Customize ActiveGate installation on Linux

You do not need to specify any parameters to the installation command, unless you need to customize settings such as directory locations, proxy configuration, SSL certificates, etc. Command-line parameters and environment variables can be used to customize such settings.

Installation command syntax

Dynatrace-ActiveGate-Linux-x86-<version>.sh [<parameter1>=<value1>]  [<parameter2>=<value2>] ...

Spaces between the parameter name and parameter value (around the = sign) are not allowed in the command syntax.

Proxy configuration

Proxy configuration should be given in the following format. This will configure proxy for ActiveGate for all outgoing connections (in configuration section http.client):

PROXY=<proxy scheme><user>:<password>@<server>:<port>

Where:

Reverse proxy or load balancer configuration for ActiveGate

A reverse proxy or a load balancer can be placed on the path from an ActiveGate to the Dynatrace Cluster. This allows your ActiveGate to connect to any available node of the Cluster, spreading the load between the nodes.
To do this, you need to:

Such configuration settings can be specified during ActiveGate installation, by giving the following command-line parameters to the installer:

--ignore-cluster-runtime-info SERVER=<address of reverse proxy>

Alternatively, you can configure your ActiveGate after installation, by making changes to ActiveGate configuration.

Reverse proxy or load balancer configuration for OneAgent

A reverse proxy/load balancer can be placed on the path from OneAgent to ActiveGate. To do so, you need to configure the URL of the load balancer on the ActiveGate so OneAgents can use that endpoint to connect to the ActiveGate.

To specify the address, add the following command-line option:

DNSENTRYPOINT=https://<DOMAIN>:<PORT>

where:

Alternatively, you can configure the endpoints after installation by making changes to the ActiveGate configuration.

User for ActiveGate service

To specify the user that runs the ActiveGate service, provide the following command-line option:

USER=<user>

The installer creates the user if the user doesn't already exist in the system, and the user doesn't require root privileges. If the parameter isn't specified, the installer creates user dtuserag to run the ActiveGate service. Instead of the default dynatrace group, the primary group for the existing user will be specified. However, you can use USER=root to force the ActiveGate service to run as root.

Constraints for directory location and mount points

For the full list of ActiveGate directory locations, see ActiveGate files and directories.

<customizable directory>/gateway—that is, INSTALL/gateway, CONFIG/gateway, LOG/gateway, TEMP/gateway, PACKAGES_DIR/gateway—cannot be a parent of another customizable directory, that is of INSTALL, CONFIG, TEMP, LOG or PACKAGED_DIR.

For example, do not specify:

INSTALL=/dynatrace
LOG=/dynatrace/gateway/logs
CONFIG=/dynatrace/gateway/config
TEMP=/dynatrace/gateway/tmp

Similarly, do not specify:

CONFIG=/var/lib/dynatrace
PACKAGES_DIR=/var/lib/dynatrace/gateway/packages

However, a common parent is allowed, for example:

INSTALL=/example/apps
CONFIG=/example/configs
LOG=/example/logs
TEMP=/example/tmp

Also see the Temporary directory section.

Dedicated directories

Any customizable directory must be exclusive to ActiveGate.

For example, do not specify:

INSTALL=/opt
CONFIG=/var/lib
LOG=/var/log
TEMP=/var/tmp

Instead, each path should include a subdirectory that is dedicated to ActiveGate, for example:

INSTALL=/opt/activegate
CONFIG=/var/lib/activegate
LOG=/var/log/activegate
TEMP=/var/tmp/activegate

Spaces in directory location

ActiveGate does not support spaces in a directory location.

For example, do not specify:

CONFIG=/var/lib/dir\ with\ space

Similarly, do not specify:

CONFIG="/var/lib/dir with space"

Mount points

During the install process, ActiveGate needs to create, delete and modify subdirectories under its top-level INSTALL, CONFIG, LOG and TEMP directories. There must be no filesystem mount points inside these directories.

For example, if you have provided the following INSTALL parameter:

INSTALL=/opt/MyActiveGate

The ActiveGate installer will create a subdirectory gateway in the installation path you have provided:
/opt/MyActiveGate/gateway

As a result:

Installation directory

INSTALL=<directory>

Stores installation files in the specified directory. The default value for this parameter (if not specified) is /opt/dynatrace. This parameter is not permitted during update.

Directory for storing downloaded packages

PACKAGES_DIR=<directory>

Stores installation files of additional capabilities in the specified directory. The default value for this parameter (if not specified) is /var/lib/dynatrace/packages. Not permitted during update.

Log directory

LOG=<directory>

Stores log files in the specified directory. The default value for this parameter (if not specified) is /var/log/dynatrace. Not permitted during update.

Configuration directory

CONFIG=<directory>

Stores configuration files in the specified directory. The default value for this parameter (if not specified) is /var/lib/dynatrace. Not permitted during update.

