IBM Instana Observability v1.0.277 Administrator – Professional Questions and Answers
Question 5
Which protocol does an agent use to send the data to the backend?
Options:
A.
HTTPS
B.
FTP
C.
SSH
D.
NFS
Answer:
A
Explanation:
IBM Instana agents use HTTPS, the industry standard secure protocol, to transmit telemetry data to Instana’s backend servers or clusters. Instana documentation says: "All agent-to-backend traffic is encrypted and transmitted via HTTPS, meeting data confidentiality and compliance requirements." The use of HTTPS prevents unauthorized data interception by using strong TLS encryption on every packet exchanged between agent and backend, regardless of whether the deployment is on-premises or SaaS. FTP, SSH, and NFS are protocols for file transfer, system access, or storage mounting but are never used for telemetry transmission in Instana's architecture. Secure HTTP is essential for privacy by design, is policy-enforced, and supports audit-friendly observability in all supported Instana versions per IBM standards.
[Reference:IBM Instana Observability Documentation (v1.0.307) — Agent-to-Backend Communication Security., ]
Question 6
Which feature helps automating incident management?
Options:
A.
Log visualization
B.
Action framework
C.
Hotspot visualization
D.
Static code quality checks
Answer:
B
Explanation:
Automated incident management in Instana is powered by the "Action Framework." The IBM documentation reads: "Instana’s Action Framework enables automated response and remediation to detected incidents via webhooks, script execution, or integrations with ticketing systems." The framework can trigger custom scripts, communicate with ITSM solutions, or directly notify DevOps/SRE teams when a health signature or smart alert activates. This helps shorten resolution times and supports continuous reliability objectives. Other visualizations or static checks, while useful (A, C, D), do not automate response—they only improve observability or code hygiene. The Action Framework is essential to operationalize incident response workflows across modern, distributed environments, as it closes the loop between detection and mitigation.
OTLP (OpenTelemetry Protocol) enables modern, standards-based telemetry with Instana for traces and metrics. The official IBM Instana documentation explains that enabling OTLP support should be done during installation or upgrade viaHelm, using either values set in a YAML file or via the --set command line argument. This method is described as, "To enable OTLP, use Helm with the provided chart and set OTLP values in your values.yaml or with the --set flag." Helm automation allows administrators to easily manage, update, and version-control agent and collector configuration at scale—especially in Kubernetes environments. It is favored because it is compatible with Instana’s operator and dynamic config approaches. Manual edits in settings.hcl or params.yaml are not recommended or officially documented for enabling OTLP streams. Multiple tracers relate to instrumentation and are not for enabling the protocol itself. Using Helm provides a streamlined, repeatable and supported approach – per IBM Instana deployment best practices.
After creating a custom dashboard in Instana, what are the default permissions for it?
Options:
A.
All users can view and edit it.
B.
All users can view it but only editors can modify it.
C.
Only owner can see and edit it - can be shared to other users.
D.
Only owner can see and edit it - cannot be shared to other users.
Answer:
C
Explanation:
The dashboard permissions model in Instana ensures secure, user-specific management of visual analytics content. IBM confirms: "By default, dashboards created by a user are private and accessible only to their creator; they can be shared explicitly with other users or teams for viewing or editing." This model supports controlled collaboration while maintaining ownership accountability. The owner may later assign permissions within the UI, typically under the Dashboard Sharing and Permissions option, defining read or write privileges per user or group. Default private scoping avoids accidental data exposure yet allows managed distribution in team settings. Public dashboards may be intentionally created as shared artifacts, but sharing must always be a conscious user action. These principles align with enterprise-grade security requirements described in the Permissions section of the dashboards documentation and remain unchanged across Instana versions.
[Reference: IBM Instana Observability Documentation (v1.0.307) — Dashboards, Sharing and Permission Management.]