PHP Opentelemetry Instrumentation
This doc contains instructions about how to set up OpenTelemetry(OTel) instrumentation in your PHP application. OpenTelemetry, also known as OTel for short, is an open-source observability framework that can help you generate and collect telemetry data - traces, metrics, and logs from your PHP application.
Once the telemetry data is generated, you can configure an exporter to send the data to SigNoz for monitoring and visualization.
There are three major steps to using OpenTelemetry:
- Instrumenting your PHP application with OpenTelemetry
- Configuring the exporter to send data to SigNoz
- Validating that configuration to ensure that data is being sent as expected.
In this documentation, we will instrument a PHP application for traces and send it to SigNoz.
Requirements
Send traces to SigNoz Cloud
Based on your application environment, you can choose the setup below to send traces to SigNoz Cloud.
From VMs, there are two ways to send data to SigNoz Cloud.
Send traces directly to SigNoz cloud
Here we will be sending traces to SigNoz cloud in 4 easy steps, if you want to send traces to self hosted SigNoz , you can refer to this. We will be using Zero-code configuration for Automatic Instrumentation.
Step 1: Setup Development Environment
To configure our PHP application to send data, you need to use OpenTelemetry PHP extension. Since the extension is built from the source, you need to have the build tools, which can be installed using the following command:
sudo apt-get install gcc make autoconf
Step 2: Build the extension
With our environment set up we can install the extension using PECL:
pecl install opentelemetry
pecl install protobuf
After successfully installing the OpenTelemetry extension, add the extension to php.ini file of your project:
[opentelemetry]
extension=opentelemetry.so
Verify that the extension is enabled by running:
php -m | grep opentelemetry
This should output:
opentelemetry
Step 3: Add the dependencies
Add dependencies required for OpenTelemetry SDK for PHP to perform automatic instrumentation using this command :
composer config allow-plugins.php-http/discovery false
composer require \
open-telemetry/sdk \
open-telemetry/exporter-otlp \
php-http/guzzle7-adapter \
open-telemetry/opentelemetry-auto-slim
You can install the additional dependencies provided by OpenTelemetry for different PHP frameworks from here.
Step 4: Set environment variables and run app
We are passing the environment variables on run time and this way we don't have to change anything in code. Run your application using:
env OTEL_PHP_AUTOLOAD_ENABLED=true \
OTEL_SERVICE_NAME=<SERVICE_NAME> \
OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER=otlp \
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL=http/protobuf \
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=<SIGNOZ_ENDPOINT> \
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS=signoz-access-token=<INGESTION_KEY> \
OTEL_PROPAGATORS=baggage,tracecontext \
php -S localhost:8080 app.php
You can change the env vars value by referencing values from the following lookup table
| Environment Variable | Value |
|---|---|
| OTEL_SERVICE_NAME | <SERVICE_NAME> replace it with name of your app |
| OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT | <SIGNOZ_ENDPOINT> replace this with SigNoz cloud endpoint |
| OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS | signoz-access-token=<INGESTION_KEY> replace this with the ingestion key which you must have received in mail |
| php -S localhost:8080 app.php | you can replace this with the run command of your PHP application |
Send traces via OTel Collector binary
Step 1: Install OTel Collector
OTel Collector binary helps to collect logs, hostmetrics, resource and infra attributes. It is recommended to install Otel Collector binary to collect and send traces to SigNoz cloud. You can correlate signals and have rich contextual data through this way.
You can find instructions to install OTel Collector binary here in your VM. Once you are done setting up your OTel Collector binary, you can follow the below steps for instrumenting your PHP application.
Step 2: Setup Development Environment
To configure our PHP application to send data, you need to use OpenTelemetry PHP extension. Since the extension is built from the source, you need to have the build tools, which can be installed using the following command:
sudo apt-get install gcc make autoconf
Step 3: Build the extension
With our environment set up we can install the extension using PECL:
pecl install opentelemetry
pecl install protobuf
After successfully installing the OpenTelemetry extension, add the extension to php.ini file of your project:
[opentelemetry]
extension=opentelemetry.so
Verify that the extension is enabled by running:
php -m | grep opentelemetry
This should output:
opentelemetry
Step 4: Add the dependencies
Add dependencies required for OpenTelemetry SDK for PHP to perform automatic instrumentation using this command :
composer config allow-plugins.php-http/discovery false
composer require \
open-telemetry/sdk \
open-telemetry/exporter-otlp \
php-http/guzzle7-adapter \
open-telemetry/opentelemetry-auto-slim
You can install the additional dependencies provided by OpenTelemetry for different PHP frameworks from here.
