Set up the RUM browser extension

The RUM browser extension provides a means of gathering Real User Monitoring data from SaaS-licensed third-party applications even when you don't have access to the underlying application servers or HTML page source. Examples of such applications are Office 365, Workday, Concur, Google Apps, Zendesk, or Confluence.

We're ending support for the RUM browser extension by January 2024 because remotely hosted code will no longer be allowed for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. For more details, check the announcement in Dynatrace community.

As an alternative, you can switch to agentless RUM with manual RUM JavaScript injection.

When to use the RUM browser extension

Typically, the easiest way to gather RUM data for your application is to install OneAgent on your application servers—full-stack monitoring, which includes Real User Monitoring, is then enabled by default, with no additional configuration required. If you don't have access to your application servers, you can follow the agentless RUM approach. With agentless RUM, you manually modify the HTML of each of your application's pages to include the pre-configured RUM JavaScript. You can do that via templates or a tag manager.

If neither the OneAgent nor the agentless RUM approach is feasible in your environment, for example, because you don't have access to the application servers or your app's HTML files, try the RUM browser extension.

The RUM browser extension can also enhance Session Replay playback, specifically in the following cases:

Resource type	Extension required
Images	To load images from HTTP origins
Fonts	Always
Stylesheets	When resource capture is disabled ¹ When the resource is excluded ¹
¹ In these scenarios, the RUM browser extension serves as a fallback mechanism to ensure that if the resource was not captured, it will be retrieved from the original source.

Add and configure the RUM browser extension

To set up the RUM browser extension

In the Dynatrace menu, go to Deploy Dynatrace.
Under No access to your host?, select Monitor via browser extension.
Read the instructions, and select Set up monitoring.
Install the Dynatrace browser extension for Google Chrome or Microsoft Edge.
Enter a Name for your application, and then define the URL injection pattern.
Configure the RUM browser extension:
- Select Copy in the Dynatrace web UI to copy the configuration URL. Replace {your-token} with a token that has RUM Browser Extension access, and copy the configuration URL again.
- Select the grayed-out Dynatrace icon on the browser toolbar to open the RUM browser extension.
- Paste in the copied URL, and select Connect applications.
  If the extension successfully fetches the configuration, you should see the following message: Applications successfully connected.
Switch back to the Dynatrace web UI, and select Create application.
Open the RUM browser extension again, and select Connect applications to ensure that you've loaded the latest configuration.

For Dynatrace Managed, you also need to install a Cluster ActiveGate.

URL pattern matching

The URL injection pattern is a regex pattern that the RUM browser extension applies to the current URL. When the pattern matches, the extension injects the RUM JavaScript and begins gathering RUM data.

For example, if you open Outlook 365 in your browser, you see a URL similar to https://outlook.office.com/owa/?realm=mycompany.com&exsvurl=1&ll-cc=1033&modurl=0
If you define the outlook\.office\.com URL pattern, the regex matches and the extension gathers RUM data for this page. Note that this same regex pattern is not a match for the Office 365 homepage, which can be https://www.office.com/?auth=2&home=1.

There are several online tools available to test your regular expressions, for example, Regex101.

You can modify the URL injection pattern at any time via the application settings: on the application overview page, select More (…) > Edit > Setup.

Configuration endpoint

There is an API endpoint that the RUM browser extension uses to get the current list of configured applications. The extension automatically fetches the latest configuration every 10 minutes.

You can check your configuration endpoint via your application settings: on the application overview page, select More (…) > Edit > Setup. The configuration URL is available under URL used by the browser extension to fetch the configuration.

Test your configuration

Open a new browser tab, and visit the configured application. You should see that the Dynatrace icon on the browser toolbar shows up in full color. The colored icon means that the extension has injected the RUM JavaScript and monitoring of the page is underway. If you switch back to Dynatrace, you should see the first user actions coming in. Select View application to get to the application overview page.

If you've downloaded the extension via the Dynatrace web UI, the extension is set to Admin mode. Admin mode enables you to edit the configuration URL by selecting the Dynatrace icon on your browser toolbar. This mode is intended for Dynatrace admins to test the extension and configuration before deploying the extension company-wide.

Select either Connect applications or Fetch configuration to fetch the latest application configuration from your Dynatrace environment.

Deploy the RUM browser extension for Google Chrome

After testing your configuration, you can deploy the extension either company-wide or for a specific group of users. This section explains how to configure Google Chrome through registry entries and provides hints on how to roll them out via group policy configurations in an enterprise environment.

Configure required properties

To deploy the RUM browser extension

Add the extension to Chrome's ExtensionInstallForcelist policy.
Set the adminMode = dword:00000000 extension policy. See Chromium policy documentation for more details.
For Dynatrace SaaS: Set fetchUrl = https://<your-environment-id>.live.dynatrace.com/api/v1/browserextension/config?Api-Token=<your-token>.

