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Traces from Node.js on AWS Lambda using OpenTelemetry

Deploy this integration to auto-instrument your Node.js application running on AWS Lambda and send the traces to your Logz.io account. This is done by adding a dedicated layer for OpenTelemetry collector, a dedicated layer for Node.js auto-instrumentation and configuring environment variables of these layers. This integration will require no change to your application code.

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This integration only works for the following AWS regions: us-east-1, us-east-2, us-west-1, us-west-2, ap-south-1, ap-northeast-3, ap-northeast-2, ap-southeast-1, ap-southeast-2, ap-northeast-1, eu-central-1, eu-west-1, eu-west-2, eu-west-3, eu-north-1, sa-east-1, ca-central-1.

Before you begin, you'll need:

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Using aws lambda update-function-configuration with --layers replaces all existing layers with the specified ARN(s). To add a new layer without removing existing ones, include all desired layer ARNs in the command, both new and previously attached.

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Adding environmental variables using the AWS CLI commands below, will overwrite all existing variables for your Lambda function.

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This integration uses OpenTelemetry Collector Contrib, not the OpenTelemetry Collector Core.

Add the OpenTelemetry collector layer to your Lambda function​

This layer contains the OpenTelemetry collector that will capture data from your application.

aws lambda update-function-configuration --function-name <<YOUR-LAMBDA_FUNCTION_NAME>> --layers arn:aws:lambda:<<YOUR-AWS-REGION>>:486140753397:layer:logzio-opentelemetry-collector-<<ARCHITECHTURE>>-0_1_0:1

Replace <<YOUR-LAMBDA_FUNCTION_NAME>> with the name of your Lambda function running the Node.js application.

Replace <<YOUR-AWS-REGION>> with the code of your AWS regions, e.g. us-east-1.

Replace <<ARCHITECTURE>> with the target architecture for your Lambda function, either arm64 for ARM-based applications or amd64 (also known as x86_64) for traditional 64-bit Intel/AMD applications.

Create a configuration file for the OpenTelemetry collector​

By default, the OpenTelemetry collector layer exports data to the Lambda console. To customize the collector configuration, you need to add a collector.yaml to your function and specifiy its location via the OPENTELEMETRY_COLLECTOR_CONFIG_FILE environment variable.

The collector.yaml file will have the following configuration:

receivers:
  otlp:
    protocols:
      grpc:
        endpoint: "0.0.0.0:4317"
      http:
        endpoint: "0.0.0.0:4318"

exporters:
  logzio/traces:
    account_token: "<<TRACING-SHIPPING-TOKEN>>"
    region: "<<LOGZIO_ACCOUNT_REGION_CODE>>"

service:
  pipelines:
    traces:
      receivers: [otlp]
      exporters: [logzio/traces]

Replace <<TRACING-SHIPPING-TOKEN>> with the token of the account you want to ship to.

Replace <<LOGZIO_ACCOUNT_REGION_CODE>> with the applicable region code.

tail_sampling defines which traces to sample after all spans in a request are completed. By default, it collects all traces with an error span, traces slower than 1000 ms, and 10% of all other traces.

Additional policy configurations can be added to the processor. For more details, refer to the OpenTelemetry Documentation.

The configurable parameters in the Logz.io default configuration are:

ParameterDescriptionDefault
threshold_msThreshold for the span latency - traces slower than this value will be included.1000
sampling_percentagePercentage of traces to sample using the probabilistic policy.10

Direct the OpenTelemetry collector to the configuration file​

Add OPENTELEMETRY_COLLECTOR_CONFIG_FILE variable to direct the OpenTelemetry collector to the configuration file:

aws lambda update-function-configuration --function-name <<YOUR-LAMBDA_FUNCTION_NAME>> --environment Variables={OPENTELEMETRY_COLLECTOR_CONFIG_FILE=<<PATH_TO_YOUR_COLLECTOR.YAML>>}

Replace <<YOUR-LAMBDA_FUNCTION_NAME>> with the name of your Lambda function running the Node.js application.

Replace <<PATH_TO_YOUR_COLLECTOR.YAML>> with the actual path to your collector.yaml file. (If collector.yaml is located in the root directory of your application, use the path /var/task/collector.yaml.)

Activate tracing for your Lambda function​

aws lambda update-function-configuration --function-name <<YOUR-LAMBDA_FUNCTION_NAME>> --tracing-config Mode=Active

Replace <<YOUR-LAMBDA_FUNCTION_NAME>> with the name of your Lambda function running the Node.js application.

Add the OpenTelemetry Node.js wrapper layer to your Lambda function​

The OpenTelemetry Node.js wrapper layer automatically instruments the Node.js application in your Lambda function.

aws lambda update-function-configuration --function-name <<YOUR-LAMBDA_FUNCTION_NAME>> --layers arn:aws:lambda:<<YOUR-AWS-REGION>>:486140753397:layer:opentelemetry-nodejs-0_1_0:1

Replace <<YOUR-LAMBDA_FUNCTION_NAME>> with the name of your Lambda function running the Node.js application.

Replace <<YOUR-AWS-REGION>> with the code of your AWS regions, e.g. us-east-1.

Add environment variable for the wrapper​

Add the AWS_LAMBDA_EXEC_WRAPPER environment variable to point to the otel-handler executable:

aws lambda update-function-configuration --function-name <<YOUR-LAMBDA_FUNCTION_NAME>> --environment Variables={AWS_LAMBDA_EXEC_WRAPPER=/opt/otel-handler}

Replace <<YOUR-LAMBDA_FUNCTION_NAME>> with the name of your Lambda function running the Node.js application.