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  • Create a private location

Create a private Synthetic location

With Dynatrace Synthetic Monitoring, you can run your monitors from a private Synthetic location, which is a location in your private network infrastructure where you install a Synthetic-enabled ActiveGate.

With monitors executed from a private location, you can bring the testing capabilities available in public locations right into your own environment. With private locations you can:

  • Measure internal web page performance and availability.
  • Measure complex internal applications with browser clickpath monitors.
  • Measure external resources with synthetic monitors run from internal locations.
  • Monitor APIs, both internal and external.

Private Synthetic locations support all types of Dynatrace synthetic monitors.

System and hardware requirements for private locations

Make sure the machine you'll use for running private synthetic monitors complies with system and hardware requirements for private Synthetic locations. Note that Synthetic-enabled ActiveGates have more demanding hardware and system requirements than a regular Environment or Cluster ActiveGates.

Before you begin

  • You cannot execute synthetic monitors using an ActiveGate that's configured for multi-environment support.
  • You can create a private location using a clean-installed Synthetic-enabled Environment ActiveGate version 1.169+ or Cluster ActiveGate with Dynatrace Managed version 1.176+. If you want to use an existing ActiveGate host, uninstall ActiveGate first.
  • The Synthetic-enabled ActiveGate is used exclusively to run synthetic monitors. A clean ActiveGate installation set to Synthetic monitoring disables all other ActiveGate features, including communication with OneAgents.
  • You need to make sure the ActiveGate can connect to other Dynatrace components as well as the resource you want to test. See Setting up a proxy for private synthetic monitoring.
  • Only IPv4 and DNS UDP are supported for network configuration.
  • For new Dynatrace Managed version 1.216+ installations, screenshots are stored and served locally from the Dynatrace Cluster. For other Managed offline deployments, you will not be able to save screenshots.

Install a Synthetic-enabled ActiveGate

A Synthetic-enabled ActiveGate is used exclusively to run synthetic monitors. A clean ActiveGate installation set to Synthetic monitoring will disable all other ActiveGate features, including communication with OneAgents. Make sure the host on which you install the ActiveGate has access to the internet.

Manual installation

If the web UI-guided installation fails or you prefer to prepare the host for the Synthetic engine yourself, you can manually install Chromium and other dependencies.

  1. For Environment ActiveGate, from the Dynatrace menu, go to Deploy Dynatrace > Install ActiveGate. For Cluster ActiveGate, go to the Dynatrace Cluster Management Console, select the Browse button (…) and select Add new Cluster ActiveGate.

  2. Select the operating system and follow the instructions displayed.

  3. For What's the purpose of this ActiveGate?, select Run synthetic monitors from a private location.

  4. Download the installer.

    • Linux only Select a Linux distribution. When you run the installer, it automatically downloads Chromium and the dependencies required by the Synthetic engine. On RedHat and CentOS, you'll need to enable repositories from which the installer downloads the dependencies. The web UI provides you with all the required commands for doing so, as shown in the example below:

      Red Hat repositories

  5. Install ActiveGate. Make sure you use the exact command displayed in the Dynatrace web UI.

Add a private location

  1. From the Dynatrace menu, go to Settings > Web & mobile monitoring > Private synthetic locations.
  2. Select Create location.
  3. Give your location a custom Name, for example Boston office, 3rd floor.
  4. Map it from an existing geographic location or add a custom geographic location defined by Country, Region, City, and Geographic coordinates.
  5. Add the Synthetic-enabled ActiveGate you've just installed to the location. Note that an ActiveGate can only be assigned to a single location.
  6. Select Add.
  7. Select Save.
Dynatrace Managed only

Use the Cluster API v2 to create a location and assign a Cluster ActiveGate to it.

