Configuring the App Agent Connection to the Controller

Before an App Agent can upload data to the Controller, you must configure its connection to the Controller. Agents connect to the Controller through the same port as the browser connection for the UI, on port 8090 by default.

If needed, you can configure the agent to connection through a web proxy for the Controller. It can also connect to the Controller using an SSL connection. See Security for information on using SSL.

Configuration File Locations for App Agents

Although the different agents have similar configuration properties, the way you configure the Controller connection varies slightly among the different types of agents, as described here.

Java Agent

Configure Controller connectivity for the App Agent for Java the following places:

<agent install directory>/conf/controller-info.xml
In the system properties (-D options) in the JVM startup script

The system properties override the settings in the controller-info.xml.

See Where to Configure App Agent for Java Properties.

.NET Agent

Configure the agent properties in the config.xml file in the agent Config directory. If you run the .NET Agent Configuration Utility, it writes the conifg.xml to the following locations:

Windows Server 2008 and later

%ProgramData%\AppDynamics\DotNetAgent\Config\config.xml

Windows Server 2003

%AllUsersProfile%\Application Data\AppDynamics\DotNetAgent\Config\config.xml

The App Agent for .NET includes the AppDynamics Agent Configuration utility to assist configuration. See Configure the .NET Agent.

For more information, see:

PHP Agent

Configure Controller connectivity for the App Agent for PHP in the php.ini file.

When you install the PHP agent, provide the relevant Controller connection information. The install script writes the configuration to php.ini.

For more information, see:

Node.js Agent

All the controller information is in the require statement that you add to the code when you instrument the application.

See Install the Node.js Agent.

Machine Agent

Configure Controller connectivity for standalone machine agents in <machine agent install directory>/conf/controller-info.xml.

Common Controller Connection Properties

The Controller configuration properties common to all agents are:

Controller Host
Controller Port
Controller SSL Enabled
Application Name
Tier Name
Account Name for SaaS
Account Access Key or Password for SaaS

Securing the Connection

The on-premise Controller is installed with an active secure port by default. App Agents can use the secure port to connect to the Controller.

The certificate used for the connection out-of-the-box is a self-signed certificate. The .NET agents cannot connect on a secure port that uses a self-signed certificate, so you will need to apply your own certificate to the port. App Agents connecting to an AppDynamics SaaS Controller also must use an HTTPS connection.

Controller Security

The default secure listening port for the AppDynamics Controller are:

For on-premise Controllers, port 8181
For SaaS Controllers, port 443

On-premise Controller

To implement SSL for controller-agent communication do the following:

Set the application server primary port to the SSL port, by default 8181. See Controller Port Settings.
Install a trusted certificate, see Controller SSL and Certificates.
Configure your agents for SSL. See the following sections, App Agent Security and Machine Agent Security, for more information.

SaaS Controller

The SaaS Controller is already configured for SSL, so to enable your environment for SSL you only need to do the following:

Configure your agents for SSL by enabling SSL and setting the port connection for the SaaS Controller to 443. See the following sections, App Agent Security and Machine Agent Security, for more information.

App Agent Security

To configure your agents for SSL, set these SSL-related properties:

Set controller-ssl-enabled to true.
Set the controller-port to the correct value for either on-premise or SaaS Controller.

In multi-tenant and SaaS environments, App Agents authenticate themselves to the Controller using the required account name and account access key values set in the connection properties configuration file.

Standalone Machine Agent Security

For information on the security settings related to the Standalone Machine Agent connection to the Controller, see Standalone Machine Agent Configuration Properties.

Verify the Connection

Follow these instructions to verify that the Java or .NET App Agent is reporting to the AppDynamics Controller.

Access the AppDynamics Controller UI:
- For an on-premise Controller, open a browser at:
```
http://<Application_Server_Host_Name>:<HTTP_Listener_Port>/controller
```
- For a SaaS Controller, open a browser at the URL provided to you by AppDynamics.
```
http(s)://<customer>.saas.appdynamics.com/controller
```
Provide user credentials:
- For on-premise Controller installations, provide the credentials for the "admin" user as configured during AppDynamics Controller installation.
- For the SaaS Controller Service, use the credentials provided to you by AppDynamics.
In the left navigation panel, click on an application.
Click Servers -> App Servers -> <TierName>.
The Tier Dashboard for the selected tier appears.
Click the Nodes tab.
When an App Agent is reporting to the Controller, the App Agent Status column shows a green up arrow icon.

If the agent is not reporting to the Controller, see troubleshooting information:

Learn More

Connect the Controller and Agents