--- title: Instrumenting Node.js applications with EDOT SDKs on Kubernetes description: How to instrument Node.js applications on Kubernetes using the Elastic Distribution of OpenTelemetry (EDOT). url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/opentelemetry/edot-sdks/node/setup/k8s products: - Elastic Cloud Serverless - Elastic Distribution of OpenTelemetry Node - Elastic Distribution of OpenTelemetry SDK - Elastic Observability applies_to: - Serverless Observability projects: Generally available - Elastic Stack: Generally available - Elastic Distribution of OpenTelemetry Node.js: Generally available --- # Instrumenting Node.js applications with EDOT SDKs on Kubernetes Learn how to instrument Node.js applications on Kubernetes, using the OpenTelemetry Operator, the Elastic Distribution of OpenTelemetry (EDOT) Collectors, and the EDOT Node.js SDK. - For general knowledge about the EDOT Node.js SDK, refer to the [EDOT Node.js Intro page](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/opentelemetry/edot-sdks/node) and [Configuration](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/reference/opentelemetry/edot-sdks/node/configuration). - For Node.js auto-instrumentation specifics, refer to [OpenTelemetry Operator Node.js auto-instrumentation](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/kubernetes/operator/automatic/#nodejs). - For general information about instrumenting applications on Kubernetes, refer to [instrumenting applications on Kubernetes](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/solutions/observability/get-started/opentelemetry/use-cases/kubernetes/instrumenting-applications). ## Instrument a Node.js app on Kubernetes Ensure you have successfully [installed the OpenTelemetry Operator](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/solutions/observability/get-started/opentelemetry/use-cases/kubernetes/deployment), and confirm that the following `Instrumentation` object exists in the system: ```bash $ kubectl get instrumentation -n opentelemetry-operator-system NAME AGE ENDPOINT elastic-instrumentation 107s http://opentelemetry-kube-stack-daemon-collector.opentelemetry-operator-system.svc.cluster.local:4318 ``` If your `Instrumentation` object has a different name or is created in a different namespace, you will have to adapt the annotation value in the next step. Enable auto-instrumentation of your Node.js application using one of the following methods: - Edit your application workload definition and include the annotation under `spec.template.metadata.annotations`: ```yaml kind: Deployment metadata: name: nodejs-app namespace: nodejs-ns spec: ... template: metadata: ... annotations: instrumentation.opentelemetry.io/inject-nodejs: opentelemetry-operator-system/elastic-instrumentation ... ``` - Alternatively, add the annotation at namespace level to apply auto-instrumentation in all Pods of the namespace: ```bash kubectl annotate namespace nodejs-ns instrumentation.opentelemetry.io/inject-nodejs=opentelemetry-operator-system/elastic-instrumentation ``` Once the annotation has been set, restart the application to create new Pods and inject the instrumentation libraries: ```bash kubectl rollout restart deployment nodejs-app -n nodejs-ns ``` Verify the [auto-instrumentation resources](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/solutions/observability/get-started/opentelemetry/use-cases/kubernetes/instrumenting-applications#how-auto-instrumentation-works) are injected in the Pods:Run a `kubectl describe` of one of your application Pods and check: - There should be an init container named `opentelemetry-auto-instrumentation-nodejs` in the Pod. For example: ```bash $ kubectl describe pod nodejs-app-8d84c47b8-8h5z2 -n nodejs-ns Name: nodejs-app-8d84c47b8-8h5z2 Namespace: nodejs-ns ... ... Init Containers: opentelemetry-auto-instrumentation-nodejs: Container ID: containerd://cbf67d7ca1bd62c25614b905a11e81405bed6fd215f2df21f84b90fd0279230b Image: docker.elastic.co/observability/elastic-otel-node:0.5.0 Command: cp -r /autoinstrumentation/. /otel-auto-instrumentation-nodejs State: Terminated Reason: Completed Exit Code: 0 Started: Wed, 13 Nov 2024 15:47:02 +0100 Finished: Wed, 13 Nov 2024 15:47:03 +0100 Ready: True Restart Count: 0 Environment: Mounts: /otel-auto-instrumentation-nodejs from opentelemetry-auto-instrumentation-nodejs (rw) /var/run/secrets/kubernetes.io/serviceaccount from kube-api-access-swhn5 (ro) ``` - The main container of the deployment loads the SDK through the `NODE_OPTIONS` environment variable: ```bash ... Containers: nodejs-app: Environment: ... NODE_OPTIONS: --require /otel-auto-instrumentation-nodejs/autoinstrumentation.js OTEL_SERVICE_NAME: nodejs-app OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT: http://opentelemetry-kube-stack-daemon-collector.opentelemetry-operator-system.svc.cluster.local:4318 ... ``` Ensure the environment variable `OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT` points to a valid endpoint and there's network communication between the Pod and the endpoint. - The Pod has an `EmptyDir` volume named `opentelemetry-auto-instrumentation-nodejs` mounted in both the main and the init containers in path `/otel-auto-instrumentation-nodejs`. ```bash Init Containers: opentelemetry-auto-instrumentation-nodejs: ... Mounts: /otel-auto-instrumentation-nodejs from opentelemetry-auto-instrumentation-nodejs (rw) Containers: nodejs-app: ... Mounts: /otel-auto-instrumentation-nodejs from opentelemetry-auto-instrumentation-nodejs (rw) ... Volumes: ... opentelemetry-auto-instrumentation-nodejs: Type: EmptyDir (a temporary directory that shares a pod's lifetime) ``` Confirm data is flowing to **Kibana**: - Open **Observability** → **Applications** → **Service inventory**, and determine if: - The application appears in the list of services (`nodejs-app` in the example). - The application shows transactions and metrics. You may need to generate traffic to your application to see spans and metrics. - For application container logs, open **Kibana Discover** and filter for your Pods' logs. In the provided example, you could filter for them with either of the following: - `k8s.deployment.name: "nodejs-app"` (adapt the query filter to your use case). - `k8s.pod.name: nodejs-app*` (adapt the query filter to your use case). Note that the container logs are not provided by the instrumentation library, but by the DaemonSet collector deployed as part of the [operator installation](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/solutions/observability/get-started/opentelemetry/use-cases/kubernetes/deployment). ## Troubleshooting Refer to [troubleshoot auto-instrumentation](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3028/solutions/observability/get-started/opentelemetry/use-cases/kubernetes/instrumenting-applications#troubleshooting-auto-instrumentation) for further analysis.