500-425 Cisco AppDynamics Associate Administrator Question and Answers

To create a user in the web user interface, you need to go to Settings > Groups and Roles > Create User. This option allows you to add a new user account and assign it to one or more groups. You can also specify the user’s name, email, password, and authentication method1 References: 1: Create Users

According to the Widgets document1, there are various types of widgets that can be used to create visual representations of data in custom dashboards and war rooms. Some of the widget types are:

• Flow Map: A flow map widget displays the flow of traffic between different entities, such as applications, tiers, nodes, backends, and so on. You can customize the flow map to show different metrics, filters, and drill-down options.
• iFrame: An iFrame widget allows you to embed an external web page or another dashboard within a custom dashboard. You can specify the URL, height, and width of the iFrame widget.
• Health List: A health list widget displays the health status of different entities, such as applications, tiers, nodes, business transactions, and so on. You can customize the health list to show different metrics, filters, and drill-down options.

Therefore, the correct answer is A, B, and C. Snapshot and Funnel Analysts are not widget types, but features or tools that can be accessed from other widgets or dashboards. References:

• Widgets

The Mark Business Transaction as Error checkbox under Configuration > Instrumentation > Error Detection allows you to control whether a business transaction is reported as an error or not. If you clear this checkbox, the business transaction will not be marked as an error and will not affect the error count metrics.

According to the Error Detection: Mark Business Transaction as Error - AppDynamics, the following statements are true when you clear this checkbox:

• The transaction is included in Response Time metrics: This means that the transaction will still contribute to the response time metric, which measures the average time it takes for a request to be completed by AppDynamics. However, it will not affect other response time metrics, such as First Response Time or Average Time to First Byte.
• The transaction is added to error count metrics: This means that the transaction will still count towards the error count metric, which measures the number of transactions that have failed due to errors. However, it will not affect other error count metrics, such as Error Rate or Error Percentage.

Therefore, A (The transaction is included in Response Time metrics) and B (The transaction is added to error count metrics) are true. References:

• Error Detection: Mark Business Transaction as Error - AppDynamics
• Business Transaction - AppDynamics
• Error Detection - AppDynamics

One possible reason why the host does not appear in the Tiers and Nodes view and there are no metrics in the Metric Browser is that the license count for that agent type has been exceeded. You can check the license usage and availability by going to Settings > License in the Controller UI. If the license count is exceeded, you can either purchase more licenses or deactivate some agents to free up the license slots12 References: 1: License Rules and Restrictions 2: Manage Licenses

To determine and configure the exit call to the database, you need to go to Configuration > Instrumentation > Backend Detection > Java. An exit call is a call from an application component to an external service or system, such as a database, a web service, a message queue, or a cache. A backend is a logical representation of an external service or system that receives exit calls from an application component. AppDynamics automatically detects and identifies common types of backends, such as JDBC, HTTP, JMS, and so on.

According to the Exit Point Detection Rules - AppDynamics, the following steps are required to determine and configure the exit call to the database:

• Go to Configuration > Instrumentation > Backend Detection > Java.
• Select the application and the tier that contains the exit call to the database.
• Click the Add button to create a new exit point detection rule.
• Enter a name and description for the rule.
• Select the type of exit call from the drop-down list, such as JDBC, HTTP, JMS, and so on.
• Specify the class and method that make the exit call to the database.
• Specify the match criteria for the exit call, such as the URL, the query, the host, the port, and so on.
• Click Save.

Therefore, C (Configuration > Instrumentation > Backend Detection > Java) is the correct answer. References:

• Exit Point Detection Rules - AppDynamics
• Cisco AppDynamics Associate Administrator Certification
• Backends - AppDynamics

To confirm that the agent is communicating properly to the controller, you can use the following methods:

• Check if data is being written to the agent log in /logs. This indicates that the agent is able to send metrics and events to the controller. You can also look for any errors or warnings in the log file that might indicate a connection issue1
• Select Application > Tiers and Nodes > Look for the Node. This shows you the list of nodes that are registered with the controller and their status. You can see if the node is up or down, the agent version, the last reported time, and the machine name2

References: 1: Troubleshoot Agent Connectivity 2

The custom dashboard feature in AppDynamics allows you to display a specific set of metrics and data points on one screen. You can use custom dashboards to present selected metrics for a user who only needs a relatively narrow or focused view of the data. You can also share custom dashboards with other users and stakeholders.

