Methods and apparatus to manage monitoring agents

1. A method to manage a dynamic deployment environment including virtual machines, the method comprising:

detecting, by a processor, installation of a service on a virtual machine;

determining, by the processor, that one or more properties of the service match criteria provided by a service monitoring rule, wherein the criteria define conditions that cause an installation of a monitoring agent to monitor the service; and

based on the one or more properties of the service matching the criteria defined by the service monitoring rule, installing, by an installing agent, the monitoring agent; and

automatically configuring, by the installing agent, the monitoring agent to monitor the service in accordance with the service monitoring rule on the at least one of the virtual machines on which the service is installed.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting a second monitoring agent installed on the virtual machine;

determining whether the second monitoring agent is monitoring any service; and

upon determining the second monitoring agent is monitoring a second service but not the service, automatically configuring, the second monitoring agent to monitor the service.

3. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

detecting a second monitoring agent installed on the virtual machine;

determining whether the second monitoring agent is monitoring any service; and

upon determining the second monitoring agent is not monitoring any service, removing the second monitoring agent from the virtual machine.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that the monitoring agent identified by the service monitoring rule is not installed on the virtual machine; and

based on determining that the monitoring agent identified by the service monitoring rule is not installed on the virtual machine, installing the monitoring agent on the virtual machine.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising automatically scanning the virtual machines in the deployment environment to detect the service installed on any the virtual machine, wherein the scanning of the virtual machines occurs in response to detecting a configuration change of one or more of the virtual machines.

6. The method as defined in claim 5 , wherein the detecting of the configuration change includes executing a discovery script on the virtual machines.

7. The method as defined in claim 5 , wherein the scanning is performed by a service analyzer separate from the virtual machines.

8. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the monitoring agent collects performance data for the service, tracks events generated by the service, and allows a user to start and stop the service from a virtual machine monitor.

9. The method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the service monitoring rule defines metrics used by the monitoring agent to monitor the service.

10. A system to manage a dynamic deployment environment including virtual machines, the system, comprising:

a service analyzer, executed by one or more processors, the service analyzer configured to:

detect installation of a service on a virtual machine; and

determine that one or more properties of the service match criteria provided by a service monitoring rule, wherein the criteria define conditions that cause an installation of a monitoring agent to monitor the service; and

an agent installer, executed by the one or more processors, configured to:

based on the one or more properties of the service matching the criteria defined by the service monitoring rule, installing the monitoring agent; and

automatically configure the monitoring agent to monitor the service in accordance with the service monitoring rule on the at least one of the virtual machines on which the service is installed.

11. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the service analyzer is further configured to:

detect a second monitoring agent installed on the virtual machine; and

determine whether the second monitoring agent is monitoring any service; and

wherein the agent installer is further configured to, upon a determination that the second monitoring agent is monitoring a second service but not the service, automatically configuring, the second monitoring agent to monitor the service.

12. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the service analyzer is further configured to:

detect a second monitoring agent installed on the virtual machine; and

determine whether the second monitoring agent is monitoring any service; and

wherein the agent installer is further configured to, based on the determination that the second monitoring agent is not monitoring any service, remove the second monitoring agent from the virtual machine.

13. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the service analyzer is further configured to scan the virtual-machines in response to detecting a configuration change of at least one of the virtual machines.

14. The system according to claim 13 , wherein the service analyzer is to detect the configuration change by executing a discovery script on the virtual machines.

15. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the service monitoring rule defines metrics used by the monitoring agent to monitor the service.

16. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the service analyzer and the agent installer are separate from the virtual machines.

17. The system according to claim 10 , wherein the monitoring agent is to collect performance data for the service, to track events generated by the service, and to allow a user to start and stop the service from a virtual machine monitor.

18. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage devices having computer-executable instructions for managing a dynamic deployment environment including virtual machines, the computer-executable instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

detecting installation of a service on a virtual machine;

determining that one or more properties of the service match criteria provided by a service monitoring rule, wherein the criteria define conditions that cause an installation of a monitoring agent to monitor the service;

based on the one or more properties of the service matching the criteria provided by the service monitoring rule, installing the monitoring agent; and

automatically configuring the monitoring agent to monitor the service in accordance with the service monitoring rule on the at least one of the virtual machines on which the service is installed.

19. The one or more non-transitory computer-executable storage devices of claim 18 , further comprising executable-instructions, that when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform further operations comprising:

detecting a second monitoring agent installed on the virtual machine;

determining whether the second monitoring agent is monitoring any service; and

upon determining the second monitoring agent is monitoring a second service but not the service, automatically configuring, the second monitoring agent to monitor the service.

20. The one or more non-transitory computer-executable storage devices of claim 18 , further comprising executable-instructions, that when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform further operations comprising:

detecting a second monitoring agent installed on the virtual machine;

determining whether the second monitoring agent is monitoring any service; and upon determining the second monitoring agent is not monitoring any service, removing the second monitoring agent from the virtual machine.