Deployment Workflow

15 minutes  

First Deployment

Now that your pipelines are configured, let’s walk through executing your first Smart Agent deployment.

Step 1: Navigate to Pipeline

  1. Go to Jenkins Dashboard
  2. Click on your Deploy-Smart-Agent pipeline

Step 2: Build with Parameters

  1. Click Build with Parameters in the left sidebar

  2. Review the default parameters:

    • SMARTAGENT_ZIP_PATH: Verify path is correct
    • REMOTE_INSTALL_DIR: /opt/appdynamics/appdsmartagent
    • APPD_USER: ubuntu (or your SSH user)
    • APPD_GROUP: ubuntu
    • SSH_PORT: 22
    • AGENT_NAME: smartagent
    • LOG_LEVEL: DEBUG

  3. Adjust parameters if needed

  4. Click Build

Tip

For your first deployment, consider testing on a single host by creating a separate credential with just one IP address.

Step 3: Monitor Pipeline Execution

After clicking Build, you’ll see:

  1. Build added to queue - Build number appears in Build History
  2. Click build number (e.g., #1) to view details
  3. Click Console Output to view real-time logs

Step 4: Understanding Console Output

The console output shows each stage of the deployment:

Started by user admin
Running in Durability level: MAX_SURVIVABILITY
[Pipeline] Start of Pipeline
[Pipeline] node
Running on aws-vpc-agent in /home/ubuntu/jenkins/workspace/Deploy-Smart-Agent
[Pipeline] {
[Pipeline] stage
[Pipeline] { (Preparation)
[Pipeline] script
[Pipeline] {
Preparing Smart Agent deployment to 3 hosts: 172.31.1.243, 172.31.1.48, 172.31.1.5
...

Key stages you’ll see:

  1. ✅ Preparation - Loads and validates host list
  2. ✅ Extract Smart Agent - Extracts ZIP file
  3. ✅ Configure Smart Agent - Creates config.ini
  4. ✅ Deploy to Remote Hosts - Deploys to each host
  5. ✅ Verify Installation - Checks Smart Agent status

Step 5: Review Results

After completion, you’ll see:

Success:

Smart Agent successfully deployed to all hosts
Finished: SUCCESS

Partial Success:

Deployment completed with some failures
Failed hosts: 172.31.1.48
Finished: UNSTABLE

Failure:

Smart Agent deployment failed. Check logs for details.
Finished: FAILURE

Verifying Installation

After a successful deployment, verify Smart Agent is running on target hosts.

Check Smart Agent Status

SSH into a target host and check the status:

# SSH to target host
ssh ubuntu@172.31.1.243

# Navigate to installation directory
cd /opt/appdynamics/appdsmartagent

# Check Smart Agent status
sudo ./smartagentctl status

Expected output:

Smart Agent is running (PID: 12345)
Service: appdsmartagent.service
Status: active (running)

List Installed Agents

cd /opt/appdynamics/appdsmartagent
sudo ./smartagentctl list

Expected output:

No agents currently installed
(Use install-machine-agent or install-db-agent pipelines to add agents)

Check Logs

cd /opt/appdynamics/appdsmartagent
tail -f log.log

Look for successful connection messages to the AppDynamics controller.

Verify in AppDynamics Controller

  1. Log into your AppDynamics Controller
  2. Navigate to Servers → Servers
  3. Look for your newly deployed hosts
  4. Verify Smart Agent is reporting metrics

Installing Additional Agents

Once Smart Agent is deployed, you can install specific agent types using the other pipelines.

Install Machine Agent

  1. Go to Install-Machine-Agent pipeline
  2. Click Build with Parameters
  3. Review parameters:
    • AGENT_NAME: machine-agent
    • SSH_PORT: 22
  4. Click Build

The pipeline will SSH to each host and execute:

cd /opt/appdynamics/appdsmartagent
sudo ./smartagentctl install --component machine

Install Database Agent

  1. Go to Install-Database-Agent pipeline
  2. Click Build with Parameters
  3. Configure database connection parameters
  4. Click Build

The pipeline will install and configure the Database Agent on all hosts.

