AppDynamics provides multiple ways to configure the Machine Agent. As part of planning your installation, decide which options work best in your environment:

  • controller-info.xml
  • system properties
  • environment variables

See Configure the Machine Agent for more details.

Collect Configuration Information

Determine your configuration requirements and collect the necessary information. For details on any of the specified configuration properties listed below, see Machine Agent Configuration Properties

Planning Item

Description

Determine your installation scenario

For new installations, see Machine Agent Installation Scenarios

For upgrades, see Upgrade the Machine Agent

Location of the startup script

Typically you add startup arguments and system properties in the startup script. If you are using a Java service wrapper, you need to know the location of the wrapper configuration. Also, see Where to Specify Machine Agent Configuration.

Memory and CPUSee Machine Agent Requirements and Supported Environments.
Connecting the agent to the ControllerYou need to know the Controller hostController port, and account access key where you want your metrics to be reported. The account access key is generated at the Controller installation time and can be found on the AppDynamics Administration Console.
(Optional) SSL Communications

If you plan to use SSL to communicate with the Controller, review Enable SSL for Machine Agent. SSL-related properties include:

  • Controller SSL Enabled Property
  • Controller Keystore Password
  • Controller Keystore Filename
  • Force Default SSL Certificate Validation
Proxy Settings

If you plan to connect to the controller using a proxy server, you need to know the Proxy host, Proxy port and the path to the Proxy Password file.

Multi-tenant mode or SaaS Installations

Configure multi-tenant mode or SaaS account Information, using the Account Name property in addition to the Account Access property. This information is provided in the Welcome email from the AppDynamics Support Team. You can also find this information in the <controller_home>/initial_account_access_info.txt file.

Deploying from a common directorySee Deploy Multiple Machine Agents From a Common Directory.
Extension considerationsIf you plan to use a number of extensions in your environment, review the section "Extension Considerations" in this topic: Machine Agent Requirements and Supported Environments.
Enabling Server Availability and Service Availability MonitoringSee Enable Server Visibility. Server Availability requires a separate license.