Instana

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Instana is an observability platform that delivers automated Application Performance Monitoring (APM), used for website, infrastructure, and application monitoring.

Instana parameters and supported features in Nobl9

General support:

Release channel: Stable, Beta

Connection method: Agent, Direct

Replay and SLI Analyzer: Not supported

Event logs: Supported

Query checker: Not supported

Query parameters retrieval: Not supported

Timestamp cache persistence: Supported

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Query parameters:

Query interval: 1 min

Query delay: 1 min

Jitter: 15 sec

Timeout: 30 sec

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Agent details and minimum required versions for supported features:

Plugin name: n9instana

Query delay environment variable: INSTANA_QUERY_DELAY

Timestamp cache persistence: 0.65.0

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Additional notes:

No support for website and application (ratio) monitoring metrics

Learn more

Authentication

Instana uses an API token for authorization. When setting up the Nobl9 agent or direct connection to your Instana instance, you need to provide an API token.

You can get your Instana API token in two ways:

• By entering the following URL in your browser:

  https://${BASE_URL}/#/config/team/accessControl/apiTokens

  where the ${BASE_URL} is the URL that points to your Instana instance, for example:

  • for SaaS, https://instance-example.instana.io
  • for self-hosted solutions, http://instana-service:9000

• In the Instana UI, by selecting Settings > Team Settings > Access Control > API Tokens > Add API Token

For more information on authentication, refer to the Instana API | Instana documentation.

warning

Do not add any additional permissions to the API token. Metrics fetching works well with a clean API token.

Adding Instana as a data source

To ensure data transmission between Nobl9 and Instana, it may be necessary to list Nobl9 IP addresses as trusted.

💻ip allowlist

IP addresses to include in your allowlist for secure access:

If you're using app.nobl9.com instance:

• 18.159.114.21
• 18.158.132.186
• 3.64.154.26

If you're using us1.nobl9.com instance:

• 34.121.54.120
• 34.123.193.191
• 34.134.71.10
• 35.192.105.150
• 35.225.248.37
• 35.226.78.175
• 104.198.44.161

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

Direct connection method

A direct connection to Instana requires users to enter their credentials, which Nobl9 stores safely.

Nobl9 Web

To set up this type of connection:

1. Navigate to Integrations > Sources.
2. Click .
3. Click the required Source button.
4. Choose Direct.

5. 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.

6. Add the URL to connect to your data source (mandatory).
   Provide the base URL that points to your Instana instance. For more details, refer to the Authentication section above.

7. Enter your Instana API Token (mandatory).
   To use Instana web REST API, you need to create an API token. For more details, refer to the Authentication section above.

8. 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.
9. Enter a Display Name.
   You can enter a user-friendly name with spaces in this field.
10. 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.
11. Enter a Description.
    Here you can add details such as who is responsible for the integration (team/owner) and the purpose of creating it.
12. Specify the Query delay to set a customized delay for queries when pulling the data from the data source.

    • The default value in Instana integration for Query delay is 1 minute.

    info

    Changing the Query delay may affect your SLI data. For more details, check the Query delay documentation.
13. Click Add Data Source.

sloctl

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

YAML definition for the direct connection method

apiVersion: n9/v1alpha
kind: Direct
metadata:
  name: instana
  displayName: Instana Direct
  project: default
spec:
  description: Example Instana Direct
  releaseChannel: stable
  instana:
    apiToken: "[secret]"
    url: https://orange-my-org12.instana.io
  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
instana.apiToken mandatory	string, secret	See authentication section above for more details.
instana.url mandatory	string	Base URL that points to your Instana instance. See authentication for more details

2. Apply your YAML definition using the sloctl apply command.

Agent connection method

Nobl9 Web

Follow the instructions below to set up an agent connection.

1. Navigate to Integrations > Sources.
2. Click .
3. Click the required Source button.
4. Choose Direct.

5. 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.

6. Add the URL to connect to your data source (mandatory).

7. 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.
8. Enter a Display Name.
   You can enter a user-friendly name with spaces in this field.
9. 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.
10. Enter a Description.
    Here you can add details such as who is responsible for the integration (team/owner) and the purpose of creating it.
11. Specify the Query delay to set a customized delay for queries when pulling the data from the data source.

    • The default value in Instana integration for Query delay is 1 minute.

    info

    Changing the Query delay may affect your SLI data. For more details, check the Query delay documentation.
12. Click Add Data Source.
Deploy your agent in a Kubernetes cluster or Docker container.

sloctl

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

YAML definition for the agent connection method

apiVersion: n9/v1alpha
kind: Agent
metadata:
  name: instana
  displayName: Instana Agent
  project: default
spec:
  description: Example Instana Agent
  releaseChannel: stable
  instana:
    url: https://orange-my-org12.instana.io
  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
instana.url mandatory	string	Base URL that points to your Instana instance. See authentication section above for more details

1. Apply your YAML definition using the sloctl apply command.
2. Deploy your agent in a Kubernetes cluster or Docker container.

Useful links

For a more in-depth look, consult additional resources:

Agent REST APIInstana docsWeb REST APIInstana docsInfrastructure metricsInstana docsApplication analyzeInstana docsDynamic focus queryInstana docsIBM observabilityInstana docsRate limitsInstana docsAgent metricsAgentCreating SLOs via TerraformTerraformCreating agents via TerraformTerraform