Verify Agent Installation

After installing agents, verify they appear:

cd /opt/appdynamics/appdsmartagent
sudo ./smartagentctl list

Expected output:

Installed agents:
- machine-agent (running)
- db-agent (running)

Common Deployment Scenarios

Scenario 1: Initial Deployment

Workflow:

  1. Run Deploy-Smart-Agent pipeline
  2. Wait for completion and verify
  3. Run Install-Machine-Agent if needed
  4. Run Install-Database-Agent if needed

Scenario 2: Update Smart Agent

To update Smart Agent to a new version:

  1. Download new Smart Agent ZIP
  2. Place it in Jenkins at configured path
  3. Run Deploy-Smart-Agent pipeline again

The pipeline automatically:

  • Stops existing Smart Agent
  • Removes old files
  • Installs new version
  • Restarts Smart Agent

Scenario 3: Add New Hosts

To add Smart Agent to new hosts:

  1. Update the deployment-hosts credential in Jenkins
  2. Add new IP addresses (one per line)
  3. Run Deploy-Smart-Agent pipeline

The pipeline will:

  • Skip already-configured hosts (if idempotent)
  • Deploy to new hosts only

Scenario 4: Complete Removal

To completely remove Smart Agent from all hosts:

  1. Go to Cleanup-All-Agents pipeline
  2. Click Build with Parameters
  3. Check the CONFIRM_CLEANUP checkbox
  4. Click Build
Details

This will permanently delete /opt/appdynamics/appdsmartagent directory from all hosts. This action cannot be undone.

Troubleshooting Deployments

Build Fails at Preparation Stage

Symptom: Pipeline fails when loading host list

Cause: Missing or incorrect deployment-hosts credential

Solution:

  1. Go to Manage Jenkins → Credentials
  2. Verify deployment-hosts credential exists
  3. Check format (one IP per line, no commas)
  4. Ensure no trailing spaces

SSH Connection Failures

Symptom: “Permission denied” or “Connection refused” errors

Solutions:

Check security group:

# Verify Jenkins agent can reach target
ping 172.31.1.243
telnet 172.31.1.243 22

Test SSH manually:

# From Jenkins agent machine
ssh -i /path/to/key ubuntu@172.31.1.243

Verify SSH key:

  1. Ensure ssh-private-key credential is correct
  2. Verify public key is in ~/.ssh/authorized_keys on target hosts

Smart Agent Fails to Start

Symptom: Deployment completes but Smart Agent not running

Solution:

Check logs on target host:

cd /opt/appdynamics/appdsmartagent
cat log.log

Common issues:

  • Invalid access key: Check account-access-key credential
  • Network connectivity: Verify outbound HTTPS to Controller
  • Permission issues: Ensure APPD_USER has correct permissions

Partial Deployment Success

Symptom: Some hosts succeed, others fail

Solution:

  1. Check Console Output - Identifies which hosts failed
  2. Investigate failed hosts - SSH and test manually
  3. Re-run pipeline - Jenkins tracks which hosts need retry

Pipeline Best Practices

1. Test on Single Host First

Always test new configurations on a single host before deploying to production:

1. Create deployment-hosts-test credential (1 IP)
2. Create test pipeline pointing to this credential
3. Verify success
4. Deploy to full host list

2. Use Descriptive Build Descriptions

After triggering a build, add a description:

  1. Go to build page
  2. Click Edit Build Information
  3. Add description: “Production deployment - Q4 2024”

3. Monitor Build History

Regularly check build history for patterns:

  • Failed builds
  • Duration trends
  • Error messages

4. Schedule Deployments During Maintenance Windows

For production systems:

  • Use Jenkins scheduled builds
  • Deploy during low-traffic periods
  • Have rollback plan ready

5. Keep Credentials Updated

  • Rotate SSH keys quarterly
  • Update host lists as infrastructure changes
  • Verify AppDynamics access key validity

Next Steps

Now let’s explore scaling and operational considerations for large deployments.