According to the [Custom Dashboards - AppDynamics], some of the advantages of the custom dashboard feature are:

• It makes drill down across tiers seamless: You can use the grid layout type to create a flexible layout that is easy to rearrange on the canvas. The grid layout also scales in size when viewed on mobile devices. You can also use the absolute layout type to control width and height and the exact placement of widgets on the canvas.
• It monitors metrics of interest: You can add widgets from various categories, such as application, server, database, performance, events, and so on. You can also customize the widget properties panel to configure the widget settings, such as title, description, color scheme, time range, auto-refresh interval, and so on.
• It schedules dashboard as a report: You can export your custom dashboard as a PDF or HTML report that you can send by email or save as a file. You can also schedule your custom dashboard to run periodically using cron expressions.

Therefore, A (It makes drill down across tiers seamless), C (It monitors metrics of interest), and E (It schedules dashboard as a report) are three advantages of the custom dashboard feature. References:

• [Custom Dashboards - AppDynamics]
• [Create and Manage Custom Dashboards and Templates - AppDynamics]
• Custom Dashboard Permissions - docs.appdynamics.com

According to the Data Collectors document1, a data collector is a configuration that captures application data from a method invocation or an HTTP request. A data collector is associated with a specific method signature or an HTTP parameter name. Therefore, if a new class and method have been deployed to the application, or a new method parameter has been added to an instrumented class, the existing data collector may not match the new code and may need to be updated. However, if the business transaction has been deprecated, or a new HTTP parameter has been added to an existing business transaction, the existing data collector may still work as expected, unless the data collector is specifically configured to filter by the business transaction name or the HTTP parameter value. References:

• Data Collectors

When creating a Health Rule condition, you can use baselines instead of defining a specific threshold for some metrics. Baselines are the dynamic values that represent the normal or expected behavior of a metric, based on the historical data collected by the AppDynamics Cognition Engine. Using baselines can help you account for the variations and seasonality of your application performance, and avoid false positives or negatives. You can use baselines for metrics that have a non-zero average value and a meaningful deviation, such as the overall average response time of a business transaction or an expression containing multiple metrics. You cannot use baselines for metrics that have a zero average value or a negligible deviation, such as the Business Transaction errors per minute or the calls per millisecond.https://www.appdynamics.com/product/how-it-works/application-performance-baseline

https://developer.cisco.com/docs/appdynamics/health-rules/

The option that would solve this the fastest for the customer is to include baseline data within widgets on the dashboard. Baseline data is the data that represents the normal or expected behaviorof a metric, based on the historical data collected by the AppDynamics Cognition Engine. By including baseline data within widgets on the dashboard, the customer can easily compare the current value of the metric with the past average value for the same time. For example, if the customer wants to see the number of current database connections on their application in a Timeseries graph, and compare it to the past averages for the same time, they can create a Timeseries graph widget that shows the metric “Database Connections” and enable the option “Show Baseline Data” in the widget settings. This will display the current and the baseline values of the metric in the same graph, and allow the customer to see the trends and deviations over time1.

