Administering the host agent on Windows

Checking the status of the host agent

After you install the host agent, check the status of the host agent on the Instana UI or on the host. For more information, see Checking the status of the host agent.

Customizing the host agent configuration

After you install the host agent, the following configuration files are created by default:

/opt/instana/agent/etc/mvn-settings.xml
/opt/instana/agent/etc/org.ops4j.pax.url.mvn.cfg
/opt/instana/agent/etc/instana/com.instana.agent.bootstrap.AgentBootstrap.cfg
/opt/instana/agent/etc/instana/com.instana.agent.main.config.Agent.cfg
/opt/instana/agent/etc/instana/com.instana.agent.main.config.UpdateManager.cfg
/opt/instana/agent/etc/instana/com.instana.agent.main.sender.Backend.cfg
/opt/instana/agent/etc/instana/configuration.yaml

You can customize the configuration of the agent as you need. For example, you can change the TCP port and hostname of the Instana backend and services that your host agent connects to, configure the agent to report to multiple backends, or set up a proxy for indirect communication from the host agent to the Instana backend.

For more information about customizing the agent configuration, see the following topics:

• Agent logging
• Configuring the Instana backend
• Configuring the host agent mode
• Configuring host agents by using the agent configuration file
• Converting a static agent to a dynamic agent
• Limiting host agent CPU and memory
• Retrieving the current version of dynamic agents
• Setting up an agent proxy
• Setting up TLS encryption for agent endpoint
• Updating interval of dynamic agents
• Version pinning of dynamic agents

Starting the agent

When you install the host agent, it starts automatically at system boot. To disable this behavior, set the environment variable INSTANA_AGENT_AUTOSTART=false during installation.

To start the host agent, run the following command:

<instana-agent-install-dir>\bin\start.bat

Stopping the agent

To stop the agent, run the following command:

<instana-agent-install-dir>\bin\stop.bat

Updating the host agent

You can update the host agent for Windows in two ways depending on the mode of installation.

To properly update the agent, make sure to use the agent version with the same packaging mode and runtime as your original installation.

Managing agents by using the Agent Management dashboard

You can complete the following operations by using the Agent Management dashboard in the Instana UI:

• Changing agent modes
• Changing the log level
• Updating agents
• Resetting agents
• Rebooting agents
• Viewing sensors
• Configuration management
  • Initializing configuration management
  • Updating configuration management
• Self-monitoring

To open the Agent Management dashboard, follow the steps:

1. From the navigation menu in the Instana UI, select Infrastructure. Alternatively, in the host overview, under Instana Agent, click on the agent.
2. Click a specific monitored host.
3. On the host dashboard, click Open Agent Management.

Setting and overriding environment variables

You can set or override environment variables for the Instana agent on Windows by using the Windows Registry Editor.

To set, modify, or override environment variables, go to the Instana registry location Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\instana-agent-service in Windows Registry Editor and add new or edit existing environment variables.

Deleting temporary files

Instana host agent installs some files that it needs in the /Temp/instana/ directory. If those files are deleted over the uptime of the host, it can cause issues during updates.

Instana automatically clears all of its temporary files when you uninstall the agent. To manually clear the temporary files, delete the contents of the folder Windows/Temp/instana.