Configure transaction metricsedit

This documentation refers to configuring the standalone (legacy) APM Server. This method of running APM Server will be deprecated and removed in a future release. Please consider upgrading to Fleet and the APM integration.

APM Server produces transaction histogram metrics that are used to power the APM app. Shifting this responsibility from APM app to APM Server removes the need to store unsampled transactions, reducing storage costs.

Example config file:

apm-server:
  aggregation:
    transactions:
      enabled: true
      interval: 1m
  sampling:
    keep_unsampled: false

Configuration options: apm-server.aggregation.transactions.*edit

enablededit

Enables the collection and publishing of transaction metrics. Enabling this setting removes the need to store unsampled transactions, reducing storage costs. Storing unsampled transactions is controlled independently with keep_unsampled.

Default: true.

To prevent inaccuracies in the APM app, transaction metrics must also be enabled in Kibana with xpack.apm.searchAggregatedTransactions. See APM app settings for more information.

intervaledit

Controls the frequency of metrics publication.

Default: 1m.

max_groupsedit

Maximum number of transaction groups to keep track of. Once exceeded, APM Server devolves into recording a metrics document for each transaction that is not in one of the transaction groups being tracked.

Default: 10000.

hdrhistogram_significant_figuresedit

The fixed, worst-case percentage error (specified as a number of significant digits) to maintain for recorded metrics. Supported values are 1 through 5. See HDR histogram for more information.

Default: 2.

Configuration options: apm-server.sampling.*edit

keep_unsamplededit

Deprecated: keep_unsampled will default to false in 8.0, and later be removed.

Controls the recording of unsampled transaction documents. Dropping unsampled documents (keep_unsampled: false) reduces APM’s storage consumption.

Default: true.

Unsampled transactions should only be dropped when apm-server.aggregation.transactions.enabled is true, otherwise, the APM app will report inaccurate metrics.