[Q29-Q45] 500-430 Certification – The Ultimate Guide [Updated 2024]

Explanation
In a hybrid deployment of AppDynamics, where the AppDynamics Controller and Events Service are installed on-premises and the EUM Server is hosted in AppDynamics’ SaaS cloud, the data that is unavailable is the analytics metrics for End-User Monitoring data sets. This is because the analytics metrics require the Events Service to store and process the unstructured data generated by the EUM agents. However, in a hybrid deployment, the EUM Server and the Events Service are not connected, and the EUM Server does not send the EUM data to the Events Service. Therefore, the analytics metrics for EUM data sets, such as browser records, mobile snapshots, network requests, and custom events, are not available in the Controller UI or the Analytics UI1. The other data, such as resource loading times, session information, and browser snapshots, are available in the EUM Server UI, as they are stored and displayed by the EUM Server itself2. References: Hybrid Deployment and EUM Data Sets in the AppDynamics documentation.

Explanation
A custom action is a type of Alert and Respond action that allows you to integrate AppDynamics notifications with your own alerting or ticketing system. You can create a custom action by writing an executable script and an XML file that describe how to pass information from AppDynamics to your system. A custom action can be triggered by a policy based on a health rule violation or an event. A custom action is available only on an on-premises Controller, because it requires access to the Controller file system and the ability to execute scripts on the Controller host machine. For a SaaS Controller, you can use HTTP request templates instead of custom actions to integrate with external systems. References: Build a Custom Action, Alert and Respond, Actions, Custom Actions

Explanation
AppDynamics recommends that you terminate SSL connections from agents at a reverse proxy or a load balancer in front of the Controller, rather than at the Controller itself. This improves the performance and scalability of the Controller by offloading the SSL processing to the proxy or load balancer. It also simplifies the configuration and management of SSL certificates and truststores. To enable this option, you need to configure the proxy or load balancer to accept SSL connections from agents and forward them to the Controller using HTTP. You also need to configure the agents to use SSL and point to the proxy or load balancer host and port. See Enable SSL for the Java Agent for an example. References: Agent-to-Controller Connections and Enable SSL and SSH for Database Agent Communications in the AppDynamics documentation.

Explanation
As an AppDynamics Controller grows beyond supporting 500 agents, network throughput becomes more important. This is because the Controller needs to handle a large volume of data from the agents, as well as serve requests from the UI and API clients. Network throughput is the measure of how much data can be transferred over a network in a given time. A low network throughput can cause delays, errors, or timeouts in the communication between the Controller and the agents or clients. Therefore, it is recommended to monitor the network throughput of the Controller and ensure that it meets the minimum requirements for the expected load123. References: Controller System Requirements, Performance and Controller Sizing Guidelines, How to Run AppDynamics in Microsoft Azure

Explanation
According to the Cisco AppDynamics Professional Implementer (CAPI) documents, the minimum recommended number of nodes for a redundant Events Service is three ©. The Events Service is a distributed database that stores and processes the analytics data collected by the AppDynamics platform. The Events Service cluster consists of multiple nodes that share the data load and provide fault tolerance and high availability. The minimum number of nodes for a functional Events Service cluster is one, but this is not recommended for production environments, as it does not provide any redundancy or resilience. The minimum number of nodes for a redundant Events Service cluster is three, as this allows the cluster to tolerate the failure of one node without losing any data or availability. The recommended number of nodes for a redundant Events Service cluster is five or more, as this provides better performance and scalability12.
The incorrect options are:
1 (A): This is not a valid option because a single-node Events Service cluster does not provide any redundancy or resilience. If the node fails, the cluster becomes unavailable and the data is lost. A single-node Events Service cluster is only suitable for testing or development purposes, not for production environments12.
2 (B): This is not a valid option because a two-node Events Service cluster does not provide sufficient redundancy or resilience. If one node fails, the cluster becomes unstable and may lose data or availability. A two-node Events Service cluster is not recommended for production environments12.
4 (D): This is not a valid option because a four-node Events Service cluster is not optimal for redundancy or resilience. A four-node Events Service cluster has an even number of nodes, which may cause a split-brain scenario, where the cluster is divided into two equal partitions that cannot communicate with each other. This may result in data inconsistency or unavailability. A four-node Events Service cluster can be improved by adding a fifth node to avoid the split-brain scenario12.
References:
1: Events Service Deployment – AppDynamics
2: Events Service Requirements – AppDynamics