  1. Use the GET all nodes endpoint to list all the Synthetic-enabled Cluster ActiveGates in your environment. Among other parameters, you'll receive the host IP address and the entityId in the response. For example:

    JSON
    { "nodes": [ { "entityId": "3086117876", "hostname": "gdn.dyna.trace", "ips": [ "238.245.160.14" ], "version": "1.175.0.20181210-173639", "browserMonitorsEnabled": true } ] }
  2. Use the POST a location endpoint to create a new location and assign a Synthetic-enabled Cluster ActiveGate to it. Note that an ActiveGate can only be assigned to a single location. Use the entityId you received in the previous step as one of the values for nodes and set type to CLUSTER. See an example of a request body for the POST call:

    JSON
    { "type": "CLUSTER", "name": "Dynatrace Gdansk Lab", "countryCode": "PL", "regionCode": "PL82", "city": "Gdansk", "latitude": 54.3990, "longitude": 18.5766, "nodes": [ "3086117876" ] }

    If your call is successful, you'll receive a 200 OK response.

Create a private monitor

Now, when you create your HTTP or browser monitor, select the location you've just created from the list of all available locations. For more information, see Create an HTTP monitor, Create a single-URL browser monitor, or Record a browser clickpath.

Install Chromium and dependencies manually (Linux only)

If the web UI-guided installation fails or you prefer to prepare the host for the Synthetic engine yourself, you can install Chromium and other dependencies using the procedure below. Ensure that you can connect to https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com to access Chromium and dependencies.

We strongly recommend that you keep your Linux-based Synthetic-enabled ActiveGates and Chromium versions updated—Dynatrace supports Chromium versions that are no more than two versions behind the latest Dynatrace-supported version for a specific ActiveGate release. See also how to update Chromium manually in Manage private Synthetic locations.

Ubuntu Server

Note

Chromium development for Ubuntu 16.04 stopped at version 90.

  1. Install Synthetic engine dependencies:

    Synthetic engine dependencies:

    shell
    sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y install xvfb x11-xkb-utils xfonts-100dpi xfonts-75dpi xfonts-scalable

    Chromium dependencies:

    shell
    sudo apt-get -y install libasound2 libatk-bridge2.0-0 libatk1.0-0 libc6:amd64 libcairo2 libcups2 libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0 libgtk-3-0 libnspr4 libnss3 libxss1 libwayland-server0 libgbm1 xdg-utils

    Synthetic engine dependencies:

    shell
    sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get -y install xvfb x11-xkb-utils xfonts-100dpi xfonts-75dpi xfonts-scalable

    Chromium dependencies:

    shell
    sudo apt-get -y install fonts-dejavu-core
    shell
    sudo snap install gnome-3-28-1804 gtk-common-themes
  2. Download and install Chromium.

    • Download the deb (Ubuntu 16.04 and 18.04) or snap (Ubuntu 20.04) package archive. This is a safe and verified archive hosted by Dynatrace.

      ActiveGate 1.235+

      Ubuntu 16.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/deb/chromium-90.0.4430.72-0ubuntu0.16.04.1.tgz

      Ubuntu 18.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/deb/chromium-99.0.4844.84-0ubuntu0.18.04.1.tgz

      Ubuntu 20.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/snap/chromium-99.0.4844.84-1945.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.231 and 1.233

      Ubuntu 16.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/deb/chromium-90.0.4430.72-0ubuntu0.16.04.1.tgz

      Ubuntu 18.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/deb/chromium-95.0.4638.69-0ubuntu0.18.04.1.tgz

      Ubuntu 20.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/snap/chromium-96.0.4664.110-1854.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.229

      Ubuntu 16.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/deb/chromium-90.0.4430.72-0ubuntu0.16.04.1.tgz

      Ubuntu 18.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/deb/chromium-94.0.4606.71-0ubuntu0.18.04.1.tgz

      Ubuntu 20.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/snap/chromium-94.0.4606.71-1772.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.225+

      Ubuntu 16.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/deb/chromium-90.0.4430.72-0ubuntu0.16.04.1.tgz

