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• Prerequisites
• Setup Steps
• Parameters
• Instrumenting a Java Based Container

The Wavefront Java Tracing Agent provides application observability. No code changes are required.

The Wavefront Java Tracing Agent includes:

• The Java OpenTracing SpecialAgent, which automatically instruments Java applications with traces.
• The Wavefront OpenTracing Bundle (implemented in this repository), which sends the tracing data to Wavefront.

Before you start implementing, let us make sure you are using the correct SDK!

Note:

• This is the Wavefront by VMware Java Tracing Agent! If this is not what you were looking for, see the table given below.
• Want control over instrumenting your code? Use the Wavefront Java OpenTracing SDK.
• See instrument your application for tracing for more information.

• Java 7 or above.
• Download the latest version of the Java OpenTracing SpecialAgent to your application's directory.

Follow the steps given below:

1. You can configure the Tracer parameters using any of the following methods.

   • Create a file named tracer.properties in the application's directory and use the following template to configure the properties.

     This file is used to configure your Wavefront Tracer instance for reporting and to configure tags specific to the application.

     Example:

     # Required application tags
     wf.application=myApp
     wf.service=myService
     
     # Optional application tags
     wf.cluster=us-west
     wf.shard=primary
     
     # Reporting through direct ingestion
     wf.reportingMechanism=direct
     wf.server=<replace-with-wavefront-url>
     wf.token=<replace-with-wavefront-api-token>
     
     # Reporting with a Wavefront proxy
     #wf.reportingMechanism=proxy
     #wf.proxyHost=<replace-with-wavefront-proxy-hostname>
     #wf.proxyMetricsPort=2878
     #wf.proxyDistributionsPort=2878
     #wf.proxyTracingPort=30000

   • Configure the parameters by overriding the existing parameters using system properties.

     Example:

     java -cp:$MYCLASSPATH:wavefront-opentracing-bundle-java.jar \
         -Dwf.service=MyOtherService \
         com.mycompany.MyOtherService

   • Configure the Tracer parameters via YAML files. You need two YAML files:

     • One to configure application tags.
     • Another to configure Wavefront reporting.

     The paths to these YAML files need be specified in tracer.properties or as system properties:

     Example: Define the paths to the YAML files via System properties.

     java -cp:$MYCLASSPATH:wavefront-opentracing-bundle-java.jar \
         -Dwf.applicationTagsYamlFile=application-tags.yaml \
         -Dwf.reportingConfigYamlFile=wf-reporting-config.yaml \
         com.mycompany.MyService

     Note: The parameters configured via tracer.properties or system properties override the parameters configured via YAML files.

2. Attach the Java OpenTracing SpecialAgent to your application and send traces to Wavefront by adding -Dsa.exporter=wavefront. For more information, see the Java OpenTracing SpecialAgent's documentation.
   

   Note: The Wavefront OpenTracing Bundle is included with v1.4.1 and above of the Java OpenTracing SpecialAgent, so you no longer need the Wavefront OpenTracing Bundle JAR.
   

   Example:

   java -javaagent:opentracing-specialagent-1.7.4.jar \
       -Dsa.exporter=wavefront \
       -Dwf.service=myService \
       -jar MyService.jar

Wavefront Tracer parameters use the prefix wf.:

You can instrument a Java-based container using the OpenTracing Special Agent. For more information, see Container Instrumentation.