PROJECT_DESCRIPTION.md

OpenCensus .NET SDK - distributed tracing and stats collection framework

OpenCensus is a toolkit for collecting application performance and behavior data. It currently includes 3 APIs: stats, tracing and tags.

The library is in Beta stage and APIs are expected to be mostly stable. The library is expected to move to GA stage after v1.0.0 major release.

Please join gitter for help or feedback on this project.

We encourage contributions. Use tags up-for-grabs and good first issue to get started with the project. Follow CONTRIBUTING guide to report issues or submit a proposal.

Packages

API and implementation

Package	MyGet (CI)	NuGet (releases)
OpenCensus
OpenCensus.Abstractions

Data Collectors

Package	MyGet (CI)	NuGet (releases)
Asp.Net Core
.Net Core HttpClient
StackExchange.Redis

Exporters Packages

Package	MyGet (CI)	NuGet (releases)
Zipkin
Prometheus
Application Insights
Stackdriver

OpenCensus QuickStart: collecting data

You can use Open Census API to instrument code and report data. Or use one of automatic data collection modules.

Using ASP.NET Core incoming requests collector

Incoming requests of ASP.NET Core app can be automatically tracked.

1. Install packages to your project: OpenCensus OpenCensus.Collector.AspNetCore

2. Make sure ITracer, ISampler, and IPropagationComponent registered in DI.

   services.AddSingleton<ITracer>(Tracing.Tracer);
   services.AddSingleton<ISampler>(Samplers.AlwaysSample);
   services.AddSingleton<IPropagationComponent>(new DefaultPropagationComponent());

3. Configure data collection singletons in ConfigureServices method:

   public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
   {
       // ...
       services.AddSingleton<RequestsCollectorOptions>(new RequestsCollectorOptions());
       services.AddSingleton<RequestsCollector>();

4. Initialize data collection by instantiating singleton in Configure method

   public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, /*... other arguments*/ )
   {
       // ...
       var collector = app.ApplicationServices.GetService<RequestsCollector>();

Using Dependencies collector

Outgoing http calls made by .NET Core HttpClient can be automatically tracked.

1. Install package to your project: OpenCensus.Collector.Dependencies

2. Make sure ITracer, ISampler, and IPropagationComponent registered in DI.

   services.AddSingleton<ITracer>(Tracing.Tracer);
   services.AddSingleton<ISampler>(Samplers.AlwaysSample);
   services.AddSingleton<IPropagationComponent>(new DefaultPropagationComponent());

3. Configure data collection singletons in ConfigureServices method:

   public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
   {
       // ...
       services.AddSingleton<DependenciesCollectorOptions>(new DependenciesCollectorOptions());
       services.AddSingleton<DependenciesCollector>();

4. Initiate data collection by instantiating singleton in Configure method

   public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, /*... other arguments*/ )
   {
       // ...
       var depCollector = app.ApplicationServices.GetService<DependenciesCollector>();

Using StackExchange.Redis collector

Outgoing http calls to Redis made usign StackExchange.Redis library can be automatically tracked.

1. Install package to your project: OpenCensus.Collector.StackExchangeRedis

2. Make sure ITracer, ISampler, and IExportComponent registered in DI.

   services.AddSingleton<ITracer>(Tracing.Tracer);
   services.AddSingleton<ISampler>(Samplers.AlwaysSample);
   services.AddSingleton<IExportComponent>(Tracing.ExportComponent);

3. Configure data collection singletons in ConfigureServices method:

   public void ConfigureServices(IServiceCollection services)
   {
       // ...
       services.AddSingleton<StackExchangeRedisCallsCollectorOptions>(new StackExchangeRedisCallsCollectorOptions());
       services.AddSingleton<StackExchangeRedisCallsCollector>();

4. Initiate data collection by instantiating singleton in Configure method

   public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, /*... other arguments*/ )
   {
       // ...
       var redisCollector = app.ApplicationServices.GetService<StackExchangeRedisCallsCollector>();
   
       // use collector to configure the profiler
       ConnectionMultiplexer connection = ConnectionMultiplexer.Connect("localhost:6379");
       connection.RegisterProfiler(redisCollector.GetProfilerSessionsFactory());

OpenCensus QuickStart: exporting data

Using Zipkin exporter

Configure Zipkin exporter to see traces in Zipkin UI.

1. Get Zipkin using getting started guide.
2. Start ZipkinTraceExporter as below:
3. See sample for example use.

var exporter = new ZipkinTraceExporter(
  new ZipkinTraceExporterOptions() {
    Endpoint = new Uri("https://<zipkin-server:9411>/api/v2/spans"),
    ServiceName = typeof(Program).Assembly.GetName().Name,
  },
  Tracing.ExportComponent);
exporter.Start();

var span = tracer
            .SpanBuilder("incoming request")
            .SetSampler(Samplers.AlwaysSample)
            .StartSpan();

Thread.Sleep(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1));
span.End();

Using Prometheus exporter

Configure Prometheus exporter to have stats collected by Prometheus.

1. Get Prometheus using getting started guide.
2. Start PrometheusExporter as below.
3. See sample for example use.

var exporter = new PrometheusExporter(
    new PrometheusExporterOptions()
    {
        Url = new Uri("http://localhost:9184/metrics/")
    },
    Stats.ViewManager);

exporter.Start();

try
{
    // record metrics
    statsRecorder.NewMeasureMap().Put(VideoSize, values[0] * MiB).Record();
}
finally
{
    exporter.Stop();
}

Using Stackdriver Exporter

This sample assumes your code authenticates to Stackdriver APIs using service account with credentials stored in environment variable GOOGLE_APPLICATION_CREDENTIALS. When you run on GAE, GKE or locally with gcloud sdk installed - this is typically the case. There is also a constructor for specifying path to the service account credential. See sample for details.

1. Add Stackdriver Exporter package reference.
2. Enable Stackdriver Trace API.
3. Enable Stackdriver Monitoring API.
4. Instantiate a new instance of StackdriverExporter with your Google Cloud's ProjectId
5. See sample for example use.

    var exporter = new StackdriverExporter(
        "YOUR-GOOGLE-PROJECT-ID",
        Tracing.ExportComponent,
        Stats.ViewManager);
    exporter.Start();

Using Application Insights exporter

1. Create Application Insights resource.
2. Set instrumentation key via telemetry configuration object (new TelemetryConfiguration("iKey")). This object may be injected via dependency injection as well.
3. Instantiate a new instance of ApplicationInsightsExporter.
4. See sample for example use.

var config = new TelemetryConfiguration("iKey")
var exporter = new ApplicationInsightsExporter(
    Tracing.ExportComponent,
    Stats.ViewManager,
    config); // either global or local config can be used
exporter.Start();

Versioning

This library follows Semantic Versioning.

GA: Libraries defined at a GA quality level are stable, and will not introduce backwards-incompatible changes in any minor or patch releases. We will address issues and requests with the highest priority. If we were to make a backwards-incompatible changes on an API, we will first mark the existing API as deprecated and keep it for 18 months before removing it.

Beta: Libraries defined at a Beta quality level are expected to be mostly stable and we're working towards their release candidate. We will address issues and requests with a higher priority. There may be backwards incompatible changes in a minor version release, though not in a patch release. If an element is part of an API that is only meant to be used by exporters or other opencensus libraries, then there is no deprecation period. Otherwise, we will deprecate it for 18 months before removing it, if possible.