Synthetic App

Synthetic App is a powerful application designed for managing and analyzing synthetic monitors in Dynatrace. It enables you to create, configure, and monitor synthetic tests to ensure the availability and performance of applications across different environments. This guide provides an overview of its features, capabilities, and frequently asked questions.

screenshot of dynatrace synthetic monitoring

Synthetic App

Key Features

  • Synthetic Monitors: Manage and track the health of your synthetic tests.
  • Filtering & Sorting: Use advanced filters to find specific monitors based on type, issues, location, and more.
  • Monitor Creation: Set up new synthetic monitors, including browser, HTTP, and network monitors.
  • Private Locations: Configure private synthetic monitoring for internal corporate networks.
  • Reporting & Analysis: Access detailed execution reports and historical performance insights.

By default, monitors with open issues are listed alphabetically at the top of the table, followed by enabled monitors without issues, and lastly, disabled monitors, all sorted alphabetically.

You can customize the table view by sorting columns in ascending or descending order and selecting which columns to display or hide. Click Columns in the top-right corner to manage column visibility.

Pagination controls at the bottom of the table let you adjust the number of rows per page and navigate through different pages of monitors.

The columns display the following information for each monitor.

  • Monitor name—Select to view a quick overview of the monitor to the right of the Synthetic monitors page
  • Created—monitor creation date and time
  • Last modified—ID of the user who last edited the monitor and the date and time of modification
  • ID - full monitor identifier
  • Last execution—date and time of the most recent execution from any location
  • Type—monitor type, for example, HTTP
  • Frequency—execution frequency or On demand, as specified in the monitor configuration
  • Availability—average availability during the selected timeframe
  • Duration—average performance during the selected timeframe in seconds

Filters that allow for multiple selections help you find the monitors you’re looking for. You can also save frequently used filters. Expand Open Dashboards panel or collapse Close Dashboards panel the filters to focus on search or results, as required. The filters are automatically collapsed when viewing the quick overview for a monitor. The following filter categories (each with multiple options) enable you to search for monitors.

  • Type—monitor type
  • Ongoing issues—monitors with and without availability or performance problems
  • Frontend application—associated RUM application
  • Status–whether monitors are active or inactive (disabled)
  • Locations–public and private monitoring locations
  • Device profile—for example, desktop, Apple iPhone 8
  • Last editor–ID of the user who last edited a monitor
  • Tags—values or key-value pairs applied to monitors; you can choose tags to include or exclude from your search.
  • Edited during the timeframe—monitors that were or were not edited during the selected global timeframe
  • ISP / Cloud provider—of public Synthetic locations
  • Frequency—monitoring frequency

In the Create Monitor section, you can select the type of synthetic monitor you want to create. There are three main types of monitors:

In Synthetic (new) Synthetic, you can display the preview panel for a monitor by selecting its name in the Monitor Name column on the Synthetic Monitors page.

Navigating the Preview Panel

  • Open the preview panel for any monitor, then select another monitor name to switch the preview.
  • Filters remain persistent when switching between monitors.

Information Displayed in the Preview Panel

The preview panel provides key insights, including:

Overview Tiles: Problem List: Change History: Monitor Properties:
Outage/Available/No data status Displays issues with start date and duration. Change timestamp Monitor type
Active issues If no issues exist, it shows No problems found. User who made the change Locations
Affected locations To analyze a problem in the Problems app, select the problem link. Details of the modification Requests in the last execution
Availability     Frequency
Total downtime     Steps
Duration     Tags

Actions Available in the Preview Panel

Use the controls in the upper-right corner to:

  • Edit the selected monitor
  • Delete the selected monitor
  • Enable a disabled monitor
  • Disable an enabled monitor
  • Open the reporting page for detailed insights
  • Close the preview panel
  • Navigate to the Synthetic Home Page:
    • Go to the Private locations tab in the upper-left section of the Synthetic (new) Synthetic home page.
  • Select Private Locations:
    • Choose Private locations > Classic.
  • Name Your Location:
    • Provide a name for your location, such as “Boston office, 3rd floor.”
  • Map the Location:
    • You can map it by selecting an existing geographic location or define a custom location using details like:
      • Country
      • Region
      • City
      • Latitude
      • Longitude

  • Assign an ActiveGate:

    • Add an ActiveGate that is Synthetic-enabled (either existing or deploy a new ActiveGate).
    • If deploying a new ActiveGate, it will redirect you to Discovery & Coverage.

    Note: An ActiveGate can only be assigned to a single location.

  • Save Your Location:
    • After configuring everything, click Save to finalize the setup.

To Edit an Existing Private Location:

  1. Navigate to the Private Locations Tab:
    • Go to the Private locations tab on the Synthetic locations home page.
  2. Select the Location:
    • Choose the location you wish to edit.
  3. Edit the Settings:
    • Once selected, the location’s settings panel will appear on the right. You can make necessary changes here.
  4. Save Changes:
    • After making edits, click Save to apply the changes.
  • Application Monitoring

    Ensure app availability and performance across environments.

  • Infrastructure Testing

    Monitor internal services without public interfaces.

  • User Experience Optimization

    Identify issues before they impact users.

FAQ

  • Public locations are cloud-based and accessible over the internet.
  • Private locations run tests inside corporate networks using ActiveGate.

Yes, filters allow you to view monitors with availability or performance issues.

In the Private Locations settings, turn on Enable Chromium Auto-Update for Linux-based ActiveGates.

Yes, you can configure alerting policies in Dynatrace to notify you when a synthetic monitor detects an issue, such as performance degradation or downtime.

The execution frequency depends on the configuration set during monitor creation. You can choose intervals ranging from a few minutes to several hours.