Enabling optional features for Custom Edition

You can enable or disable optional features on Custom Edition by using the feature flags. Some optional features are disabled by default.

You can enable the documented features yourself as described here. IBM Support might advise you to enable other public preview features in the same way.
To enable one or more features, add the featureFlags: block with your choice of feature flags in the core.yaml file. Each of the following sections shows an example of setting the feature flag for the one feature. The following example enables two features:
```
apiVersion: instana.io/v1beta2
kind: Core
metadata:
  name: instana-core
  namespace: core
spec:
  ...
  featureFlags:
    - name: feature.pcf.enabled
      enabled: true

    - name: feature.zhmc.enabled
      enabled: true
  ...
 
```

After updating the core configuration, apply your settings to the cluster.

BeeInstana metrics pipeline

This feature includes a new data pipeline with more Instana backend components and a data store (BeeInstana) to the store of the infrastructure metrics. Based on this data, further features are activated in the product.

Custom Infrastructure Dashboards
Infrastructure Unbound Analytics (public preview)

Run and configure BeeInstana data store with Operator

For self-hosted Instana environments on Kubernetes with large metric loads, you should deploy BeeInstana by using the BeeInstana operator. See the documentation for using BeeInstana on Kubernetes.

Configuration for the core

Now the BeeInstana data pipeline must be added to the operator Core spec, and the following feature flags must be enabled. The main feature flag feature.beeinstana.infra.metrics.enabled activates new components and a set of features based on them.

apiVersion: instana.io/v1beta2
kind: Core
metadata:
  name: instana-core
  namespace: core
spec:
...
  datastoreConfigs:
    beeInstanaConfig:
      clustered: true
      authEnabled: true
      hosts:
        - <beeinstana_operator_service>
  ...
  featureFlags:
    - name: feature.beeinstana.infra.metrics.enabled
      enabled: true
  ...

In addition, you can enable Smart Alerts for Infrastructure (public preview).

To enable the Smart Alerts for Infrastructure feature, set these feature flags:

  ...
  featureFlags:
    - name: feature.beeinstana.infra.metrics.enabled
      enabled: true
    - name: feature.infra.smart.alerts.enabled
      enabled: true
  ...

In addition, the credentials for the BeeInstana cluster or host must be configured in the core secret as follows:

...
datastoreConfigs:
  ...
  beeinstanaConfig:
    user: beeinstana-user
    password: <SECRET_PASSWORD>
  ...
...

Logging

Enable logging to use the full suite of Instana logging features at no additional cost. For information about license requirements, see License and entitlement requirements. For more information about logging features, see Logging.

To enable logging, run the following command:

stanctl backend apply --core-feature-flags feature.logging.enabled=true

If you want to disable logging, run the following command:

stanctl backend apply --core-feature-flags feature.logging.enabled=false

Note:

Logging uses a new Clickhouse schema (logs). To avoid potential issues, use a dedicated ClickHouse cluster or host.

Using Clickhouse operator cluster

In this scenario, set up another Clickhouse cluster according to the operator instructions.

Operator core spec

On the operator side, the Core spec needs two Clickhouse entries and the feature flag feature.logging.enabled.

apiVersion: instana.io/v1beta2
kind: Core
metadata:
  name: instana-core
  namespace: core
spec:
...
  clickhouseConfigs:
    - clusterName: local
      authEnabled: true
      hosts:
        - <application_ch_cluster>
      schemas:
        - application
        - slis
    - clusterName: local
      authEnabled: true
      hosts:
        - <logs_ch_cluster>
      schemas:
        - logs
  ...
  featureFlags:
    - name: feature.logging.enabled
      enabled: true
  ...

