StackState Docs
SaaS
StackState.comDownloadSupportExplore playground
Search
⌃K
Links
Comment on page

Tracer and span mappings

StackState SaaS

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 does not exactly match the value specified above, received data will not be displayed in StackState.
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 will not appear in StackState.
Key
Type
Required
Allowed Value
Example
string
yes
Any string
RDS Database: Perspective Name
string
yes
Any string
RDS Database: Service Name
string
yes
Any string
AWS RDS
string
yes
Any string
aws:rds:database:hello-world
string
yes
Any string
Database
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. 1.
    In the navigation bar, click Traces Perspective
  2. 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. 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
Topology Perspective
Component properties
Traces Perspective
Example of how you can search for your service.name within the Advanced Filter section in the Topology view
  1. 1.
    When on the Topology Perspective page click on the second icon on your left navigation bar called View Filters
  2. 2.
    This will bring up the Filter Topology view, Click on the second button called Advanced
  3. 3.
    In the top input field you can fill in the following
    1. 1.
      name = "<YOUR service.name VALUE>"
    2. 2.
      For example name = "RDS Database: Service Name".
  4. 4.
    You will then see the component that was created with the trace.
Topology Perspective - service.name
Example of where the service.name is displayed within the Topology Perspective
  1. 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
Example of where the service.name is displayed within the Topology Perspective within your component properties
  1. 1.
    Click on your component in the StackState Topology Perspective
  2. 2.
    Click on the SHOW ALL PROPERTIES button on the right side, a popup will appear.
  3. 3.
    A row with the key name will contain the value you defined, as seen below in the image.
  4. 4.
    Your component will also contain a new label called service-name, this will also represent your component name.
Component properties - service.name
Example of where the service.name is displayed within the Traces Perspective
  1. 1.
    In your top navigation bar click on the trace perspective menu item.
  2. 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. 3.
    Click on the SHOW ALL PROPERTIES button on the right side, a popup will appear.
  4. 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. 1.
    In the navigation bar, click Traces Perspective
  2. 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. 3.
    Click on the SHOW ALL PROPERTIES button on the right side, a popup will appear.
  4. 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 be merged to create relations. COmponents can also bo merged with existing StackState 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. 1.
    Click on your component in the StackState Topology Perspective
  2. 2.
    Click on the SHOW ALL PROPERTIES button on the right side, a popup will appear.
  3. 3.
    The row with the key identifiers will contain the value you defined, as seen below in the image.
  4. 4.
    NB. It is 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. 1.
    In your top navigation bar click on the trace perspective menu item.
  2. 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. 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.
Key
http.status_code
Type
number
Example
200

Examples

Topology Perspective (Healthy)
Topology Perspective (CRITICAL)
Span properties
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
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
The HTTP status can be found in the following location regardless of what the HTTP status actually is
  1. 1.
    In your top navigation bar click on the trace perspective menu item.
  2. 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. 3.
    Click on the SHOW ALL PROPERTIES button on the right side, a popup will appear.
  4. 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
Previous
Prerequisites
Next
Relations between components
Last modified 1yr ago