💠Dynatrace

StackState Self-hosted v5.1.x

Overview

The Dynatrace StackPack creates a synchronization between a Dynatrace instance and StackState. When the integration is enabled, Dynatrace Smartscape topology and events for the configured relative_time (default 1 hour) will be available in StackState.

Dynatrace is a StackState core integration.

Data flow

• Agent V3 connects to the configured Dynatrace API to retrieve data:

  • If a Dynatrace topology check is configured, Topology and Smartscape data is retrieved

  • If a Dynatrace health check is configured, events data is retrieved.

• Agent V3 pushes retrieved data to StackState.

  • Topology data is translated into components and relations.
  • Tags defined in Dynatrace are added to components and relations in StackState. Any defined StackState tags are used by StackState when the topology is retrieved.
  • Events are available in the StackState Events Perspective. They're also included in the Event list in the right panel View summary tab and the details tabs - Component details and Direct relation details..

Setup

Pre-requisites

To set up the Dynatrace integration you will need to have:

• StackState Agent V3 installed on a machine that can connect to both Dynatrace and StackState.
• A running Dynatrace instance.

• A Dynatrace API Token with access to read the Smartscape Topology and Events.

Install

Install the Dynatrace StackPack from the StackState UI StackPacks > Integrations screen. You will need to enter the following details:

• Dynatrace URL - the Dynatrace URL from which topology will be collected.

• Dynatrace Instance Name - the user-defined name of the Dynatrace account shown in configurations such as views.

Configure

To enable the Dynatrace integration, two Dynatrace checks need to be configured.:

• Dynatrace topology check - collects topology data.
• Dynatrace health check - collects events data from Dynatrace.

Dynatrace Topology Check

If only the Dynatrace topology check is enabled, no Dynatrace events data will be available in StackState and components will be reported with a green (CLEAR) health state. To enable retrieval of events data from Dynatrace, you should also enable the Dynatrace health check.

To enable the Dynatrace topology check and begin collecting topology data from Dynatrace, add the following configuration to StackState Agent V3:

1. Edit the Agent integration configuration file /etc/stackstate-agent/conf.d/dynatrace_topology.d/conf.yaml to include details of your Dynatrace instance:

   • url - the base URL of the Dynatrace instance.

     • SaaS url example - https://{your-environment-id}.live.dynatrace.com

     • Managed url example - https://{your-domain}/e/{your-environment-id}

   • token - a Dynatrace API token with access to the required Dynatrace API endpoints. Use secrets management to store tokens outside of the configuration file.

   # Section used for global dynatrace check config
   init_config:
   
   instances:
     - # min_collection_interval: 300 # use in place of collection_interval for Agent V2.14.x or earlier 
       collection_interval: 300
       url: <url>  #the base URL of the Dynatrace instance.
       # SaaS url example - https://{your-environment-id}.live.dynatrace.com
       # Managed url example - https://{your-domain}/e/{your-environment-id} 
       token: <token>  # API-Token to connect to Dynatrace
       # verify: True  # default `True`
       # cert: /path/to/cert.pem
       # keyfile: /path/to/key.pem
       # timeout: 10
       # domain: <domain>  # default 'dynatrace'
       # environment: <environment>  # default 'production'
       # relative_time : <relative_time> # default 'hour'
       # custom_device_relative_time: 1h
       # custom_device_fields: +fromRelationships,+toRelationships,+tags,+managementZones,+properties.dnsNames,+properties.ipAddress
       # custom_device_ip: True  # default `True`, requires Agent V2.17 or later.
       # tags:
       #   - foo:bar
   

2. You can also add optional configuration to specify where imported Dynatrace topology will end up in StackState:

   • domain - The domain to use for imported topology (default dynatrace).

   • environment - The environment to use for imported topology (default production).

3. Other optional configuration options are:

   • collection_interval - The frequency with which topology data is retrieved from Dynatrace. If you have a large amount of topology data to collect from Dynatrace, the topology check will need to run for longer. Default 300 seconds.

   • verify - To verify the certificate for HTTPS.

   • cert - The path to the certificate file for HTTPS verification.

   • keyfile - The path to public key of certificate for https verification.

   • timeout - Timeout for requests.

   • relative_time - The relative timeframe for retrieving topology.

   • custom_device_relative_time - The relative timeframe for retrieving custom devices.

