Are traces links supported when visualizing traces?

[mauroservienti]

The following screenshot shows how Azure AppInsights visualizes links. Is something similar supported in the Jaeger UI?

We're building an application that heavily uses delayed messages. To comply with tail-sampling delayed messages (and for the sake of the discussion, even published events) start a new trace linked to the parent one.

When visualizing traces in Jaeger, we'd like to navigate those links to connect the dots.

Is that possible in Jaeger?

[dosubot[bot]]

Hello @mauroservienti! I'm here to help you with any issues or questions you may have. Let's tackle this together!

Yes, traces links are supported when visualizing traces in the Jaeger UI. The linkPatterns configuration allows you to create links from fields displayed in the Jaeger UI, including traces.

Here is an example configuration for linkPatterns:

"linkPatterns": [{
    "type": "process",
    "key": "jaeger.version",
    "url": "https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger-client-java/releases/tag/#{jaeger.version}",
    "text": "Information about Jaeger release #{jaeger.version}"
  },
  {
    "type": "tags",
    "key": "uniqueId",
    "url": "https://mykibana.com/uniqueId=#{uniqueId}&traceId=#{trace.traceID}",
    "text": "Redirect to kibana to view log"
  }]

This configuration allows you to create dynamic links based on trace data, similar to how Azure AppInsights visualizes links.

The linkPatterns node can be used to create links from fields displayed in the Jaeger UI. The supported template fields for traces are: duration, endTime, startTime, traceName, and traceID. These fields can be used in the url and text templates to dynamically substitute values based on tags/logs/traces data.

For more detailed configuration options, you can refer to the Jaeger UI Configuration Documentation ^{[1][2][3][4][5]}.

Additionally, the Jaeger UI provides an "embedded" layout mode which is intended to support integrating Jaeger UI into other applications. This mode can be configured via URL query parameters, making it easier to embed Jaeger UI into space-constrained layouts. For example, to show a trace in embedded mode, you can use:

http://localhost:16686/trace/{trace-id}?uiEmbed=v0

This flexibility allows for a more integrated and seamless user experience when visualizing traces and their associated links.

To continue talking to Dosu, mention @dosu.

[mauroservienti]

@dosu, I'm not referring to links as URL links but to linked Activities/Traces.

[dosubot[bot]]

Yes, Jaeger can visualize linked activities or traces as URL links similar to Azure AppInsights. This can be configured using the linkPatterns node in the JSON configuration file. Here is an example configuration:

{
  "linkPatterns": [
    {
      "type": "process",
      "key": "jaeger.version",
      "url": "https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger-client-java/releases/tag/#{jaeger.version}",
      "text": "Information about Jaeger release #{jaeger.version}"
    },
    {
      "type": "tags",
      "key": "uniqueId",
      "url": "https://mykibana.com/uniqueId=#{uniqueId}&traceId=#{trace.traceID}",
      "text": "Redirect to kibana to view log"
    }
  ]
}

This configuration allows you to create links from fields displayed in the Jaeger UI, similar to how Azure AppInsights provides URL links for linked activities or traces ^[1].

To continue talking to Dosu, mention @dosu.