitoring-agent:<agent-tag> .

CODE

For sum-heimdall:

Unzip the zip file to access the sum-heimdall directory.

Navigate to this directory and run the following command:

docker build -f Dockerfile-PSA -t sum-heimdall:<heimdall-tag> .

CODE

You can use any value for <heimdall-tag> and <agent-tag>, but ensure that you use the same value in the subsequent steps.

If you are using macOS with an M1 chip, use the following commands:

sum-chrome-agent

docker buildx build -f Dockerfile-PSA --platform=linux/amd64 -t sum-chrome-agent:<agent-tag> .

CODE

sum-heimdall

docker buildx build -f Dockerfile-PSA --platform=linux/amd64 -t sum-heimdall:<heimdall-tag> .

CODE

sum-api-monitoring-agent

docker buildx build -f Dockerfile-PSA --platform=linux/amd64 -t sum-api-monitoring-agent:<api-tag> .

CODE

(Optional) Add Custom Python Libraries

This section is applicable only for Web Monitoring PSA.

In addition to the standard set of libraries, you can add the custom Python libraries to the agent for the scripted measurements. To add the custom Python libraries, build an image using the downloaded base image.

Create a Dockerfile and create RUN directives to run python pip. For example, to install the library algorithms you can create a Dockerfile:

# Use the sum-chrome-agent image we just loaded as the base image
FROM sum-chrome-agent:<agent-tag>
  
# Install algorithm for python3 on top of that
RUN python3 -m pip install algorithms==0.1.4
  
  
# We can add more RUN directives for installing more libraries
# RUN python3 -m pip install ...

CODE

You can create any number of RUN directives to install the required libraries.

To build the new image, enter:
```
docker build -t sum-chrome-agent:<agent-tag> - < Dockerfile
```
CODE
The newly built agent image contains the required libraries.

Tag and Push Images to the Registry

You must tag and push the images to a registry for cluster to access it. You have to use the ACR_NAME environment variable while creating the cluster.

To tag the images, enter:

Web Monitoring PSA:

ACR_LOGIN_SERVER=$ACR_NAME.azurecr.io
docker tag appdynamics/heimdall-psa:<heimdall-tag> $ACR_LOGIN_SERVER/sum-heimdall:<heimdall-tag>
docker tag appdynamics/chrome-agent-psa:<agent-tag> $ACR_LOGIN_SERVER/sum-chrome-agent:<agent-tag>

CODE

API Monitoring PSA:

ACR_LOGIN_SERVER=$ACR_NAME.azurecr.io
docker tag appdynamics/heimdall-psa:<heimdall-tag> $ACR_LOGIN_SERVER/sum-heimdall:<heimdall-tag>
docker tag appdynamics/api-monitoring-agent-psa:<agent-tag> $ACR_LOGIN_SERVER/sum-api-monitoring-agent:<agent-tag>

CODE

To push the images, enter:

Web Monitoring PSA:

az acr login --name $ACR_NAME
docker push $ACR_LOGIN_SERVER/sum-heimdall:<heimdall-tag>
docker push $ACR_LOGIN_SERVER/sum-chrome-agent:<agent-tag>

CODE

API Monitoring PSA:

az acr login --name $ACR_NAME
docker push $ACR_LOGIN_SERVER/sum-heimdall:<heimdall-tag>
docker push $ACR_LOGIN_SERVER/sum-api-monitoring-agent:<agent-tag>

CODE

Deploy the Web Monitoring PSA and API Monitoring PSA

Ensure that you follow the applicable sequence of steps when installing Web Monitoring PSA and API Monitoring PSA, respectively; some steps are common for both procedures.

The application is deployed to the cluster after the images are in the Registry. You use the Helm chart to deploy and create all Kubernetes resources in the required order.

Install Helm following the instructions here.
1. Create a new namespace to run Apache Ignite pods.
  
  Ensure that you first run the Apache Ignite commands and then run the Heimdall commands.
  
  To create a new namespace for ignite, enter:
```
kubectl create namespace measurement
```
  CODE
  Before you deploy Apache Ignite, you must set some configuration options. To view the configuration options, navigate to the previously downloaded ignite-psa.tgz file and enter:
```
helm show values ignite-psa.tgz > values-ignite.yaml
```
  CODE
  If you want to enable persistence, set persistence > enabled. This is an optional configuration.
To deploy the Helm chart using the above-mentioned configuration, navigate to the previously downloaded ignite-psa.tgz file and enter:
```
helm install synth ignite-psa.tgz --values values-ignite.yaml --namespace measurement
```
CODE
All the Kubernetes resources are created in the cluster, and you can use Apache Ignite. After a few seconds, Apache Ignite initializes and is visible in the Controller.

