Define your own process group metadata

DESK automatically detects and displays lots of metadata values related to the processes that run in your environment—including version numbers, port numbers, and the name of the script or JAR file that launches each process (see images below).

DESK enables you to use these metadata values to automate tagging as well as to use environment variables to supply tags. DESK even allows you to define your own metadata based on your organization’s or environment’s unique needs.

Define metadata via environment variables

You can now define an environment variable called DT_CUSTOM_PROP on either the process or host level. The format of the variable is simple, comprised of key/value pairs (for example, DT_CUSTOM_PROP=Department=Acceptance Stage=Sprint). These variables must be visible to the respective process at startup. Once in place, the metadata values appear on each respective Process and Process group page (see example below).

How to define an environment variable for IIS

To customize the process group of IIS, you need to define an environment variable that you can use within the scope of a rule. To set up an environment variable in IIS version 10 or later, see Environment variables.

Set up an environment variable for IIS versions earlier than 10

To set up an environment variable in IIS versions earlier than 10, follow the instructions below.

Configure the Advanced Settings for Application Pool.
Set the Load User Profile as True.
Restart IIS.
Open the Registry and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\CurrentControlSet\Control\hivelist
Launch the application to initialize the AppPool (or set the AppPool Start Mode to Always Running), refresh hivelist and look for the new entries.
Check C:\Users for the name of the user who runs the AppPool.
In the registry navigate to the ID of the user under HKEY_USERS and add a String Value named DT_CUSTOM_PROP.
Add the value you want with spaces between the key/value pairs.
Restart IIS one more time and check DESK process for environmental metadata.

How to define an environment variable for Windows

To customize process grouping for Windows services, you'll need to create a key called Environment of type REG_MULTISZ in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\<servicename>. The value of the Environment key may contain multiple entries like in the following example:

Using annotations in Kubernetes

DESK supports automated tagging in Kubernetes based on Kubernetes labels. You can similarly use Kubernetes annotations—they too will show up on your Process and Process group pages (see below).