Monitoring Synthetic PoP

Installing the Synthetic PoP sensor with Helm chart

To install and configure the Synthetic PoP sensor by using the Helm chart, complete the following steps:

1. Download and decompress the Instana agent Helm chart:

   helm repo add instana-agent-repo https://agents.instana.io/helm
   helm repo update
   helm pull instana-agent-repo/instana-agent
   tar xzvf instana-agent-*.tgz
   

2. Add a property for all key and certificate files in both the volumeMounts and volumes sections in the instana-agent/templates/agent-daemonset.yaml file as shown in the following example:

   volumeMounts:
     - name: pop-cert
       mountPath: /opt/instana/agent/etc/pop
   
   volumes:
     - name: pop-cert
       secret:
         secretName: pop-cert-secret
   

3. Set the caCertificate, clientCertificate, and clientKey fields as TLS encryption configuration. Create the agent_with_pop_sensor.yaml configuration file as shown in the following example:

   com.instana.plugin.syntheticpop:
     enabled: true
     poll_rate: 60 # seconds, minimum 60 seconds by default
     caCertificate: '/opt/instana/agent/etc/pop/ca.crt' # path to X.509 CA certificate file if HTTPS is enabled for PoP Controller
     clientCertificate: '/opt/instana/agent/etc/pop/tls.crt' # path to X.509 client certificate file if HTTPS is enabled for PoP Controller
     clientKey: '/opt/instana/agent/etc/pop/tls.key' # path to client private key file if HTTPS is enabled for PoP Controller
   

4. Install Instana host agent with the Synthetic PoP sensor:

   helm install instana-agent \
   ./path/to/instana-agent \
   --namespace instana-agent \
   --set agent.key='<your_agent_key>' \
   --set agent.endpointHost='<your_host_agent_endpoint>' \
   --set agent.endpointPort=443 \
   --set cluster.name='<your_cluster_name>' \
   --set zone.name='<your_zone_name>' \
   --set-file agent.configuration_yaml=agent_with_pop_sensor.yaml
   

To verify the TLS configuration, enter the Instana host agent container, and check whether the ca.crt, tls.key, and tls.crt files exist in the /opt/instana/agent/etc/pop/ directory.

If the Instana host agent is installed but Synthetic PoP is deployed with TLS encryption, you need to upgrade your Instana host agent by using TLS configuration to monitor Synthetic PoP.

helm pull --repo https://agents.instana.io/helm --untar instana-agent && kubectl apply -f instana-agent/crds && helm upgrade instana-agent \
./path/to/instana-agent \
--namespace instana-agent \
--set agent.key='<your_agent_key>' \
--set agent.endpointHost='<your_host_agent_endpoint>' \
--set agent.endpointPort=443 \
--set cluster.name='<your_cluster_name>' \
--set zone.name='<your_zone_name>' \
--set-file agent.configuration_yaml=agent_with_pop_sensor.yaml

Installing the Synthetic PoP sensor with the YAML file

To install and configure the Synthetic PoP sensor by using a yaml file within your Kubernetes cluster, see Installing the Host Agent on Kubernetes. Customize the deployment.yaml to add TLS certificates.

1. In the Instana UI, go to Installing Instana Agents, select your platform, usually is Kubernetes - Yaml or OpenShift - Yaml.

2. Enter a cluster name and download the deployment.yaml file.

3. Add a property for all key and certificate files in both the volumeMounts and volumes sections in the deployment.yaml file as shown in the following example:

   volumeMounts:
     - name: pop-cert
       mountPath: /opt/instana/agent/etc/pop
   
   volumes:
     - name: pop-cert
       secret:
         secretName: pop-cert-secret
   

4. Update the key or certificate file path in the com.instana.plugin.syntheticpop section of the deployment.yaml file as in the following content:

   com.instana.plugin.syntheticpop:
     enabled: true
     poll_rate: 60 # seconds, minimum 60 seconds by default
     caCertificate: '/opt/instana/agent/etc/pop/ca.crt' # path to X.509 CA certificate file if HTTPS is enabled for PoP Controller
     clientCertificate: '/opt/instana/agent/etc/pop/tls.crt' # path to X.509 client certificate file if HTTPS is enabled for PoP Controller
     clientKey: '/opt/instana/agent/etc/pop/tls.key' # path to client private key file if HTTPS is enabled for PoP Controller
   

5. Install the Instana agent by applying the updated deployment file:

   kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml
   

Installing the Synthetic PoP sensor with Operator

To install and configure the Synthetic PoP sensor by using the Operator, see Installing the Host Agent on Kubernetes. You must customize the instana-agent.customresource.yaml and edit daemonset to add TLS certificates.

1. Log on to the Instana UI.

2. In the navigation menu, click More > Agents.

3. Click Instana Agents, and select your platform. For example, Kubernetes operator or OpenShift operator.

4. In the Cluster name field, enter a cluster name, and download the instana-agent.customresource.yaml file.

5. Update the key or certificate file path in the configuration_yaml section of the instana-agent.customresource.yaml file as shown in the following example:

   configuration_yaml: |
     com.instana.plugin.syntheticpop:
       enabled: true
       poll_rate: 60 # seconds, minimum 60 seconds by default
       caCertificate: '/opt/instana/agent/etc/pop/ca.crt' # path to X.509 CA certificate file if HTTPS is enabled for PoP Controller
       clientCertificate: '/opt/instana/agent/etc/pop/tls.crt' # path to X.509 client certificate file if HTTPS is enabled for PoP Controller
       clientKey: '/opt/instana/agent/etc/pop/tls.key' # path to client private key file if HTTPS is enabled for PoP Controller
   

6. Install the Instana agent by applying the updated customer resource file as shown in the following example:

   kubectl apply -f instana-agent.customresource.yaml
   

7. Add pop-cert-secret to Instana agent DaemonSet by running the following command:

   kubectl patch daemonset.apps/instana-agent -n instana-agent --type='json' \
   -p='[{"op":"add","path":"/spec/template/spec/containers/0/volumeMounts/0","value":{"mountPath": "/opt/instana/agent/etc/pop","name": "pop-cert"}},{"op":"add","path":"/spec/template/spec/volumes/0","value":{"name": "pop-cert","secret":{"defaultMode": 420,"secretName": "pop-cert-secret"}}}]'
   

   When the Instana agent is reinstalled by using the Operator, the updates of daemonset.apps are lost. You must run this command again whenever you install the Instana host agent by using the Operator.

To verify the TLS configuration, enter the Instana host agent container, and check whether the ca.crt, tls.key, and tls.crt files exist in the /opt/instana/agent/etc/pop/ directory.

Instana Synthetic PoP

Instana Synthetic PoP tags

Instana Synthetic PoP Kubernetes

Synthetic PoP is deployed in a Kubernetes cluster with a namespace. You can go to the Kubernetes namespace and cluster from the Synthetic PoP snapshot or the metric dashboard.