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Agent Installation

To use the WhaTap monitoring service, after Sign in, create a project and install the agent to the target server. For more information about registration as a member, see the following.

See the following video guide.

Creating a project​

Create a project before installing the agent.

  1. Log in WhaTap monitoring service.

  2. To create a project, on the left of the screen, select All Projects > + Project.

  3. Select a product in Select product for installation.

  4. Configure the settings for Project name, Data server region, and Time zone.

    Create Project

  5. In Notification language setting, select the language for alert messages.

  6. After all settings are finished, select Creating a project.

Note

  • A Data server region refers to a region (a bundle of data centers installed to provide cloud services). Selecting a specific region stores your data in the datacenter that belongs to that region.

  • Time zone is the reference time for generating alerts and reports.

  • To group multiple projects for management, select a group from Project groups or add a group. For more information about grouping, see the following.

  • To add a project with an organization selected, Groups of organization must be set.

Checking the access key​

The access key is the unique ID to enable the WhaTap service.

In the installation guide section, select Getting the access key. After the access key has been issued automatically, proceed to the next step.

Note

After a project has been created, the Agent installation page appears automatically. If the Agent installation does not appear, select Management > Agent installation on the left of the screen.

Enabling the virtual environment​

While the applications are using virtualenv, enable the virtual environment. Run the bin/activate file.

Download agent​

Get the access key and then go to the Download agent section. Copy the following command to install the agent.

pip install whatap-python
Tip

If installation is impossible with the pip command, download the installation file in pypi WhaTap page. Unzip the downloaded file and then proceed with installation.

tar xzvf whatap-python-1.x.x.tar.gz \
cd whatap-python-1.X.Y.Z \
python setup.py install

Agent structure file​

The Python agent file consists of a tracer that extracts data for application monitoring and passes to the WhaTap collection server, and the elements that help the tracer send the data. For the agent file configuration, see the following.

Docker​

In case of the application that is serviced to the docker container, add the following content to DockerFile.

  1. Installing the Python agent.

    Dockerfile
    ENV WHATAP_HOME /whatap
    RUN mkdir -p /whatap
    RUN pip install whatap-python
    Note

    If you use requirements.txt, add whatap-python to that file.

  2. Register the settings for access key and collection server IP.

    Dockerfile
    RUN touch /whatap/whatap.conf
    RUN echo "license=[ ACCESS_KEY ]" > /whatap/whatap.conf
    RUN echo "whatap.server.host=[ COLLECTION_SERVER_IP ]" >> /whatap/whatap.conf
    RUN echo "app_name=[ AGENT_NAME ]" >> /whatap/whatap.conf
    RUN echo "app_process_name=[ APPLICATION_PROCESS_NAME(uwsgi, gunicorn etc..) ]" >> /whatap/whatap.conf

  3. Before the previous command, python manage.py runserver, add whatap-start-agent.

    Dockerfile
    #ENTRYPOINT python manage.py runserver
    ENTRYPOINT whatap-start-agent python manage.py runserver

Agent CONFIG.​

WHATAP_HOME default path configuration​

Specify the $WHATAP_HOME path for log and configuration files. It is recommended to create a new whatap directory.

$ export WHATAP_HOME=[PATH]

Configuring the access key and collection server IP​

Execute the following command to generate whatap.conf in the path specified in $WHATAP_HOME.

whatap-setting-config \
--host [ COLLECTION_SERVER_IP ] \
--license [ ACCESS_KEY ] \
--app_name [ USER_DEFINED_AGENT_NAME ] \
--app_process_name [ APPLICATION_PROCESS_NAME(uwsgi, gunicorn etc..) ]

Show Configuration​

Check whether the configuration file has been created as follows.

$ cat $WHATAP_HOME/whatap.conf
Note

In case the role issue occurs

  • Read and write permissions of $WHATAP_HOME/whatap.conf for configuration

  • Read and write permissions of $WHATAP_HOME/logs and the subordinate files for logging

If you have role issues for the $WHATAP_HOME path, execute the following command to assign roles.

echo `sudo chmod -R 777 $WHATAP_HOME`

Applying by the application server environment​

Command​

In the Command environment, add the whatap-start-agent command before the application startup command as follows:

BASH
# $ whatap-start-agent [Application start command]
$ whatap-start-agent python manage.py runserver

uWSGI​

In the uWSGI environment, add the whatap-start-agent command before the uwsgi command as follows:

BASH
$ whatap-start-agent uwsgi --ini myapp.ini

When running applications by registering uWSGI with the service, see the following example code.

