The AppDynamics standalone Machine Agent is a Java program that runs on a host machine and
collects hardware and infrastructure metrics, such as CPU, memory, disk, and network usage. The
Machine Agent can also perform additional functions, such as:
Acting as a forwarder for analytics events: The Machine Agent can be configured to forward business
transaction, log, browser, mobile, and synthetic events from the application agents to the
AppDynamics Events Service, which is a distributed, scalable data store for analytics data. The
Machine Agent can also forward custom events from the SDK or API to the Events Service. This
allows you to use the AppDynamics Analytics features, such as dashboards, queries, funnels, and
metrics, to analyze the performance and behavior of your applications and users12.
Starting an HTTP listener for custom metrics: The Machine Agent can be configured to start an HTTP
listener that can receive custom metrics from external sources, such as scripts, tools, or other
applications. The Machine Agent can then report these custom metrics to the AppDynamics
Controller, where you can view them in the Metric Browser or use them in health rules, policies, or
dashboards. This allows you to monitor any aspect of your system that is not covered by the default
Machine Agent metrics34.
The other statements are false because:
B) The Machine Agent cannot send SNMP alerts. The Machine Agent can only receive SNMP traps
from external sources and report them as events to the AppDynamics Controller. The AppDynamics
Controller can send SNMP alerts to external systems based on health rule violations or events, but
this is not a function of the Machine Agent5 .
C) The Machine Agent cannot communicate with multiple AppDynamics Controllers. The Machine
Agent can only communicate with one Controller at a time, which is specified in the controller-
info.xml file in the agent configuration directory. If you want to monitor the same host machine with
multiple Controllers, you need to install multiple Machine Agents on the same machine, each with a
different Controller configuration and port number .
D) The Machine Agent cannot restart itself if it goes down. The Machine Agent does not have a built-
in mechanism to automatically restart itself in case of a failure or a crash. You need to use an external
tool or script to monitor the Machine Agent process and restart it if necessary. Alternatively, you can
use the AppDynamics Agent Installer to deploy the Machine Agent as a service, which can be
configured to restart automatically on failure .
Reference: Analytics Agent, Analytics Data, HTTP Listener, Custom Metrics, SNMP Trap Alerting
Integration, [SNMP Integration], [Machine Agent Configuration Properties], [Install the Machine
Agent], [Agent Installer], [Start and Stop the Machine Agent]
