AppDynamics

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AppDynamics is a performance management program for applications. It helps users to gain a comprehensive understanding of the impact of technical difficulties on business goals, allowing IT teams to prioritize their efforts in a way that improves ROI.

AppDynamics parameters and supported features in Nobl9

General support:: Release channel: Stable, Beta; Connection method: Agent, Direct; Replay and SLI Analyzer: Historical data limit 30 days; Event logs: Supported; Query checker: Not supported; Query parameters retrieval: Supported; Timestamp cache persistence: Supported
Query parameters:: Query interval: 1 min; Query delay: 1 min; Jitter: 15 sec; Timeout: 30 sec
Agent details and minimum required versions for supported features:: Plugin name: n9appd; Query delay environment variable: APPD_QUERY_DELAY; Replay and SLI Analyzer: 0.68.0; Query parameters retrieval: 0.73.2; Timestamp cache persistence: 0.65.0
Additional notes:: No support for metric paths with Wild Cards; Learn more

Prerequisites

The Nobl9 agent has firewall access to http://<controller_host>:<controller_port>/controller/rest/<REST_URI>.
To connect to AppDynamics, your AppDynamics API client needs at least the Applications and Dashboards Viewer permissions.

Authentication

Nobl9 agent calls the Metric and Snapshot API. The agent and direct configurations for AppDynamics require the following credentials:

Controller URL refers to your required AppDynamics controller.
Client Name refers to the AppDynamics credential set required to ensure connection between Nobl9 and AppDynamics.
Account Name refers to your AppDynamics user account name.
Client Secret.

Adding AppDynamics as a data source

You can add the AppDynamics data source using the direct or agent connection methods.

Direct connection method

Direct connection to AppDynamics requires users to enter their credentials which Nobl9 stores safely.

Nobl9 Web

To set up this type of connection:

Navigate to Integrations > Sources.
Click .
Click the required Source button.
Choose Direct.

Select one of the following Release Channels:
- The stable channel is fully tested by the Nobl9 team. It represents the final product; however, this channel does not contain all the new features of a beta release. Use it to avoid crashes and other limitations.
- The beta channel is under active development. Here, you can check out new features and improvements without the risk of affecting any viable SLOs. Remember that features in this channel can change.
Provide authentication details for your AppDynamics resource:
- Controller URL
- Client Name
- Account Name
- Client Secret

Select a Project.
Specifying a project is helpful when multiple users are spread across multiple teams or projects. When the Project field is left blank, Nobl9 uses the default project.
Enter a Display Name.
You can enter a user-friendly name with spaces in this field.
Enter a Name.
The name is mandatory and can only contain lowercase, alphanumeric characters, and dashes (for example, my-project-1). Nobl9 duplicates the display name here, transforming it into the supported format, but you can edit the result.
Enter a Description.
Here you can add details such as who is responsible for the integration (team/owner) and the purpose of creating it.
Specify the Query delay to set a customized delay for queries when pulling the data from the data source.
- The default value in AppDynamics integration for Query delay is 1 minute.
Changing the query delay
Changing the query delay can affect your SLI data.
Learn more about query delay and its impact.
Enter a Maximum Period for Historical Data Retrieval.
- This value defines how far back in the past your data will be retrieved when replaying your SLO based on this data source.
- The maximum period value depends on the data source.
  Find the maximum value for your data source.
- A greater period can extend the loading time when creating an SLO.
Enter a Default Period for Historical Data Retrieval.
- It is used by SLOs connected to this data source.
- The value must be a positive integer or 0.
- By default, this value is set to 0. When you set it to >0, you will create SLOs with Replay.
Click Add Data Source.

caution

Keep note that AppDynamics Metric and Snapshot API downsamples data differently based on the period of fetched historical data, and it may affect your SLI charts.

Also, the resolution of data points in the Appdynamics UI and what Nobl9 extracts from AppDynamics Metric and Snapshot API may differ. This is because the data's granularity in AppDynamics API differs from the AppDynamics Controller UI. Check this thread for more details.

For more details refer to Data Retention for Metric and Snapshot API | AppDynamics documentation.

sloctl

Create a YAML definition to set up a direct connection with AppDynamics. For this, refer to the following example:

YAML definition for the direct connection method
apiVersion: n9/v1alpha
kind: Direct
metadata:
  name: app-dynamics
  displayName: AppDynamics Direct
  project: default
  annotations:
    area: latency
    env: prod
    region: us
    team: sales
spec:
  description: Example AppDynamics Direct
  releaseChannel: stable
  appDynamics:
    url: https://my-org.saas.appdynamics.com
    clientID: ""
    clientName: prod-direct
    accountName: my-account
    clientSecret: "[secret]"
  historicalDataRetrieval:
    maxDuration:
      value: 30
      unit: Day
    defaultDuration:
      value: 15
      unit: Day
  queryDelay:
    value: 2
    unit: Minute