In addition, configure the credentials for the new Clickhouse cluster or host in the core secret as follows:

...
datastoreConfigs:
  ...
  clickhouseConfigs:
    - user: clickhouse-application-user
      password: <USER_GENERATED_PASSWORD>
      adminUser: clickhouse-application-user
      adminPassword: <USER_GENERATED_PASSWORD>
      schemas:
        - application
        - slis
    - user: clickhouse-logs-user
      password: <USER_GENERATED_PASSWORD>
      adminUser: clickhouse-logs-user
      adminPassword: <USER_GENERATED_PASSWORD>
      schemas:
        - logs
  ...
...

Automation framework

This feature enables an automation framework in Instana to remediate events. You can use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to associate actions with events and run actions directly from the Issues tab in the Instana UI.

Enable feature flag for automation framework

To enable automation framework components, update the featureFlags section in the core.yaml file as shown in the following example:

...
featureFlags:
  - name:  feature.automation.enabled
    enabled: true
...

For more information about this feature, see Managing automation.

AWS metric streams

This feature enables AWS metric streams integration that enables gathering of AWS CloudWatch metrics in the OpenTelemetry format.

Enabling the feature flag for AWS metric streams

To enable AWS metric streams monitoring, update the featureFlags section in the core.yaml file as shown in the following example:

...
featureFlags:
  - name:  feature.cloudwatch.metric.streams.enabled
    enabled: true
...

Action generation using AI

You can use this feature to enable generative AI to create manual and script actions.

Enable feature flag for AI action generation

To enable AI action generation components, update the `featureFlags` section in the `core.yaml` file as shown in the following example:


featureFlags:
  - name:  feature.action.ai.generation.enabled
    enabled: true

For more information about the AI action generation feature, see Intelligent remediation.

AI gateway

The AI gateway feature enables the AI gateway to enable configuration of LLM gateways.

Enable feature flag for AI gateway

To enable AI gateway, update the `featureFlags` section in the `core.yaml` file as shown in the following example:


featureFlags:
  - name:  feature.ai.gateway.enabled
    enabled: true

For more information about the AI gateway feature, see LLM gateways.

Incident summarization

The incident summarization feature enables the summarization of an incident using AI. This feature is available from the Summary and notes with AI pane for an incident when you are viewing the incident details. For more information, see Incident summarization.

To enable Incident summarization, update the `featureFlags` section in the `core.yaml` file as shown in the following example:

...
featureFlags:
  - name:  feature.incident.ai.summarization.enabled
    enabled: true
  - name:  feature.coordinator.ai.agent.enabled
    enabled: true
  - name:  feature.ai.gateway.enabled
    enabled: true
...

Note:

The AI gateway and configuration is required for incident summarization. For more information about that feature, see AI gateway.

Intelligent incident investigation

Intelligent incident investigation identifies the probable root cause (RCA) for an incident across your entire environment using agentic AI, causal AI analysis, and large language models (LLMs).

To enable Incident investigation, update the `featureFlags` section in the `core.yaml` file as shown in the following example:

...
featureFlags:
  - name:  feature.rca.agentic.enabled
    enabled: true
...

Note:

The root cause analysis feature must also be enabled for intelligent incident investigation. For more information about enabling that feature, see [Root cause analysis](#rca). In addition, your environment must also meet additional prerequisites. For more information about these requirements and the overall feature, see Intelligent incident investigation.

AI assistant

The AI assistant feature enables the Instana AI assistant. For more information about the feature, see AI assistant.

To enable AI assistant, update the featureFlags section in the core.yaml file as shown in the following example:

...
featureFlags:
  - name:  feature.incident.ai.summarization.enabled
    enabled: true
  - name:  feature.ai.gateway.enabled
    enabled: true
...

Note:

The AI gateway and configuration is required for using the AI assistant. For more information about that feature, see AI gateway.

Kubernetes AI assistant

The Kubernetes AI assistant feature enables the Kubernetes AI assistant in the Kubernetes cluster dashboard page. For more information about the feature, see Kubernetes AI assistant.

To enable Kubernetes AI assistant, update the featureFlags section in the core.yaml file as shown in the following example:

...
featureFlags:
  - name:  feature.kubernetes.ai.agent.enabled
    enabled: true
  - name:  feature.ai.gateway.enabled
    enabled: true
...

