otel-nr-dt

OpenTelemetry with New Relic Distributed Tracing

Introduction

This project demonstrates distributed tracing for two Java applications, one instrumented with OpenTelemetry, the other with the New Relic java agent.

The project is composed of two modules:

• nr-app: A simple Java application instrumented with the New Relic Java Agent running on http://localhost:8081.
• otel-app: A simple Java application instrumented manually with the OpenTelemetry API running on http://localhost:8080.

Each application contains a simple GET /ping route, and a route to call the other application's GET /ping route. This allows distributed tracing to be demonstrated when originating from an OpenTelemetry instrumented application, and from a New Relic instrumented application. The routes are as follows:

• GET http://localhost:8081/callOtelApp: Return OpenTelemetry application's GET /ping at GET http://localhost:8080/ping
• GET http://localhost:8080/callNewRelicApp: Return New Relic application's GET /ping at GET http://localhost:8081/ping

Distributed trace context is propagated via W3C Trace Context headers in both directions.

Run

Set the following environment variables:

• NEW_RELIC_LICENSE_KEY=<your_license_key>
  • Replace <your_license_key> with your Account License Key.
• Optional OTLP_HOST=http://your-collector:4317
  • The OpenTelemetry application is configured to export to New Relic via OTLP by default. Optionally change it by setting this environment variable.

Run both applications from a shell in the java root as follows. NOTE, you'll need to set the NEW_RELIC_LICENSE_KEY environment variable in both shells.

# Run the New Relic app in one shell
./gradlew otel-nr-dt:nr-app:bootRun

# Run the OpenTelemetry app in a separate shell
./gradlew otel-nr-dt:otel-app:bootRun

To demonstrate distributed tracing, invoke each application:

# Distributed trace starts in New Relic application and makes external call to OpenTelemetry application
curl http://localhost:8081/callOtelApp

# Distributed trace starts in OpenTelemetry application and makes external call to New Relic application
curl http://localhost:8080/callNewRelicApp

You should see spans from the OpenTelemetry application show up in the collector logs.

You should see distributed traces from both applications in your New Relic account that resemble:

New Relic App Rooted Trace

OpenTelemetry App Rooted Trace