Explanation
To upgrade an EUM Server that is currently in production, the administrator should follow these steps:
Stop the EUM Server before the upgrade. This ensures that the EUM Server does not process any incoming data from the EUM agents during the upgrade process. The administrator can use the eum.sh or eum.bat script to stop the EUM Server gracefully1.
Run the new installer on the EUM host machine. The installer will detect the existing EUM Server installation and prompt the administrator to upgrade it to the latest version. The installer will also migrate the EUM data from the old version to the new version, if needed. The administrator should follow the instructions on the installer wizard to complete the upgrade2.
The other options are not necessary or correct for upgrading the EUM Server. The administrator does not need to stop or upgrade the EUM agents, as they are compatible with the new version of the EUM Server. The administrator does not need to update the EUM Server access key, as it remains the same after the upgrade. The administrator does not need to install MySQL, as it is bundled with the EUM Server installation package2. References: Upgrade the Production EUM Server and Start and Stop the EUM Server in the AppDynamics documentation.

Explanation
According to the Cisco AppDynamics Professional Implementer (CAPI) documents, the correct method to perform a NET Agent upgrade is to perform the agent upgrade on the application server host by running the MSI Installer Package12. This method will install updated agent files and maintain legacy configurations. You do not need to uninstall the old agent first when you upgrade from the NET Agent >= 3.9, except for patch releases. You need to stop IIS, instrumented Windows services, and instrumented standalone applications before running the MSI Installer Package. You also need to launch an elevated command prompt with full administrator privileges and specify youraccount access key for single-tenant Controller accounts. After the installation, you need to restart Windows services and standalone applications.
The incorrect options are:
Perform the agent upgrade on a remote server host by using the AppDynamics Controller REST API.
(B) This is not a valid method for upgrading the NET Agent, because the AppDynamics Controller REST API does not provide any endpoint for agent installation or upgrade. The REST API is mainly used for retrieving or updating configuration data, metrics, events, snapshots, and other information from the Controller3.
Perform the agent upgrade on the application server host by running the Agent Configuration Utility.
This is not a valid method for upgrading the NET Agent, because the Agent Configuration Utility is a tool for modifying the agent configuration after installation, not for installing or upgrading the agent. The Agent Configuration Utility allows you to change the Controller connection settings, the agent logging level, the proxy settings, and other advanced options4.
Perform the agent upgrade via the AppDynamics Controller UI. (D) This is not a valid method for upgrading the NET Agent, because the AppDynamics Controller UI does not provide any feature for agent installation or upgrade. The Controller UI is mainly used for monitoring, analyzing, and troubleshooting the performance of the applications, business transactions, tiers, nodes, and other entities that are instrumented by the agents5.
References:
1: Upgrade the .NET Agent for Windows – AppDynamics
2: Release Upgrade Checklist for .NET Agents – AppDynamics
3: REST API – AppDynamics
4: Configure the .NET Agent – AppDynamics
5: AppDynamics Application Performance Monitoring Platform – AppDynamics