      Ubuntu 18.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/deb/chromium-91.0.4472.77-0ubuntu0.18.04.1.tgz

      Ubuntu 20.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/snap/chromium-92.0.4515.131-1691.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.221+

      Ubuntu 16.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/deb/chromium-90.0.4430.72-0ubuntu0.16.04.1.tgz

      Ubuntu 18.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/deb/chromium-91.0.4472.77-0ubuntu0.18.04.1.tgz

      Ubuntu 20.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/snap/chromium-91.0.4472.77-1608.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.219

      Ubuntu 16.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/deb/chromium-90.0.4430.72-0ubuntu0.16.04.1.tgz

      Ubuntu 18.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/deb/chromium-90.0.4430.72-0ubuntu0.18.04.1.tgz

      Ubuntu 20.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/snap/chromium-90.0.4430.93-1568.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.215 to 1.217

      Ubuntu 16.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/deb/chromium-89.0.4389.82-0ubuntu0.16.04.1.tgz

      Ubuntu 18.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/deb/chromium-89.0.4389.82-0ubuntu0.18.04.1.tgz

      Ubuntu 20.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/snap/chromium-89.0.4389.90-1523.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.213

      Ubuntu 20.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/snap/chromium-88.0.4324.150-1479.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.209 to 1.211

      Ubuntu 16.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://s3.amazonaws.com/synthetic-packages/Chromium/deb/chromium-87.0.4280.66-0ubuntu0.16.04.1.tgz

      Ubuntu 18.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://s3.amazonaws.com/synthetic-packages/Chromium/deb/chromium-87.0.4280.66-0ubuntu0.18.04.1.tgz

      Ubuntu 20.04

      shell
      curl --output https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/snap/chromium-87.0.4280.88-1424.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.205 to 1.207

      Ubuntu 16.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://s3.amazonaws.com/synthetic-packages/Chromium/deb/chromium-86.0.4240.198-0ubuntu0.16.04.1.tgz

      Ubuntu 18.04

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://s3.amazonaws.com/synthetic-packages/Chromium/deb/chromium-86.0.4240.198-0ubuntu0.18.04.1.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.201 to 1.203
      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://s3.amazonaws.com/synthetic-packages/Chromium/deb/chromium-84.0.4147.105-0ubuntu0.16.04.1.tgz

      You can verify the authenticity of the packages using the signature files stored together with the package archives.

    • Extract the installation packages. Go to the directory where you saved the archive and run the following command:

      shell
      mkdir /tmp/chromium ; tar xzf chromium.tgz -C /tmp/chromium

      This creates a /tmp/chromium directory and extracts the packages into it.

    • Install the extracted packages.

      shell
      sudo dpkg -i /tmp/chromium/*.deb
      shell
      sudo snap ack /tmp/chromium/chromium.assert
      shell
      sudo snap install --devmode /tmp/chromium/chromium.snap

      This installs all the packages extracted to the /tmp/chromium/ directory. You can delete the /tmp/chromium/ directory and the downloaded chromium.tgz archive after successful Chromium installation.

  3. Ubuntu 16.04 and 18.04 only Disable automatic update of Chromium packages.

    Note that for Ubuntu 20.04, auto-update is disabled as part of the installation command in Step 2 above.

    shell
    echo "chromium-browser hold" | sudo dpkg --set-selections echo "chromium-codecs-ffmpeg-extra hold" | sudo dpkg --set-selections
  4. After you satisfy the dependencies, run the ActiveGate installer with root rights with the --enable-synthetic parameter set to manual. For example:

    shell
    /bin/sh ./Dynatrace-ActiveGate-Linux.sh --enable-synthetic=manual

Red Hat Enterprise Linux and CentOS

Note

  • The latest Dynatrace-supported Chromium version for Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 7 is available with ActiveGate version 1.235+.
  1. Set up repositories.

