Installing the AppDynamics Smart Agent on Linux Using Ansible

[Abhi.Bajaj]

Step-by-Step Guide to Deploying AppDynamics Smart Agent Using Ansible on Linux Systems

This article will guide you through installing the AppDynamics Smart Agent on a Linux system using Ansible. It covers downloading, configuring, and starting the Smart Agent in an automated fashion. This setup ensures that the Smart Agent is correctly configured for your environment.

Prerequisites:

1. Ansible Installed: Make sure Ansible is installed on the machine where you are running the playbook.
2. Sudo Privileges: The playbook requires sudo (root) privileges to execute tasks.
3. Download URL: You need a valid download URL for the AppDynamics Smart Agent. You can get this from the AppDynamics download site (replace the provided URL with your own).

Steps to Set Up the Ansible Playbook

1. Directory Structure

Create a directory structure for the Ansible playbook as follows:

2. Inventory File

Define your target machine (localhost in this case) in the inventory file:

[appd_agents]
localhost ansible_connection=local

3. Ansible Playbook (playbook.yml)

The main playbook references the smart_agent role. Ensure become: true is set to allow privilege escalation for necessary tasks:

---
- hosts: appd_agents
  become: true
  roles:
    - smart_agent

4. Role Tasks (roles/smart_agent/tasks/main.yml)

The tasks in this role will include downloading, unarchiving, configuring, and starting the Smart Agent.

- name: Download AppDynamics Smart Agent using curl
  command: >
    curl -L -O -H "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN>"
    "https://download.appdynamics.com/download/prox/download-file/appdsmartagent/<version>/appdsmartagent_64_linux_<version>.zip"
  args:
    chdir: /tmp

- name: Unarchive the Smart Agent zip
  unarchive:
    src: /tmp/appdsmartagent_64_linux_<version>.zip
    dest: /opt/appdynamics/
    remote_src: yes

- name: Configure Smart Agent in config.ini
  replace:
    path: /opt/appdynamics/config.ini
    regexp: 'ControllerURL\s*=\s*.*'
    replace: 'ControllerURL=https://xxxxx.saas.appdynamics.com'

- name: Set ControllerPort in config.ini
  replace:
    path: /opt/appdynamics/config.ini
    regexp: 'ControllerPort\s*=\s*.*'
    replace: 'ControllerPort=443'

- name: Set FMServicePort in config.ini
  replace:
    path: /opt/appdynamics/config.ini
    regexp: 'FMServicePort\s*=\s*.*'
    replace: 'FMServicePort=443'

- name: Set AccountAccessKey in config.ini
  replace:
    path: /opt/appdynamics/config.ini
    regexp: '^AccountAccessKey\s*=\s*.*'
    replace: 'AccountAccessKey=<YOUR_ACCOUNT_ACCESS_KEY>'

- name: Ensure AccountName is set in the main section of config.ini
  lineinfile:
    path: /opt/appdynamics/config.ini
    regexp: '^AccountName\s*='
    line: 'AccountName=xxxxx'
    insertafter: '^ControllerPort\s*=.*'

- name: Enable SSL in config.ini
  replace:
    path: /opt/appdynamics/config.ini
    regexp: 'EnableSSL\s*=\s*.*'
    replace: 'EnableSSL=true'

- name: Start Smart Agent
  shell: /opt/appdynamics/smartagentctl start --service > /tmp/log.log 2>&1
  become: yes
  register: output

5. Replace the Download URL and other controller parameter

Replace the download URL placeholder with your own Smart Agent download URL from the AppDynamics download site.

• In the command task for downloading the Smart Agent, replace <YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN> with your AppDynamics authentication token and replace <version> with the appropriate version for your Smart Agent. For example:

- name: Download AppDynamics Smart Agent using curl
  command: >
    curl -L -O -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_AUTH_TOKEN"
    "https://download.appdynamics.com/download/prox/download-file/appdsmartagent/24.8.0.551/appdsmartagent_64_linux_24.8.0.551.zip"
  args:
    chdir: /tmp

• Replace Controller URL, Controller Port, AccessKey and AccountName with your credentials

6. Running the Playbook

To run the playbook, execute the following command:

ansible-playbook -i inventory playbook.yml

Conclusion

This Ansible playbook simplifies downloading, configuring, and running the AppDynamics Smart Agent on a Linux system. Make sure to replace the download URL and account details with your specific values, and you’ll have the agent up and running in no time.

[Osama.Abbas]

I'd like to thank you for this Ansible solution for automating smart agents' deployment. I have tried in a lab environment, and it works like a charm. I improved the playbook.yml & main.yml files a little bit to adhere to Ansible best practices from ansible lint.

playbook.yml

---
- name: AppDynamcis Smart Agent
  hosts: appd_agents
  gather_facts: false
  become: true
  roles:
    - smart_agent
...

 main.yml

Used FQCN for all plays

---
- name: Download AppDynamics Smart Agent using get_url  # Use get_url instead of curl
  ansible.builtin.get_url:
    url: https://download.appdynamics.com/download/prox/download-file/appdsmartagent/<VERSION>/appdsmartagent_64_linux_<VERSION>.zip
    headers:
      Authorization: Bearer <BEARER_TOKEN>"
    checksum: md5:<MD5_HASH>  # To check file integrity
    mode: '0440'
    dest: /tmp

- name: Unarchive the Smart Agent zip
  ansible.builtin.unarchive:
    src: /tmp/appdsmartagent_64_linux_<VERSION>.zip
    dest: /opt/appdynamics/
    remote_src: true

- name: Configure Smart Agent in config.ini
  ansible.builtin.replace:
    path: /opt/appdynamics/config.ini
    regexp: 'ControllerURL\s*=\s*.*'
    replace: 'ControllerURL=https://xxxxx.saas.appdynamics.com'

- name: Set ControllerPort in config.ini
  ansible.builtin.replace:
    path: /opt/appdynamics/config.ini
    regexp: 'ControllerPort\s*=\s*.*'
    replace: 'ControllerPort=443'

- name: Set FMServicePort in config.ini
  ansible.builtin.replace:
    path: /opt/appdynamics/config.ini
    regexp: 'FMServicePort\s*=\s*.*'
    replace: 'FMServicePort=443'

- name: Set AccountAccessKey in config.ini
  ansible.builtin.replace:
    path: /opt/appdynamics/config.ini
    regexp: '^AccountAccessKey\s*=\s*.*'
    replace: 'AccountAccessKey=<YOUR_ACCOUNT_ACCESS_KEY>'

- name: Ensure AccountName is set in the main section of config.ini
  ansible.builtin.lineinfile:
    path: /opt/appdynamics/config.ini
    regexp: '^AccountName\s*='
    line: 'AccountName=xxxxx'
    insertafter: '^ControllerPort\s*=.*'

- name: Enable SSL in config.ini
  ansible.builtin.replace:
    path: /opt/appdynamics/config.ini
    regexp: 'EnableSSL\s*=\s*.*'
    replace: 'EnableSSL=true'

- name: Start Smart Agent
  ansible.builtin.shell: /opt/appdynamics/smartagentctl start --service > /tmp/log.log 2>&1
  become: true
  register: output
  changed_when: output.rc != 0  # <- Uses the return code to define when the task has changed.
...

Once again, thank you so much. Your work is much appreciated, at least by me :))

[Abhi.Bajaj]

Thank you so much Osama, I will try deploying with your updated playbook.yml & main.yml