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Configuring and deploying distributed tracing data collection

The Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing data collection Operator uses a custom resource definition (CRD) file that defines the architecture and configuration settings to be used when creating and deploying the Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing data collection resources. You can either install the default configuration or modify the file to better suit your business requirements.

OpenTelemetry Collector configuration options

The Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing data collection Operator is a Technology Preview feature only. Technology Preview features are not supported with Red Hat production service level agreements (SLAs) and might not be functionally complete. Red Hat does not recommend using them in production. These features provide early access to upcoming product features, enabling customers to test functionality and provide feedback during the development process.

For more information about the support scope of Red Hat Technology Preview features, see Technology Preview Features Support Scope.

The OpenTelemetry Collector consists of three components that access telemetry data:

  • Receivers - A receiver, which can be push or pull based, is how data gets into the Collector. Generally, a receiver accepts data in a specified format, translates it into the internal format and passes it to processors and exporters defined in the applicable pipelines. By default, no receivers are configured. One or more receivers must be configured. Receivers may support one or more data sources.

  • Processors - (Optional) Processors are run on data between being received and being exported. By default, no processors are enabled. Processors must be enabled for every data source. Not all processors support all data sources. Depending on the data source, it may be recommended that multiple processors be enabled. In addition, it is important to note that the order of processors matters.

  • Exporters - An exporter, which can be push or pull based, is how you send data to one or more backends/destinations. By default, no exporters are configured. One or more exporters must be configured. Exporters may support one or more data sources. Exporters may come with default settings, but many require configuration to specify at least the destination and security settings.

You can define multiple instances of components in a custom resource YAML file. Once configured, these components must be enabled through pipelines defined in the spec.config.service section of the YAML file. As a best practice you should only enable the components that you need.

sample OpenTelemetry collector custom resource file
apiVersion: opentelemetry.io/v1alpha1
kind: OpenTelemetryCollector
metadata:
  name: cluster-collector
  namespace: tracing-system
spec:
  mode: deployment
  config: |
    receivers:
      otlp:
        protocols:
          grpc:
          http:
    processors:
    exporters:
      jaeger:
        endpoint: jaeger-production-collector-headless.tracing-system.svc:14250
        tls:
          ca_file: "/var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount/service-ca.crt"
    service:
      pipelines:
        traces:
          receivers: [otlp]
          processors: []
          exporters: [jaeger]

If a component is configured, but not defined within the service section then it is not enabled.
Table 1. Parameters used by the Operator to define the OpenTelemetry Collector
Parameter Description Values Default 
receivers:

A receiver is how data gets into the Collector. By default, no receivers are configured. There must be at least one enabled receiver for a configuration to be considered valid. Receivers are enabled by being added to a pipeline.

otlp, jaeger

None

 
receivers:
  otlp:

The oltp and jaeger receivers come with default settings, specifying the name of the receiver is enough to configure it.

 
processors:

Processors run on data between being received and being exported. By default, no processors are enabled.

None

 
exporters:

An exporter sends data to one or more backends/destinations. By default, no exporters are configured. There must be at least one enabled exporter for a configuration to be considered valid. Exporters are enabled by being added to a pipeline. Exporters may come with default settings, but many require configuration to specify at least the destination and security settings.

logging, jaeger

None

 
exporters:
 jaeger:
  endpoint:

The jaeger exporter’s endpoint must be of the form <name>-collector-headless.<namespace>.svc, with the name and namespace of the Jaeger deployment, for a secure connection to be established.

 
exporters:
 jaeger:
  tls:
   ca_file:

Path to the CA certificate. For a client this verifies the server certificate. For a server this verifies client certificates. If empty uses system root CA.

 
service:
  pipelines:

Components are enabled by adding them to a pipeline under services.pipeline.

 
service:
  pipelines:
    traces:
      receivers:

You enable receivers for tracing by adding them under service.pipelines.traces.

None

 
service:
  pipelines:
    traces:
      processors:

You enable processors for tracing by adding them under service.pipelines.traces.

None

 
service:
  pipelines:
    traces:
      exporters:

You enable exporters for tracing by adding them under service.pipelines.traces.

None

Validating your deployment

Accessing the Jaeger console

To access the Jaeger console you must have either Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh or Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing installed, and Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing platform installed, configured, and deployed.

The installation process creates a route to access the Jaeger console.

If you know the URL for the Jaeger console, you can access it directly. If you do not know the URL, use the following directions.

Procedure from OpenShift console

  1. Log in to the OpenShift Container Platform web console as a user with cluster-admin rights. If you use Red Hat OpenShift Dedicated, you must have an account with the dedicated-admin role.

  2. Navigate to Networking → Routes.

  3. On the Routes page, select the control plane project, for example tracing-system, from the Namespace menu.

    The Location column displays the linked address for each route.

  4. If necessary, use the filter to find the jaeger route. Click the route Location to launch the console.

  5. Click Log In With OpenShift.

Procedure from the CLI

  1. Log in to the OpenShift Container Platform CLI as a user with the cluster-admin role. If you use Red Hat OpenShift Dedicated, you must have an account with the dedicated-admin role.

    $ oc login --username=<NAMEOFUSER> https://<HOSTNAME>:6443

  2. To query for details of the route using the command line, enter the following command. In this example, tracing-system is the control plane namespace.

    $ export JAEGER_URL=$(oc get route -n tracing-system jaeger -o jsonpath='{.spec.host}')

  3. Launch a browser and navigate to https://<JAEGER_URL>, where <JAEGER_URL> is the route that you discovered in the previous step.

  4. Log in using the same user name and password that you use to access the OpenShift Container Platform console.

  5. If you have added services to the service mesh and have generated traces, you can use the filters and Find Traces button to search your trace data.

    If you are validating the console installation, there is no trace data to display.