Retaining Reports Data for More Than 1 Month in AppDynamics

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AppDynamics provides robust reporting and dashboarding capabilities, but one common limitation is the default 1-month retention period for report data. For users who require access to historical reports beyond this window—whether for compliance, auditing, or performance trend analysis—this can become a challenge.

Below is a lightweight workaround to retain reports beyond 30 days using built-in AppDynamics features and scheduled email automation.

Symptoms

• Reports (e.g., PDF or CSV exports of application metrics, dashboards, or health rules) older than 30 days are no longer accessible within the AppDynamics controller.

• Attempts to view older scheduled reports fail or show empty results.

• Compliance or audit teams require access to reports older than 1 month, but AppDynamics only retains scheduled reports temporarily.

Diagnosis

• AppDynamics does not store past generated reports beyond the scheduled delivery period.

• By default, scheduled reports are generated at runtime and emailed or downloaded without long-term persistence on the controller.

• Report generation is tied to user-defined schedules, and no native archival solution exists within the AppDynamics UI to maintain historical copies.

Solution

To retain reports for longer than 1 month, use scheduled email delivery and set up an external archival process:

🔧 Step-by-Step:

1. Create Your Report

   • Go to Reports > Create Report.

   • Select the type (e.g., dashboard report, analytics report).

   • Choose your filters and time ranges (e.g., "Last 30 Days").

2. Schedule Monthly Delivery

   • Set the schedule to monthly (e.g., 1st of every month).

   • Under Delivery Options, choose Email.

   • Enter a distribution list or archival inbox (e.g., reports@appd-archive.yourdomain.com).

3. Set up Archival Mechanism

   • Configure a rule in your email client (e.g., Outlook, Gmail, or a shared mailbox) to auto-save attachments to:

     • A cloud storage folder (e.g., SharePoint, Google Drive, S3)

     • A company file server or long-term data store

4. Organize Monthly Archives

   • Use email filters or a script (e.g., Power Automate, Zapier, or a Python script) to:

     • Save files into date-based folders

     • Rename attachments for easier indexing (e.g., AppD_Report_AppX_Jan2025.pdf)

 Benefits

• No need for custom scripts inside AppDynamics.

• Ensures long-term access to time-bound reports.

• Scales across multiple applications or dashboards by repeating the process.