AppDynamics Application Intelligence Platform
3.8.x Documentation
Expert Advice
Follow these steps to get started with AppDynamics.
If you are reading a PDF of this document, use your Help Center login to access additional documentation at http://docs.appdynamics.com.
Design Your AppDynamics Deployment
- Learn about Business Transaction Monitoring and identify which critical business transactions you want to monitor.
- Learn about AppDynamics End User Experience and decide whether you want to use this feature.
- Learn about how to map your application components to the AppDynamics business application, tier, and node model. See Logical Model and Name Business Applications, Tiers, and Nodes.
- Based on the model, plan how you will specify AppDynamics application, tier, and node names during installation.
- Decide whether you want to monitor client-side usage with AppDynamics End User Experience.
- For Java environments, decide whether you want to use object instance tracking.
Size and Verify the Controller Environment
- Verify that you have the resources to support system requirements and the Controller performance profile. The profile reflects the number of nodes and AppDynamics applications that the Controller will monitor. For details see Controller System Requirements.
Download AppDynamics
- Download the AppDynamics software components from the Download Center. For details see Download AppDynamics Software.
Install the AppDynamics Controller
The AppDynamics Controller is the central management server where all data is stored and analyzed. All AppDynamics Agents connect to the Controller to report data, and the Controller provides a browser-based user interface for monitoring and troubleshooting application performance. A wizard installs the Controller in just a few minutes. Install the AppDynamics Controller only if you are using the on-premise Controller deployment option.
- Follow the instructions to install an on-premise Controller.
- Important installation and configuration considerations include:
Download and Install the AppDynamics App and Machine Agents
Download the AppDynamics application agents from the Download Center. AppDynamics app agents collect data from your application servers and other monitored systems and report to the Controller. Select the agents that are appropriate for your environment:
- App Agent for Java
- App Agent for .NET
- App Agent for PHP
- App Agent for Node.js
- Standalone Machine Agent
See Download AppDynamics Software.
Follow the instructions to install the AppDynamics Agents.
Install the AppDynamics Web and Mobile Agents
Install the client-side agents in your your mobile applications and web pages. See instructions for mobile and web.
Access the AppDynamics UI from a Browser
Once you have installed the Controller and agents, launch your web browser and connect to the AppDynamics User Interface (UI).
For an on-premise Controller, the URL pattern is:
http://<controller-host>:<controller-port>/controller
When using SSL, use port 443 or https to access the Controller.
Review the Dashboards and Flow Maps
AppDynamics automatically discovers the Business Transactions in your application environment. Browse the Application Dashboard and see the Flow Maps to visualize your application. You can resize and move icons around on the flow maps.
Review Defaults and Configure Business Transactions, if Needed
The default configurations may need to be further customized for your environment. For example, AppDynamics may have discovered transactions that you want to group together or even exclude, because you want to concentrate on the most important transactions. There may be business transactions that are not yet discovered for which you need to configure detection rules. See:
Review Defaults and Configure Client-Side Monitoring, if Needed
End User Experience Monitoring (EUM) provides performance information from the point of view of the client, whether that client is a web browser or a mobile native application. See:
Review Defaults and Configure Databases and Remote Services, if Needed
AppDynamics automatically discovers "backends" such as databases, message queues, etc. by following calls in the application code. Look at the databases and remote services dashboards to make sure all necessary backends are revealed. If needed, change how backends are detected.
Review Default Health Rules and Set Up Policies
AppDynamics provides default Health Rules that define performance parameters for business transactions, such as the conditions that indicate a slow transaction, or when too much memory is being used. You can adjust the thresholds that define when a health rules is violated, create new health rules, and set up policies to specify actions to automate when health rules are violated.
Review Default Error Detection
AppDynamics detects errors and exceptions. You can review and, if needed, modify the error detection rules. For example, some errors you may want to ignore.
Explore Additional Data and Metric Features
Explore these features to gain more insight into application performance:
- Data Collectors
- Business Metrics
- (for Java environments) JMX Metrics
- Standalone Machine Agent Custom Metrics
- Service Endpoints (Java only)
Configure Advanced Features
Additional features you may want to use include:
Start Monitoring and Troubleshooting
Start getting the benefits of AppDynamics! See:
Overview
Content Tools
Apps
