APMInsight - NET Agent Onboarding - KB

APMInsight - NET Agent Onboarding - KB

Overview

This document provides a step-by-step guide to onboard and troubleshoot the APM Insight .NET Agent. It includes environment verification, permission checks, network connectivity validation, and solutions for common installation and configuration issues.

Prerequisites

    WarningPlease note that restart of your application is necessary (i.e. IISRESET cmd execution for IIS sites, restart for windows service & desktop apps) to start monitoring after agent installation

Prerequisites 1. Environment should aligns with our agent's supported components

To verify the environment, Run following cmd using windows powershell administrator mode
QuoteGet-ChildItem 'HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\NET Framework Setup\NDP' -Recurse | Get-ItemProperty -Name Version, Release, SP -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue | Where-Object { $_.PSChildName -match '^(?!S)\p{L}'} | Select-Object PSChildName, Version, SP, Release
- Confirm that .NET Framework v3.0 listed and has SP ≥ 1
- Confirm .NET Framework v4 (Full) listed and has Release ≥ 378389



If the prerequisites are met but the agent (.msi) installation still fails:
- Recheck prerequisites and try the `Installation via command line`.
- If issue still persists, locate the `apm_install.log` file in the installation directory & send the log file to appmanager-support@manageengine.com for further assistance.



Prerequisites 2Network and Firewall 

Outbound communication from the agent-installed machine to the Applications Manager (Host and Port) should be allowed — either directly or via a proxy.

To verify the connectivity,
- Get the configured the "Apm Endpoint Urls" from APM Insight .NET Agent Configuration tool

- Run following cmd using windows powershell administrator mode with above "Apm Endpoint Url" and output should shows the “Applications Manager” content as below screenshot:
Quote
add-type 'using System.Net;using System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates;public class TrustAllCertsPolicy : ICertificatePolicy {public bool CheckValidationResult(ServicePoint a,X509Certificate b,WebRequest c,int d){return true;}}';[System.Net.ServicePointManager]::CertificatePolicy=New-Object TrustAllCertsPolicy;(Invoke-WebRequest -Uri '<Apm_EndPoint_Urls>/index.do').Content -split "`n" | Where-Object {$_ -match 'Applications Manager'}

- If the output doesn't contains references to 'Applications Manager' and unable to reach the server, either the endpoint is incorrect or not allowed for communication. So, ensure that network and firewall configurations allow communication from this APM Insight .NET agent to the Application Manager then update the appropriate values in "Edit APM Insight .NET Agent Configuration" tool.
- If a proxy server is in use, specify the proxy server configuration in the APM Insight agent's settings to ensure proper communication between the agent and the Application Manager.
- Then, restart the application and agent service to reflect the changes.

Prerequisites 3. Application user should have full permissions over the agent directory - C:\ProgramData\DotNetAgent & C:\ProgramData\DotNetCoreAgent

To verify the application user permission, 
- Open Task Manager → Details tab
- Locate your target application process: w3wp.exe for IIS app, <service_name>.exe for services, or the main executable for desktop apps.

- Note the "User name  and Go to the above folder (C:\ProgramData\DotNetAgent & C:\ProgramData\DotNetCoreAgent) → Properties → Security.
- Confirm the user/group (e.g., IIS_IUSRS, SYSTEM, or service account) has Read & Write permissions.


If missing permissions, click Edit → Add → [User Name] → Allow Read & Write permissions, then restart the application and check.

Prerequisites 4. Competitor agent of other tools like (E.g Dynatrace, AppDynamics, etc..) should be removed before installing our agent. 

Follow this steps to identify and resolve conflicts between other APM products and the APM Insight .NET agent.

Prerequisites 5. SharePoint/Multi-Domain environment: Specific configuration changes required due to security concerns in these environments.

Follow this steps to identify the SharePoint/Multi-Domain environment and configure the "Support Multi-Domain Applications" checkbox

Misconfiguration Issues

Misconfiguration Issue 1. Incorrect "Apm Endpoint Urls" Configuration

"APM Endpoint Urls" configured with invalid Application Manager one's. i.e. Sometime port has configured with OpManager port instead of Applications Manager one's.
To ensure that, 
- From Application Manager server, Navigate to the Settings → Tools → Support → Installation Information, Can get the Web Server Port & SSL Port of the Applications Manager. 
- Ensure the same configured in the "Apm Endpoint Urls" from APM Insight .NET Agent Configuration tool
- Run following cmd using windows powershell administrator mode with above "Apm Endpoint Url" and output should shows the “Applications Manager” content as below screenshot:
Quote
add-type 'using System.Net;using System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates;public class TrustAllCertsPolicy : ICertificatePolicy {public bool CheckValidationResult(ServicePoint a,X509Certificate b,WebRequest c,int d){return true;}}';[System.Net.ServicePointManager]::CertificatePolicy=New-Object TrustAllCertsPolicy;(Invoke-WebRequest -Uri '<Apm_EndPoint_Urls>/index.do').Content -split "`n" | Where-Object {$_ -match 'Applications Manager'}