Note:

The AI gateway and configuration are required for using the Kubernetes AI assistant. For more information about that feature, see AI gateway.

SLO assistant

The SLO Assistant feature generates summaries and explanations of an SLO by using AI.

It is available on the SLO dashboard when you view SLO details for an SLO. To generate a summary, click Generate AI summarization. For more information about the feature, see AI-powered SLO Analysis.

Enabling the feature flag for SLO assistant

To enable SLO assistant, update the featureFlags section in the core.yaml file as shown in the following example:


...
featureFlags:
  - name:  feature.slo.ai.agent.enabled
    enabled: true
  - name:  feature.ai.gateway.enabled
    enabled: true
...

Note:

The AI gateway and configuration are required for SLO assistant. For more information about that feature, see AI gateway.

GenAI evaluation

The GenAI evaluation feature provides a way to measure the quality of your AI systems. With GenAI evaluation, you can create custom evaluators, use pre-built evaluators, and monitor evaluation results. For more information, see AI evaluation in Instana.

Enable feature flag for GenAI evaluation

To enable the GenAI evaluation feature, update the `featureFlags` section in the `core.yaml` file as shown in the following example:

...
featureFlags:
  - name: feature.gen.ai.evaluation.enabled
    enabled: true
  - name: feature.genai.analytics.enabled
    enabled: true
  - name: feature.ai.gateway.enabled
    enabled: true
...

Note:

Before you use GenAI evaluation, configure the AI gateway. For more information, see AI gateway.

Synthetic monitoring

This feature includes support for enabling Synthetic monitoring in the self-hosted operator. With this feature enabled, the Operator can deploy Synthetic monitoring components. Those components can be used by a Synthetic Point-of-Presence (PoP) agent to run Synthetic tests against your web applications and display results in the Instana UI.

Configure external storage for Synthetic monitoring

Before enabling Synthetic monitoring, configure two external storage configurations in the storageConfigs section in the Core spec (synthetics, syntheticsKeystore).

By default, the data stored in the Synthetics storage configuration is retained for 60 days. To modify the retention for Synthetic monitoring, see Synthetic monitoring data retention.

Currently, GCloud and S3 or compatible Buckets are supported, and the file system is based on a multi read/write persistent volume.

For more information about storageConfigs spec for synthetics, see storageConfigs.

Enable the feature flag for Synthetic monitoring components

To enable Synthetic monitoring components, set the following feature flag under the featureFlags configuration in the Core spec.

...
featureFlags:
    - name: feature.synthetics.enabled
      enabled: true
...

End user monitoring

Configure external storage for uploading the JavaScript source maps

You can upload JavaScript source mapping files for private websites monitoring with Instana SaaS. Before uploading JavaScript source maps, you need to configure external storage in the storageConfigs section in the Core spec. The following are the three options for storing JavaScript source maps:

S3 (or compatible)
Google Cloud Storage
Filesystem

For more information about StorageConfigs spec for end user monitoring (EUM) source maps, see StorageConfigs.

Additional platforms

The following infrastructure platform dashboards are not available in the product by default. To add a dashboard to the Platforms menu item, set its feature flag in the Core spec.

Kubecost

To disable Kubecost, set the enabled property associated with feature flag feature.kubecost.enabled to false in the core.yaml file as shown in the following example:

apiVersion: instana.io/v1beta2
kind: Core
metadata:
  name: instana-core
  namespace: core
spec:
  ...
  featureFlags:
    - name: feature.kubecost.enabled
      enabled: false
  ...

VMware Tanzu

To enable VMware Tanzu, set the following configuration in the core.yaml file:

apiVersion: instana.io/v1beta2
kind: Core
metadata:
  name: instana-core
  namespace: core
spec:
  ...
  featureFlags:
    - name: feature.pcf.enabled
      enabled: true
  ...

