Configure AppDynamics advanced actions

If you want to integrate AppDynamics with NeoLoad to monitor and correlate performance metrics during load tests, you need to set up AppDynamics advanced actions. These actions help you specify and get metrics from AppDynamics and analyze them directly in NeoLoad.

For the integration's requirements, check out this table:

Requirements	Description
Maturity	Stable
Author	NeoLoad
License	BSD Simplified (opens in new tab)
NeoLoad version	Compatible from version 6.3
AppDynamics version	Tested with versions 4.4 and 4.5
Requirements	NeoLoad Enterprise and Professional editions with Integration & Advanced Usage
Bundled with NeoLoad	No
Download Binaries	You can find them in our support hub (opens in new tab)

Before you start

Before you set up advanced actions in NeoLoad, make sure that:

Your NeoLoad version is 6.3 or later.
You know how to install a custom advanced action.
Ensure your NeoLoad license includes Integration & Advanced Usage in the License Details section.

Configure your AppDynamics advanced actions

To set up your AppDynamics advanced actions in NeoLoad, follow these steps:

In NeoLoad, create a User Path named appdynamics.
Add the AppDynamics Monitoring custom action to the Actions container in Advanced > APM > AppDynamics.
In the Actions container, configure the following:
- In the Pacing settings, define the interval you want between each time the action runs. You must set at least 60 seconds.
- In the Runtime Parameters section, set Reset user session and emulate new browser between iterations to No.
Create a population named PopulationAppDynamics in the Population tab and enter the entire appdynamics User Path. This allows AppDynamics monitoring actions to run during the load test.
In the Runtime section, select your test scenario and add the PopulationAppDynamics population to it.
Set a constant load of 1 user for the full duration of the load test.
Use a single Load Generator.

We recommend that you only keep the local Load Generator active for tests integrated with AppDynamics.

AppDynamics parameters

The parameters in the chart are available for the AppDynamics advanced actions.

Parameter	Description	Required/Optional
appDynamicsURL	The URL of the AppDynamics server.	Required
appDynamicsApplicationName	The name of the monitored AppDynamics application.	Required
appDynamicsAPIKey	API access token for AppDynamics, available from version 4.5. For more information, check out AppDynamics API clients. If you use SSO in SaaS, this parameter is required..	Optional
appDynamicsAccountName	Account name as seen in the SaaS URL.	Optional
appDynamicsUserName	AppDynamics user name. Required when appDynamicsAPIKey isn't provided.	Optional
appDynamicsPassword	Password for the AppDynamics user. Required when appDynamicsAPIKey isn't provided.	Optional
appDynamicsMetricPaths	List of metrics to retrieve from AppDynamics.	Optional
proxyName	NeoLoad proxy name for accessing AppDynamics.	Optional
dataExchangeApiUrl	URL for the DataExchange server. The default server is http://${NL-ControllerIp}:7400/DataExchange/v1/Service.svc/.	Optional
dataExchangeApiKey	Identification key specified in NeoLoad.	Optional
tls.insecure	It ignores TLS certificate issues when its value is set to True. The default value is False.	Optional

AppDynamics metric paths

To get a metric path, follow these steps:

Open the AppDynamics UI and navigate to the monitored application.
Select Metric Browser, then choose a metric from the list.
Right-click and select Copy Full Path.
Paste the path into the appDynamicsMetricPaths field in NeoLoad.

Note that you can separate metric paths with line breaks to monitor multiple metrics in a single action.

Your retrieved metrics display in the External Data tab in the NeoLoad Controller. Metrics are available during and after the test run.

List of error codes

Error code	Description
NL-APP_DYNAMICS_ACTION-01	Issue while parsing Advanced Action arguments.
NL-APP_DYNAMICS_ACTION-02	Technical error. Check details for more information.
NL-APP_DYNAMICS_ACTION-03	Failed to retrieve metrics. Check the configuration and try again.
NL-APP_DYNAMICS_ACTION-04	Insufficient delay between executions. Use at least 60 seconds pacing in the Actions container.

Change log

Version 1.0.0 (September 15, 2018)

Initial release.

Version 2.0.0 (December 5, 2018)

Made dataExchangeApiUrl optional.

Version 2.0.1 (February 5, 2019)

Updated dependencies.

Version 2.1.0 (March 2023)

Improved TLS certificate validation. Use tls.insecure for backward compatibility.