APM211 - Introduction to

AppDynamics

Student Lab Guide

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Contents

APM211 Lab Exercises ......................................................................................................... 2

211-1 Navigate the User Interface (UI) .............................................................................. 3
211-2 Explore the Application Dashboard and View Business Transactions ...................... 6
Accessing your AppDynamics University Lab Environment ..................................................13
Accessing your Lab Environment (Primary Method) ........................................................ 14
Accessing your Lab Environment with AWS (Alternate Method) ...................................... 15

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APM211 Lab Exercises

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APM211 Lab Exercises Student Lab Guide

211-1 Navigate the User Interface (UI)

This lab provides an overview of the AppDynamics Controller UI and MovieZtream
web application UI, including how to run command scripts to simulate load on
MovieZtream.

Scenario A: Open Your Application in the Controller

The Controller is your command center for viewing, understanding, and analyzing the
data that is sent from AppDynamics agents. To navigate to the Application
Dashboard, follow the steps below.

Instructions

1. Log in to the AppDynamics Controller. (See Accessing your AppDynamics

University Lab Environment at the end of this document for details.)
2. On the Home page, within the card Applications, click the MovieZtream
application if it is listed (look under My Frequently Visited Applications). If
MovieZtream is not listed, click on Applications in the card title row to go to the
Applications tab. Here you can click on MovieZtream to go the Application
Dashboard.

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Note: The Application Dashboard includes an Application Flow Map that

provides a high-level view of the MovieZtream application. You can use the slider to
the left of the Flow Map to adjust its zoom level.
3. Make note of the key application metrics at the bottom of the application dashboard:
load, response time, and errors.

Scenario B: Access the MovieZtream Application and Run

Exercise 1 Load
To make monitoring the MovieZtream application with the AppDynamics Controller a
more “real world” experience, let’s create some traffic. To run a script in MovieZtream
to simulate load, follow the steps below.

Instructions

1. Log in to the MovieZtream application. (See Accessing your AppDynamics

University Lab Environment at the end of this document for details.)
2. Navigate to the Admin > Server Management page.
3. From the Command drop-down list, select Exercise 1 Load and then click Start
Load Command or Process.
Note: The Exercise 1 Load triggers higher response times for the
/movieztream_ui/login.htm Business Transaction.
4. Verify that you see the confirmation message in the Log window.

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Please let your instructor know that you have completed the exercise(s).

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211-2 Explore the Application Dashboard and View

Business Transactions
The AppDynamics Controller is a versatile tool that you can use to detect, isolate, and
identify problems quickly. This lab explores how to view application performance for a
specific time period, customize the flow map, determine which Business Transactions
(BTs) are contributing the most traffic, and identify issues using BTs.

Scenario A: Set the Time Range on Your Application

Dashboard
There are many reasons you may wish to limit your view of application metrics to a
specific time period. Perhaps your retail application experiences a significant traffic
spike around the holidays, or your customers complain about slow response times when
logging into your banking app on a Monday morning. The AppDynamics Controller
provides several methods by which you can set the time range on your Application
Dashboard, including:
 Select a predefined standard time range.
 Create and save a custom time range.
 Drag the pointer over a specific time period on a key metric graph.

Lab Preparation

This lab begins on the AppDynamics Application Dashboard. If your Controller UI is

not pointing to this dashboard, please follow the instructions for Lab 211-1, Scenario A.

Instructions - Select a predefined standard time range

1. On the Application Dashboard, the Time Range drop-down displays the last 1
hour by default. Click the Time Range drop-down to view other time range options
on the Standard tab.
2. Select 2 hours from the list on the Standard tab. The page updates to display the
specific metrics, including the flow map and graphs, for the last two hours.

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Note: Click the Refresh button to update the application metrics that the page
displays for the time range that you selected. Standard time range intervals include the
last 5 minutes with a resolution of 1 minute, to the last 1 year with a resolution of 1 hour.

Instructions - Create, save, and apply a custom time range

1. On the Application Dashboard, click the Time Range drop-down and then select
the Custom tab.

2. Click the Manage Custom Time Ranges button.

3. In the Manage Custom Time Ranges window, click the Add button to create a
custom time range.
4. In the Create Custom Time Range window, type a name and description for your
custom time range.
5. Select a start date and time in the From selection boxes and an end date and time
in the To selection boxes.
6. To share the custom time range with other users in your organization, for example if
you have colleagues that can help troubleshoot the issue during this time range,
select the Share with Everyone check box.
7. Click Save. Your custom time range appears in the Manage Custom Time Ranges
window. Click the X to close the window.