Temporary directory

TEMP=<directory>

Indicates the temporary directory to be used by ActiveGate. The default value for this parameter (if not specified) is /var/tmp/dynatrace. Not permitted during update.

Use of /temp or /tmp

Because of possible automatic purging, we recommend that you not use the /temp or /tmp directories or their subdirectories to install ActiveGate or store any data generated or used by ActiveGate.

Note that for Synthetic-enabled ActiveGate installed on Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and 22.04 LTS, write access to the /tmp directory is required for the installation of Chromium snap packages.

CA certificate

You can use command-line parameters to specify a custom CA certificate during installation, to be added to the certificate store shipped with ActiveGate.
In this way you can specify the CA proxy certificate (the certificate to be used when ActiveGate connects to the Dynatrace Cluster). This enables a connection to be established to the Dynatrace Cluster during installation, allowing the ActiveGate installer to download and install any required additional capabilities.

The certificate password is specified as a file from which the password is read.

Absolute path to the location of the custom trusted root certificate(s) to add:

--ca-certificate-file=<path>

Absolute path to the location of the file containing the certificate password:

--ca-certificate-password-file=<path>

Command example:

[root@host]# ./Dynatrace-ActiveGate-Linux-1.217.sh --ca-certificate-file=/home/fred/myCert.jks  --ca-certificate-password-file=/home/fred/myPwd.txt

Custom SSL certificate

During installation you can specify the authentication certificate that ActiveGate provides to connecting clients, such as OneAgents or connections from browser clients. If such certificates are required, then this reduces the effort of post-installation configuration. To learn more, see Custom SSL certificate for ActiveGate.

The certificate password is specified as a file from which the password is read.

Absolute path to the location of the authentication certificate ActiveGate provides to connecting clients, such as OneAgents or connections from browser clients (such as the RUM JavaScript):

--certificate-file=<path>

Absolute path to the location of the file containing the certificate password, for the authentication certificate ActiveGate provides to connecting clients:

--certificate-password-file=<path>

Command example:

[root@host]# ./Dynatrace-ActiveGate-Linux-x86-<version>.sh --certificate-file=/home/fred/myCert.p12  --certificate-password-file=/home/fred/myPwd.txt

Network zone

--set-network-zone=<name>

Defines the network zone to which the ActiveGate belongs. An ActiveGate can belong to only one network zone. The name of a network zone is a string of alphanumeric characters, hyphens (-), underscores (_), and dots (.). Dots are used as separators, so you must not use a dot as the first character of a network zone name. The length of the string is limited to 256 characters.

To change or clear the network zone assignment after installation, use Remote configuration management (select the modify network zone action).

Alternatively, you can specify the network zone in the custom.properties file.

Group

--set-group=<name>

Defines the ActiveGate group to which the ActiveGate belongs. An ActiveGate can belong to only one group. The name of an ActiveGate group is a string of alphanumeric characters, hyphens (-), underscores (_), and dots (.). Dots are used as separators, so you must not use a dot as the first character of a group name. The length of the string is limited to 256 characters. You can use ActiveGate groups to perform bulk actions on your ActiveGates, such as managing Extensions 2.0 running on ActiveGates. If you want to assign your ActiveGate to a group, see ActiveGate group.

To change or clear the ActiveGate group assignment after installation, use Remote configuration management (select the modify ActiveGate group action).

Alternatively, you can specify the ActiveGate group in the custom.properties file.

Connection timeout

DYNATRACE_ACTIVEGATE_SERVER_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT=<seconds>

Defines the maximum number of seconds (default: 120, max: 240) the installer will wait for a connection to the cluster. In Linux deployments, this parameter must be used as an environment variable.

The connection timeout, as specified by the DYNATRACE_ACTIVEGATE_SERVER_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT=<seconds> environment variable, is used in two stages of the installation:

If the timeout occurs during the download of capabilities (if any), the additional capabilities will not be downloaded and the installation will fail. However, if the timeout occurs at the end of the installation process—that is at the start of normal operation of ActiveGate—all the ActiveGate components will have been installed and ActiveGate will continue its attempts at connecting to the cluster. ActiveGate will keep trying to connect, even after the end of the installation process. If successful, ActiveGate will then operate normally.

To check if the installation and connection was successful, sign in to Dynatrace, in Settings select Deployment Status, and then select the ActiveGates tab.

For example:

[root@host]# export DYNATRACE_ACTIVEGATE_SERVER_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT=240
[root@host]# Dynatrace-ActiveGate-Linux-x86-1.0.0.sh <... other parameters>

or you can use combined commands in a single line. For example:

[root@host]# export DYNATRACE_ACTIVEGATE_SERVER_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT=240 ; Dynatrace-ActiveGate-Linux-x86-1.0.0.sh <... other parameters>