Combined Agent for Infrastructure Visibility

Supported Modes

  • Machine Agent mode: Reports infrastructure metrics to the AppDynamics Controller.

  • Dual signal mode: Reports infrastructure metrics to both the AppDynamics Controller and Splunk Observability Cloud.

  • OTel only mode: Reports infrastructure metrics through the OpenTelemetry Collector without running the Java Machine Agent.

Configuration

Configure the Combined Agent by using environment variables, Java system properties specified with -D, or settings in controller-info.xml. When multiple configuration methods are used, the priority is:

  1. Environment variables

  2. Java system properties

  3. controller-info.xml

These settings control OpenTelemetry startup for launcher-managed deployments, such as ZIP or manual installations. For Linux RPM installations that use systemd, the Machine Agent and the bundled OpenTelemetry Collector run as independent services. Mode settings do not start, stop, enable, or disable either service. Manage those services explicitly with systemctl. For more information, see Linux Install Using the RPM Package.

For Docker process metrics and process selectors, see Configure Docker Visibility. For host process selection and host process-level metrics, see Machine Agent Settings for Server Visibility. For remediation log-path validation, see Machine Agent Configuration Properties.

Environment Variables

Configure the following environment variables when sending data to Splunk Observability Cloud. These variables apply to Dual signal mode and OTel only mode.

Table 1. Combined Agent environment variables
Environment variable Purpose Default Note
SPLUNK_ACCESS_TOKEN Authentication token for Splunk Observability Cloud. Required Required by the bundled default exporter configuration.
SPLUNK_REALM Splunk Observability Cloud realm. Required For example, us0 or eu0.
APPDYNAMICS_AGENT_ACCOUNT_NAME AppDynamics account name used for resource context. Optional In the bundled RPM and systemd Collector configuration, this value sets deployment.environment.name and appd.account.name.
DEPLOYMENT_ENVIRONMENT Custom environment label for launcher-managed deployments. Optional This variable does not change deployment.environment.name in the bundled RPM and systemd Collector configuration.
SPLUNK_API_URL Splunk Observability Cloud API endpoint. https://api.${SPLUNK_REALM}.signalfx.com Optional
SPLUNK_INGEST_URL Splunk Observability Cloud ingest endpoint. https://ingest.${SPLUNK_REALM}.signalfx.com Optional

Machine Agent mode

Machine Agent mode is the default mode. Only the Java Machine Agent runs and reports infrastructure metrics to the AppDynamics Controller.

  • Behavior: The OpenTelemetry Collector does not run.

  • Use case: Use this mode when you need AppDynamics visibility only or when running on a platform that is not supported by OpenTelemetry.

  • Configuration: Omit the OpenTelemetry mode settings or set them to false.

Dual signal mode

Dual signal mode sends infrastructure metrics to both the AppDynamics Controller and Splunk Observability Cloud.

  • Behavior: The Java Machine Agent and the OpenTelemetry Collector run together.

  • Use case: Use this mode while transitioning from AppDynamics infrastructure monitoring to Splunk Observability Cloud.

  • Configuration: For launcher-managed deployments, enable this mode with SPLUNK_OTEL_ENABLED=true or -Dsplunk.otel.enabled=true. For Linux RPM and systemd installations, manage the Machine Agent and Collector as independent services.

OTel only mode

OTel only mode reports infrastructure data through the OpenTelemetry Collector without running the Java Machine Agent.

  • Behavior: The Java Machine Agent does not run. Infrastructure metrics are collected and exported through OpenTelemetry.

  • Use case: Use this mode after completing the transition to Splunk Observability Cloud.

  • Configuration: For launcher-managed deployments, enable this mode with SPLUNK_OTEL_ONLY=true or -Dsplunk.otel.only=true. For Linux RPM and systemd installations, stop or disable the Machine Agent and enable the Collector service explicitly.

How to enable each mode?

Configure the following settings for launcher-managed deployments.

Table 2. Settings for Combined Agent modes
Mode Environment variable Java system property controller-info.xml
Machine Agent mode Omit the setting or use SPLUNK_OTEL_ENABLED=false. Omit the setting or use -Dsplunk.otel.enabled=false. <otel-enabled>false</otel-enabled> or omit the element.
Dual signal mode SPLUNK_OTEL_ENABLED=true -Dsplunk.otel.enabled=true <otel-enabled>true</otel-enabled>
OTel only mode SPLUNK_OTEL_ONLY=true -Dsplunk.otel.only=true Use the environment variable or Java system property.
Important:

On Linux RPM and systemd installations, the Machine Agent and OpenTelemetry Collector are independent services. Use the service management procedure in Linux Install Using the RPM Package.