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Ruby on Rails OpenTelemetry Instrumentation

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​

Step 1. Install dependencies

Install dependencies related to OpenTelemetry SDK and exporter using gem.

gem install opentelemetry-sdk
gem install opentelemetry-exporter-otlp
gem install opentelemetry-instrumentation-all

Include the required packages into your gemfile.

gem 'opentelemetry-sdk'
gem 'opentelemetry-exporter-otlp'
gem 'opentelemetry-instrumentation-all'

Run the bundle install command:

bundle install

Step 2. Initialize the OpenTelemetry SDK

Initialize the otel sdk by adding below lines to config/environment.rb of your Ruby on Rails application.

require 'opentelemetry/sdk'
require_relative 'application'

OpenTelemetry::SDK.configure do |c|
  c.use_all
end

Rails.application.initialize!

Step 3. Running your Ruby application

Run the application using the below:

OTEL_EXPORTER=otlp \
OTEL_SERVICE_NAME=<service_name> \
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=https://ingest.{region}.signoz.cloud:443 \
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS=signoz-access-token=SIGNOZ_INGESTION_KEY \
rails server
  • <service_name> : Name of service. For example, sampleRailsApp
  • SIGNOZ_INGESTION_KEY : The ingestion key sent by SigNoz over email. It can also be found in the settings section of your SigNoz Cloud UI.

Depending on the choice of your region for SigNoz cloud, the ingest endpoint will vary according to this table.

RegionEndpoint
USingest.us.signoz.cloud:443
INingest.in.signoz.cloud:443
EUingest.eu.signoz.cloud:443

Send traces via OTel Collector binary​

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 Ruby on Rails application.

Step 1. Install dependencies

Install dependencies related to OpenTelemetry SDK and exporter using gem.

gem install opentelemetry-sdk
gem install opentelemetry-exporter-otlp
gem install opentelemetry-instrumentation-all

Include the required packages into your gemfile.

gem 'opentelemetry-sdk'
gem 'opentelemetry-exporter-otlp'
gem 'opentelemetry-instrumentation-all'

Run the bundle install command:

bundle install

Step 2. Initialize the OpenTelemetry SDK

Initialize the otel sdk by adding below lines to config/environment.rb of your Ruby on Rails application.

require 'opentelemetry/sdk'
require_relative 'application'

OpenTelemetry::SDK.configure do |c|
  c.use_all
end

Rails.application.initialize!

Step 3. Running your Ruby application

Run the application using the below:

OTEL_EXPORTER=otlp \
OTEL_SERVICE_NAME=<service_name> \
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:4318 \
rails server
  • <service_name> : Name of service. For example, sampleRailsApp

In case you have OtelCollector Agent in different VM, replace localhost:4318 with <IP Address of the VM>:4318.

Send Traces to Self-Hosted SigNoz​

You can follow these steps to send your traces directly to your Self-Host SigNoz instance.

Step 1. Install dependencies

Install dependencies related to OpenTelemetry SDK and exporter using gem.

gem install opentelemetry-sdk
gem install opentelemetry-exporter-otlp
gem install opentelemetry-instrumentation-all

Include the required packages into your gemfile.

gem 'opentelemetry-sdk'
gem 'opentelemetry-exporter-otlp'
gem 'opentelemetry-instrumentation-all'

Run the bundle install command:

bundle install

Step 2. Initialize the OpenTelemetry SDK

Initialize the otel sdk by adding below lines to config/environment.rb of your Ruby on Rails application.

require 'opentelemetry/sdk'
require_relative 'application'

OpenTelemetry::SDK.configure do |c|
  c.use_all
end

Rails.application.initialize!

Step 3. Running your Ruby application

Run the application using the below:

OTEL_EXPORTER=otlp \
OTEL_SERVICE_NAME=<service_name> \
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:4318 \
rails server
  • <service_name> : Name of service. For example, sampleRailsApp

In case you have OtelCollector Agent in different VM, replace localhost:4318 with <IP Address of the VM>:4318.

Tutorials​

Here's a tutorial with step by step guide on how to install SigNoz and start monitoring a sample Ruby on Rails app.

Sample Ruby on Rails application​

We have included a sample Ruby on Rails application with README.md at Sample Rails App Github Repo.

Feel free to use this repo to test out OpenTelemetry instrumentation and how to send telemetry data to SigNoz.

Frequently Asked Questions​

  1. How to find what to use in IP of SigNoz if 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 SigNoz

  2. I 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:

    1. 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.

    2. Your application is not actually generating telemetry data

      Please check if the application is generating telemetry data first. You can use Console Exporter to just print your telemetry data in console first. Join our Slack Community if you need help on how to export your telemetry data in console

    3. Your SigNoz installation is not running or behind a firewall

      Please double check if the pods in SigNoz installation are running fine. docker ps or kubectl get pods -n platform are your friends for this.