Working with the Instana user interface

You can access Instana by signing in to the Instana UI on any supported web browser.

For the list of supported web browsers, see Supported web browsers.

Authentication

IBM SaaS Console uses IBM Security Verify as the identity provider (IdP). You cannot configure any other IdP when you use the IBM SaaS console.

Owners and administrators who need to log in to the IBM SaaS console must have an IBMid. If you don't have an IBMid, you can create one by accessing the Create an IBMid page.

Owners and administrators can use the IBM SaaS Console for the following purpose:

  • Create and manage Instana instances.
  • Configure Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) single sign-on (SSO) with IBM Security Verify.
  • Provide Instana access to other users, and assign roles.
  • Monitor subscription status and usage.

Other Instana users can log in to the Instana UI directly through SAML SSO by using their enterprise credentials.

Signing in

To sign in to the Instana UI, complete the following steps:

  1. Enter the Instana URL in a supported browser. The Instana login page is displayed.
  2. Log in with your enterprise email address and password.

To sign out, click the profile menu and select Log out.

Home page

The home page is the initial page that you see when you log in to Instana.

Instana home page
Instana home page

The home page also includes the following predefined dashboards:

  • Websites & Mobile Apps
  • Applications
  • Platforms
  • Infrastructure

You create dashboards on the home page.

The navigation menu consists of the following items:

  • Websites & Mobile Apps: Monitor websites and mobile applications
  • Applications: Manage application perspectives
  • Platforms: Monitor platforms
  • Infrastructure: Monitor infrastructure
  • Custom Dashboards: Monitor custom dashboards
  • Logs: Analyze logs
  • Synthetic Monitoring: Manage Synthetic tests
  • Analytics: Analyze data
  • Vulnerabilities: View Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE)
  • Events: Monitor events
  • Automation: Automate actions
  • Service Levels: Monitor services
  • Settings: View and edit Instana settings
  • More: Install and manage agents, access Instana documentation and release notes, open support tickets, and know about the deployed Instana instance.

Sharing an Instana URL

You can share URLs to view an Instana page. You can lock the time zone so that it does not change even when the page is opened in another time zone.

To create a shared link for any page on the Instana UI, click the Share button. Copy the page link and share it with other Instana users.

Interacting with charts

The prebuilt dashboards in Instana provide information about your environment in charts and tables. The dashboard is automatically displayed when you select an item in the menu.

Set a time range

You can set a time range to view data in charts.

To change the time range for the dashboard, click the button that shows the current date. The range that you select in the date picker or time picker applies to all the charts and tables in the dashboard.

Set time range chart
Figure 1. Set time range

  • To view charts in real-time, click Live.
  • To view the most recent data in the charts, click Last minute in the time range.
  • To view second-by-second data, hover over a graph point.

Show and hide data in a chart

You can show or hide data in a chart. Click the name of the item in the legend. For example, click the circle next to the JS errors legend.

In the following chart, the values for "JS errors" are hidden:

Hide chart
Figure 2. Hide chart

In the following chart, the values for "JS errors" are visible:

Show chart
Figure 3. Show chart

Work with data in a chart

You can get more granular data for a particular time displayed on the chart.

On the chart, click where the data for that time is displayed.

Work with chart data
Figure 4. Work with chart data

The following options are available:

Zoom to a time range

To focus on a time period, select Zoom to time range. For example, if the chart data is for an hour, you select Zoom to time range to focus on a particular minute's data.

To reset, use the Set a time range option.

Highlight on all charts

To highlight a particular time range on all the charts in the dashboard, select Highlight on all charts.

To stop highlighting, click Clear highlight.

Download data from charts

You can download the data in a chart in JSON or CSV format.

To download the chart data in JSON or CSV format, select Export to JSON or Export to CSV.

The file is locally downloaded.

Dynamic Graph

Dynamic Graph contains configuration data, dependencies, performance information, and health indicators. It drives other components of Instana, from mapping and visualization to tracing and automated root cause analysis. Dynamic Graph is created and updated automatically. The definition of some components such as services, can be further specified through service configuration.

For more information, see Leveraging the Dynamic Graph

Unbounded analytics

Unbounded analytics automatically associate data in the context you need. Either path directs you to the specific graph, bar chart, or text description that help you find the root cause. You can apply filters to the trace data set in effectively unlimited combinations to find the exact request or trace that requires attention. Information is organized and displayed in Dynamic Graph to reveal the dependencies between your application components automatically. The conditions that lead to and result from an issue are associated with that issue, so you can look forward or backward for cause and effect

Unbounded analytics uses the browser and backend trace details that are collected with the Dynamic Graph to easily understand performance issues and optimize performance. For more information, see Unbounded analytics.