What is the impact of running Antivirus software on the APM server?

Products

• CA Application Performance Management Agent (APM / Wily / Introscope)
• INTROSCOPE

Issue/Introduction

Question:

 

What is the impact of running Antivirus software on the server that runs APM Enterprise Manager and APM Postgres database? Does CA has any recommendation with regards to this implementation?

 

 

 

Answer:

 

In general, the main concern of running an Antivirus software alongside APM is that it may affect the overall performance. In other cases, it may also affect the installation process as it interferes with file access. Below are the excerpts from the CA Application Performance Management with regards to this concern for your reference: 

 

- Important! Do not run antivirus software on the APM database server. Antivirus software can reduce the database performance. 

 

- CA Technologies recommends that you do not run antivirus software on the Enterprise Manager that is running the TIM Collection service because antivirus can slow the service excessively 

 

- One of the factors that reduce Enterprise Manager maximum capacity: 
    - Antivirus software running on Enterprise Manager 

 

- Before an Enterprise Manager or WebView installation, pause any antivirus services that continuously scan the file system. Resume the antivirus service after the installation is complete. If you do not pause the service, the file scanning service can lock new or temporary files as soon as the installer creates them. Installation errors can occur as a result.  

 

- If you encounter an error about being unable to create the Postgres service user, turn off any antivirus software and re-run the installer.

On top of that, there has also been a known issue where EM installation on a Windows machine having MCAfee antivirus hangs forever, therefore it is advisable to stop any Antivirus software before starting an EM installation. 

In conclusion, technically you can run an Antivirus software with APM (except during installations), however in the actual implementation, it may affect the performance especially for the cases mentioned above.

 

Environment

Release:
Component: APMINT