PRs & docs:

• Kibana - docs live here
  • master - [docs][APM] Agent config docs kibana#40084
  • 7.x - [docs][APM] Agent config docs (#40084) kibana#40818
  • 7.3 - [docs][APM] Agent config docs (#40084) kibana#40817
• APM Server - docs live here
  • master - [docs] Agent configuration documentation apm-server#2366
  • 7.x - [docs][7.x] Agent configuration documentation (#2366) apm-server#2430
  • 7.3 - [docs][7.3] Agent configuration documentation (#2366) apm-server#2429

Agent config will take precedence over local config. Documentation for each agent should reflect that:

• Java: Add central config to config source list apm-agent-java#763
• Node.js: feat: add support for APM Agent Configuration via Kibana apm-agent-nodejs#1197
• Python: added central configuration to config precedence list apm-agent-python#548
• Ruby: https://github.com/elastic/apm-agent-ruby/pull/464/files#diff-01c1a79a5a1e1b67003a1885365f2cf5R216
• Go: docs: add mentions of central config apm-agent-go#598
• .NET: Implement remote (AKA central) configuration apm-agent-dotnet#352

Here's some boilerplate documentation for APM Agent configuration (thanks to the Node.js team). Some of the agents use tables instead of unordered lists, so just adapt as necessary to your agent.

[float]
[[central-config]]
==== `centralConfig`

* *Type:* Boolean
* *Default:* `true`
* *Env:* `ELASTIC_APM_CENTRAL_CONFIG`

Enable {kibana-ref}/agent-configuration.html[APM Agent Configuration via Kibana].
If set to `true`, the client will poll the APM Server regularly for new agent configuration.

NOTE: This feature requires APM Server v7.3 or later and that the APM Server is configured with `kibana.enabled: true`.

Info:

APM meta: #4
Agents meta-issue: #76
Server issue: elastic/apm-server#2126
Kibana issue: elastic/kibana#34990 elastic/kibana#39555
Integration testing issue: elastic/apm-integration-testing#436
Optimization / caching issue: elastic/apm-server#2220

Alert users that:

• it may take some time for config changes to take effect.
• Different server versions may cause problems
• Add documentation that the user should make sure to define sane defaults in case the APM Server is offline (see Agent remote configuration #76 (comment))