Tracing using OpenTelemetry

This document provides information on how to use OpenTelemetry for tracing in N|Solid. It covers the OpenTelemetry support in N|Solid, using the JavaScript OpenTelemetry API via N|Solid, and exporting traces via OTLP over HTTP.

OpenTelemetry Support

N|Solid has added support for some OpenTelemetry features:

• It provides an implementation of the OpenTelemetry TraceAPI which allows the user to instrument their own code using the de-facto standard API.
• It also supports the use of lots of instrumentation modules available in the OpenTelemetry ecosystem.
• It supports exporting traces using the OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP) over HTTP.

Using the JavaScript OpenTelemetry API via N|Solid

To integrate the OpenTelemetry APIs directly with N|Solid, refer to the N|Solid Runtime's JS API for instructions.

Exporting Traces via OTLP over HTTP

N|Solid now allows exporting traces to endpoints supporting the OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP) over HTTP. Additionally, it provides easy integration with specific vendors' endpoints such as Datadog, DynaTrace, and NewRelic. It also supports exporting the metrics generated by N|Solid to these vendors' solutions without the need for their agents.

To configure the OTLP endpoint, there are two options:

1. Set the NSOLID_OTLP and NSOLID_OTLP_CONFIG environment variables.
2. Use other configuration methods provided by N|Solid. Refer to the runtime configuration documentation for more details.

The NSOLID_OTLP environment variable defines the type of endpoint to export the traces to. The allowed values are:

• datadog
• dynatrace
• newrelic
• otlp

The NSOLID_OTLP_CONFIG environment variable defines the configuration for the selected endpoint type. It should be a string containing a serialized JavaScript object in JSON format. The format of this object depends on the type of endpoint.

Here are the formats for each endpoint type:

Endpoint Type	Format
datadog	{"zone": "us" | "eu", "key": "your_datadog_key", "url": "otlp_endpoint_url"}
dynatrace	{"site": "your_dynatrace_site", "token": "your_dynatrace_token"}
newrelic	{"zone": "us" | "eu", "key": "your_newrelic_key"}
otlp	{"url": "otlp_endpoint_url"}

Here is an example of how to configure N|Solid to export data to Dynatrace. Notice you need N|Solid to be licensed.

$ NSOLID_OTLP=dynatrace NSOLID_OTLP_CONFIG='{"site":"my_site","token":"my_token"}' NSOLID_LICENSE_TOKEN=my_nsolid_license nsolid my_process.js