To verify if the pods are running, enter:

kubectl get pods --namespace measurement

CODE

Proceed to the next steps only after the Apache Ignite pods run successfully.

Using a single command, you can deploy the Helm chart, which contains the deployment details. To deploy the agent, use the Helm chart sum-psa-heimdall.tgz in the zip file that you downloaded previously. Before you deploy the Private Synthetic Agent, you must set some configuration options. To view the configuration options, navigate to the previously downloaded sum-psa-heimdall.tgz file and enter:

helm show values sum-psa-heimdall.tgz > values.yaml

CODE

These are the configuration key-value pairs that you need to edit in the values.yaml file:

Web Monitoring PSA:

Configuration Key	Value
`heimdall > repository`	`$ACR_LOGIN_SERVER/sum-heimdall`
`heimdall > tag`	`<heimdall-tag>`
`heimdall > pullPolicy`	`Always`
`chromeAgent > repository`	`$ACR_LOGIN_SERVER/sum-chrome-agent`
`chromeAgent > tag`	`<agent-tag>`
`shepherd > url`	`Shepherd URL`
`shepherd > credentials`	`credentials`
`shepherd > location`	`agent location`

API Monitoring PSA:

Configuration Key	Value
`heimdall > repository`	`$ACR_LOGIN_SERVER/sum-heimdall`
`heimdall > tag`	`<heimdall-tag>`
`heimdall > pullPolicy`	`Always`
`apiMonitoringAgent > repository`	`$ACR_LOGIN_SERVER/sum-api-monitoring-agent`
`apiMonitoringAgent > tag`	`<agent-tag>`
`shepherd > url`	`Shepherd URL`
`shepherd > credentials`	`credentials`
`shepherd > location`	`agent location`

You can leave the rest of the values set to their defaults or configure them based on your requirements. See Configure Web Monitoring PSA and API Monitoring PSA for details on shepherd URL, credentials, location, and optional key-value pairs.

If the Kubernetes cluster is locked down, and you cannot make cluster-wide configuration, you can make pod-level changes.

For example, if you want to change the pod-level DNS server setting to use your internal nameservers for DNS name resolution, specify the following details in the values.yaml file:

Configuration Key	Value
`agentDNSConfig:`
`enabled:`	`true`
`dnsConfig:`
`nameservers:`	`["4.4.4.4"]`
`searches:`	`["svc.cluster.local", "cluster.local"]`

To deploy the Helm chart using the above-mentioned configuration, navigate to the previously downloaded sum-psa-heimdall.tgz file and enter:
```
helm install heimdall-onprem sum-psa-heimdall.tgz --values values.yaml --namespace measurement
```
CODE
All the Kubernetes resources are created in the cluster, and you can use Heimdall. After a few seconds, Heimdall initializes and is visible in the Controller.
To verify if the pods are running, enter:
```
kubectl get pods --namespace measurement
```
CODE
To make any changes to the values.yaml after the initial deployment, navigate to the previously downloaded sum-psa-heimdall.tgz file and enter:
```
helm upgrade heimdall-onprem sum-psa-heimdall.tgz --values values.yaml --namespace measurement
```
CODE
To remove the deployment:
helm uninstall heimdall-onprem --namespace measurement

CODE
This is not recommended unless it is required.

Monitor the Kubernetes Cluster

The Helm chart sum-psa-monitoring.tgz in the zip you downloaded installs the monitoring stack. This Helm chart installs kube-prometheus-stack along with a custom Grafana dashboard to monitor the Private Simple Synthetic Agent.

Monitoring the deployment is optional; however, we highly recommend that you monitor the cluster to check its health periodically.

Install the Monitoring Stack

To create a separate monitoring namespace, enter:
```
kubectl create namespace monitoring
```
CODE
To review configuration options, enter:
```
helm show values sum-psa-monitoring.tgz > values-monitoring.yaml
```
CODE
This generates a values-monitoring.yaml file that contains all the configuration options. To modify and pass the generated values-monitoring.yaml file while installing the Helm chart, enter:
```
helm install psa-monitoring sum-psa-monitoring.tgz --values values-monitoring.yaml --namespace monitoring
```
CODE
After the monitoring stack is installed, you can Launch Grafana (which runs inside the cluster) to view the dashboard. To access Grafana from outside of the cluster, you can configure port forwarding or set up Ingress. To configure port forward to access it locally, enter:
```
kubectl port-forward svc/psa-monitoring-grafana 3000:80 --namespace monitoring
```
CODE
Launch localhost:3000 from the browser and log in using the default credentials with username as admin and password as prom-operator. A dashboard named Private Simple Synthetic Agent displays and provides details about the Kubernetes cluster, Apache Ignite, Heimdall, and running measurements.