Explanation
According to the Cisco AppDynamics Professional Implementer (CAPI) documents, when updating the Database Agent, you need to follow these steps12:
Stop the agent as described for your specific installation in Start and Stop the Database Agent.
Make a copy of the existing agent directory, <db_agent_home>. Backing up allows you to revert to the previous agent installation if you need to. You can also copy over the controller-info.xml configuration file to the new installation to ensure the agent configuration is maintained.
Install the Database Agent as described for your specific installation in Administer the Database Agent.
Copy the <backup_db_agent_home>\conf\controller-info.xml file to the new installation directory,
<db_agent_home>\conf. To ensure the agent configuration is maintained, copy the
<backup_db_agent_home>\conf\controller-info.xml file to the new installation directory,
<db_agent_home>\conf.
Start the new agent. See Start and Stop the Database Agent.
Verify the Database Agent Installation. See Verify the Database Agent Installation.
Therefore, the correct statements are:
The Database Agent must be stopped and restarted during the upgrade. (A) Controller-info.xml is the only file that needs to be migrated from the previous agent to the new agent.
(D)
The incorrect statements are:
If the agent is moved to a new location during the upgrade, the AppDynamics Controller must be reconfigured to reference the new location of the agent. (B) This is not true because the controller-info.xml file contains the information about the Controller host, port, account name, access key, and SSL settings. As long as this file is copied to the new agent location, the Controller does not need to be reconfigured.
All data collectors created from the previous agent must be migrated to the new agent. This is not true because the data collectors are configured on the Controller UI, not on the agent. The agent collects the metrics from the databases and sends them to the Controller. The data collectors do not need to be migrated to the new agent.
After the Database Agent is upgraded, the AppDynamics Controller must be restarted. (E) This is not true because the Controller does not depend on the agent version. The agent and the Controller are compatible as long as they meet the Agent and Controller Compatibility requirements.
References:
1: Upgrade the Database Agent – AppDynamics
2: Release Upgrade Checklist for Database Agents – AppDynamics

Explanation
To add a custom extension to a Machine Agent, you need at least three artifacts: a directory, a jar or script file, and a monitor.xml file12. The directory is where you place your extension files under the
<machine_agent_home>/monitors directory. The jar or script file is the executable file that collects and reports the custom metrics to the Machine Agent. The monitor.xml file is the configuration file that defines the name, frequency, and parameters of your extension. You can also optionally include other files such as libraries, configuration files, or templates for yourextension12. References: Build a Monitoring Extension Using Scripts, Extensions and Custom Metrics

Explanation
The user under which the JVM runs must have write privileges to the conf and logs directories in the Java Agent home. This is because the conf directory contains the agent configuration files, such as controller-info.xml and agent-config.xml, which may need to be modified or updated by the user. The logs directory contains the agent log files, such as agent.log and agent-errors.log, which are generated by the agent and may need to be accessed or rotated by the user. The user can install the agent as the same user that owns the JVM or as an administrator on the host machine. The user can restrict the remaining contents of the agent directory, such as the lib and bin directories, to read-only access12. References: Install the Java Agent, Java Agent fails to start

Explanation
The AppDynamics REST API to retrieve metrics allows you to get values generated for metrics by specifying the path of the metric and the time frame for the data1. Some of the valid reasons to use this API are12:
To archive 1-minute granularity data. The AppDynamics Controller stores metric data at different levels of granularity depending on the retention period. For example, it stores 1-minute granularity data for 8 days, 10-minute granularity data for 32 days, and 1-hour granularity data for 365 days. If you want to archive the 1-minute granularity data for longer than 8 days, you can use the API to retrieve and store the data in an external database or file system.
To calculate a new metric based on two existing metrics. The AppDynamics Controller provides some built-in metrics such as average response time, calls per minute, errors per minute, etc. However, you may want to calculate a new metric that is not available in the Controller, such as the ratio of errors to calls, or the percentage of slow transactions. You can use the API to retrieve the values of the existing metrics and perform the calculation using your own logic or formula.
To retrieve health rule violations. Health rules are the rules that define the performance and availability thresholds for your application components. When a health rule is violated, the AppDynamics Controller generates an event and optionally triggers a policy action. You can use the API to retrieve the list of health rule violations for a given application, time range, and severity level. This can help you monitor and troubleshoot the health of your application and take corrective actions if needed. References: Retrieve Metric Data, Health Rule API

Explanation
The REST query that could be used to verify the availability of an AppDynamics Controller is1:
http://<controller_host>:<port>/controller/rest/ping
This query returns a simple text response of “pong” if the Controller is up and running, or an error message if the Controller is down or unreachable1. This query does not require any authentication or parameters, and can be used as a quick and easy way to check the Controller status1. References: Ping the Controller

Explanation
To install a .NET Agent patch, which is a minor update to the existing .NET Agent version, you do not need to uninstall the old agent or restart the machine. You only need to follow these steps:
Download the .NET Agent patch from the AppDynamics Download Center.
Launch an elevated command prompt with full administrator privileges.
Execute the Installer.bat file from the patch archive. The batch file installs the patch and starts the AppDynamics Agent Coordinator service.
Restart the instrumented applications, such as IIS, Windows services, or standalone applications.
References: .NET Agent and How do I deploy a .NET Agent? in the AppDynamics documentation and community.

