AppDynamics Extension for Network Monitoring

Use Case

Use for monitoring network related metrics.

It uses the machine agent's Sigar library to retrieve the metrics, however these metrics (all or partial) can be overriden through scripting if required.

This extension works only with standalone machine agent.

Note : By default, the Machine agent and AppServer agent can only send a fixed number of metrics to the controller. To change this limit, please follow the instructions mentioned here.

Prerequisites

Before the extension is installed, the prerequisites mentioned here need to be met. Please do not proceed with the extension installation if the specified prerequisites are not met.

Installation

1. Download NetworkMonitor.zip and unzip it to <machine_agent_dir>/monitors/
2. Edit config.yml file and provide the required configuration (see Configuration section)
3. Restart the Machine Agent.

Configuration

config.yml

Edit the file config.yml located at <MachineAgent_Dir>/monitors/ The metricPrefix of the extension has to be configured as specified here. Please make sure that the right metricPrefix is chosen based on your machine agent deployment, otherwise this could lead to metrics not being visible in the controller.

Note: Please avoid using tab (\t) when editing yaml files. You may want to validate the yaml file using a yaml validator.

 

Below is an example config for monitoring multiple interfaces with enabled metrics scripting override:

#In case of linux, networkInterface names are of the form eth*
# In Windows, please use the network full name from Device Manager ("Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Desktop Adapter")
networkInterfaces: [ "eth0", "eth1", "Intel(R) PRO/1000 MT Desktop Adapter"
]

overrideMetricsUsingScriptFile: true

scriptTimeoutInSec: 60

scriptFiles:
  - osType: windows
    filePath: monitors/NetworkMonitor/scripts/windows-metrics.bat
  - osType: unixBase
    filePath: monitors/NetworkMonitor/scripts/unix-base-metrics.sh

metricPrefix:  "Custom Metrics|Network|"

Script File

There maybe cases where Sigar doesn't work on your environment or you've a preferred way of retrieving the metrics. In any case, you have the flexibility to override some or all metrics using scripting.

There are two script templates provided:

1. unix-base-metrics.sh for non-windows environment
2. windows-metrics.bat for windows environment

Update the relevant script template by uncommenting out the metrics you wish to override and provide the value.

Below is an example override on some TCP State metrics in unix-base-metrics.sh:

...
echo "name=TCP|State|Close Wait,value=" `netstat -an | grep -i CLOSE_WAIT | wc -l`
echo "name=TCP|State|Establised,value=" `netstat -an | grep -i ESTABLISHED | wc -l`
echo "name=TCP|State|Fin Wait1,value=" `netstat -an | grep -i FIN_WAIT_1 | wc -l`
echo "name=TCP|State|Fin Wait2,value=" `netstat -an | grep -i FIN_WAIT_2 | wc -l`
echo "name=TCP|State|Listen,value=" `netstat -an | grep -i LISTEN | wc -l`
...

 

Below is an example override on custom metrics in windows-metrics.bat:

...
set cmd="netstat -an | find "192.168.31" /c"
FOR /F %%i IN (' %cmd% ') DO SET val=%%i
echo name=Autotrader^|Listen,value=%val%
...

Metrics

Metric path is typically: Application Infrastructure Performance|<Tier>|Custom Metrics|Network| followed by the individual metrics below:

Network Interface

Note: <network_interface> is replaced with the actual network interface name, e.g eth0

TCP

TCP State

Other

Troubleshooting

1. Please look at the troubleshooting document and make sure that everything is followed correctly.
2. Verify Machine Agent Data:Please start the Machine Agent without the extension and make sure that it reports data. Verify that the machine agent status is UP and it is reporting Hardware Metrics
3. If there is a java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: org/hyperic/sigar/SigarException in machine-agent.log, please copy all the sigar libraries/dependencies from MachineAgent_Home/lib to MachineAgent_Home/monitorsLibs including sigar.jar and .so files to avoid this error
4. Collect Debug Logs: Edit the file, <MachineAgent>/conf/logging/log4j.xml and update the level of the appender "com.appdynamics"  to debug

Custom Dashboard

Platform Tested

Compatibility

Version

1.0.4 4th Aug, 2016 - Support for configurable delta metrics

1.0.5 9th Nov, 2017 - Support for n/w interface names in Windows

1.0.6 19th Feb, 2018 - Updated Licenses

2.0 1st June,2020 - Log4j Fix, metrics.xml introduction, config.yaml change to config.yml

2.1 13 Jan,2021 - Upgraded to commons 2.2.4, bug fix when overrideMetricsUsingScriptFile flag is true

Contributing

Always feel free to fork and contribute any changes directly here on GitHub

Support

For any questions or feature request, please contact AppDynamics Center of Excellence.

Release Notes

v2.1 - Updated to work with MachineAgent 21.x