Documentation forWeb Performance Monitor

Configure the WPM Player service on remote systems

When deploying WPM Players to remote systems, consider how you want them to communicate with the SolarWinds Platform server, and if you want them updated automatically when new versions of the WPM Player are available.

Although a WPM Player is added to the SolarWinds Platform server when you first install WPM, SolarWinds recommends using a different server as the main location to play transactions. The SolarWinds Platform server usually serves as the Main Polling Engine for an environment, so running multiple transactions repeatedly on that server could have a negative impact.

As a best practice, SolarWinds recommends hosting the main WPM Player location on either:

  • An Additional Polling Engine (APE),
  • A dedicated Windows server, or
  • A server farm.

If a server hosts a hypervisor or Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM) running various servers (for example, print or file servers), consider hosting the WPM Player elsewhere.

Note the following details about setting up WPM Players on remote systems:

  • For remote system requirements for WPM Players, see the WPM System Requirements.
  • Open TCP port 17784 to support inter-process communication between the WPM Player service, the WPM Domain Accounts Configuration Tool, and the Player Settings Tool.
  • The following Windows settings are updated during deployment:
    • Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service: The Startup Type is set to Manual for WPM Players deployed to the SolarWinds Platform server or an Additional Polling Engine. On remote systems, the Startup Type is set to Automatic.
    • SolarWinds WPM Playback Player service: A dependency with the Net.Tcp Port Sharing Service is added.
  • If you change WPM Player settings later, update transaction location details in the SolarWinds Platform Web Console also.

To configure the WPM Player service:

  1. Log into the system that hosts the WPM Player service.
  2. Open the WPM Player Settings tool as Administrator from the Start menu.

    This tool requires that the SolarWinds WPM Playback Player service is running. If an "Unable to load player settings from Agent Service error appears," launch the SolarWinds Platform Service Manager from the Windows Start menu to restart that service.

  3. In the WPM Player Settings tool, select a communication method and provide values, as prompted.
    • Server-initiated communication is selected by default but can be changed if desired. It sets the WPM Player service in passive mode to wait for requests from the SolarWinds Platform server on port 17781. If you select this option, configure firewall and Network Address Translation (NAT) settings on each system that hosts a WPM Player so agents can communicate with the SolarWinds Platform server.
    • Player-initiated communication allows the WPM Player service on remote systems to actively initiate communication with the SolarWinds Platform server on port 17782. Active agents can navigate the Firewall/NAT configuration and connect to polling servers using HTTP(S) protocol. Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and larger distributed deployments may prefer this option.
  4. (Optional) Clear the "Enable automatic update" check box if you want WPM to prompt you before installing new versions of the WPM Player when they are available. This is also called silent mode.
  5. Click Save.
  6. After two minutes, check logs for an entry that indicates the WPM Playback Player service is ready to receive commands from the SolarWinds Platform server or an Additional Polling Engine:

    INFO SolarWinds.SEUM.Agent.Service.AgentServiceApp - HTTPS Server listening at https://localhost:17781/

    The default location for WPM logs is C:\ProgramData\Solarwinds\Logs\SEUM

  7. (Optional) Configure support for proxy server authentication, as described next.

After you create a recording and assign it to a remote system as a transaction monitor to be played at regular intervals, additional configuration may be required on the remote system, depending on the transaction involved.

  • The Web Transaction Recorder does not save client certificates in recordings. If a recorded transaction involves a client certificate, install the certificate on each remote system where the transaction will be played. See Add client certificates to support WPM playback.
  • The WPM Player service uses a separate WPM worker process to perform each step in a transaction, and each worker process requires its own WPM Player service account with the necessary permissions. After assigning transactions to a WPM Player location, adjust WPM Player service accounts on the remote system to provide adequate permissions to run transactions.

Configure support for proxy server authentication on WPM Players

Used by the proxy feature, where the customer has a proxy server that requires the user to enter credentials during navigation to a page. Changes to WPM Player can be made in the AgentSettings.dat, located at: %ProgramData%/Solarwinds/SEUM/Data/.

This file will be automatically created during the first run of SolarWinds WPM Playback Player and will not be recreated nor removed during product upgrades. If you uninstall WPM, the AgentSettings.dat file will be removed during the uninstall process.

However, if any custom changes were made before upgrading WPM Player, you will need to manually upgrade/migrate the content of the config.yaml file and SolarWinds.SEUM.Agent.Service.exe.config file properties to AgentSettings.dat.

Enter the credentials as shown below:

<proxyTrustedHosts>
  <proxyTrustedHost hostname="HostName-1" username="example_username-1" password="example_password-1" /> 
  <proxyTrustedHost hostname="HostName-2" username="example_username-2" password="example_password-2" />
   ....
  <proxyTrustedHost hostname="HostName-N" username="example_username-N" password="example_password-N" />
</proxyTrustedHosts>