Enabling optional features for Standard Edition

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

You can enable the following optional features on Standard Edition.

Some optional features might require more CPU, memory, and storage. Check the hardware requirements before you enable a feature.

For single-node deployments, see Hardware requirements
For multi-node deployments, see Hardware requirements

Synthetic monitoring

For more information, see Synthetic monitoring.

Enable Synthetic monitoring.

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

Disable Synthetic monitoring.

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

Automation framework

For more information, see Managing actions.

Enable Automation framework.

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

Disable Automation framework.

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

Business processes

For more information, see Business processes.

Enable Business processes.

stanctl backend apply --core-feature-flags feature.business.observability.enabled=true

Disable Business processes.

stanctl backend apply --core-feature-flags feature.business.observability.enabled=false

IBM Power HMC

For more information, see Monitoring IBM Power HMC.

Enable IBM Power HMC.

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

Disable IBM Power HMC.

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

IBM PowerVC

For more information, see Monitoring IBM PowerVC.

Enable IBM PowerVC.

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

Disable IBM PowerVC.

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

IBM Z HMC

For more information, see Monitoring IBM Z HMC.

Enable IBM Z HMC.

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

Disable IBM Z HMC.

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

OpenStack

For more information, see Monitoring OpenStack.

Enable OpenStack.

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

Disable OpenStack.

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

VMware Tanzu

For more information, see Monitoring Cloud Foundry and VMware Tanzu.

Enable VMware Tanzu.

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

Disable VMware Tanzu.

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

SAP

For more information, see Monitoring SAP.

Enable SAP.

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

Disable SAP.

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

VMware vSphere

For more information, see Monitoring vSphere.

Enable VMware vSphere.

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

Disable VMware vSphere.

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

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.

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.

Enable WalkMe.

stanctl backend apply --core-feature-flags feature.walkme.tool.enabled=true

Disable WalkMe.

stanctl backend apply --core-feature-flags feature.walkme.tool.enabled=false

Get answers button

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.

Enable the Get answers button.

stanctl backend apply --core-feature-flags feature.assistme.enabled=true
stanctl backend apply --core-feature-flags feature.walkme.tool.enabled=true

Disable the Get answers button.

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

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, run the following command:

stanctl backend apply --core-feature-flags feature.kubernetes.horizontal.pod.autoscaler.enabled=false

Logging

For more information about the logging feature, see Logging.

Enable logging.

When you enable logging, you can use the following features in Standard Edition. You don't need an additional license to use these features. For the logging features that need an add-on license, see Add-on logging capabilities.
- Smart alerts for logs (only for logs that originate from Instana tracers). For more information, see Logging smart alerts.
- Unbounded analytics for logs (only for logs that originate from Instana tracers). For more information, see Analyzing logs.
- Summary of the current retention period, log volume, and log count. For more information, see Summary.
To enable logging, run the following command:
```
stanctl backend apply --core-feature-flags feature.logging.enabled=true
```

Disable logging.

To disable logging, run the following command:

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

Add-on logging features

If you want to use the following logging capabilities, you must purchase an add-on license. The add-on features might require more hardware resources. For more information, contact your sales representative.

Extended log retention

For more information, see Configuring extended log retention.
General log ingestion

For more information, see OpenTelemetry logs, Container logs, and Docker logs.
Log volume ingestion

For more information, see Viewing log volume report.

After you purchase the license, complete the following steps to enable logging:

Make sure that logging is enabled.

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

Download the license key from the portal and apply the key. For more information, see New sales key.

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.

Enable grouping nodes by seed IP addresses:

stanctl backend apply --core-feature-flags feature.group.cassandra.nodes.by.seed.ipaddresses=true

Disable grouping nodes by seed IP addresses:

stanctl backend apply --core-feature-flags feature.group.cassandra.nodes.by.seed.ipaddresses=false

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.