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Agent and Controller Compatibility
This page provides an overview of compatibility mapping between Agent and Controller versions.
About Agent and Controller Compatibility
Please refer to the Language Agent Backward Compatibility table below for AppDynamics Agents and AppDynamics Controller compatibility.
A monitored environment may have agents of different versions deployed in it at a given time, as long as all agents are compatible with the Controller version. However, the oldest agents should be on originating tiers of any business transactions. This ensures that agents on downstream nodes can process the correlation header created by the originating tier.
It's an important point to consider when rolling out agent upgrades—be sure to start upgrading the agents on the nodes of downstream tiers first and then upgrade the agents on the originating tier nodes last.
Language Agent Backward Compatibility
Starting in release 4.5, AppDynamics language agents are backward-compatible with any 4.4.1 or later Controller. This enables you to upgrade your language agents – and take advantage of the latest agent-side enhancements, features, and bug fixes – without upgrading your 4.4 Controller. The following table outlines the Controller and language agent releases that are compatible.
Starting in 20.2, the AppDynamics language agents are backward-compatible with any 4.5.0 or later Controller, including Controllers using Calendar Versioning from 20.3 and higher.
The Database Agent 20.7 or later is compatible only with the Controller version 4.5.2 or later.
| Controller Release | Language Agent Release | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 20.3 or higher | 4.4 or higher, 20.2 or higher, 20.3 or higher | 20.3 or higher Controllers can accept connections from 4.4 or higher agents as well as 20.2 or higher and 20.3 or higher agents that use Calendar Versioning. As of 20.3, Controllers cannot accept connections from 4.1 agents. |
| 4.5.x | 4.1 or higher, 20.2 or higher, 20.3 or higher | 4.5.x Controller can accept connections from 4.1 or higher agents, including agents that use Calendar Versioning. |
The above table is only a reference for general software compatibility. For specific maintenance and support terms, please refer to your specific EULA.
Backward compatibility is supported on the following agents since the 4.5 release:
- C/C++ SDK
- Cluster
- Go SDK
- Java
- IBM Integration Bus (IIB)
- Machine
- .NET
- Node.js
- PHP
- Python
While using the Enterprise Console to upgrade the Controller, several folders (including the appagent folder) are removed and reinstalled. If you deployed a Java agent with a newer version than the Controller in the controller/appserver/glassfish/domains/domain1/appagent folder, the upgrade will fail and internal monitoring will be lost. To prevent this, you must update the domain.xml file to point to the new Java agent or avoid using customized installation for Java agents.
For notes on SSL protocol compatibility between versions of the agent and Controller, see SSL Compatibility Matrix for App Agent for Java - Controller.
Agent Versions Compatible with Controller Version 20.x
| Agent Version/Agent Type | Languages Agents | Cluster Agent | Database Agent | AppDynamics for Databases | Machine Agent | Network Agent | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Java Agent | .NET Agent | Node.js Agent | PHP Agent | Python Agent | Web Server Agent | Go SDK | C/C++ SDK | ||||||
| 20.x or later |
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The ability to customize Business Transaction detection, supported by .NET Agent for Linux version 4.5.9, requires Controller versions 4.5.2 and later. The .NET Agent version 4.5.9 works with Controller version 4.4.1 and later, but the customizable transaction detection and configuration capabilities require 4.5.2 and later versions of the Controller. See .NET Agent for Linux Business Transaction Configuration.
SSL Compatibility between Java Agent and Controller
The default protocol used by the Controller is TLSv1.2. See Secure the Platform for information on changing the default security protocol used by the Controller or agent.
For the Java Agent, the default protocols are:
- For Java 8 SE applications: TLSv1.2.
- For Java 7 or higher applications: TLSv1.2.
SSLv3 has been disabled for SaaS Controllers because of the CVE-2014-3566 vulnerability. SSLv3 connections are no longer supported.
Introduction of New Agent Features
Even when new and old agents are supported by the same up-to-date Controller, new functionality introduced by later agents is not available on the older agents.