Managing App Visibility policy files

Each App Visibility agent employs two policy files to help govern its behavior:

An agent policy defines how the agent behaves and operates when collecting application information. Agent policies provide a way for you to fine tune or change data collection methods to better suit your environment.
A confidentiality policy prevents sensitive code-level diagnostics information from leaving the monitored server computer so that it does not reach the network and is not displayed. Confidentiality policies provide a way for you to specify and hide methods with confidential information.

Each kind of policy has a specified default policy, which is the policy that is automatically applied when an App Visibility agent is added to the system.

Agent policies and confidentiality policies are managed separately, but similar procedures are used to manage them.

Before you begin

To perform this procedure, you must have Application Administrator-level access.

Setting the default App Visibility agent policy or confidentiality policy

When you add a new App Visibility agent to your system, the default policy for the agent type (Java or .NET) is applied automatically. You can set any policy to be the default policy.

To set a default policy for App Visibility agents

From the navigation pane of the TrueSight console, select Administration > App Visibility Agent Policies.
The Agent Policies tab is selected, or click the Confidentiality Policies tab.
Click the action menu of the policy that you want to be the default, and select Set as Default.

The selected policy file is now the default configuration file. Newly added App Visibility agents will automatically use this policy.

If you want to delete a non-built-in default policy, set another policy to be the default, and then you can delete the policy.

Applying an App Visibility agent policy or confidentiality policy

After you install an App Visibility agent, you can apply a different policy to the agent. The following examples provide reasons you might apply a different a policy to one or more agents.

Examples

You might need to apply a policy that is different from the default policy for several reasons, as required in your environment, such as the following:

Agent policy: Agents receive a medium level of monitoring from the default policy, but while troubleshooting an issue on a specific application server, you require a deeper level of monitoring.
Confidentiality policy: Most agents hide a minimum number of methods, but for a specific application server, you must hide sensitive information from more methods.

To apply a policy to an App Visibility agent

From the navigation pane of the TrueSight console, select Administration > App Visibility Agent Policies.
The Agent Policies tab is selected, or click the Confidentiality Policies tab.
Click the action menu of the policy that you want to apply, and select Apply to Agents.
In the Apply Policy to App Visibility Agents page, select each agent to which you want to apply the policy.
Click Apply.

Creating an App Visibility agent policy or confidentiality policy

To create an App Visibility agent policy or confidentiality policy, save a copy of an existing policy and edit the copy. You can then apply the new policy to App Visibility agents, or make the policy a default policy.

To create a policy by copying an existing policy

From the navigation pane of the TrueSight console, select Administration > App Visibility Agent Policies.
The Agent Policies tab is selected, or click the Confidentiality Policies tab.
Click the action menu of the policy that you want to apply, and select Save As.
Note
Menu options differ depending on whether the policy is a built-in policy, a default policy, or a custom policy. You cannot edit or delete a built-in policy, and you cannot delete a policy while it is set as the default policy. You can edit and delete all other policy files.
On the page to create an App Visibility agent policy or confidentiality policy, change the name of the policy.
A policy name cannot begin with an exclamation point (!).
(Optional) Add a description.
Modify the policy according to your requirements.
For details, see the following topics:
- Modifying-an-App-Visibility-agent-policy-file-to-collect-and-monitor-application-information
- Hiding-sensitive-information-with-an-App-Visibility-confidentiality-policy-file
Click Save.

Deleting an App Visibility agent policy or confidentiality policy

You can delete a custom App Visibility agent policy or confidentiality policy. You cannot delete a built-in policy, and you cannot delete a policy while it is set as the default policy. If you want to delete a non-built-in default policy, you must first set another policy to be the default, and then you can delete the policy.

To delete a policy file

From the navigation pane of the TrueSight console, select Administration > App Visibility Agent Policies.
The Agent Policies tab is selected, or click the Confidentiality Policies tab.
Click the action menu of the policy that you want to delete, and select Delete.
Note
Menu options differ depending on whether the policy is a built-in policy, a default policy, or a custom policy. You cannot edit or delete a built-in policy, and you cannot delete a policy while it is set as the default policy. You can edit and delete all other policy files.
Confirm the deletion.

If the policy applies to one or more App Visibility agents, the default policy is applied upon deletion.

Where to go from here

Examine the parameters that you can modify in an agent policy or a confidentiality policy: