Synthetic transaction monitoring key concepts

TrueSight Synthetic Monitor is integrated into TrueSight App Visibility Manager. You can use it to predict application health and user experience. Synthetic Monitor enables you to manage the performance and reliability of your applications by executing complex business transactions and monitoring performance and functional behavior.

Synthetic Monitor works by running scripts that simulate user transactions. These scripts are run on agents that test the application's performance. The information is then collected and processed so you can see the results in TrueSight App Visibility Manager, and use this information to predict any problems that might occur.

This topic provides you with links to all of the information you need to leverage this functionality.


Related topics

Getting-started-with-synthetic-transaction-monitoring

Setting-up-and-managing-synthetic-transaction-monitoring

Monitoring-synthetic-transactions-to-predict-application-health

Terminology

The following terms and concepts are important for understanding synthetic transaction monitoring: 

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Concept

Description

Synthetic transaction scripts

A transaction script is a sequence of instructions that simulate user transactions. Synthetic Monitor uses prerecorded .ltz scripts to simulate end-user transactions, and BMC provides some basic scripts. You can create realistic and customizable scripts through an external scripting tool and then upload, deploy, and manage the scripts in the TrueSight console.

The scripting tool, Silk Performer, also serves as an execution module to run scripts on the computer with the Synthetic TEA Agent. Each computer with the Synthetic TEA Agent requires an execution module to run the scripts. On each Synthetic TEA Agent computer, you can install the full Silk Performer installation, a smaller execution-module-only installation, or TrueLog Explorer, which supports Silk Performer testing efforts with a framework from which you can customize test scripts and view execution log results.

For details about working with synthetic transaction scripts, see Using-scripts-to-simulate-end-user-transactions.

Location

A location is a logical group of Synthetic TEA Agents, grouped for load balancing and high availability, and according to the needs of your organization. Each Execution Plan is run on one Agent in a location. If several Execution Plans are run on the same location, the Execution Plans are distributed evenly across the location.

Each Synthetic TEA Agent is assigned to a location during Agent installation.

Execution Plan

An Execution Plan provides the interface for a script and its execution. Through an Execution Plan, you specify the configuration for the script (including custom attributes), locations on which the script runs, run schedules, and blackout periods. An Execution Plan runs a single script. If the Silk Performer project contains more than one script, only the first script in the project runs.

For details about working with Execution Plans, see Viewing-an-application-s-synthetic-settings and Editing-an-application-s-synthetic-settings.

Execution

An execution is the result of a single instance of a script run according to the parameters set in the associated Execution Plan. Each execution may contain one or more transactions. Executions are simulations of end-user processes, and are used to detect issues that might occur before the real end users encounter them.

For users who have experience with previous BMC synthetic monitoring solutions such as BMC TM ART or BMC TrueSight, the following lists some of the changes in terminology:

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TSOM 10.x

TrueSight 2.6

TM ART

Location

Agent Group

Location

Execution Plan

Execution Plan

Monitor

Application

Business Service

Project

Synthetic Transaction Execution Adapter (TEA) Agents

The agents used for running synthetic transactions are called Transaction Execution Adapter Agents or TEA Agents. TEA Agents require that you install the Micro Focus Silk Performer for TrueSight Synthetic agent first.

Using Synthetic Monitor

Synthetic transaction monitoring is a two-stage process:

  • Define Execution Plans for your application—Select or write scripts; define their locations, frequency, and blackout periods.
  • Monitor Executions—View and analyze the results of your synthetic executions.

See the following video for a brief demonstration of how Synthetic Monitor works:


 

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