HTTP Monitor

Dynatrace provides Synthetic Monitoring capabilities, allowing users to create HTTP monitors to check the availability and performance of web resources, such as websites and API endpoints. These monitors can run from public or private Synthetic locations, enabling proactive detection of outages and performance issues before they impact end users.

screenshot of HTTP Monitor page

Create a New HTTP Monitor

Create an HTTP Monitor

  1. Navigate to Synthetic Monitoring in Dynatrace.
  2. Click Create a new monitor > HTTP Monitor.
  3. Enter the monitor name and request URL.
  4. Choose the HTTP method (GET, POST, etc.).
  5. (Optional) Add headers, authentication, or request body if needed.
  6. Click Create Monitor.

Configure Locations and Frequency

  1. Select execution locations (global or specific regions).
  2. Set the monitoring frequency (e.g., every 5 minutes).
  3. Save the configuration.

Define Alerting Rules

  1. Navigate to Settings > Alerting Profiles.
  2. Set thresholds for:
    • Response time (e.g., >500ms triggers an alert).
    • Availability (e.g., <99% triggers an alert).
    • HTTP status codes (e.g., 5xx errors trigger alerts).
  3. Configure notifications via email, Slack, or PagerDuty.

Analyze Results and Troubleshoot Issues

  1. Open the HTTP Monitor Dashboard.
  2. Review execution details, error logs, and response times.
  3. Identify trends using heatmaps and graphs.
  4. Drill down into individual request executions to diagnose issues.

 Optimize Performance and Availability

  1. Identify slow-performing endpoints.
  2. Reduce DNS resolution, SSL handshake, and server response times.
  3. Optimize backend queries and API responses.
  4. Implement caching strategies where applicable.
  5. Ensure reliable failover mechanisms are in place.

Useful Links

FAQ

Yes, Dynatrace HTTP monitors support authentication for API endpoints. You can configure authentication methods such as:

  • Basic Authentication (Username & Password)
  • OAuth Tokens
  • API Keys (added as headers or query parameters)

To set up authentication:

  1. In the HTTP monitor configuration, go to Authentication & Request Headers.
  2. Select the required authentication type and enter credentials or tokens.
  3. Save the monitor and test the connection.

Dynatrace allows you to set response validation rules to ensure the expected content is received. You can:

  • Check status codes (e.g., 200 OK, 201 Created).
  • Validate response body for specific keywords or JSON values.
  • Match header values (e.g., Content-Type: application/json).

To configure validation:

  1. In the HTTP monitor settings, go to Assertions & Validations.
  2. Add conditions like “Response body must contain ‘Success’ ”.
  3. Save and test the monitor.

Dynatrace allows you to execute HTTP monitors from different public or private locations to test availability from various regions.

To schedule and configure locations:

  1. In the monitor setup, go to the Execution Locations section.
  2. Select Public Synthetic Locations (global Dynatrace servers) or Private Synthetic Locations (your internal network).
  3. Set the execution frequency (e.g., every 5 minutes).
  4. Save and activate the monitor.

This helps detect regional outages and network performance issues affecting users in different areas.

  • Issue: Monitor fails with “Invalid Response Code”
    • Solution: Verify that the expected response code is correctly configured in the assertions.
  • Issue: Authentication errors
    • Solution: Ensure the correct authentication method (e.g., Basic Auth, OAuth) and credentials are used.
  • Issue: Monitor times out
    • Solution: Check if the endpoint is accessible, increase timeout settings, or test from different locations.
  • Issue: Unexpected content in the response
    • Solution: Review the expected response settings and ensure the correct request headers and body are sent.