Configurable Settings - Java Dynamic Agent on Windows

How to apply changes to the Controller environment

Changes in the installation.yaml can be applied by running the install script or the upgrade script. Note that re-running the install script will delete any information that would have been stored previously.

Required fields in installation.yaml

Variable Name
Key Value
 Explanation of the Variable and Key Values
controller.name
 String This will be the identifier used in the VF Server UI. So, this should be as precise a name as possible, e.g. "UAT Viper" or "Prod App1"
controller.host
 String The controller.host is the address that the vFunction Server address with which the Controller will connect. The value needs to start with http:// or https://. The value can be an IP Address or a FQDN
controller.org_id
controller.app_id
controller.client_id
controller.client_secret
Strings Once the Server is installed, the Admin can log into the UI and create the App. In the UI's Install Controller dialog box, the YAML values for the org_id, app_id, client_id and client_secret will be displayed. The values for this YAML file should be copied for the Server UI to here
controller.type
 String "java"
agent.application_server
 String The potential strings that can be used are: weblogic, websphere85, websphere9, was-liberty, tomcat, wildfly, payara, liberty, other
agent.application_java_version
 Integer By default, the value here is assumed to be "8" if this key is left commented out. Uncomment the key and change the value to "11" or "17" based on the Java version used by the App

Sample with required fields in installation.yaml

controller:
  name: Prod App1
  host: http://10.0.0.143
  org_id: 3cf59199-0a0a-0a0a-0a0a-7c63ffac776e
  app_id: 7b1ab58d-0a0a-0a0a-0a0a-098a113ad721
  client_id: 20761b99-0a0a-0a0a-0a0a-94c2e0bc1859
  client_secret: 6b5b7bc1-0a0a-0a0a-0a0a-2bd10db75e2f
  type: java
  jolokia_port: 8778
  instrconf_additions:
    inclusions:
    exclusions:
server_application:
agent:
  application_server: tomcat
  application_java_version: 11
  override_properties:
viper:
  port: 8090
  archives:
    - C:\vfunction\archives\*.jar
  stored_procedures:
  spring:
    custom_context_roots:
    root_bean_classes:

Optional fields in installation.yaml

agent.override_properties
Installation.yaml Configuration
Details
agent:
   override_properties:
      - com.vfunction.runtime.config.aop.xml.db.tracking.enabled=true
      - com.vfunction.runtime.config.aop.xml.db.tracking.jdbcdriver.enabled=false
  • The vfunction-runtime-override.properties define the vFunction Agent's runtime parameters. Changes to this file can be applied in a persistent way via the installation.yaml's agent.override_properties field
  • Any key and value can be taken from the vfunction-runtime-override.properties and added into this installation.yaml field
  • Add new values as a list of Strings
controller.instance_id
Installation.yaml Configuration
Details
controller:
   instance_id: containerized
  • Used for containerized vFunction controllers
  • Can be set to any String value (e.g., ID1234)
  • Used to prevent an ongoing increase in the number of Down Controllers in the vFunction Server UI's Select Controllers page when Controllers are down
  • Maps a restarted controllers (i.e., a container that went down and came back up) with a controller in the down state that has the same ID
controller.instrconf_additions
Installation.yaml Configuration
Details
controller:
   instrconf_additions:
      inclusions:
         # - a.b.c.
      exclusions:
          - com.vfunction.newmodule.
  • This field acts like an additional filter to include or exclude some part of an application's Namespace
  • The exclusions are useful when separating out modules from a monolith. For example, if the monolith uses com.vfunction. as the top-level Namespace but com.vfunction.newmodule. has been removed from the monolith. In this scenario, it may not be useful to conduct Learning nor Analysis on the newmodule's code so adding it to the exclusions would filter it out of the Learning
controller.tags
Installation.yaml Configuration
Details
controller:
   tags:
      - applicationName
      - moduleName
  • Tags can be used during Learning to make sure that Learning occurs on one or all Controllers with a specific Tag. This ensures that, even if a Controller with a specific UUID goes down, Learning will still occur on live Controllers with the desired Tag name
  • See Controller Tags for more details

Optional fields in global.yaml

agent.use_java_6_or_7_jre
Global.yaml Configuration
Details
agent:
   use_java_6_or_7_jre: true
  • By default, the vFunction installation is configured to install an Agent intended to work with Applications that run using Java 8, 11 or 17
  • This global.yaml setting is commented out to the default value of false
  • By uncommenting this Key and setting the value to true, the vFunction Agent intended to work with Applications that run using Java 6 or 7 will be installed
controller.poll_interval_secs
Global.yaml Configuration
Details
controller:
   poll_interval_secs: 10
  • Polling is the interval for the Controller to ask the vFunction Server what it should be doing
  • If the Controller is not in a state of active learning, the Controller will poll the server to see what it should be doing
  • If not explicitly defined, the default interval of 5 seconds is used
controller.upload_interval_secs
Global.yaml Configuration
Details
controller:
   upload_interval_secs: true
  • The interval when the Controller will attempt to upload all of the Application's Call Stacks to the vFunction Server
  • If not explicitly defined, the default interval of 15 seconds is used
general.custom_logs_folder
Global.yaml Configuration
Details
general:
   custom_logs_folder: C:\custom_log_directory\
  • If not explicitly defined, the default logs directory is BASE_INSTALL_DIRECTORY\logs\
general.custom_sleep_after_service_start
Global.yaml Configuration
Details
general:
   custom_sleep_after_service_start: 10
  • The amount of wait time after the Controller or Viper Services are started before looking for an associated Process ID
  • If not explicitly defined, the default value of 1 is used
general.custom_sleep_after_service_stop
Global.yaml Configuration
Details
general:
   custom_sleep_after_service_stop: 10
  • The amount of wait time after the Controller or Viper Services are stopped before looking for an associated Process ID
  • If not explicitly defined, the default value of 1 is used
proxy.url
Global.yaml Configuration
Details
proxy:
   url: http://proxy_url:8172
  • If traffic from a Controller to a vFunction Server needs to be routed through an intermediary, the Proxy address and Port can be defined here
viper.use_machine_java_for_viper
Global.yaml Configuration
Details
viper:
   use_machine_java_for_viper: true
  • The vFunction Controller Installation ZIP includes an OpenJDK JRE for Viper
  • Use this value if Java 17 is already installed on the machine and a separate version is not required
  • To reduce the size of the vFunction Controller Installation ZIP, the OpenJDK JRE can also be removed from the ZIP and this value can be set to true to be able to reduce the package size by roughly 30mb

Client Certificates for a Controller

Adding a Client Certificate and Key to the Controller allows for the vFunction Server and Controller to have some form of verification.

The Controller loads and sends the Client Certificates to a Server that verifies the source of the traffic. That Server could be set up as an intermediary that manages token validation, such as an IBM DataPower Gateway, before being sent onto the vFunction Server.

The vFunction Nginx Container could also be configured to “ssl_verify_client on” and point to the Client Certificate which would be loaded on the Nginx Container’s filesystem somewhere like /etc/nginx/certs/ca.crt.

To use Client Certificates, place a client_certificate.crt and client_certificate.key file into the vFunction Instance’s Configuration directory. For example:

  • C:\vfunction\config\installation\instances\default-java\client_certificate.crt
  • C:\vfunction\config\installation\instances\default-java\client_certificate.key

The contents of the client_certificate.crt should be formatted as:

-----BEGIN CERTIFICATE-----
...
-----END CERTIFICATE-----

The contents of the client_certificate.key should be formatted as:

-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----
...
-----END PRIVATE KEY-----

Updated on 27 Feb 2025