VMware vSphere

To enable VMware vSphere, set the following configuration in the core.yaml file:

apiVersion: instana.io/v1beta2
kind: Core
metadata:
  name: instana-core
  namespace: core
spec:
  ...
  featureFlags:
    - name: feature.vsphere.enabled
      enabled: true
  ...

OpenStack

To enable OpenStack, set the following configuration in the core.yaml file:

apiVersion: instana.io/v1beta2
kind: Core
metadata:
  name: instana-core
  namespace: core
spec:
  ...
  featureFlags:
    - name: feature.openstack.enabled
      enabled: true
  ...

IBM Power HMC

To enable IBM Power HMC, set the following configuration in the core.yaml file:

apiVersion: instana.io/v1beta2
kind: Core
metadata:
  name: instana-core
  namespace: core
spec:
  ...
  featureFlags:
    - name: feature.phmc.enabled
      enabled: true
  ...

IBM Power VC

To enable IBM Power VC, set the following configuration in the core.yaml file:

apiVersion: instana.io/v1beta2
kind: Core
metadata:
  name: instana-core
  namespace: core
spec:
  ...
  featureFlags:
    - name: feature.powervc.enabled
      enabled: true
  ...

IBM Z HMC

To enable IBM Z HMC, set the following configuration in the core.yaml file:

apiVersion: instana.io/v1beta2
kind: Core
metadata:
  name: instana-core
  namespace: core
spec:
  ...
  featureFlags:
    - name: feature.zhmc.enabled
      enabled: true
  ...

Business processes

This feature includes support for enabling Business processes in the self-hosted Instana Enterprise operator. With this feature enabled, the Operator can deploy Business processes components.

Enabling the feature flag for Business processes components

To enable Business processes components, set the following feature flag under the featureFlags configuration in the core.yaml file:

...
featureFlags:
    - name: feature.business.observability.enabled
      enabled: true
...

Windows Hyper-V

To enable Windows Hyper-V, set the following configuration in the core.yaml file:

apiVersion: instana.io/v1beta2
kind: Core
metadata:
  name: instana-core
  namespace: core
spec:
  ...
  featureFlags:
    - name: feature.windowshypervisor.enabled
      enabled: true
  ...

For more information, see Monitoring Windows Hyper-V.

XenServer

To enable XenServer, set the following configuration in the core.yaml file:

apiVersion: instana.io/v1beta2
kind: Core
metadata:
  name: instana-core
  namespace: core
spec:
  ...
  featureFlags:
    - name: feature.xenserver.enabled
      enabled: true
  ...

Linux KVM hypervisor

To enable Linux KVM hypervisor, set the following configuration in the core.yaml file:

apiVersion: instana.io/v1beta2
kind: Core
metadata:
  name: instana-core
  namespace: core
spec:
  ...
  featureFlags:
    - name: feature.linuxkvmhypervisor.enabled
      enabled: true
  ...

For more information, see Monitoring Linux KVM Hypervisor.

Integration of WalkMe and AssistMe with the Get answers button

To enhance the user experience, WalkMe, and AssistMe are integrated with the Get answers button in the Instana UI. AssistMe provides integrated product assistance. It displays relevant tours, articles, and quick links to documentation, community, and ticket management in one place to make sure that you receive help when needed.

Enabling the feature flag for WalkMe

You can enable WalkMe to display guided tours, tooltips, and in-product messages that help users onboard faster, discover key features, and obtain contextual support. To enable WalkMe, in the core.yaml file, set the following feature flag in the featureFlags configuration:

...
featureFlags:
    - name: feature.walkme.tool.enabled
      enabled: true
...

Enabling the feature flag for the Get answers button

To enable the Get answers button, set the corresponding feature flag in the core.yaml file. When the Get answers button is enabled, you can click the button in the Instana UI to access WalkMe guidance and the AssistMe support panel.

...
featureFlags:
    - name: feature.walkme.tool.enabled 
      enabled: true
    - name: feature.assistme.enabled
      enabled: true
...