/etc/init.d/uwsgi
description "uWSGI application server handling myapp"
start on runlevel [2345]
stop on runlevel [!2345]
exec whatap-start-agent [YOUR_APPLICATION_START_COMMAND]
# or if you are using a virtual environment
exec env WHATAP_HOME=[PATH] [ABSOLUTE_PATH]/whatap-start-agent [YOUR_APPLICATION_START_COMMAND]
/etc/init/uwsgi.conf
...
NAME="uwsgi"
PATH=/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
DAEMON=/usr/local/bin/uwsgi
PID=$RUN/$NAME.pid
INI_PATH=/etc/$NAME/$NAME.ini

########## WHATAP_AGENT_CONF ##########
WHATAP_HOME=[PATH]
WHATAP_AGENT=[ABSOLUTE_PATH]/whatap-start-agent
...
do_start(){
  env WHATAP_HOME=$WHATAP_HOME $WHATAP_AGENT [YOUR_APPLICATION_START_COMMAND]
}
Note

  • If the user has been changed, you have to add the WHATAP_HOME environment variable.

  • If the virtual environment has been used, add the agent startup command in the absolute path.

  • Modify the service execution file (/etc/init/uwsgi.conf) and then start the application with the agent startup command.

  • Depending on the user environment, the path of the service executable file may differ.

Gunicorn​

In the Gunicorn environment, add the whatap-start-agent command before the Gunicorn command as follows:

$ whatap-start-agent gunicorn myapp.wsgi

When running applications by registering Gunicorn with the service, see the following example code.

/etc/init.d/gunicorn
description "gunicorn application server handling myapp"
start on runlevel [2345]
stop on runlevel [!2345]
exec whatap-start-agent [YOUR_APPLICATION_START_COMMAND]
# or if you are using a virtual environment
exec env WHATAP_HOME=[PATH] [ABSOLUTE_PATH]/whatap-start-agent [YOUR_APPLICATION_START_COMMAND]
/etc/init/gunicorn.conf
...
NAME="gunicorn"
PATH=/usr/local/bin:/sbin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/bin
DAEMON=/usr/local/bin/gunicorn
PID=$RUN/$NAME.pid
INI_PATH=/etc/$NAME/$NAME.ini

########## WHATAP_AGENT_CONF ##########
WHATAP_HOME=[PATH]
WHATAP_AGENT=[ABSOLUTE_PATH]/whatap-start-agent

...
do_start(){
  env WHATAP_HOME=$WHATAP_HOME $WHATAP_AGENT [YOUR_APPLICATION_START_COMMAND]
}
Note

  • If the user has been changed, you have to add the WHATAP_HOME environment variable.

  • If the virtual environment has been used, add the agent startup command in the absolute path.

  • Modify the service execution file (/etc/init/gunicorn.conf) and then start the application with the agent startup command.

  • Depending on the user environment, the path of the service executable file may differ.

Supervisor​

supervisor.conf
[program:app-uwsgi]
environment = WHATAP_HOME=[PATH]
command = [ABSOLUTE_PATH]/whatap-start-agent /usr/local/bin/uwsgi --ini /home/blog/backend/config/uwsgi.ini

[program:nginx-app]
command = /usr/sbin/nginx
Note

  • If the user has been changed, you have to add the WHATAP_HOME environment variable.

  • If the virtual environment has been used, add the agent startup command in the absolute path.

  • Modify the service execution file (/etc/supervisor/conf.d/supervisor.conf) and then start the application with the agent startup command.

  • Depending on the user environment, the path of the service executable file may differ.

Implementing a WSGI application yourself​

PYTHON
import whatap

@whatap.register_app
def simple_app(environ, start_response):
    """Simplest possible application object"""
    status = '200 OK'
    response_headers = [('Content-type', 'text/plain')]
    start_response(status, response_headers)
    return ['Hello world!\n']

Applying with the code​

You can apply the agent by adding the code that calls the API at the top line of the code as follows:

PYTHON
import whatap
whatap.agent

When you run the application server, the agent starts collecting the monitoring data.

Checking the service running​

Execute the following command to check whether the WhaTap Python service is running properly.

ps -ef | grep whatap_python

Next steps​

  • Checking the installation

    If you have applied all for project creation and agent installation, check the checklist in [the following] (install-check).

  • Installation troubleshooting

    It provides various problems while installing the agent and the detailed instructions for resolving them. For more information, see the following.

  • Agent setting

    It provides various features for monitoring by applying options in the agent configuration (whatap.conf) file. It covers everything from basic configuration to settings for server connection and data transfer, the method how to manage the configuration files for multiple application servers, transaction tracing, and more. For more information, see the following.

  • Starting the monitoring

    After all settings are made, restart the application server. The agents start collecting the data. First, check whether the monitoring data is collected in Application Dashboard. For more information about Application Dashboard, see the following.