Note: You can apply your new custom time range by clicking the Time Range drop-
down and selecting it from the Custom tab. The Application Dashboard updates to
display specific metrics, including the Flow Map, for the custom time range that you
applied.

Instructions - Drag the pointer on a metric graph to set a time range

1. On the Application Dashboard, below the flow map, point to a time of interest on
the Load graph, Response Time graph, or Errors graph.
2. Drag the pointer to select a time period of interest.
3. In the pop-up window, click Set Time Range. The page updates to display the
specific metrics, including the flow map and graphs, for the custom time range that
you selected.

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Note: To save this time range to the Custom tab, click the Save button to the left
of the Time Range drop-down, then in the Create Custom Time Range window, type a
name and description and click Save.

Instructions - Manage your custom time ranges

1. On the Application Dashboard, click the Time Range drop-down and then select
the Custom tab.

2. Click the Manage Custom Time Ranges button.

3. In the Manage Custom Time Ranges window, double-click a time range to edit.

4. In the Edit Custom Time Range pop-up window, edit custom time range settings
including name, description, start and end time, and whether it is shared with
everyone.
5. To apply the changes to the custom time range and close the Edit Custom Time
Range window, click Save.
6. In the Manage Custom Time Range window, click the X to return to the
Application Dashboard.
7. Set the Time Range drop-down to display data for the last 1 hour.

Scenario B: Customize the Flow Map

By default, the AppDynamics Controller maps the entire set of web services to provide
a comprehensive view of application performance and metrics. Your developers,
however, are divided into two teams: Team A handles the main Java web services in
the MovieZtream application, and Team B works with the .NET services. You receive a
request to separate the Java services into a separate flow map for Team A. How can
you use AppDynamics to customize the Flow Map for Java web services?

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Instructions

1. On the Application Dashboard, click the Application Flow Map drop-down and
select Manage My Flow Maps.
2. In the Manage Flow Maps window, click (+) to add a new flow map.
3. In the Add Flow Map window, type Java Flow Map into the field provided and click
OK.
4. In the Manage Flow Maps window, click the X to return to the Application
Dashboard.
5. Click the Application Flow Map drop-down and select the Java Flow Map. This
flow map is currently the same as the default.
6. Click the Application Flow Map drop-down again and select Edit Current Flow
Map.
7. In the Configure Flow Map window, below Show Tiers meeting these criteria,
select the Show only the specified Tiers check box.
8. In the Visible Tiers list, select each .Net tier and click Add to move them to the
Hidden Tiers list.

9. Click Apply and then click Save.

Note: The system saves the changes and applies it to the flow map on the Application
Dashboard. Verify that the Java Flow Map displays Java tiers only.

Note: You can use the Grid View button on the Application Dashboard to view a
list representation of the data shown on the Application Flow Map. This view displays

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overall performance statistics for BTs in each tier as well as calls made between tiers
and other backend systems such as databases. The grid view does not exclude tiers
from view.

Scenario C: View Top Business Transactions

How can you view which BTs are contributing the most traffic to MovieZtream? Have
the highest average response time? Contain the most errors?
To use the Top Business Transactions dashboard to view a sorted list of the top BTs
by several criteria, follow the steps below.

Instructions

1. On the Application Dashboard, click the Top Business Transactions tab.

2. The system displays a list of BTs that are sorted by these key metrics:
 Load
 Response Time
 Errors
 Contribution to App Average Response Time
 Slow Transactions
 Stalls
 Health Rule Violations
3. Make a note of the top 3 BTs for each of these metrics:

 By Load: ______________ , ______________ , ______________

 By Response Time: ______________ , ______________ , ______________
 By Errors: ______________ , ______________ , ______________

Scenario D: Use Business Transactions to Identify Issues

You realize that you need to dig a little deeper into the recent change in the response
time of MovieZtream to identify where the performance issues stem from.

To use business transactions to identify issues, follow the steps below.

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1. On the Top Business Transactions page, click the Time Range drop-down.
2. On the Standard tab, select 30 Minutes.
3. In the By Slow Transactions section, make a note of the top 3 BTs:
______________ , ______________ , ______________
4. Review the BTs in the By Health Rule Violations section and determine the
following:

Do any of the top 3 BTs that you noted in the previous step trigger a health rule
violation? ______
5. From the left navigation pane, click Business Transactions to navigate to the
Business Transactions page.
6. Click the % Slow Transactions column heading to sort BTs by slow transactions.
Note: You may need to click the column heading twice to view the slowest
transactions at the top of the list.
7. Click the % Very Slow Transactions column heading to sort the BTs by very slow
transactions.
Note: You may need to click the column heading twice to view the slowest
transactions at the top of the list.
8. Review the BTs by % Slow Transactions and % Very Slow Transactions and
determine the following:

Do any of the BTs that you noted earlier trigger a health rule violation? ______
9. In the list of BTs, double-click the BT with a health rule violation. (If you do not see a
BT with a health rule violation, click the Response Time column heading and
double-click the BT with the highest response time.)
The system navigates to the Business Transactions > Dashboard page, which
displays the Transaction Flow Map for that BT.