Field	Type	Description
`queryDelay.unit` mandatory	enum	Specifies the unit for the query delay. Possible values: `Second` \| `Minute`. • Check query delay documentation for default unit of query delay for each source.
`queryDelay.value` mandatory	numeric	Specifies the value for the query delay. • Must be a number less than 1440 minutes (24 hours). • Check query delay documentation for default unit of query delay for each source.
`logCollectionEnabled` optional	boolean	Optional. Defaults to `false`. Set to `true` if you'd like your direct to collect event logs. Contact us to activate it.
`releaseChannel` mandatory	enum	Specifies the release channel. Accepted values: `beta` \| `stable`.
Source-specific fields
`appDynamics.url` mandatory	string	Base URL to your required AppDynamics Controller. For more details, check AppDynamics Concepts.
`appDynamics.clientName` mandatory	string	See authentication section above for more details.
`appDynamics.accountName` mandatory	string	See authentication section above for more details.
`appDynamics.clientSecret` mandatory	string	See authentication section above for more details.
Replay-related fields
`historicalDataRetrieval` optional	n/a	Optional structure related to configuration related to Replay. ❗ Use only with supported sources. • If omitted, Nobl9 uses the default values of `value: 0` and `unit: Day` for `maxDuration` and `defaultDuration`.
`maxDuration.value` optional	numeric	Specifies the maximum duration for historical data retrieval. Must be integer `≥ 0`. See Replay documentation for values of max duration per data source.
`maxDuration.unit` optional	enum	Specifies the unit for the maximum duration of historical data retrieval. Accepted values: `Minute` \| `Hour` \| `Day`.
`defaultDuration.value` optional	numeric	Specifies the default duration for historical data retrieval. Must be integer `≥ 0` and `≤` `maxDuration`.
`defaultDuration.unit` optional	enum	Specifies the unit for the default duration of historical data retrieval. Accepted values: `Minute` \| `Hour` \| `Day`.

Apply your YAML definition using the sloctl apply command.

Agent connection method

Nobl9 Web

Follow the instructions below to create your AppDynamics agent connection.

Navigate to Integrations > Sources.
Click .
Click the required Source button.
Choose Agent.

Select one of the following Release Channels:
- The stable channel is fully tested by the Nobl9 team. It represents the final product; however, this channel does not contain all the new features of a beta release. Use it to avoid crashes and other limitations.
- The beta channel is under active development. Here, you can check out new features and improvements without the risk of affecting any viable SLOs. Remember that features in this channel can change.
Enter the Controller URL.

Select a Project.
Specifying a project is helpful when multiple users are spread across multiple teams or projects. When the Project field is left blank, Nobl9 uses the default project.
Enter a Display Name.
You can enter a user-friendly name with spaces in this field.
Enter a Name.
The name is mandatory and can only contain lowercase, alphanumeric characters, and dashes (for example, my-project-1). Nobl9 duplicates the display name here, transforming it into the supported format, but you can edit the result.
Enter a Description.
Here you can add details such as who is responsible for the integration (team/owner) and the purpose of creating it.
Specify the Query delay to set a customized delay for queries when pulling the data from the data source.
- The default value in AppDynamics integration for Query delay is 1 minute.
Changing the query delay
Changing the query delay can affect your SLI data.
Learn more about query delay and its impact.
Enter a Maximum Period for Historical Data Retrieval.
- This value defines how far back in the past your data will be retrieved when replaying your SLO based on this data source.
- The maximum period value depends on the data source.
  Find the maximum value for your data source.
- A greater period can extend the loading time when creating an SLO.
Enter a Default Period for Historical Data Retrieval.
- It is used by SLOs connected to this data source.
- The value must be a positive integer or 0.
- By default, this value is set to 0. When you set it to >0, you will create SLOs with Replay.
Click Add Data Source.

Deploy your agent in a Kubernetes cluster or Docker container.

sloctl

Create a YAML definition to set up an agent connection with AppDynamics. For this, refer to the following example:

YAML definition for the agent connection method
apiVersion: n9/v1alpha
kind: Agent
metadata:
  name: app-dynamics
  displayName: AppDynamics Agent
  project: default
  annotations:
    area: latency
    env: prod
    region: us
    team: sales
spec:
  description: Example AppDynamics Agent
  releaseChannel: stable
  appDynamics:
    url: https://my-org.saas.appdynamics.com
  historicalDataRetrieval:
    maxDuration:
      value: 30
      unit: Day
    defaultDuration:
      value: 15
      unit: Day
  queryDelay:
    value: 2
    unit: Minute

Field	Type	Description
`queryDelay.unit` mandatory	enum	Specifies the unit for the query delay. Possible values: `Second` \| `Minute`. • Check query delay documentation for default unit of query delay for each source.
`queryDelay.value` mandatory	numeric	Specifies the value for the query delay. • Must be a number less than 1440 minutes (24 hours). • Check query delay documentation for default unit of query delay for each source.
`releaseChannel` mandatory	enum	Specifies the release channel. Accepted values: `beta` \| `stable`.
Source-specific fields
`appDynamics.url` mandatory	string	Base URL to an AppDynamics Controller. For more details, check AppDynamics Concepts.
Replay-related fields
`historicalDataRetrieval` optional	n/a	Optional structure related to configuration related to Replay. ❗ Use only with supported sources. • If omitted, Nobl9 uses the default values of `value: 0` and `unit: Day` for `maxDuration` and `defaultDuration`.
`maxDuration.value` optional	numeric	Specifies the maximum duration for historical data retrieval. Must be integer `≥ 0`. See Replay documentation for values of max duration per data source.
`maxDuration.unit` optional	enum	Specifies the unit for the maximum duration of historical data retrieval. Accepted values: `Minute` \| `Hour` \| `Day`.
`defaultDuration.value` optional	numeric	Specifies the default duration for historical data retrieval. Must be integer `≥ 0` and `≤` `maxDuration`.
`defaultDuration.unit` optional	enum	Specifies the unit for the default duration of historical data retrieval. Accepted values: `Minute` \| `Hour` \| `Day`.