   • custom_device_fields - The Custom Device property fields that should be used.

   • custom_device_ip - Use IP address to generate Custom Device identifiers. Set to False if there are multiple Custom Devices using the same IP to prevent incorrect merging of Custom Device components. Default True. Requires Agent V2.17 or later.

   • tags - custom tags appended to all components, useful for filtering.

4. Restart StackState Agent V3 to apply the configuration changes.
5. Once the Agent has restarted, wait for data to be collected from Dynatrace and sent to StackState.

Dynatrace Health Check

If only the Dynatrace health check is enabled, no Dynatrace topology data will be available in StackState. Events data will be retrieved from Dynatrace, but there will be no components or relations available in StackState to map this to. To enable retrieval of topology data from Dynatrace, you should also enable the Dynatrace topology check.

To enable the Dynatrace health check and begin collecting events from Dynatrace, add the following configuration to StackState Agent V3:

1. Edit the Agent integration configuration file /etc/stackstate-agent/conf.d/dynatrace_health.d/conf.yaml to include details of your Dynatrace instance:

   • url - the base URL of the Dynatrace instance.

     • SaaS url example - https://{your-environment-id}.live.dynatrace.com

     • Managed url example - https://{your-domain}/e/{your-environment-id}

   • token - a Dynatrace API token with access to the required Dynatrace API endpoints. Use secrets management to store tokens outside of the configuration file.

   # Section used for global dynatrace check config
   init_config:
   
   instances:
     - # min_collection_interval: 60 # use in place of collection_interval for Agent V2.14.x or earlier 
       collection_interval: 60
       url: <url>  #the base URL of the Dynatrace instance.
       # SaaS url example - https://{your-environment-id}.live.dynatrace.com
       # Managed url example - https://{your-domain}/e/{your-environment-id} 
       token: <token>  # API-Token to connect to Dynatrace
       # verify: True  # By default its True
       # cert: /path/to/cert.pem
       # keyfile: /path/to/key.pem
       # timeout: 10
       # events_bootstrap_days: 5  # by default it's 5 days
       # events_process_limit: 10000  # by default it's 10k events
   

2. You can also add optional configuration:

   • collection_interval - The frequency with which events data is retrieved from Dynatrace. Note that the health check should have a shorter collection interval than the topology check. Default 60 seconds.

   • verify - To verify the certificate for https.

   • cert - The path to certificate file for https verification.

   • keyfile - The path to public key of certificate for https verification.

   • timeout - Timeout for requests.

   • relative_time - The relative timeframe for retrieving topology.

   • events_bootstrap_days - How many days in the past to collect events on the first run.

   • events_process_limit - Maximum number of events to process each run.

3. Restart StackState Agent V3 to apply the configuration changes. 4.Once the Agent has restarted, wait for data to be collected from Dynatrace and sent to StackState.

Dynatrace API token

The API Token configured in StackState Agent V3 must have the permission Access problems and event feed, metrics, and topology (API value DataExport) and Grants access to GET requests of the Monitored entities and Custom tags APIs (API value entities.read). Note that this token must be generated by an admin Dynatrace user in Settings > Integrations > Dynatrace API. For details, see Dynatrace API token permissions (dynatrace.com).

You can check if the generated token is working using the curl command:

curl --request GET \
  --url https://mySampleEnv.live.dynatrace.com/api/v1/config/clusterversion \
  --header 'Authorization: Api-Token abcdefjhij1234567890' 
                                                
curl --request GET \
  --url https://myonpremise.dynatrace.stacstate.com/e/2342AD33afadsf/api/v1/config/clusterversion \
  --header 'Authorization: Api-Token abcdefjhij1234567890' 

Status

To check the status of the Dynatrace integration, run the status subcommand and look for Dynatrace under Running Checks:

sudo stackstate-agent status

Upgrade

When a new version of the Dynatrace StackPack is available in your instance of StackState, you will be prompted to upgrade in the StackState UI on the page StackPacks > Integrations > Dynatrace. For a quick overview of recent StackPack updates, check the StackPack versions shipped with each StackState release.

For considerations and instructions on upgrading a StackPack, see how to upgrade a StackPack.

