What are the pros & Cons of OneAgent as Docker Conatiner vs OneAgent on the Docker Host?

[mallempati_sree]

hi All,

Am trying to understand the differences between installing OneAgents on the Docker Host and OneAgent as a Docker Container.

https://www.dynatrace.com/support/help/infrastruct...

But it's not clear about what are the advantages and disadvatages with both the approaches.

Thanks,

Sree

[nj_njoku · Accepted solution]

Hi Sree,

At the bottom of that page you will see the Limitations with deploying the agent as a Docker container rather than on the host. I am not too familiar with the advantages/if any of deploying the agent as a container vs on the host except for maybe

1. Convenience of deployment, update and maintenance
2. Not having root permissions on the host level to run the installer.

Hope This Helps

NJ

[mallempati_sree]

Thanks NJ!

We are in Analysis phase of migrating from Appmon in on-Premise to Cloud and moving to Dynatrace Managed solution

1. Auto scaling up and scaling down of one agents with increase/decrease in number Containers with Application servers during peak days.

Which one is ideally best suited/suggested by dynatrace for Cloud Environments for a Managed Dynatrace Solution.

Thanks,

Sree

[nj_njoku]

Hi Sree,

I think both will work fine for your use case. I prefer running the OneAgent on the host because of the ability to monitor non-containerized processes and there is no startup dependency for the Oneagent container and application containers. Also, I will consider which one is more convenient for you from an agent deployment/maintenance/upgrade perspective. That should be one of the primary factors for your decision

Hope This Helps

NJ

[Tomasz_Gajger]

Adding to NJ's answer, one should always choose, if possible, regular installation using full-stack installer on a Docker host as this deployment model offers broader set of functionalities.

Convenience of (initial) deployment may be also achieved by leveraging a deployment automation tool like Ansible, Chef or Puppet. After the OneAgent is installed on a host it will update automatically. So I'd say deployment as a Docker container is rather disadvantageous and mostly targeted at dynamic environments where an orchestration platform like Kubernetes or OSCP is already in place and used to manage all software deployments (including OneAgent).

One further thing needs to be clarified, the permissions of OneAgent deployed as a Docker container are essentially the same as if the agent was installed directly on the host. Container with OneAgent needs to be started with privileged option, which is equivalent to granting it root access to underlying OS. For details, see https://www.dynatrace.com/support/help/shortlink/oneagent-docker#security-implications

Regards,
Tomasz