- If the output doesn't contains references to 'Applications Manager' and unable to reach the server, the endpoint not allowed for communication. So, ensure that network and firewall configurations allow communication from this APM Insight .NET agent to the Application Manager then update the appropriate values in "Edit APM Insight .NET Agent Configuration" tool again.
- If a proxy server is in use, specify the "Proxy Authentication"  → Behind Proxy in the "Edit APM Insight .NET Agent Configuration" tool to ensure proper communication between the agent and the Application Manager.
- Then, restart the agent service and application to reflect the changes.

Misconfiguration Issue 2. Incorrect "License Key" Configuration

Configured "License Key" on "Edit APM Insight .NET Agent Configuration" tool might not match with the Configured "Apm Endpoint Urls" - Applications Manager. i.e. Sometimes user configure the different Applications Manager license instead of the configured Configured "Apm Endpoint Urls" - Applications Manager one's



To ensure that, 
- Login into the Configured "Apm Endpoint Urls" - Applications Manager one's, Navigate to the APM → Add Monitor → .NET - Configure Now →APM Insight License Key, copy the license key and replace it in the "License Key" value on "Edit APM Insight .NET Agent Configuration" tool 

- Then, restart the agent service and application to reflect the changes.

Application not enabled/No Active Traffic

After agent installation, application might not enabled  or not restarted or not having active traffic to initiate the monitoring.

To check and ensure that,
  1. Ensure your application (IIS app, Windows service, desktop app) is enabled for monitoring within the "APM Insight .NET Agent Configuration" tool and your application is running & processing transactions or requests for the agent to monitor it.

  1. Verify if the application process(IIS app, Windows service app, Desktop app) instrumented with agent profiler using Process Explorer:
    1. Download and unzip Process Explorer. Run the "procexp.exe" in administrator mode
    2. Locate the target application process (w3wp.exe for IIS app, <service_name>.exe for services, or the main executable for desktop apps).
    3. In the Process Properties (Right Click -> Properties), go to the Environment tab, and Confirm the presence of the COR_PROFILER & CORECLR_PROFILER variable with the value of `989D151B-3F31-482E-926F-2E95D274BD36` & `9D363A5F-ED5F-4AAC-B456-75AFFA6AA0C8`


  1. Verify if the application process(IIS app, Windows service app, Desktop app) instrumented with agent profiler using Event Viewer:
    1. Open Event Viewer and navigate to Windows Logs > Application.
    2. Check for the event with the source .NET Runtime and verify that the `Process ID(decimal)` matches the one in Task Manager. 

  1.  Verify if the agent created following log files under this path - "C:\ProgramData\DotNetAgent\AgentLogs" or "C:\ProgramData\DotNetCoreAgent\AgentLogs"
    1. For IIS app , ".NetAgentNative.w3wp.exe.<PID>.log" , "DotNetAgentManaged.ROOT.w3wp.<PID>-<dd-mm-yyyy>.log"
    2. For Windows service & Desktop app, ".NetAgentNative.<service_name>.exe.17348.log" , "DotNetAgentManaged.<service_name>.exe.<service_name>.<PID>-<dd-mm-yyyy>.log"
Note: This log file will be created only if the application having or performed with some transaction

License Expired

"APM Insight .Net Add-On" license might got expired or addon licensed not enabled on the Applications Manager.

To verify, 
- Open the "APM Insight .NET Agent Health monitor" tool
- Navigate to the "IIS Applications" tab for IIS sites OR "Windows Service and Apps" for Windows Service & Desktop apps
- Check the app monitoring status appears as "LicenseExpired" state.


To establish the Application monitoring , 
- Apply & Ensure the "APM Insight .Net Add-On" licensing enabled to allow .NET app monitoring on the Applications Manager.
- From the "APM Insight .NET Agent Health monitor" tool, Click "Fix it" → Yes 

Still Issues persists?

If still encounter with app onboarding failure, contact appmanager-support@manageengine.com along with above steps screenshots and updated Agent diagnostics for further assistance

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