Introduction to OpenTelemetry

What is OpenTelemetry?

OpenTelemetry is an open-source observability framework for cloud-native software. It provides APIs, libraries, agents, and instrumentation to enable the collection of telemetry data (traces, metrics, and logs) from applications. This data helps developers and operators understand application performance and troubleshoot issues.

Key Concepts

Installation

To install OpenTelemetry for a Node.js application, you can use npm:

npm install @opentelemetry/api @opentelemetry/sdk-node

Code Example

Here’s a basic code snippet demonstrating how to set up OpenTelemetry in a Node.js application:

const { NodeSDK } = require('@opentelemetry/sdk-node');
const { SimpleSpanProcessor } = require('@opentelemetry/tracing');
const { ConsoleSpanExporter } = require('@opentelemetry/tracing');

const sdk = new NodeSDK({
  spanProcessor: new SimpleSpanProcessor(new ConsoleSpanExporter()),
  // other options...
});

sdk.start()
  .then(() => {
    console.log('OpenTelemetry SDK started');
  })
  .catch((error) => console.log('Error starting OpenTelemetry SDK', error));
                

Best Practices

• Instrument all critical paths in your application to ensure comprehensive observability.
• Use sampling to reduce the volume of telemetry data collected, especially in high-traffic applications.
• Regularly review and update your instrumentation as your application evolves.
• Ensure that sensitive information is not logged or traced.

FAQ