Why is Deep Monitoring showing as “Not applicable” for standalone PostgreSQL Docker container?

[Selvam]

Hi Team,

I am testing Dynatrace OneAgent full-stack monitoring on a Linux host running a standalone PostgreSQL container (postgres:16-alpine) using Docker.

Dynatrace successfully detects the container and shows:

• CPU usage
• Memory usage
• PostgreSQL technology
• Docker/container visibility

However, under the Processes tab, the Deep monitoring column shows:

Questions

1. Why is deep monitoring marked as “Not applicable” for standalone containers?
2. Does Dynatrace support deep monitoring for PostgreSQL containers running directly in Docker (non-Kubernetes)?
3. Is Alpine-based image causing any limitation?

[sujit_k_singh]

Hi @Selvam 

Answer to your question 

1. Why is deep monitoring marked as “Not applicable” for standalone containers?

It's not about being standalone vs. orchestrated, Deep Monitoring applies to application runtimes where OneAgent can inject into the process for code-level visibility (Java, .NET etc.). PostgreSQL is a database process — OneAgent monitors it at the infrastructure level, not via code injection. Hence "Not applicable."

2. Does Dynatrace support deep monitoring for PostgreSQL containers running directly in Docker (non-Kubernetes)?

Not via OneAgent code injection. For deeper PostgreSQL metrics, use the PostgreSQL extension via ActiveGate

3. Is Alpine-based image causing any limitation?  Alpine uses musl libc instead of glibc, which can limit process instrumentation for supported runtimes. However, for PostgreSQL this is irrelevant since deep monitoring wouldn't apply regardless of the base image.

Thanks,

Sujit