500-425 Cisco AppDynamics Associate Administrator (CAAA) Questions and Answers

To alert the operations team that a cloud-based application has provisioned a new instance of a JVM, an administrator should create a policy trigger for Discovery > New Node Discovered. This policy trigger will fire an event when a new node is discovered by the AppDynamics Controller, either by auto-discovery or manual registration. The event will contain information such as the node name, tier name, application name, and agent type. The administrator can then configure an action to send an email, SMS, or custom notification to the operations team with the event details. Alternatively, the administrator can also use the built-in alerting feature of the cloud provider to notify the operations team of the new instance creation.

https://docs.appdynamics.com/display/PRO42/Alert+and+Respond

The default length of time events can be viewed with full detail before being purged is 7 days, unless archived. Events are records of significant occurrences in the monitored environment, such as errors, exceptions, policy violations, health rule violations, and more. You can view the events in the Controller UI under Events > All Events.  You can also archive the events to retain them for longer periods or export them to external systems 1   References :  1 :  Events

To examine the Java App agent logs on a host without login access, you can use the Controller UI to request the agent logs. This feature allows you to download the agent logs from the Controller UI without having to access the host machine.  You can specify the log level, the time range, and the file size limit for the logs 1 2   References :  1 :  Request Agent Logs   2 :  Java Agent Logging

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

Business Transaction metrics are the key performance indicators that measure the health and performance of your applications. They include metrics such as average response time, calls per minute, errors per minute, and so on. You can use various types of performance degradation analysis to identify and troubleshoot the root causes of performance issues using Business Transaction metrics.

According to the  Troubleshoot Business Transactions - AppDynamics , the following types of performance degradation analysis are used with Business Transaction metrics:

Correlation Analysis: This type of analysis helps you to find the correlation between different metrics and events that may affect the performance of your Business Transactions. For example, you can use the correlation analysis to see how the response time of a Business Transaction is related to the CPU utilization of a node, or how the error rate of a Business Transaction is related to the number of slow database calls.

Remote Services Analysis: This type of analysis helps you to understand how the performance of your Business Transactions is impacted by the calls to remote services, such as databases, web services, message queues, and so on. For example, you can use the remote services analysis to see the response time, call count, error count, and wait time of each remote service call, and drill down to the details of each call.

Compare Releases: This type of analysis helps you to compare the performance of your Business Transactions across different releases of your application. For example, you can use the compare releases analysis to see how the response time, error rate, and throughput of your Business Transactions have changed after a new deployment, and identify any performance regressions or improvements.

Therefore,  A  (Correlation Analysis),  B  (Remote Services Analysis), and  E  (Compare Releases) are three types of performance degradation analysis that are used with Business Transaction metrics.  References:

Troubleshoot Business Transactions - AppDynamics

Business Transaction - AppDynamics

Cisco AppDynamics Associate Performance Analyst Certification

To capture business data for Transaction Analytics, you must first configure a data collector. A data collector is a configuration that specifies what data to capture from a business transaction and how to store it in the analytics platform. You can capture data from HTTP requests, method invocations, custom fields, or information points. You can also apply filters and transformations to the captured data. Once you have configured a data collector, you can use it to enrich the transaction analytics data with business context and enable advanced queries and visualizations

https://docs.appdynamics.com/accounts/en/cisco-appdynamics-saas-deployment-user-management/manage-custom-roles-for-cisco-appdynamics/transaction-analytics-permissions

Server performance data is the information that AppDynamics collects and reports about the health and availability of the servers that host your applications and their components. Server performance data includes metrics such as CPU utilization, memory usage, disk I/O, network traffic, and so on. You can use server performance data to monitor and troubleshoot the performance issues of your servers and applications.

