AppDynamics annotations

Use the AppDynamics Events query type to overlay Controller events on time-series panels. Typical markers include deployments, errors, slow transactions, and policy activity.

To mark health-rule policy activity, use Events with POLICY_* values in event-types. The Health query type returns a table of health rule violations. It isn’t an annotation query.

For an overview of annotations, refer to Annotate visualizations.

Create an annotation

To create an annotation using AppDynamics event data:

Open your dashboard and click Dashboard settings (gear icon).
Select Annotations from the left menu.
Click Add annotation query.
Configure the annotation:
- Name: Enter a descriptive name for the annotation.
- Data source: Select your AppDynamics data source.
- Enabled: Toggle on to display the annotation.
- Color: Choose a color for the annotation markers.
Select Events from the query type radio buttons.
Configure the Events query fields described in the following section.
Click Save dashboard.

Events query fields

The Events query type retrieves events from the AppDynamics Controller REST API. eventtype and event-types are different fields. Use event-types to choose which events AppDynamics returns. Leave eventtype at the editor default unless you have a reason to change it.

The editor marks summary and comment required. Fill them to satisfy the form. They don’t replace event-types.

Field	Description	Required
application_id	Application name or ID. Select from the drop-down, or type a template variable such as `${application}` as a custom value.	Yes
summary	Summary text. Required by the editor.	Yes
comment	Comment text. Required by the editor.	Yes
eventtype	Separate from event-types. The editor default is `APPLICATION_DEVELOPMENT`.	Yes
time-range-type	How the time window is calculated: `BETWEEN_TIMES` (default), `BEFORE_NOW`, `BEFORE_TIME`, or `AFTER_TIME`.	Yes
duration-in-mins	Duration in minutes. Used with `BEFORE_NOW`, `BEFORE_TIME`, or `AFTER_TIME`.	No
start-time	Start time in milliseconds. Hidden when Use dashboard’s time picker is on.	No
end-time	End time in milliseconds. Hidden when Use dashboard’s time picker is on.	No
event-types	Event types to retrieve. Pick one value, or type a comma-separated list as a custom value. AppDynamics retrieve requests require this field even though the editor doesn’t mark it required.	No
severities	`INFO`, `WARN`, or `ERROR`. Pick one value, or type a comma-separated list such as `WARN,ERROR`.	Yes
tier	Limit events to a tier.	No

The Events query type includes a Use dashboard’s time picker toggle. When enabled (the default for new queries), the query uses the dashboard time range and hides start-time and end-time. When disabled, set a fixed range with time-range-type, start-time, end-time, and duration-in-mins as needed.

Common event types

Use these values in event-types. They aren’t interchangeable with the eventtype default.

Event type	Description
`APPLICATION_DEPLOYMENT`	Application deployment events
`APP_SERVER_RESTART`	Application server restart events
`APPLICATION_ERROR`	Application errors
`APPLICATION_CONFIG_CHANGE`	Configuration changes
`POLICY_OPEN_CRITICAL`	Critical policy violation opened
`POLICY_OPEN_WARNING`	Warning policy violation opened
`POLICY_CLOSE_CRITICAL`	Critical policy violation resolved
`POLICY_CLOSE_WARNING`	Warning policy violation resolved
`SLOW`	Slow transaction events
`VERY_SLOW`	Very slow transaction events
`STALL`	Stalled transaction events
`DEADLOCK`	Deadlock events

For the complete list of supported event types, refer to the AppDynamics Events API.

Example: Deployment annotations

Overlay application deployment events to correlate deployments with performance changes:

Create a new annotation query.
Select Events from the query type radio buttons.
Select your application from application_id, or type ${application}.
Fill summary and comment.
Leave eventtype at the default.
Select APPLICATION_DEPLOYMENT from event-types.
Select INFO from severities.
Leave Use dashboard’s time picker enabled.

Example: Policy violation annotations

Overlay policy open and close events. This uses the Events query with POLICY_* types, not the Health query type.

Create a new annotation query.
Select Events from the query type radio buttons.
Select your application from application_id, or type ${application}.
Fill summary and comment.
Leave eventtype at the default.
In event-types, type POLICY_OPEN_CRITICAL,POLICY_OPEN_WARNING,POLICY_CLOSE_CRITICAL,POLICY_CLOSE_WARNING.
In severities, type WARN,ERROR.
Leave Use dashboard’s time picker enabled.

Example: Error and slow transaction annotations

Mark error and slow transaction events on response time graphs:

Create a new annotation query.
Select Events from the query type radio buttons.
Select your application from application_id, or type ${application}.
Fill summary and comment.
Leave eventtype at the default.
In event-types, type APPLICATION_ERROR,SLOW,VERY_SLOW,STALL.
In severities, type WARN,ERROR.
Leave Use dashboard’s time picker enabled.

Use template variables in annotations

You can use template variables in annotation queries. The application_id drop-down lists applications, not dashboard variables. Type ${application} as a custom value rather than selecting a numeric application ID.