Explanation
According to the Cisco AppDynamics Professional Implementer (CAPI) documents, the two recommendations for servers in an Events Service Cluster are:
Should be on the same local network : This is a valid recommendation because the Events Service Cluster is based on Apache Cassandra, which is a distributed database that relies on network communication between the nodes. Having the servers on the same local network reduces the network latency and improves the performance and reliability of the cluster. The network bandwidth should be at least 1 Gbps, and the network firewall should allow the required ports for the Events Service Cluster12.
Should have identical hardware specifications (D): This is a valid recommendation because the Events Service Cluster is horizontally scalable, which means that the nodes share the data storage and processing load equally. Having identical hardware specifications for the servers ensures that the cluster is balanced and efficient, and avoids performance bottlenecks or failures due to hardware differences. The hardware specifications should meet the minimum requirements for the Events Service Cluster, such as CPU cores, RAM, disk space, and disk type12.
The incorrect options are:
Should be installed using the same user account (A): This is not a valid recommendation because the Events Service Cluster does not require the same user account for installation. The user account that is used to install the Events Service Cluster should have sudo privileges on the target hosts, but it does not have to be the same for all the hosts. The user account that is used to run the Events Service Cluster should have read and write permissions on the installation directory, but it does not have to be the same for all the hosts either12.
Should have eight or more CPU cores (B): This is not a valid recommendation because the Events Service Cluster does not require eight or more CPU cores for the servers. The minimum requirement for the CPU cores is four, and the recommended requirement is six. Having more CPU cores may improve the performance of the cluster, but it is not a mandatory recommendation12.
Should be running the same operating system version (E): This is not a valid recommendation because the Events Service Cluster does not require the same operating system version for the servers. The Events Service Cluster supports various Linux operating systems, such as CentOS, Red Hat, Ubuntu, and SUSE. The operating system version should be compatible with the Events Service version, but it does not have to be the same for all the hosts12.
References:
1: Events Service Requirements – AppDynamics
2: Events Service Deployment – AppDynamics

Explanation
To set up AppDynamics Controllers as a high availability pair, you need to meet the following requirements1:
Passwordless SSH must be configured between the two Controller servers. This allows the Enterprise Console to automate the configuration and administration tasks associated with a highly available deployment on Linux systems.
Both servers must have the Controller software installed prior to setting up high availability. The Controllers in an HA pair must be equivalent versions, and be in the same data center.
Both servers must have identical directory structures for the Controller installation. The individual machines in the Controller HA pair need to have an equivalent amount of disk space. References: Prerequisites for High Availability

Explanation
The <eum_server_home> directory contains the EUM Server installation files, configuration files, and data files. It is recommended to back up this directory as a precaution before upgrading or migrating the EUM Server. The default location of this directory is <installDir>/AppDynamics/EUM, where <installDir> is the directory where you installed the Controller. You can also use the backup-eum.sh script to back up the EUM Server data12. References: Upgrade the Production EUM Server, Configure the EUM Server

Explanation
The AppDynamics Controller is instrumented by an internal, out-of-the-box, AppDynamics Java agent that monitors the performance and health of the Controller itself1. To access the information provided by the internal agent, you need to log in to the Controller UI with the following credentials2:
Account = system
Username = root
Password = <root_user_password>
The system account is a special account that is used only for internal monitoring and troubleshooting purposes. It is not visible in the normal Controller UI and requires a special URL to access it2. The root user is the default administrator user for the system account and has the same password as the admin user for the customer1 account3. References: Controller Self-Monitoring, Monitoring a Controller Using the Internal Monitoring Agent, Controller Accounts