    • Register the Red Hat instance.
      shell
      sudo subscription-manager register --auto-attach
    • Enable the Red Hat Extras and Optional repositories as well as EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux ).
      shell
      sudo subscription-manager repos --enable rhel-7-server-extras-rpms sudo subscription-manager repos --enable rhel-7-server-optional-rpms sudo rpm -Uvh https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-7.noarch.rpm
    • Register the Red Hat instance.
      shell
      sudo subscription-manager register --auto-attach
    • Enable the Red Hat Extras and Optional repositories as well as EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux ).
      shell
      sudo subscription-manager repos --enable rhel-8-for-x86_64-baseos-rpms sudo subscription-manager repos --enable rhel-8-for-x86_64-appstream-rpms sudo rpm -Uvh https://dl.fedoraproject.org/pub/epel/epel-release-latest-8.noarch.rpm
    • Enable EPEL (Extra Packages for Enterprise Linux ).
      shell
      sudo yum install epel-release
  2. Install Synthetic engine dependencies.

    shell
    sudo yum install -y xorg-x11-server-Xvfb xorg-x11-xkb-utils xorg-x11-server-utils xorg-x11-fonts-100dpi xorg-x11-fonts-75dpi xorg-x11-fonts-Type1 curl
  3. Download and install Chromium.

    • Download the rpm package archive. This is a safe and verified archive hosted by Dynatrace.

      ActiveGate 1.235+

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 7

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/rpm/chromium-99.0.4844.84-1.el7.tgz

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 8

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/rpm/chromium-99.0.4844.84-1.el8.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.231 and 1.233

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 7

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/rpm/chromium-90.0.4430.93-1.el7.tgz

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 8

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/rpm/chromium-96.0.4664.110-2.el8.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.229

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 7

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/rpm/chromium-90.0.4430.93-1.el7.tgz

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 8

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/rpm/chromium-94.0.4606.61-1.el8.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.225+

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 7

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/rpm/chromium-90.0.4430.93-1.el7.tgz

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 8

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/rpm/chromium-91.0.4472.164-1.el8.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.221+

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 7

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/rpm/chromium-90.0.4430.93-1.el7.tgz

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 8

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/rpm/chromium-90.0.4430.93-1.el8.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.219

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 7

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/rpm/chromium-90.0.4430.93-1.el7.tgz

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 8

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/rpm/chromium-90.0.4430.93-1.el8.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.215 to 1.217

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 7

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/rpm/chromium-89.0.4389.82-1.el7.tgz

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 8

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/rpm/chromium-89.0.4389.82-1.el8.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.213

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 7

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://s3.amazonaws.com/synthetic-packages/Chromium/rpm/chromium-88.0.4324.150-1.el7.tgz

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 8

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://s3.amazonaws.com/synthetic-packages/Chromium/rpm/chromium-88.0.4324.150-1.el8.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.209 to 1.211

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 7

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/rpm/chromium-87.0.4280.88-1.el7.tgz

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 8

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/rpm/chromium-87.0.4280.88-1.el8.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.205 to 1.207

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 7

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://s3.amazonaws.com/synthetic-packages/Chromium/rpm/chromium-85.0.4183.121-1.el7.tgz

      Red Hat Enterprise Linux/CentOS 8

      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://s3.amazonaws.com/synthetic-packages/Chromium/rpm/chromium-85.0.4183.83-1.el8.tgz
      ActiveGate 1.201 to 1.203
      shell
      curl --output chromium.tgz https://s3.amazonaws.com/synthetic-packages/Chromium/rpm/chromium-84.0.4147.89-1.el7.tgz

      You can verify the authenticity of the packages using the signature files stored together with the package archives.

    • Extract the installation packages. Go to the directory where you saved the archive and run the following command:

      shell
      mkdir /tmp/chromium ; tar xzf chromium.tgz -C /tmp/chromium

      This will create a /tmp/chromium directory and extract the packages into it.

