MyObservability

🟦 Automatic Instrumentation

Without being required to modify the source code you can collect telemetry from an application using automatic instrumentation.

Zero-code instrumentation adds the OpenTelemetry API and SDK capabilities to your application typically as an agent or agent-like installation.

• It may differ by language
• It use Byte code manipulation, monkey patching, eBPF to inject calls to the OpenTelemetry API and SDK into your application

Additionally, zero-code instrumentation lets you configure the Instrumentation Libraries and exporters loaded.

You can configure zero-code instrumentation through environment variables and other language-specific mechanisms, such as system properties or arguments passed to initialization methods. To get started, you only need a service name configured so that you can identify the service in the observability backend of your choice.

⚠️ Note: Some language do not support auto instrumentation.

Other configuration options are available, including:

• Data source specific configuration
• Exporter configuration
• Propagator configuration
• Resource configuration

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🟩 Common options

• .Net Applications: OpenTelemetry .NET Automatic Instrumentation to send traces and metrics from .NET applications and services.
• Java Applications: Java agent JAR, Spring Boot Starter, and the Quarkus OpenTelemetry Extension.
• Python Applications: Python agent that can be attached to any Python application. This agent primarily uses monkey patching to modify library functions at runtime, allowing for the capture of telemetry data from many popular libraries and frameworks.
• PHP Applications The extension can be installed via pecl, pickle, PIE or php-extension-installer (docker specific). ⚠️ Note: Installing the OpenTelemetry extension by itself does not generate traces.
• JavaScript: Zero-code instrumentation for JavaScript provides a way to instrument any Node.js application and capture telemetry data from many popular libraries and frameworks without any code changes.
• Go Application (Experimental)

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🧱 Ex:Java Based Application instrumentation

Step:1 - Download OpenTelemetry Java Agent

opentelemetry-javaagent.jar from Releases of the Opentelemetry-java-instrumentation repository and place the JAR in your preferred directory. The JAR file contains the agent and instrumentation libraries.

Java Agent Location: OpenTelemetry Java Agent

Step:2 - Configuring the agent

You can pass configuration properties via the -D flag.

java -javaagent:path/to/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar \
     -Dotel.service.name=your-service-name \
     -Dotel.traces.exporter=zipkin \
     -jar myapp.jar

————————- OR —————————-

You can also environment variables to configure the agent:

1. Configure Environment variable

export OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER="none"
export OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER="none"
export OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER="otlp"
export OTEL_SERVICE_NAME=your-service-name \
export OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER=zipkin

1. Configure agent: java -javaagent:path/to/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar -jar myapp.jar

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🧱 Ex: Python based application instrumentation

Step:1 - Download OpenTelemetry agent through pip

pip install opentelemetry-distro opentelemetry-exporter-otlp

Step:2 - Auto instrument using following command

opentelemetry-bootstrap --action=install

Step-3: Export traces (Ex: Splunk)

opentelemetry-instrument \
    --traces_exporter console,otlp \
    --metrics_exporter console \
    --service_name your-service-name \
    --exporter_otlp_endpoint 0.0.0.0:4317 \
    python myapp.py

————————- OR —————————-

export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=https://ingest.<your-realm>.signalfx.com/v2/trace
export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS="X-SF-TOKEN=<your-access-token>"
export OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER=otlp
export OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER=none 

opentelemetry-instrument python myapp.py

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🧱 Ex: JavaScript application instrumentation

Step-1: Install appropriate package

npm install --save @opentelemetry/api
npm install --save @opentelemetry/auto-instrumentations-node

Step-2: Configure the module

env OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER=otlp OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TRACES_ENDPOINT=your-endpoint node --require @opentelemetry/auto-instrumentations-node/register app.js

————————- OR —————————-

export OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER="otlp"
export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT="your-endpoint"
export OTEL_NODE_RESOURCE_DETECTORS="env,host,os"
export OTEL_SERVICE_NAME="your-service-name"
export NODE_OPTIONS="--require @opentelemetry/auto-instrumentations-node/register"
node app.js

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✅ Next Chapter: Sampling

✅ Main Page: Click Here

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