Tracer and span mappings

StackState Self-hosted v5.1.x

Overview

Before we jump into the nitty-gritty of the actual code we can write for a OpenTelemetry instrumentation, let's first look at the key-value pairs that are in spans and where this can be found in the StackState UI.

The span key values should be included when you create spans inside the manual OpenTelemetry instrumentation.

We will get to a few code examples later on in the documentation.

Tracer name and version

For StackState to understand your data, a tracer name and version needs to be passed with your instrumentation.

StackState requires the following name and version to be set:

• Tracer name: @opentelemetry/instrumentation-stackstate

• Version: 1.0.0

If the tracer name passed to StackState Agent doesn't exactly match the value specified above, received data won't be displayed in StackState.

➡️ See how this is implemented in code examples

When the log level in StackState Agent is to DEBUG, a message will be returned if a wrong tracer name has been used. The message will warn about an unknown instrumentation and state the tracer name that was passed to it.

Span mapping requirements

Summary

The table below provides a summary of all the span keys that can be provided and are required. Further details of each key can be found in the sections below.

Note that ALL the keys listed as required must be provided when creating a span. If any required keys are missing, the component won't appear in StackState.

Key	Type	Required	Allowed Value	Example
trace.perspective.name	string	yes	Any string	RDS Database: Perspective Name
service.name	string	yes	Any string	RDS Database: Service Name
service.type	string	yes	Any string	AWS RDS
service.identifier	string	yes	Any string	aws:rds:database:hello-world
resource.name	string	yes	Any string	Database
http.status_code	number	no	HTTP status	200

Traces Perspective name

The trace.perspective.name is used to find your span within a trace in the StackState UI Traces Perspective. The horizontal bar within a Trace will have a floating text value containing the specified trace.perspective.name key.

Key	trace.perspective.name
Type	string
Example	RDS Database: Perspective Name

Examples

Traces Perspective

Example of where the trace.perspective.name is displayed within the Traces Perspective

1. In the navigation bar, click Traces Perspective

2. Find the trace in the list of traces and click on it to expand the trace (There might be multiple traces, make sure you select one that contains your span).

3. You will notice that a horizontal graph line will contain the name of your component as seen below.

Traces Perspective - trace.perspective.name key

Service name

The value from service.name is used as a primary means to identify a component in the StackState Topology Perspective. A spans.serviceName key is also created in the Traces Perspective to identify if the trace in the Traces Perspective matches the component in the Topology Perspective.

Key	service.name
Type	string
Example	RDS Database: Service Name

Examples

Advanced Filter

Example of how you can search for your service.name within the Advanced Filter section in the Topology view

1. When on the Topology Perspective page click on the second icon on your left navigation bar called View Filters

2. This will bring up the Filter Topology view, Click on the second button called Advanced

3. In the top input field you can fill in the following

   1. name = "<YOUR service.name VALUE>"

   2. For example name = "RDS Database: Service Name".

4. You will then see the component that was created with the trace.

Topology Perspective - service.name

Topology Perspective

Example of where the service.name is displayed within the Topology Perspective

1. When you view the Topology Perspective page your component should be visible with this as the primary identifier, as seen within the picture below.

Topology Perspective - service.name

Component properties

Example of where the service.name is displayed within the Topology Perspective within your component properties

1. Click on your component in the StackState Topology Perspective

2. Click on the SHOW ALL PROPERTIES button on the right side, a popup will appear.

3. A row with the key name will contain the value you defined, as seen below in the image.

4. Your component will also contain a new label called service-name, this will also represent your component name.

Component properties - service.name

Traces Perspective

Example of where the service.name is displayed within the Traces Perspective

1. In your top navigation bar click on the trace perspective menu item.

2. Find the trace in the list of traces and click on it to expand the trace (There might be multiple traces, make sure you select one that contains your trace).

3. Click on the SHOW ALL PROPERTIES button on the right side, a popup will appear.

4. A row with the key span.serviceName will contain the value you defined, as seen below in the image.

Traces Perspective - service.name

Service type

The service.type is used to identify the type of service in the span in the StackState UI Traces Perspective.

Key	service.type
Type	string
Example	AWS RDS

Examples

Span properties

Example of where the service.type is displayed within the Traces Perspective Span properties view

1. In the navigation bar, click Traces Perspective

2. Find the trace in the list of traces and click on it to expand the trace (There might be multiple traces, make sure you select one that contains your trace).

3. Click on the SHOW ALL PROPERTIES button on the right side, a popup will appear.

4. A row with the key service will contain the value you defined, as seen below in the image.

Traces Perspective - service.type

Service identifier

The service identifier is used for merging components. The provided value will be added to the identifier list on the component in StackState.

Components with the same service identifiers will merge into one component. This allows multiple components to merge and create relations. Components can also bo merged with existing StackState components.

➡️ Learn more about merging components

Key	service.identifier
Type	string
Example	aws:rds:database:hello-world

Examples

Component properties

Example of where the service.identifier is displayed within the Topology Perspective Component properties view

1. Click on your component in the StackState Topology Perspective

2. Click on the SHOW ALL PROPERTIES button on the right side, a popup will appear.

3. The row with the key identifiers will contain the value you defined, as seen below in the image.

4. NB. It's recommended to go and read the merging with pre-existing components page to know how this value can be leverage to create relations

Topology Perspective - service.identifier

Resource name

The resource name is displayed in the Traces Perspective for a specific trace, allowing you to quickly identify what resource each trace is a part of. Best practise would be to use this value to group similar resources, thus allowing you to easily identify a span.

Key	resource.name
Type	string
Example	Database

Examples

Traces Perspective

Example of where the resource.name is displayed within the Traces Perspective

1. In your top navigation bar click on the trace perspective menu item.

2. Find the trace in the list of traces and click on it to expand the trace (There might be multiple traces, make sure you select one that contains your trace).

3. The section on your right side will contain a row with the key Resource, the value displayed next to the key will be the one you defined.

Traces Perspective - resource.name

HTTP status code

The HTTP status code controls the health state for the component in StackState. A 400 or higher will put the component into a CRITICAL state, while a 200 will result in a healthy component. This allows you to control the health state of the component in StackState.

➡️ Learn how the span health state works

Key	http.status_code
Type	number
Example	200

Examples

Topology Perspective (Healthy)

You will see the following color on your component if you post a http.status_code of 200

This means that your component is in a CLEAR (healthy) state.

Health state - http.status_code

Topology Perspective (CRITICAL)

You will see the following color on your component if you post a http.status_code of 400 or higher

This means that your component is in a CRITICAL state.

Health state - CRITICAL - http.status_code

Span properties

The HTTP status can be found in the following location regardless of what the HTTP status actually is

1. In your top navigation bar click on the trace perspective menu item.

2. Find the trace in the list of traces and click on it to expand the trace (There might be multiple traces, make sure you select one that contains your trace).

3. Click on the SHOW ALL PROPERTIES button on the right side, a popup will appear.

4. The row with the value http.status_code will contain the value you defined, as seen below in the image.

Health state - Healthy - http.status_code