According to the Database Visibility Supported Environments document1, Database Visibility can monitor the following databases: PostgreSQL, Cassandra, MongoDB, MySQL, SQL Server, Oracle, Sybase ASE, Sybase IQ, and Couchbase. Therefore, the correct answer is A, B, and D. Derby and DB2 are not supported by Database Visibility. References:

• Database Visibility Supported Environments

According to the Tiers and Nodes document1, establishing standards for naming applications, tiers, and nodes can help you identify and organize the components of your monitored environment, as well as troubleshoot performance issues and health rule violations. Some of the statements about establishing naming conventions are true:

• Application Tier and Node values can be configured in the application agent startup script: This is true for Java agents, as you can pass values to the agent that will be used as the application, tier, and node name for the system. For example, you can use the -Dappdynamics.agent.applicationName, -Dappdynamics.agent.tierName, and -Dappdynamics.agent.nodeName properties to specify the names in the JVM startup script2.
• Node names must be unique across the entire business application: This is true, as node names are used to identify the individual instances of the application components that are monitored by AppDynamics. Having duplicate node names can cause confusion and errors in the data collection and reporting. Therefore, you should use a naming convention that ensures uniqueness and clarity for each node1.
• Application Tier and Node values can be configured in the controller-info.xml file: This is true for Java agents, as you can also configure the names in the controller-info.xml file, which is located in the /conf directory. The controller-info.xml file contains the properties that define the agent identity and connection to the Controller. You can use the , , and elements to specify the names in the file2.

Some of the statements about establishing naming conventions are false:

• Nodes that reside on different Tiers and different machines (hosts) can have duplicate Node names: This is false, as node names must be unique across the entire business application, regardless of the tier or the host they belong to. Having duplicate node names can cause confusion and errors in the data collection and reporting. Therefore, you should use a naming convention that ensures uniqueness and clarity for each node1.
• Nodes that reside on the same Tier but on different machines (hosts) can have duplicate Node names: This is also false, as node names must be unique across the entire business application, regardless of the tier or the host they belong to. Having duplicate node names can cause confusion and errors in the data collection and reporting. Therefore, you should use a naming convention that ensures uniqueness and clarity for each node1.

References:

• Tiers and Nodes
• Name Business Applications, Tiers, and Nodes

According to the Actions document1, there are four types of standard controller actions that are available to be created: Notification, Diagnostic, Remediation, and JIRA. Each type of action has different subtypes that perform specific tasks. For example, the Notification type includes Email, SMS, and HTTP Request subtypes, while the Diagnostic type includes Thread Dump, Heap Dump, and Diagnostic Session subtypes. Therefore, the correct answer is D and E, as Email and Thread Dump are subtypes of standard controller actions. Resolve, Close Incident, and Undeploy are not standard controller actions, but they may be custom actions that are created by the user or the administrator. References:

• Actions

The Policy Test Bench gives administrators the ability to test and debug policy execution. It allows you to simulate events and see how the policies and actions respond to them. You can also view the policy execution logs and troubleshoot any issues1 References: 1: Policy Test Bench

Snapshots are the detailed records of the execution of a business transaction, including the call stack, the exit points, the errors, and the metrics. To locate snapshots showing slow database response, you can use the following methods:

• Go to the list of snapshots and apply a filter based on slow database response: You can access the list of snapshots from the Business Transaction Dashboard or the Tier Dashboard. You can then apply a filter to show only the snapshots that have a slow database response time, which is the time spent by the business transaction in calling the database. You can specify the minimum and maximum values for the slow database response time, or use the predefined options such as slower than 1 second, slower than 5 seconds, etc. You can also combine this filter with other filters, such as time range, business transaction name, tier name, node name, etc. to narrow down the results1.
• From the flow map, right-click the database icon and select view snapshots: You can access the flow map from the Application Dashboard, the Business Transaction Dashboard, or the Tier Dashboard. The flow map shows the graphical representation of the flow of the business transactions, including the tiers, the nodes, the backends, and the remote services. You can right-click on any database icon on the flow map and select view snapshots to see the list of snapshots that have called that database. You can then sort or filter the snapshots by the database response time column to find the slowest ones2.

The other options are not valid methods to locate snapshots showing slow database response. Going to the dashboard for the database and selecting slowest database calls will show the metrics and the flow map for the database, but not the snapshots. Going to the list of snapshots and selecting analyze for a group of snapshots will show the summary and the comparison of the selected snapshots, but not the database response time.

https://community.appdynamics.com/t5/Share-a-tip/Snapshots-and-identifying-intermittent-issues/td-p/42896