Installing and Configuring APM Application Behavior Analytics
Contents
apmdevops97
If you downloaded APM after December 2015, ABA is not available. This documentation is included for earlier downloads.
Contents
Requirements
Component | Supported |
CA Analysis server (anomaly detection engine) | Version 3.10.2 A dedicated physical or virtual server with: Platforms: RedHat/CentOS 6.x (x86_64) Microsoft Windows Server, 2008 R2 (x86_64) Disk: 100 GB minimum RAM: 24 GB is recommended for a typical cluster, and is required to support full metric data export of 100K metrics. 8 GB absolute minimum is allowed only for very small test instances. CPU: Quad-core is recommended for a typical cluster. |
How Analytics Are Collected
APM Application Behavior Analytics analyzes performance and recognizes normal and abnormal transaction patterns. The steps to collect metrics are:
- Agents gather and send data to their Enterprise Manager collector.
- The MOM Enterprise Manager consolidates the APM Application Behavior Analytics data that matches the regular expressions that are found in the Analytics.properties file.
- The MOM Enterprise Manager formats the raw data and sends metrics to the CA Analysis server based on default regular expressions. (You can edit default expressions and you can define new ones.)
- The CA Analysis server compares recent performance with historical performance.
- The CA Analysis server sends metadata about anomalies to the MOM Enterprise Manager.
- The WebView home page displays notifications for active anomalies.
- The WebView Analysis Workbench acts as an anomaly search engine when given a timeframe and application context. The Workbench displays a list of matching anomalies and details of any selected anomaly.
How to Install and Configure APM Application Behavior Analytics
To install and configure this component, Administrators require the following expertise:
- Managing a CA APM 9.5.x or later implementation, including WebView
- Using java.util.regex if you are creating custom regular expressions

Install the CA Analysis Server
Install the CA Analysis server on a dedicated server.
The CA Analysis server is sometimes called "prelert" in files and logs.
Follow these steps:
- Synchronize the date, time, and timezone on the CA Analysis server that is hosting APM Application Behavior Analysis, with the single Enterprise Manager or the MOM in a cluster. Use NTP or Windows time service.
- Create a user for managing the CA Analysis server.For Linux, create a nonroot user:$ useradd -m caas$ passwd caas$ su - caasFor Windows: A user with Administrator privileges is required.
- Download and uncompress the CA Analysis Server archive.CAAnalysisServer<version>_<os>_<platform>.tar|.zip
- Start the CA Analysis server installer and respond to the prompts.
- For Linux, verify the firewall for the Tomcat port (8080).For Windows, the firewall is automatically updated.
- If using Linux, start the CA Analysis server. (The CA Analysis server automatically starts on Windows.)<Analysis_server_home>: ctl/admin/prelert_startup(.bat)
Configure Analytics Settings
Configure the Analytics property file with the CA Analysis server information, and optionally configure metric settings for WebView.
Follow these steps:
- Open the file,<EM_Home>/config/Analytics.properties.
- Specify the location of the CA Analysis server in, Server settings:analytics.server.uri = http://<analysis-server-host-or-IP>:<port>/prelertApi/prelert.svc/
- (Optional) Configure other settings as your site requires.The defaults for Threshold Settings and Metric Feed Settings are appropriate for most implementations.
- If you have updated properties that are not "hot config," restart the MOM Enterprise Manager.
APM Application Behavior Analysis supports the analysis of 100 K of metrics per CA APM cluster with one CA Analysis server per APM cluster. The CA APM cluster throttles the delivery of metrics to the CA Analysis server down to a maximum of 100 K per 15-second interval. The effectiveness of APM Application Behavior Analysis depends on adherence to this limit. To avoid exceeding the 100-K limit for exported metrics, view the "Metrics Sent" metric, and adjust the regular expressions in Analytics.properties. For Metrics Sent, see the section: CA Analysis Server Management Tools, CA Analysis Server Metric Behavior, table.
Validate Functionality
Validate the CA Analysis Server Connection
Follow these steps:
- Log in to WebView and go to Investigator, Analysis Workbench.
- In the Time Window drop-down list, select a time range.
- If the following conditions are not displayed, the CA Analysis server is working.
Issue | Probable Cause |
Analysis Workbench tab is not displayed. | The APM Application Behavior Analytics is not installed, or is improperly installed. Check the section, Features and Requirements. |
"Application Behavior Analytics not configured." | The URL for the CA Analysis server is incorrect or is missing in the file, Analytics.properties. |
"The CA Analysis Server is currently unreachable." | There is a problem communicating with the CA Analysis server. Check the URL in the file, Analytics.properties. |
Validate Metric Feed and Anomalies
Follow these steps:
- In WebView, go to: Metric Browser, Custom Metric Agent, Enterprise Manager, Analysis Server, Metrics Sent.Data in the graph means metrics are being sent to the CA Analysis server.
- To verify anomalies, wait for the CA Analysis server to create the baseline (learnonlytimeproperty in the file, engine.xml on the CA Analysis Server). Then, go to the Analysis Workbench tab to view the graph.The defaultlearnonlytimeis 120 minutes. Anomalies typically start high and slow down after the first two days as the CA Analysis server learns to distinguish between normal and abnormal patterns. If you have a static environment, anomalies may not appear for a long time.