For Dynatrace Managed: Set fetchUrl = https://<your-domain>:9999/e/<your-environment-id>/api/v1/browserextension/config?Api-Token=<your-token>.

Your API token should have the RUM Browser Extension scope.

For Windows, the best option is to use Windows group policies to set these policies.

Example of required registry entries

plaintext
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\ExtensionInstallForcelist]
"1"="fklgmciohehgadlafhljjhgdojfjihhk;https://clients2.google.com/service/update2/crx"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\3rdparty\extensions\fklgmciohehgadlafhljjhgdojfjihhk\policy]
"fetchUrl"="https://{your-environment-id}.live.dynatrace.com/api/v1/browserextension/config?Api-Token={your-token}"
"adminMode"=dword:00000000

If you want to deploy the RUM browser extension on Linux or Mac, have a look at the Chromium documentation for administrators.

Configure additional properties

You can add additional optional properties to the registry.

To provide a company-wide external user policy link in the pop-up window of the RUM browser extension, set externalLink = http://<your-company-website-url> and nameOfExternalLink = <your policy link name>.

Example of optional registry entries

plaintext
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Google\Chrome\3rdparty\extensions\fklgmciohehgadlafhljjhgdojfjihhk\policy]
"externalLink"="http://www.your-company-website.com"
"nameOfExternalLink"="End User Privacy Policy"

The pop-up window of the RUM browser extension should look like this:

Verify your deployment

To verify a successful deployment and correct configuration of the RUM browser extension, follow the hints below.

Open the chrome://extensions page in Google Chrome. The Dynatrace Real User Monitoring extension should appear on this page. You should also notice a small icon on the right that indicates that you installed the extension via the ExtensionInstallForcelist policy.
Open the chrome://policy page. Here, you should see two entries for the adminMode and fetchUrl policies under Dynatrace Real User Monitoring extension. Ensure that they are set to the intended values.
Visit one of the applications you're monitoring. The Dynatrace icon on your browser toolbar should be displayed in full color.
- If the icon remains in a grayed-out state, check your configured URL pattern.
- If the icon is colored, but you see no RUM data in the Dynatrace web UI, refer to our RUM troubleshooting page.

Deploy the RUM browser extension for Microsoft Edge

You might want to deploy the extension company-wide or for a specific group of users. Check the sections below to learn how to configure Microsoft Edge through registry entries.

Use this instruction only for Chromium-based Microsoft Edge; it will not work for the older versions.

Configure required properties

To deploy the RUM browser extension

Add the RUM browser extension to Microsoft Edge's ExtensionInstallForcelist policy. For more details, see Microsoft Edge - Policies > ExtensionInstallForcelist.
Set the adminMode = dword:00000000 extension policy.
For Dynatrace SaaS: Set fetchUrl = https://<your-environment-id>.live.dynatrace.com/api/v1/browserextension/config?Api-Token=<your-token>.

For Dynatrace Managed: Set fetchUrl = https://<your-domain>:9999/e/<your-environment-id>/api/v1/browserextension/config?Api-Token=<your-token>.

Your API token should have the RUM Browser Extension scope.

For Windows, the best option is to use Windows group policies to set these policies.

Example of required registry entries

plaintext
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\ExtensionInstallForcelist]
"1"="mpioohaaamocbdblijfoeigkkadcekli;https://edge.microsoft.com/extensionwebstorebase/v1/crx"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\3rdparty\extensions\mpioohaaamocbdblijfoeigkkadcekli\policy]
"fetchUrl"="https://{your-environment-id}.live.dynatrace.com/api/v1/browserextension/config?Api-Token={your-token}"
"adminMode"=dword:00000000

If you want to deploy the extension on Linux or Mac, have a look at Manage Microsoft Edge extensions in the enterprise.

Configure additional properties

You can add additional optional properties to the registry.

Example of optional registry entries

plaintext
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Edge\3rdparty\extensions\mpioohaaamocbdblijfoeigkkadcekli\policy]
"externalLink"="http://www.your-company-website.com"
"nameOfExternalLink"="End User Privacy Policy"

The pop-up window of the RUM browser extension should look like this:

Verify your deployment

To verify a successful deployment and correct configuration of the RUM browser extension, follow the hints below.

Open the edge://extensions page in Edge. The Dynatrace Real User Monitoring extension should appear on this page. You should also notice a small icon on the right that indicates that you installed the extension via the ExtensionInstallForcelist policy.
Visit one of the applications you're monitoring. The Dynatrace icon on your browser toolbar should be displayed in full color.
- If the icon remains in a grayed-out state, check your configured URL pattern.
- If the icon is colored, but you see no RUM data in the Dynatrace web UI, refer to our RUM troubleshooting page.