Installing and configuring microservices applications monitoring

Install and Configure Instana Microservices Application Monitoring for VMware Tanzu

To install Instana Microservices Application Monitoring for VMware Tanzu on the Ops Manager Installation Dashboard, do the following:

1. Download the product file from VMware Tanzu Network.

2. Navigate to the Ops Manager Installation Dashboard and click Import a Product to upload the product file.

3. Under the Import a Product button, click + next to the version number of Instana Microservices Application Monitoring for VMware Tanzu. This adds the tile to your staging area.

4. Click the newly added Instana Microservices Application Monitoring for VMware Tanzu tile.

   

5. Instana Microservices Application Monitoring for VMware Tanzu requires minimal configuration:

   • Backend connection menu:

   • Endpoint host: the DNS name of the Instana backend, e.g., saas-us-west-2.instana.io

   • Endpoint port: the port number on which the Instana backend listens; for the SaaS offering of Instana, the value is 443, but it can be configured differently for on-premise Instana backend installations

   • Agent key: the secret used by the Instana agent to authenticate itself to the Instana backend

   The data required for the configurations listed above is readily available in the Instana dashboard, under More > Management Portal > Install agent.

   • Agent Configuration menu:

   • Update mode: if the agent should update itself regularly (recommended), or rather keep to a specific version; see Configuring automatic updates for the Instana Agents for more information

6. Click Save.

1. Return to the Ops Manager Installation Dashboard and click Apply Changes to install Instana Microservices Application Monitoring for VMware Tanzu.

2. The Instana agent is rolled out to the VMware Tanzu foundation.

After the changes have been rolled out, whenever a new Virtual Machine is created in the VMware Tanzu foundation, for example by adding new tiles or creating new service instances, the Instana agent is automatically added to it.

Configuring Updates for the Instana Agents

Instana Microservices Application Monitoring for VMware Tanzu is self-contained, meaning that it ships with a version of the Instana agent that has all sensors needed to monitor VMware Tanzu, its services, and the applications running on it.

Nevertheless, Instana regularly release agent updates providing new sensors as well as performance improvements, and it is highly recommended to keep the agents updated to enjoy the continous improvements in terms of features, performance, and reliability.

There are the following options to keep updated the Instana agents deployed via the Instana Microservices Application Monitoring for VMware Tanzu:

• Install the latest version of Instana Microservices Application Monitoring for VMware Tanzu; for instructions, see the Install and Configure Instana Microservices Application Monitoring for VMware Tanzu section
• Use the Agent Configuration tab of the Instana tile, which allows you to configure the update policies of the Instana agents via the Ops Manager:
  • Static Updates: the Instana agents will run in the version shipped with the installed tile version and never update themselves unless a new versiomn of the tile is rolled out.
  • Dynamic Updates with Regular updates: the Instana agents can be instructed to update themselves at regularly intervals, once a day, either once a week or every day.
  • Dynamic Updates with Pinned version: the Instana agents can pull specific versions of their components, based on the Git commits available on the Instana Agent Updates repository.

Instana advises the use of Dynamic Updates with Regular updates whenever compatible with the policies of the end users. Dynamic Updates with Regular updates also avoids the need of applying changes via Ops Manager, as the agents will update themselves without having to be redeployed.

If strict control is desired in terms of agent updates, Dynamic Updates with Pinned version provides fine-grained control without requiring updating the tile. To change which version is pinned, the configuration change will require applying the change via Ops Manager, including in the change all tiles and the respective errands that are responsible for updating the Virtual Machines to which the agent updates need to be rolled out.

In cases requiring advanced control in terms of how updates are rolled out, end users can point the agents to internal Maven-compatible repositories, as means of tighly regulating the rollout of updates. For more information about configuring agent updates, see the Agent Versioning and Update Management section of the Instana documentation.

Configuring Advanced Configurations for the Instana Agents

Instana Microservices Application Monitoring for VMware Tanzu offers some configuration options that are seldom required through the Advanced configurations menu.