Horizontal Pod Autoscaler (HPA)

Instana Custom Edition supports HPA. You can enable and manage HPA by using the Instana Custom Edition API. For more information, see Autoscaling configuration.

Prerequisites

Before you enable HPA, make sure that the following conditions are met:

The Kubernetes cluster supports the HPA API.
Metrics, server, or another supported metrics provider is available and functional.
The cluster has sufficient compute capacity to allow horizontal scaling.
You configured CPU requests for all Instana components that participate in HPA decisions.

Supported versions

HPA is supported in all currently maintained versions of Instana Custom Edition that use the standard Kubernetes deployment model.

Scaling metrics

Instana Custom Edition uses CPU usage as the default scaling metric. Scaling occurs when the average CPU usage across all pods of a component exceeds 150 percent of the total CPU requests. Other metrics, such as memory or custom metrics, are not supported at this time.

Insufficient cluster capacity

If the cluster cannot schedule new pods due to insufficient node resources, the new replicas remain pending. Instana does not generate platform‑level alerts specific to HPA capacity issues. You must monitor Kubernetes events or use Kubernetes HPA monitoring tools to detect scaling failures. For more information, see Kubernetes Horizontal Pod Autoscaler monitoring.

Sizing guidance and best practices

To maintain stable operations as components scale, apply the following sizing guidance and best practices:

Allocate headroom in the cluster to allow for horizontal scaling. Instana recommends reserving capacity for peak load conditions.
Set realistic CPU requests for each component to make sure accurate HPA decisions.
Monitor cluster‑level metrics to avoid node saturation.
Review scaling behavior periodically and adjust HPA targets as required.

Kubernetes Horizontal Pod Autoscaler monitoring

The monitoring of Kubernetes Horizontal Pod Autoscaler is enabled by default. However, you can disable this feature if not needed.

Disabling the feature flag for the Kubernetes Horizontal Pod Autoscaler monitoring

To disable the Kubernetes Horizontal Pod Autoscaler monitoring, in the core.yaml file, set the following feature flag in the featureFlags configuration:

...
featureFlags:
    - name: feature.kubernetes.horizontal.pod.autoscaler.enabled
      enabled: false
...

Cassandra cluster group nodes by seed IP addresses

Instana groups cassandra nodes by cluster name. Sometimes, the environment contains more than one cluster with the same name. In such cases, you can enable the following feature flag:

---
featureFlags:
    - name: feature.group.cassandra.nodes.by.seed.ipaddresses
      enabled: true

Note:

Important: The Cassandra cluster dashboards are not visible for a time frame that starts from before you enable this feature and ends after you enable it. If you change the seed IP addresses, the dashboard continuity also breaks. Clusters continue to be searchable, but in the preceding cases, it is not possible to view metric charts during the transition period.

ServiceNow ITSM app alert channel

The ServiceNow ITSM (IT Service Management) app alert channel propagates alert notifications between Instana and ServiceNow application. For more information, see ServiceNow ITSM app.

To enable the ServiceNow ITSM app alert channel, set the following feature flag under the featureFlags configuration in the core.yaml file:

...
featureFlags:
    - name: feature.alert.channel.bidirectional.enabled
      enabled: true
    - name: feature.service.now.advanced.enabled
      enabled: true
...

Custom environment variables for unbounded analytics, custom service names, and Smart Alerts

This feature enables the extraction of custom environment variables from processes. You can use the extracted variables in unbounded analytics, custom service names, and Smart Alerts.

To enable this feature, set the following feature flags in the featureFlags configuration in the core.yaml file:

...
featureFlags:
    - name: feature.process.extract.environment.variables.tags.enabled
      enabled: true
    - name: feature.process.environment.variable.extraction.enabled
      enabled: true
...

When you enable this feature, it extracts process environment variables with the default prefix INSTANA_CUSTOM_. By default, it extracts up to 20 environment variables per process.