zpages

zPages

Overview

zPages are a quick and light way to view tracing and metrics information on standard OpenTelemetry C++ instrumented applications. It requires no external dependencies or backend setup. See more information in the OTel zPages experimental spec. OTel C++ currently only offers Tracez; future zPages to potentially add include TraceConfigz, RPCz, and Statsz. Events and links need to be added to Tracez.

Usage

TODO: Add CMake instructions

1: Add the following 2 lines of code

• #include opentelemetry/ext/zpages/zpages.h // include zPages
• zpages::Initialize; // start up zPages in your app, before any tracing/span code

2: Build and run your application normally

For example, you can do this for the zPages example while at the root opentelemetry-cpp directory with:

bazel build //examples/zpages:zpages_example
bazel-bin/examples/zpages/zpages_example

If you look at the zPages example's source code, it demonstrates adding zPages, manual application instrumentation (which sends data to zPages for viewing), and simulated use cases for zPages.

3: View zPages at http://localhost:3000/tracez

More Information

• OTel zPages experimental spec
• zPages General Direction Spec (OTEP)
• OTel C++ Design Docs
  • Tracez Span Processor
  • Tracez Data Aggregator
  • Tracez Http Server
    • includes reference pictures of the zPages/Tracez UI