    • Install extracted packages.

      shell
      sudo yum install -y /tmp/chromium/*.rpm

      This will install all the packages extracted to the /tmp/chromium/ directory. You can delete the /tmp/chromium/ directory and the downloaded chromium.tgz archive after successful Chromium installation.

  4. Disable automatic update of Chromium packages:

    shell
    sudo yum -y install yum-plugin-versionlock sudo yum versionlock chromium sudo yum versionlock chromium-common
  5. optional Install non-Latin TrueType fonts:

    shell
    sudo yum install dejavu-fonts-common.noarch dejavu-sans-fonts.noarch
  6. After you satisfy the dependencies, run the ActiveGate installer with root rights with the --enable-synthetic parameter set to manual. For example:

    shell
    /bin/sh ./Dynatrace-ActiveGate-Linux.sh --enable-synthetic=manual

Frequently asked questions

How can I verify the authenticity of downloaded Chromium packages?

Each tgz package archive is stored in the S3 Bucket together with the *.tgz.sig signature file. To verify if the packages on your drive are authentic Dynatrace-provided archives, perform the following steps:

  1. Download the signature file. The filename is identical to the package archive plus the sig filename extension. For example, for Chromium 78, it'll be:

    shell
    curl --output chromium.tgz.sig https://synthetic-packages.s3.amazonaws.com/Chromium/rpm/chromium-78.0.3904.97-1.el7.tgz.sig
  2. Verify the package:

    shell
    wget https://ca.dynatrace.com/dt-root.cert.pem ; openssl cms -verify -in chromium.tgz.sig -inform PEM -content chromium.tgz -binary -CAfile dt-root.cert.pem > /dev/null
  3. Verify the signature timestamp.

    You can also get the exact timestamp of a signature. Download the *.tgz.sig.tsr file from the same location as installation packages and signature and run the following command:

    shell
    openssl ts -reply -in chromium.tgz.sig.tsr -text
Can I use a proxy with the Synthetic-enabled ActiveGate?

With ActiveGate version 1.175+, an ActiveGate executing private synthetic monitors can connect through the proxy to both the Dynatrace Cluster and tested resource. For more information, see Setting up proxy for private synthetic monitoring.

Can I update an earlier ActiveGate to version 1.169+ and configure it to use with private synthetic monitors?

No, you need to run a clean installation in the Synthetic monitoring mode to enable your ActiveGate to execute monitors from private locations.

Can I turn on Synthetic on an existing ActiveGate installation?

Private Synthetic locations require a clean installation of ActiveGate in the Synthetic monitoring mode.

Manually editing the custom.properties file is not enough to enable the ActiveGate to execute synthetic monitors.

Can I add browser monitoring to a Synthetic-enabled ActiveGate already running HTTP monitors?

To add browser monitoring on Synthetic-enabled ActiveGates already running HTTP monitors, you need to reinstall the ActiveGate.

Manually editing the custom.properties file is not enough to enable browser monitoring in this case.

Troubleshooting

ActiveGate installation failed because of missing dependencies

In such cases

  1. Uninstall ActiveGate.

    See Uninstall ActiveGate for details.

  2. Satisfy the dependencies.

  3. Run the installation again.

I can't see screenshots from browser monitors

Dynatrace stores the screenshots in Amazon S3. If you cannot see your reference or error screenshots, it means that either your ActiveGate or the browser from which you access Dynatrace cannot access the Amazon S3 service. Change your firewall configuration to allow connections to *.s3-accelerate.amazonaws.com on port 443. You can also set up your proxy to connect to the Amazon S3 service. Add proxy connection details to the [synthetic] section of the ActiveGate custom.properties file. For more information, see Set up a proxy for private synthetic monitoring.

Related topics
  • Synthetic locations API v2 - POST a location

    Create a private synthetic location via the Synthetic v2 API.