Configuring Instana

Use stanctl to install and manage Instana.

For more information about stanctl, see Using stanctl commands.

Instana agents

Install Instana agents for monitoring your technology stacks by using the stanctl agent command.

  • For more information about Instana agents, see Installing Instana agents.
  • For more information about the stanctl agent command, use stanctl agent --help.

By default, randomly generated agent keys are used when you install agents. To configure your custom agent key, use the stanctl agent apply --agent-key <key-value> command.

Enabling self monitoring

You can enable self monitoring of your Self-Hosted Standard Edition host by installing the host agent.

We recommend self monitoring on the same backend only for test installations. For reliable self monitoring, ideally use a second backend. It is sufficient to use the demo installation type on the second backend host. On the system to be monitored, you must assign the agent acceptor endpoint to the agent by using the --agent-endpoint-host flag.

You can find the agent acceptor endpoint URL on the Instana UI > Install Agent > <Platform> page. Look for an endpoint value that starts with agent-acceptor. For more information, see Installing the host agent on Kubernetes.

From the command-line interface of your host, run the following command to install the agent or update the agent configuration:

  • If you are using the same backend for self monitoring, run the following command:
    stanctl agent apply
  • If you are using a second backend for self monitoring, run the following command:
    stanctl agent apply --agent-endpoint-host <endpoint-of-the-second-backend> --agent-key <agent-key-of-the-second-backend> --agent-cluster-name <your-custom-local-cluster-name> --agent-zone-name <your-custom-local-cluster-zone-name>

If the second backend is not listening at the default 8600 agent port, specify a custom endpoint port by using the --agent-endpoint-port <custom-endpoint-port-of-the-second-backend> flag with the previous command.

If the stanctl command displays prompts for a username and password, use the default user _ as the username and your download key as the password.

Disabling self monitoring

To uninstall the Instana host agent and stop self monitoring, run the following command:

stanctl agent delete

Instana backend configurations

At any time during or after the Instana backend installation, you can update the Instana Core configuration values by using the stanctl backend apply command. Use stanctl backend apply --help to see the configuration options. You can also create a .env file as described in Environment variables.

To configure instana by using your .env file, run the following command:

stanctl backend apply --env-file <your_env_file>

For more information about the core specifications, see the CoreSpec items in the API Reference.

Using existing certificates

To use a custom transport layer security (TLS) certificate and key, use the following command:

stanctl backend apply --core-tls-crt <full-path-to-certificate-file> --core-tls-key <full-path-to-key-file>

Configuring a Service Provider

To configure a Service Provider, such as SAML or OIDC, you need a certificate. Ensure that you create the combined certificate and key PEM file. For more information, see Creating Service Provider key and certificate for IdP configuration.

To configure a Service Provider, run the following command:

stanctl backend apply --core-service-provider-password <pem-password> --core-service-provider-pem <full-path-to-combined-pem-file>

Using a proxy server

Some external services, such as mail server and Alert Channel recipients, are accessible only through a proxy server. For the Instana backend to reach these services, you must configure a proxy server. Use the following command:

stanctl backend apply --core-proxy-host <proxy-host> --core-proxy-port <proxy-port> --core-proxy-user <proxy-user> --core-proxy-password <proxy-password>

Using an SMTP mail server

To use all mail functions in the backend, configure an SMPT mail server.

stanctl backend apply --core-smtp-check-server-identity=true --core-smtp-use-ssl=true --core-smtp-start-tls=false --core-smtp-from <sender-email-address> --core-smtp-host <SMTP-host> --core-smtp-port <SMTP-port> --core-smtp-user <SMTP-username> --core-smtp-password <SMTP-password>

Using a custom CA certificate

Some external services use certificates that are signed by a custom certificate authority (CA). To use these services in Instana, add their certificates to the truststores. If these certificates are not from a root CA, Instana imports the complete certificate chain (your certificate, intermediary certificates, and the root certificate) into the operator JVM keystore.

stanctl backend apply --core-custom-ca-crt <ca-certificate-file>

Authentication configurations

Manage access credentials and authentication configurations. For more information, see Modifying authentication configuration.

Optional features

You can enable optional features on your Standard Edition. Some features might require more CPU, memory, and storage. Check CPU and memory requirements and storage requirements before you enable a feature.

For example, you can enable Analyze logs, Native histogram metric support (public preview), and Synthetic monitoring.

Analyze logs

  • To enable Analyze logs, run the following command:

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

  • To disable Analyze logs, run the following command:

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

Native histogram metric support (public preview)

Native histogram metric (public preview) supports stanctl 1.1.0 and later for the cluster installation.

  • To enable the native histogram metric feature, run the following command:
    stanctl backend apply --core-feature-flags feature.beeinstana.histograms.enabled=true
  • To disable the native histogram metric feature, run the following command:
    stanctl backend apply --core-feature-flags feature.beeinstana.histograms.enabled=false

Synthetic monitoring

  • To enable Synthetics monitoring, run the following command:

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

  • To disable Synthetics monitoring, run the following command:

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