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10. Use the information in the Transaction Flow Map to identify the tier that is taking
the most time to execute: ___________________.
Note: The numbers above the flow lines indicate the calls made per minute to the
tier and the average time taken for the request to be serviced; that is, the round-trip
time for the request.
11. Determine the following:
Is the delay on this tier caused by the network, the database, or processing? How do
you know?
__________________________________________________
12. From the left navigation pane, click Application Dashboard, then click the
Dashboard tab.
13. Click the Flow Map drop-down and select Default Flow Map from the list.

Please let your instructor know that you have completed the exercise(s).

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Accessing your AppDynamics University Lab Environment Student Lab Guide

Accessing your AppDynamics University Lab

Environment

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Accessing your AppDynamics University Lab Environment Student Lab Guide

Accessing your Lab Environment (Primary Method)

Prior to class you received an email containing a unique URL and password. Use this
information to access your training lab environment.
1 Copy the unique password and then click the unique URL.
2 At the credentials page enter the following:
Username: appd
Password: Paste in your unique password.
3 Click Login.
You’ll be presented with a multi-tab interface. One tab contains your AppDynamics
Controller UI and in another is the application that is being monitored in this training.
Some lab environments have additional tabs.
4 Log in to the Controller UI using:
Account: Use the fist four characters at the beginning of your labs URL in the
browser address bar. For example if your labs URL was
https://ABCD.appdlabs.com/, you would enter ABCD as the Account.
Username: admin
Password: Paste in your unique password.
Shortcut: Click the pencil icon in the Controller tab to automatically populate the
Username and Password fields. You will still need to manually populate the Account
field.
5 Click Login.
6 Click the MovieZtream tab when it becomes necessary to change the traffic load on
your monitored application. To log in to MovieZtream use the credentials:
Username: HOLLY
Password: FOX
7 Click Login.

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Accessing your Lab Environment with AWS (Alternate

Method)
Use these instructions only if instructed to by your trainer.
The lab environment for this class is hosted by AWS on a virtual machine, which you
need to access to complete the exercises.
In general, you should be able to complete all the exercises by accessing the virtual
machine via a web browser. To access your machine via a web browser, use the
parameters below.

AppDynamics Controller UI http://<Your-IP-Address>/controller

Username: admin
Password: labs4Appd*

MovieZtream Application http://<Your-IP-Address>/movieztream_ui

Username: HOLLY
Password: FOX

Log in and Access your Controller

The Controller UI is your command center for viewing, understanding, and analyzing
the data that is sent from AppDynamics Application Agents. Your Controller UI includes
pre-configured Application Agents that are installed and configured to monitor the
MovieZtream web application as well as a Machine Agent that monitors the
performance of the host machine.

Instructions

To log in to your Controller UI and navigate to the Application Dashboard, follow the
steps below.

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1. For instructor-led training: direct your web browser to the IP address provided by
your instructor (http://<Your-IP-Address>/controller).
For self-paced/on-demand training: the controller window will open in a new tab after
you launch your on-demand lab environment.
2. Log in using the AppDynamics Controller UI username and password at the
beginning of this appendix.
3. On the Home page, within the Applications card, click the MovieZtream
application to display the Application Dashboard.

Note: The Dashboard tab on the Application Dashboard includes the Application
Flow Map which provides a high-level view of the MovieZtream application. From this
view you can navigate to other tabs on the Application Dashboard, or use the left
navigation pane of the Controller UI to navigate to a different area.

Log in and Access your MovieZtream Application

This lab does not require it, but the MovieZtream web application lets you run
command scripts to simulate load. This makes monitoring the MovieZtream application
with the AppDynamics Controller a more “real world” experience.

Instructions

To log in to the MovieZtream web application and run command scripts, follow the
steps below.
1. For instructor-led training: direct your web browser to the IP address provided by
your instructor (http://<Your-IP-Address>/movieztream_ui).
For self-paced/on-demand training: the MovieZtream interface window will open in a
new tab after you launch your on-demand lab environment.
2. Log in using the MovieZtream Application username and password at the beginning
of this appendix.
3. Navigate to the Admin > Server Management page.

Note: You can launch a command script for a lab exercise by selecting a command
from the Command drop-down and clicking the Start Load Command or Process
button.

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