Instrument .NET Applications

For AppDynamics to gather performance data about your .NET applications, you must install the .NET Agent (agent) on the servers where the applications run. You only need to install the agent once per server even if you want to monitor multiple applications on one server. The agent instruments your application and sends performance data back to the AppDynamics Controller.

The instructions on this page help you install the agent for IIS applications using the Agent Download wizard in the Controller.

• If you downloaded the agent from the AppDynamics Download Center, see Install the .NET Agent.
• For Windows services and standalone applications, see Instrument Windows Services and Standalone Applications.
• If you're using Windows Azure Web Roles or Worker Roles, see Install AppDynamics for Windows Azure with NuGet.

Before You Begin

1. Confirm you have access to a controller, the web application where you monitor your application performance:
   • If you use a SaaS controller, AppDynamics sent you the controller host in your Welcome Email.
   • If you use the on-premise controller, you supplied the host and port at install time.
2. Verify you've enabled COM+ on your system. See "Verify COM+ services are enabled" on Resolve .NET Agent Installation and Configuration Issues.

Instrument Your CLR with the .NET Agent

There are four steps to instrument your CLR and begin monitoring: 

1. Download: Use the Agent Download Wizard to configure and download the agent.
2. Install: Extract the installer files and run the Installer.bat batch file. 
3. Apply Load: Apply load to activate instrumentation.
4. View Your Application: Log on to the Controller to monitor application performance.

Download the .NET Agent

The Agent Download Wizard walks you through configuration steps and helps you download the agent.

Install the agent on your app server

After you download the agent, install it to your app server. The final window of the Agent Download Wizard includes brief instructions for installing the agent.

1. Extract the dotNetAgent-Portal-<architecture>-<version>.zip file.
2. Launch an elevated command command prompt with full administrator privileges.
3. Execute the Installer.bat file.
   

   The batch file installs the .NET Agent agent and starts the AppDynamics Agent Coordinator service.

4. Restart IIS.

Apply load to your application

If you are instrumenting a production application, this will happen with customer interaction. Otherwise, create some test load on your application. The agent instruments the application code and reports metrics back to the Controller.

View your application

Log on to the AppDynamics Controller to see your application in action.

From here, you can install more agents or you can begin monitoring your application. See AppDynamics Essentials.