Automatic Naming

When set to true, the Java Agent automatically assigns unique names to nodes for the application. If other agent identification properties are not specified in other settings, the tier and application for the agent are automatically named. The default names are in the format MyApp and MyTier and application_server@host. Ensure that you restart the JVM after you enable this property. The node names are listed as null in the Controller UI until the server is restarted.

Element in controller-info.xml: <auto-naming>

Type: Boolean

Default: None

Required:No

Application Name

The name of the logical business application that this JVM node belongs to. Note that this is not the deployment name(ear/war/jar) on the application server.

If a business application of the configured name does not exist, it is created automatically.

Element in controller-info.xml: <application-name>

System Property: -Dappdynamics.agent.applicationName

Environment Variable: APPDYNAMICS_AGENT_APPLICATION_NAME

Type: String

Default: None

Required: Yes

Tier Name

The name of the tier that this JVM node belongs to. Note that this is not the deployment name (ear/war/jar) on the application server.

If the JVM or application server startup script already has a system property that references a tier, such as -Dserver.tier, you can use ${server.tier} as the tier name. See Use System Properties for Java Agent Settings.

The agent registers the named tier with the Controller, if the tier does not already exist, the first time it connects with the Controller. If a tier with the name already exists in the Controller model, the agent is associated with the existing tier.

Element in controller-info.xml: <tier-name>

System Property: -Dappdynamics.agent.tierName

Environment Variable: APPDYNAMICS_AGENT_TIER_NAME

Type: String

Default: None

Required: Yes

Node Name

The name of the node. Where JVMs are dynamically created, use the system property to set the node name.

If your JVM or application server startup script already has a system property that can be used as a node name, such as -Dserver.name, you could use ${server.name} as the node name. You could also use expressions such as ${server.name}_${host.name}.MyNode to define the node name. See Use System Properties for Java Agent Settings.

In general, the node name must be unique within the business application and physical host. If you want to use the same node name for multiple nodes on the same physical machine, create multiple virtual hosts using the Unique Host ID property. See Unique Host ID.

Element in controller-info.xml: <node-name>

System Property: -Dappdynamics.agent.nodeName

Environment Variable: APPDYNAMICS_AGENT_NODE_NAME

Type: String

Default: None

Required: Yes

Reuse Node Name

Set this property to true to reuse node names in Splunk AppDynamics. When you set the property to true, you do not need to supply a node name, but you do need to provide a node name prefix using -Dappdynamics.agent.reuse.nodeName.prefix.

This property is useful for monitoring environments where there are many JVMs with short life spans. When true, Splunk AppDynamics reuses the node names of historical JVMs for new JVMs. This avoids a proliferation of differently named nodes in Splunk AppDynamics over time, particularly when the nodes are essentially identical processes that run over different times. An example of this environment is a z/OS Dynamic Workload Manager based-environment where new JVMs are launched and shut down based on actual workload.

Splunk AppDynamics generates a node name with App, Tier and Sequence number. The node names are pooled. For example, the sequence numbers are reused when the nodes are purged (based on the node lifetime).

When the Java Agent starts up, it logs output to the console until it registers with the Controller and the Controller generates the node name. To configure the agent to write logs to a file, edit the log4j-unknown.xml at <agent_home>/<version_number>/conf/logging. See Instrument JVMs in a Dynamic Environment.

The Controller reuses node names based on the node retention period property.

System Property: -Dappdynamics.agent.reuse.nodeName

Environment Variable:APPDYNAMICS_JAVA_AGENT_REUSE_NODE_NAME (New in 4.5.8)

Type:Boolean

Default:False

Required: No

Example:With the following configuration, the Controller generates a node name with the prefix "reportGen". Node names will have suffixes -1, -2, and so on, depending on the number of nodes are running in parallel. The name of a node that is shut down and qualifies as a historical node may be reused by a new node.

-Dappdynamics.agent.reuse.nodeName=true -Dappdynamics.agent.reuse.nodeName.prefix=reportGen

Reuse Node Name Prefix

When you configure the agent to reuse node names, use this property to specify the prefix the Controller uses to generate node names dynamically.

System Property: -Dappdynamics.agent.reuse.nodeName.prefix

Environment Variable: APPDYNAMICS_JAVA_AGENT_REUSE_NODE_NAME_PREFIX (New in 4.5.8)

Type: String

Default: None

Required: When -Dappdynamics.agent.reuse.nodeName=true

Example: Using the following property specifications, the agent directs the Controller to generate a node name with the prefix "reportGen". Node names will have suffixes --1, --2, and so on, depending on how many nodes are running in parallel.

-Dappdynamics.agent.reuse.nodeName=true -Dappdynamics.agent.reuse.nodeName.prefix=reportGen

Self Service

Configure the Java Agent to automatically name nodes based upon the platform. For automatic node naming to work, you must specify an application name and a tier name.

System Property: -Dappdynamics.agent.selfService

Type: String

Values: tibco: The Java Agent names nodes for the TIBCO process name. See Configure the Java Agent for TIBCO BusinessWorks for more information.

Default: None

Required: No