According to the  Server Visibility - AppDynamics , the following two reasons are important for the engineer to view and analyze server performance data at this time:

Visualizing application performance during normal operations helps identify when the application performance is abnormal: This means that by comparing the current server performance data with the historical or baseline data, you can detect any anomalies or deviations that may indicate a potential problem or degradation of your application performance. For example, you can use the Server Dashboard to see the current and historical trends of the server metrics, and use the Anomaly Detection feature to identify any outliers or unusual patterns.

Graphs and charts collected at this time are useful for showing application owners the stability of their application: This means that by using the graphical and visual representations of the server performance data, you can communicate and demonstrate the reliability and efficiency of your application to the stakeholders and customers. For example, you can use the Server Health Report to generate a summary of the server health status, availability, and performance over a specified time period, and share it with the application owners.

Therefore,  A  (Visualizing application performance during normal operations helps identify when the application performance is abnormal) and  B  (Graphs and charts collected at this time are useful for showing application owners the stability of their application) are two important reasons for the engineer to view and analyze server performance data at this time.  References:

Server Visibility - AppDynamics

Cisco AppDynamics Associate Administrator Certification

Server Monitoring - AppDynamics

According to the Widgets document 1 , 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

When troubleshooting an application using AppDynamics, the fastest way to narrow down a code problem with a specific business transaction is to follow this order:

Review Application Dashboard: This is the first step to get an overview of the health and performance of your application and its components. You can see the key metrics, such as response time, throughput, error rate, and load, for each tier, node, and business transaction. You can also see the health rule violations, events, and alerts that indicate any issues or anomalies in your application.

Check transaction scorecard: This is the second step to drill down to the details of a specific business transaction that you want to troubleshoot. You can see the transaction scorecard by clicking on the business transaction name on the application dashboard. The transaction scorecard shows the metrics, such as average response time, calls per minute, errors per minute, and slow calls, for the selected business transaction. You can also see the breakdown of the response time by tier, node, and remote service, and the distribution of the response time by percentile.

Check transaction snapshots for problems: This is the third step to identify the root cause of the code problem for the selected business transaction. You can see the transaction snapshots by clicking on the View Snapshots button on the transaction scorecard. Transaction snapshots are the detailed records of the execution of a business transaction, including the call graph, the exit calls, the errors, the exceptions, the logs, the HTTP parameters, the cookies, the session attributes, and the custom data. You can use the transaction snapshots to analyze the code execution, the database queries, the web service calls, the message queues, the errors, and the exceptions that affect the performance of the business transaction.

Therefore,  A  (Review Application Dashboard > Check transaction scorecard > Check Transactions snapshots for problems) is the correct answer.  References:

Cisco AppDynamics Associate Administrator Certification

Troubleshoot Business Transactions - AppDynamics

Business Transaction - AppDynamics

Transaction Snapshots - AppDynamics

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 behavior of 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 time 1 .

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

By default, the Java Agent enables two Sensitive Data Filters substring: substring “key” and substring “password”. These filters prevent the agent from capturing and sending any data that contains these substrings to the Controller, such as query parameters, HTTP headers, cookies, environment variables, or system properties. This helps to protect sensitive information from being exposed in the Controller UI or reports.  You can also add more filters or modify the existing ones by editing the agent configuration file 1   References :  1 :  Filter Sensitive Data

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 issue 1

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 name 2

References :  1 : Troubleshoot Agent Connectivity  2

According to the Database Visibility Supported Environments document 1 , 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

Percentile metrics are a way to measure the distribution of response times for a Business Transaction. They show the value below which a certain percentage of measurements fall. For example, the 50th percentile metric shows the median response time, and the 99th percentile metric shows the worst-case response time for 99% of the transactions. To enable percentile metrics, you need to go to Configuration > Slow Transaction Thresholds and indicate 5 whole numbers between 1 and 99 as Percentiles to Collect. You can then view the percentile metrics in the Metric Browser under Business Transaction Performance > Business Transactions > < Application Name > > < Business Transaction Name > > Percentiles.

https://docs.appdynamics.com/display/PRO45X/Percentile+Metrics