Step 5: Set environment variables and run app
We are passing the environment variables on run time and this way we don't have to change anything in code. Run your application using:
env OTEL_PHP_AUTOLOAD_ENABLED=true \
OTEL_SERVICE_NAME=<SERVICE_NAME> \
OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER=otlp \
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL=http/protobuf \
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=<COLLECTOR_ENDPOINT> \
OTEL_PROPAGATORS=baggage,tracecontext \
php -S localhost:8080 app.php
You can change the env vars value by referencing values from the following lookup table
| Environment Variable | Value |
|---|---|
| OTEL_SERVICE_NAME | <SERVICE_NAME> replace it with name of your app |
| OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT | <COLLECTOR_ENDPOINT> replace this with the Otel Collector Endpoint. If you have hosted it somewhere, provide the URL. Otherwise, the default is http://localhost:4317, if you have followed our guide. |
| php -S localhost:8080 app.php | you can replace this with the run command of your PHP application |
Send Traces to Self-Hosted SigNoz
Step 1: Setup Development Environment
To configure our PHP application to send data, you need to use OpenTelemetry PHP extension. Since the extension is built from the source, you need to have the build tools, which can be installed using the following command:
sudo apt-get install gcc make autoconf
Step 2: Build the extension
With our environment set up we can install the extension using PECL:
pecl install opentelemetry
pecl install protobuf
After successfully installing the OpenTelemetry extension, add the extension to php.ini file of your project:
[opentelemetry]
extension=opentelemetry.so
Verify that the extension is enabled by running:
php -m | grep opentelemetry
This should output:
opentelemetry
Step 3: Add the dependencies
Add dependencies required for OpenTelemetry SDK for PHP to perform automatic instrumentation using this command :
composer config allow-plugins.php-http/discovery false
composer require \
open-telemetry/sdk \
open-telemetry/opentelemetry-auto-slim \
php-http/guzzle7-adapter \
open-telemetry/exporter-otlp
You can install the additional dependencies provided by OpenTelemetry for different PHP frameworks from here.
Step 4: Set environment variables and run app
We are passing the environment variables on run time and this way we don't have to change anything in code. Run your application using:
env OTEL_PHP_AUTOLOAD_ENABLED=true \
OTEL_SERVICE_NAME=<SERVICE_NAME> \
OTEL_TRACES_EXPORTER=otlp \
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL=http/protobuf \
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=<SIGNOZ_ENDPOINT> \
OTEL_PROPAGATORS=baggage,tracecontext \
php -S localhost:8080 app.php
You can change the env vars value by referencing values from the following lookup table
| Environment Variable | Value |
|---|---|
| OTEL_SERVICE_NAME | <SERVICE_NAME> replace it with name of your app |
| OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT | <SIGNOZ_ENDPOINT> replace this with the url where you have hosted SigNoz |
| php -S localhost:8080 app.php | you can replace this with the run command of your PHP application |
Sample PHP Application
We have included a sample PHP application at Sample PHP App Github Repo,
Tutorial
Here's a tutorial with step by step guide on how to install SigNoz and start monitoring a sample PHP app.
Frequently Asked Questions
How to find what to use in
IP of SigNozif I have installed SigNoz in Kubernetes cluster?Based on where you have installed your application and where you have installed SigNoz, you need to find the right value for this. Please use this grid to find the value you should use for
IP of SigNozI am sending data from my application to SigNoz, but I don't see any events or graphs in the SigNoz dashboard. What should I do?
This could be because of one of the following reasons:
Your application is generating telemetry data, but not able to connect with SigNoz installation
Please use this troubleshooting guide to find if your application is able to access SigNoz installation and send data to it.
Your application is not actually generating telemetry data
Please check if the application is generating telemetry data first. You can use
Console Exporterto just print your telemetry data in console first. Join our Slack Community if you need help on how to export your telemetry data in consoleYour SigNoz installation is not running or behind a firewall
Please double check if the pods in SigNoz installation are running fine.
docker psorkubectl get pods -n platformare your friends for this.
What Cloud Endpoint Should I Use?
The primary method for sending data to SigNoz Cloud is through OTLP exporters. You can either send the data directly from your application using the exporters available in SDKs/language agents or send the data to a collector agent, which batches/enriches telemetry and sends it to the Cloud.
My Collector Sends Data to SigNoz Cloud
Using gRPC Exporter
The endpoint should be ingest.{region}.signoz.cloud:443, where {region} should be replaced with in, us, or eu. Note that the exporter endpoint doesn't require a scheme for the gRPC exporter in the collector.
# Sample config with `us` region
exporters:
otlp:
endpoint: "ingest.us.signoz.cloud:443"
tls:
insecure: false
headers:
"signoz-access-token": "<SIGNOZ_INGESTION_KEY>"
Using HTTP Exporter
The endpoint should be https://ingest.{region}.signoz.cloud:443, where {region} should be replaced with in, us, or eu. Note that the endpoint includes the scheme https for the HTTP exporter in the collector.
# Sample config with `us` region
exporters:
otlphttp:
endpoint: "https://ingest.us.signoz.cloud:443"
tls:
insecure: false
headers:
"signoz-access-token": "<SIGNOZ_INGESTION_KEY>"
My Application Sends Data to SigNoz Cloud
The endpoint should be configured either with environment variables or in the SDK setup code.
Using Environment Variables
Using gRPC Exporter
Examples with us region
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL=grpc OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=https://ingest.us.signoz.cloud:443 OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS=signoz-access-token=<SIGNOZ_INGESTION_KEY>
Using HTTP Exporter
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL=http/protobuf OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=https://ingest.us.signoz.cloud:443 OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS=signoz-access-token=<SIGNOZ_INGESTION_KEY>
Configuring Endpoint in Code
Please refer to the agent documentation.
Sending Data from a Third-Party Service
The endpoint configuration here depends on the export protocol supported by the third-party service. They may support either gRPC, HTTP, or both. Generally, you will need to adjust the host and port. The host address should be ingest.{region}.signoz.cloud:443, where {region} should be replaced with in, us, or eu, and port 443 should be used.
