Custom Install

Related pages:

The Controller is the central component of the Cisco AppDynamics On-Premises platform. Other components such as the Events Service connect to the Controller and stream metrics to be displayed. The Enterprise Console Custom Install option provides you with a configurable way to install a fresh Controller and Events Service. You can also Discover & Upgrade older platform services using Custom Install.

This page describes how to use Custom Install to install the Controller. Before you install the Controller with the Enterprise Console, verify that the Enterprise Console is running and the host machine meets the requirements for the Controller.

If you use the GUI to install the Controller, you can create the platform at the same time. If you use the command line, you must create the platform prior to installing the Controller. For more information, see Administer the Enterprise Console. If instead, you would like to get started with your platform as soon as possible, see Express Install.

Install the Controller Using GUI

Installing a fresh Controller, HA-pair, or Events Service cluster is simple with Custom Install. You can use it to configure your platform deployment freely.

After you install the Enterprise Console, you can complete the platform installation process with the GUI:

Check that you have fulfilled the Enterprise Console prerequisites before starting.
Open a browser and navigate to the GUI:
```
http(s)://<hostname>:<port>
```
9191 is the default port.
Navigate to the Install homepage and click Custom Install.
Enter a name and installation path for your platform.

The Controller cannot be installed on a different drive using the Enterprise Console for Windows.

The Installation Path is an absolute path under which all of the platform components are installed. The same path is used for all hosts added to the platform. Use a path which does not have any existing Cisco AppDynamics On-Premises components installed under it.
The path you choose must be writeable, i.e. the user who installed the Enterprise Console should have write permissions to that folder. Also, the same path should be writable on all of the hosts that the Enterprise Console manages.
Example path: /home/appduser/appdynamics/product
Add a host by entering host machine-related information: Host Name, Username, and Private Key. This is where the Controller and Events Service will be installed onto.

As of OpenSSH version 7.8, the ssh keys generated are in OpenSSH format using Ed25519. However, the Enterprise Console expects the ssh keys to be formatted using the older pem format.

For more information about how to add credentials and hosts, see Administer the Enterprise Console.

If the Controller is to be installed on a Windows machine, the Enterprise Console should be on the same machine. This is because Windows hosts are not supported on the Enterprise Console.
Install Controller:
1. Select Install.
2. Select an available Target Version from the dropdown list.
  
  The list is populated by versions that the Enterprise Console is aware of. This means that you can install the Controller to any intermediate version or to the latest version as long as the Enterprise Console installer has been run for those versions.
3. Select a Profile size for your Controller. See Controller System Requirements for more information on the sizing requirements.
4. Enter the Controller Primary Host.
5. Enter the Controller Secondary Host if you would like to install an HA pair.
  
  It is highly recommended that you have the Enterprise Console on its own separate dedicated host, especially in the case of HA installations. This means you would need three hosts for the recommended HA setup. If the Enterprise Console and Controller are on the same host and that host becomes unavailable, the Enterprise Console will not be able to failover to the other Controller.
  You can set up an HA pair at a later time. See Set Up a High Availability Deployment for additional setting requirements and to learn how to add a secondary controller after your initial installation.
6. Optional: Enter the Tenancy Mode.
7. Under Advanced, enter additional information for your HA pair.
8. Enter the required Username and Passwords. The default Controller Admin Username is admin.
  
  If you do not install a Controller at this time, you can always do so later by navigating to the Controller page in the GUI and clicking Install Controller.
Install Events Service:
1. Select Install.
2. Select the Profile size for your Events Service. See Controller System Requirements for more information on the sizing requirements.
3. Optional: Enter the Installation and Data Directory.
  
  You do not need to specify the installation or data directory for the Events Service installation. If you do, use a different one from the platform or mysql data directory.
4. Optional: Enter the Elastic Search, REST API Admin, REST API, and Unicast Ports.
5. Enter the Events Service Host. You can deploy a single Events Service node or an Events Service cluster made up of three or more nodes. The minimum size of an Events Service cluster is three. You can always add more at a later time on the Events Service page.
  
  You can set up a scaled up Events Service at a later time. See Install the Events Service on Linux for additional setting requirements and to learn how to scale up an embedded Events Service.
  
  If you do not install an Events Service at that time, you can always do so later by navigating to the Events Service page in the GUI and clicking Install Events Service.
Click Install.

After clicking Install you can monitor the status of your platform creation jobs on the Jobs page, which include Add Hosts, Controller Install, and Events Service Install Jobs. Note that the Controller Install Job takes a considerably longer time to complete than the other two jobs. When the jobs successfully complete, you can check the status of your platform, obtain the URL of the Controller, update platform configurations, and manage the lifecycle of your services.

Once any high availability controllers are installed, they can be found under the Controller page. All high availability lifecycle operations such as start, stop, upgrade, and failover can be performed from this page.