Set up an Autonomous DEM Application Test
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Set up an Autonomous DEM Application Test

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Set up an Autonomous DEM Application Test

Learn how to start running Autonomous DEM synthetic testing on your Prisma Access endpoints so that you can collect digital experience metrics to help you isolate and resolve performance issues.
After you’ve surveyed the applications running on your network and determined which applications you want to monitor, you can create an app tests and decide whether you want to run the test only for Mobile Users or only for Remote Sites or for both.
When creating synthetic tests, you have the option to enable the test on an individual Mobile User or on a Mobile User group or both. You can enable tests only on existing groups that are used in security policies. The tests that you enable on a user group will run on all devices that belong to every single user in that group. You cannot select only certain devices on which to run the test. If a user is removed from a user group, the tests will automatically stop running on the user’s devices. When new users are added to a group, the tests will automatically be run on the new user’s device(s). Keep in mind that it may take up to 6 hours to automatically update users that are added/removed from groups. The test results can be filtered by individual Mobile Users or Mobile User groups (only groups currently in test configuration). You must create at least one application test in order for data to be displayed on the Summary page and the Mobile Users page.
As you create app tests, keep in mind that although you can create app tests targeted to multiple users or remote sites, the number of tests is based on the number of app tests each individual user runs (for example, if you an app test for Slack and target it to 1000 users, this would count against your license as 1000 tests). Each remote site based on your device has its own capacity.
In order to run synthetic tests—to SaaS applications or applications in your data center through Prisma Access, Secure Fabric, via split tunneling, or direct access - you must have security policy rules that allow the synthetic test traffic over ICMP, TCP, HTTPS, and optionally HTTP (depending on how you configure your app tests).
To create an app test:
  1. From the Prisma Access app on the hub, select Autonomous DEMApplications.
    To enable the tests for a Mobile User group,
    1. Click Add new App Test.
    2. Click the Applications Tests tab.
    3. Under Source, select Custom from the Mobile Users dropdown.
    4. Click in the Search Mobile Users and Groups text box.
    5. Select the check box(es) for one or more users and/or user group(s) on which you want to enable the test.
    6. Follow the instructions from step 3 onwards below.
  2. Click Add new App Test or, click an app name to view the Health link that corresponds to a specific application in the application list.
  3. Name the new app test.
  4. You have the option to run application tests only for Mobile Users or only for Remote Sites or for both.
    • Mobile Users: Define the Source Users that you want to run this app test. By default, all licensed ADEM users are assigned to run the test. If you want to limit this app test to specific users, click Mobile Users under Source and select Custom and click in the Search Mobile Users and Groups text box, then select the users and/or groups you want to run the test.
    • Remote Networks: Select the remote site. By default, all remote site licenses are selected. You can also choose to run the tests on all remote sites or only particular remote sites. Define Advanced Options as needed. By default ADEM sets the Network Test Options and Web Test Options based on the applications you selected. However, you can customize these options if needed in your environment.
  5. Identify the application you want to test as the Target. If you selected an application from the applications list, the application name is automatically populated. Otherwise, begin typing the Application name to see a list of applications from which to select. If you don’t see the application you want to create a test for, you can create a custom application in your Prisma Access environment using Panorama or the Cloud Management App. Once you have created the custom application and successfully committed, you will see your app under the Applications dropdown menu on the New App Test page in ADEM.
  6. To edit an app test, click ApplicationsApplication Tests tab and click on the application test name that you want to edit. On the Edit App Test page, click Add/Edit Target under the Target section and add the domain URL or the IP address for the target and click Save. The test starts running.
    Be sure to configure each test with one unique application for which you provide one domain name.
  7. After you create the tests, you can view a summary of all the tests created in the ApplicationsApplication Test tab.
    The tests get a priority assigned to them in the order that they were created. For example, the first test you create gets a priority order 1. The next test you create gets priority order 2 and so on. The tests are pushed to the mobile users and remote site according to the priority they are assigned. If the remote site devices have available capacity for the test, the test will be enabled. Otherwise, the remote site gets moved to the Excluded Remote Sites for the test.
    Even though the tests are assigned to both Mobile Users and Remote Sites, the priority in which the tests are pushed to the device is important particularly to the remote sites, since each device in a remote site is capable of running a different number of tests depending on the device size. So, if you have created a test, for example Test A which has a priority of 8, and attached it to multiple remote sites all of which can run Test A, if one of those sites, for example San Jose, has reached its limit on how many tests it can run, Test A will not be pushed to the site. That remote site (San Jose) will get moved under the Excluded Remote Sites column. But if you absolutely must run the Test A, you can change the priority of Test A from 8 to a higher location in the table, for example to the top of the list by clicking on the dots to the left of the check box and dragging and dropping it to the top of the list. Alternatively, you can select its check box and click the up arrow at the bottom of the page. You will see its priority change only after you click Save. Now Test A will get a higher priority and will be pushed to the San Jose remote site before the remaining tests that follow Test A in the table. This would mean though that the San Jose remote site will now be excluded in the configuration push from some other lower priority test (lower priority compared to Test A) that is pushed to it.
    For a list of devices and the maximum number of tests they are capable of running, refer to the table in Get Started for Remote Networks.
    Select the check box to the left of the test to Delete, Enable, or Disable a test. Once you disable a test, that test will not be executed any more until you enable it again.
The next time the selected users and remote sites connect to Prisma Access they will receive the new app test settings and begin running the tests. After the app tests start running, the ADEM service collects sample data from all assigned users every five minutes.