Manage Windows Performance Metrics

The .NET Machine Agent uses Microsoft Performance Counters to gather and report .NET metrics. To manage the metrics that the agent collects:

• Tune the set of metrics that the agent automatically collects
• Configure the agent to collect metrics from additional counters that are not part of the default settings

Tune the Default Performance Metrics for the .NET Agent

The .NET Agent prioritizes the default set of Performance Counters into three categories: low, medium, and high. By default, the agent is set to collect metrics for all three categories. 

To reduce the number of metrics that the agent sends to the Controller, or to view less than a full set of metrics, you can configure that agent to collect fewer performance metrics. You can also set the agent to only collect specific metrics from the list. See .NET Agent Configuration Properties.

Configure Additional Performance Counters for .NET

If the agent does not monitor performance counters you are interested in, you can add additional performance counters.

1. Shut down the AppDynamics.Agent.Coordinator service.

2. Open the config.xml file for editing as an administrator.  See 'Where to Configure Agent Properties' on Administer the .NET Agent.

3. Add the Performance Counters block as a child of the Machine Agent element.

     <perf-counters>
       <perf-counter cat="" name="" instance=""/>
     </perf-counters>

4. Create a Performance Counter element for each performance counter you want to add. Use any of the performance counters as specified in Performance Counters in .NET Framework.

   • Set the cat attribute to the category of the performance counter.
   • Set the name attribute to the performance counter name.
   • Set the instance attribute to the instance of the performance counter.
     If the counter does not have an instance name, leave an empty string "".
     If a particular performance counter has many instances, you can specify the following options to report the sum of all instances:
     • instance ="*" OR

     • instance ="all"

   For example, to add the performance counter for measuring CPU Idle time(%), add this element in the <perf-counters> block:

   <perf-counter cat="Processor" name="% Idle Time" instance="_Total"/>

5. Save the config.xml file.
6. Start the AppDynamics.Agent.Coordinator service.

After you enable Performance Counter metrics, they display under the Custom Metrics tree in the Metric Browser.

Sample .NET Machine Agent Configuration with Performance Counters

<machine-agent>
  <!-- Additional machine level Performance Counters -->
  <perf-counters>
    <perf-counter cat="Processor" name="% Idle Time" instance="_Total"/>
    <!-- Perf counter with no instance name -->
    <perf-counter cat="Memory" name="Available MBytes" instance="" />
  </perf-counters>
</machine-agent>