Integration details

REST API endpoints

The API endpoints used in the StackState integration are listed below:

• /api/v1/entity/applications

• /api/v1/entity/infrastructure/hosts

• /api/v1/entity/infrastructure/processes

• /api/v1/entity/infrastructure/process-groups

• /api/v1/entity/services

• /api/v1/events

• /api/v2/entities

• /api/v1/synthetic/monitors

Refer to the Dynatrace documentation for details on how to create an API Token (dynatrace.com).

Data retrieved

Events

The Dynatrace health check retrieves all events and their parameters from Dynatrace for the configured relative time (default 1 hour).

Dynatrace event severity	Available in StackState as
INFO	Events are mapped to the associated component. They're listed on the StackState Events Perspective. They're also included in the Event list in the right panel View summary tab and the details tabs - Component details and Direct relation details.
PERFORMANCE, RESOURCE_CONTENTION, MONITORING_UNAVAILABLE, ERROR	Events are added to a StackState health stream. These event severities will result in a DEVIATING state on the associated component.
AVAILABILITY, CUSTOM_ALERT	Events are added to a StackState health stream. These event severities will result in a CRITICAL state on the associated component.

Metrics

The Dynatrace integration doesn't retrieve any metrics data.

Tags

All tags defined in Dynatrace will be retrieved and added to the associated components and relations in StackState.

The Dynatrace integration also understands StackState common tags. These StackState tags can be assigned to elements in Dynatrace to influence the way that the resulting topology is built in StackState. For example, by placing a component in a specific layer or domain.

Topology

The Dynatrace topology check retrieves the following topology data from Dynatrace:

Data	Description
Components	Smartscape Applications, Hosts, Processes, Process-Groups, Services, Custom Devices. Synthetic Monitors are also available when running Agent v2.17 or later.
Relations	Relations between the imported components are included in the component data retrieved from Dynatrace.

The Dynatrace integration understands StackState common tags. These StackState tags can be assigned to elements in Dynatrace to influence the way that the resulting topology is built in StackState. For example, by placing a component in a specific layer or domain.

Traces

The Dynatrace integration doesn't retrieve any traces data.

Dynatrace filters for StackState views

When the Dynatrace integration is enabled, the following additional keys can be used to filter views in the StackState UI:

• dynatrace-ManagementZones

• dynatrace-EntityID

• dynatrace-Tags

• dynatrace-MonitoringState

For example, to filter a view by Dynatrace Management Zone, add the key dynatrace-managementZones:<value> to the Labels filter box.

Use a Dynatrace topology filter

Open source

The code for the Dynatrace checks are open source and available on GitHub:

• Topology check: https://github.com/StackVista/stackstate-agent-integrations/tree/master/dynatrace_topology
• Health check: https://github.com/StackVista/stackstate-agent-integrations/tree/master/dynatrace_health

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting steps for any known issues can be found in the StackState support Knowledge base.

Uninstall

To uninstall the Dynatrace StackPack and disable the Dynatrace checks:

1. Go to the StackState UI StackPacks > Integrations > Dynatrace screen and click UNINSTALL.

   • All Dynatrace specific configuration will be removed from StackState.

2. Remove or rename the Agent integration configuration file, for example:

    mv dynatrace_topology.d/conf.yaml dynatrace_topology.d/conf.yaml.bak
    mv dynatrace_health.d/conf.yaml dynatrace_health.d/conf.yaml.bak

3. Restart StackState Agent V2 to apply the configuration changes.

Release notes

Dynatrace StackPack v1.4.2 (2022-06-03)

• Improvement: Updated documentation

Dynatrace StackPack v1.4.1 (2022-05-31)

• BugFix: Fixed component action issue where applications would not successfully redirect to Dynatrace. STAC-16661

Dynatrace StackPack v1.4.0 (2022-04-06)

• Features: Dynatrace support for synthetic checks, introduced a new component type synthetic monitor (requires StackState Agent V2.17 or later)

• Features: Synthetic checks and custom devices added as layer

• BugFix: Fixed showing component actions when component merges. STAC-14517

Dynatrace StackPack v1.3.0 (2021-10-12)

• Features: Support of Agent 2.15 release that sends Health State snapshots with new Dynatrace topology and health checks.

See also

• StackState Agent V2
• StackState Agent integrations:

  • Topology check/(github.com/)
  • Health check (github.com)
• How to generate a Dynatrace API token (dynatrace.com)
• Permissions for Dynatrace API tokens (dynatrace.com)