topic Re: Can two agents co-exist on the same host ? in Dynatrace Managed Q&A

Can two agents co-exist on the same host ?

SirineMaslah1 — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 15:53:18 GMT

Hello

As part of a project to migrate an APM tool to Dynatrace, I want to know if we can install the Oneagent on a Host where there is already an agent that collects data (an agnet from a vendor similar to Dynatrace)
the target will be to install Dynatrace’s oneagent in parallel on the host in double RUN time to finish the tests.

Can the two agents co-exist?

thx

Re: Can two agents co-exist on the same host ?

AntonioSousa — Mon, 02 Sep 2024 17:26:25 GMT

@SirineMaslah1,

It depends on the Agent. I have seen several cases where Dynatrace replaces the existing agent, mainly when dealing with APM. But there are also other cases where it does not.

When talking about agents in Infra mode, I wouldn't say there would be a problem.

Re: Can two agents co-exist on the same host ?

Peter_Youssef — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 08:09:10 GMT

For the different APM agents that are installed in full-stack mode, there will be an impact on the injection and stability of the monitored services.

Re: Can two agents co-exist on the same host ?

Peter_Youssef — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 08:37:21 GMT

Hi @SirineMaslah1

as long as you can decide which processes to be monitored or not by which agent. this the key factor and the main purpose of the monitoring.
It's not recommended to have 2 different apm agents running on the same server to measure the performance of the running app.

you can make it in a different way if both agents are serving the same purpose:

to obtain the required insights from app using agent "x" install it on staging for example and compare it with the obtained insights from agent "y" on another app server. and observe the expected outcomes.

If the agents aren't serving the same purpose:

you can test the stability and outcomes in uat environment in advance while both agents are running.

Re: Can two agents co-exist on the same host ?

Peter_Youssef — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 08:37:50 GMT

Thanks @AntonioSousa for highlighting such point.

Re: Can two agents co-exist on the same host ?

PacoPorro — Thu, 19 Sep 2024 10:46:48 GMT

I won't recommend it. You can have side effects.