500-430 Practice Exam Questions with Answers Cisco AppDynamics Professional Implementer(CAPI) Certification

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

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

An Events Service cluster is a group of two or more Events Service nodes that work together to store and process unstructured data generated by AppDynamics components such as Application Analytics, Database Visibility, and End User Monitoring1. Using an Events Service cluster has two main advantages over a single-node instance12:

• Clusters allow data replication across multiple nodes. This means that the data is duplicated and distributed among the nodes in the cluster, providing data redundancy and protection against data loss in case of a node failure. Data replication also improves data availability and query performance, as the cluster can handle concurrent requests from multiple clients.
• Clusters are horizontally scalable by adding nodes. This means that the cluster can grow in size and capacity by adding more nodes to the cluster, without affecting the existing nodes or data. Horizontal scaling allows the cluster to handle increasing data volumes and performance demands, as well as balance the workload among the nodes. References: Events Service Deployment, What are the Benefits of Server Clustering?

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, . 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 \conf\controller-info.xml file to the new installation directory, \conf. To ensure the agent configuration is maintained, copy the \conf\controller-info.xml file to the new installation directory, \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

 According to the Cisco AppDynamics Professional Implementer (CAPI) documents, the method to import an existing keypair to manage the Controller SSL certificate without using the Enterprise Console UI is to add the keypair to the keystore.jks using a third-party tool (A). The keystore.jks file is the default keystore for the Controller that contains the private keys and certificates for the secure communication on port 8181. If the administrator already has a custom keypair that is signed by a third-party Certificate Authority (CA) or an internal CA, they can use a third-party tool, such as KeyStore Explorer or OpenSSL, to import the keypair into the keystore.jks file. The administrator should also import the root or intermediate certificates of the CA into the cacerts.jks file, which is the default truststore for the Controller. The administrator should use the keytool utility, which is bundled with the Controller installation, to import the certificates into the cacerts.jks file. The administrator should also update the password for the keystore.jks and cacerts.jks files, and restart the Controller to apply the changes12.

The incorrect options are:

• Re-run the Controller installer and specify the new keypair. (B) This is not a valid method because the Controller installer does not allow the administrator to specify a custom keypair for the Controller SSL certificate. The Controller installer only allows the administrator to specify the Controller host name, port, account name, access key, and database settings. The Controller installer does not modify the keystore.jks or cacerts.jks files, and does not import any custom keypair or certificate into the Controller keystore or truststore3.
• Upload a new keystore.jks file through the Controller UI. © This is not a valid method because the Controller UI does not provide any feature to upload a new keystore.jks file for the Controller SSL certificate. The Controller UI only allows the administrator to view and edit the Controller settings, such as the license, the security, the email, the analytics, and the EUM. The Controller UI does not access or modify the keystore.jks or cacerts.jks files, and does not import any custom keypair or certificate into the Controller keystore or truststore4.
• Upload the keypair from within the Controller UI. (D) This is not a valid method because the Controller UI does not provide any feature to upload a custom keypair for the Controller SSL certificate. The Controller UI only allows the administrator to view and edit the Controller settings, such as the license, the security, the email, the analytics, and the EUM. The Controller UI does not access or modify the keystore.jks or cacerts.jks files, and does not import any custom keypair or certificate into the Controller keystore or truststore4.

References:

• 1: Controller SSL and Certificates - AppDynamics
• 2: How do I resolve SSL certificate validation errors in the .NET Agent? - AppDynamics
• 3: Install the Controller - AppDynamics
• 4: Controller Settings - AppDynamics

The Events Service is the on-premises data storage facility for unstructured data generated by Application Analytics, Database Visibility, and End User Monitoring deployments. The Events Service can be deployed as a single node or a cluster of three or more nodes, depending on the data volume and availability requirements. The Controller and other Events Service clients connect to the Events Service to store and retrieve analytics data. Therefore, it is essential that the Controller is able to initiate communication with the Events Service cluster, using the Events Service API ports (default 9080/2081). The Events Service cluster does not need to initiate communication with the Controller, as it only responds to the requests from the clients. The Events Service API ports can be reconfigured from the default values, if needed, by modifying the conf/events-service-api-store.properties file on each node. However, the clients must also be updated with the new port values. It is also recommended to use a load balancer or a virtual IP address in front of the Events Service cluster, to provide a single endpoint for the clients and to enable load balancing and failover among the nodes. References: Events Service Deployment, Install the Events Service on Linux, and Install the Events Service on Windows in the AppDynamics documentation.

The default configuration of the Mobile SDK enables crash reports and network requests12. Crash reports capture and report any unhandled exceptions or signals that cause the app to terminate abnormally1. Network requests monitor the performance and errors of HTTP and HTTPS requests made by the app2. These features are enabled by default and do not require any additional code or configuration to work12. References: Crash Reports, Network Requests

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

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

The 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 /AppDynamics/EUM, where 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