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Zipkin

You are browsing documentation for an outdated plugin version. See the latest documentation here.

Propagate Zipkin distributed tracing spans, and report spans to a Zipkin server.

Note: The functionality of this plugin as bundled with versions of Kong Gateway (OSS) prior to 0.14.1 and Kong Gateway prior to 0.34 differs from what is documented herein. Refer to the CHANGELOG for details.

Configuration Reference

Enable the plugin on a service

For example, configure this plugin on a service by making the following request:

curl -X POST http://{HOST}:8001/services/{SERVICE}/plugins \
    --data "name=zipkin"  \
    --data "config.http_endpoint=http://your.zipkin.collector:9411/api/v2/spans" \
    --data "config.sample_ratio=0.001"

SERVICE is the id or name of the service that this plugin configuration will target.

First, create a KongPlugin resource:

apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongPlugin
metadata:
  name: <zipkin-example>
config: 
  http_endpoint: http://your.zipkin.collector:9411/api/v2/spans
  sample_ratio: 0.001
plugin: zipkin

Next, apply the KongPlugin resource to a Service by annotating the Service as follows:

apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: {SERVICE}
  labels:
    app: {SERVICE}
  annotations:
    konghq.com/plugins: <zipkin-example>
spec:
  ports:
  - port: 80
    targetPort: 80
    protocol: TCP
    name: {SERVICE}
  selector:
    app: {SERVICE}

{SERVICE} is the id or name of the service that this plugin configuration will target.

Note: The KongPlugin resource only needs to be defined once and can be applied to any service, consumer, or route in the namespace. If you want the plugin to be available cluster-wide, create the resource as a KongClusterPlugin instead of KongPlugin.

For example, configure this plugin on a service by adding this section to your declarative configuration file:

plugins:
- name: zipkin
  service: {SERVICE}
  config: 
    http_endpoint: http://your.zipkin.collector:9411/api/v2/spans
    sample_ratio: 0.001

SERVICE is the id or name of the service that this plugin configuration will target.

Configure this plugin on a service:

  1. In Kong Manager, select the workspace.
  2. From the Dashboard, scroll down to Services and click View for the service row.
  3. Scroll down to plugins and click Add Plugin.

  4. Find and select the Zipkin plugin.

    Note: If the plugin is greyed out, then it is not available for your product tier. See Kong Gateway tiers.
  5. If the option is available, select Scoped.
  6. Add the service name and ID to the Service field if it is not already prefilled.

  7. Enter the following parameters, updating the default or sample values as needed:

    • Config.Http Endpoint: http://your.zipkin.collector:9411/api/v2/spans
  8. Click Create.

Enable the plugin on a route

For example, configure this plugin on a route with:

$ curl -X POST http://{HOST}:8001/routes/{ROUTE}/plugins \
    --data "name=zipkin"  \
    --data "config.http_endpoint=http://your.zipkin.collector:9411/api/v2/spans" \
    --data "config.sample_ratio=0.001"

ROUTE is the id or name of the route that this plugin configuration will target.

First, create a KongPlugin resource:

apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongPlugin
metadata:
  name: <zipkin-example>
config: 
  http_endpoint: http://your.zipkin.collector:9411/api/v2/spans
  sample_ratio: 0.001
plugin: zipkin

Then, apply it to an ingress (Route or Routes) by annotating the ingress as follows:

apiVersion: networking/v1beta1
kind: Ingress
metadata:
  name: {ROUTE}
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: kong
    konghq.com/plugins: <zipkin-example>
spec:
  rules:
  - host: examplehostname.com
    http:
      paths:
      - path: /bar
        backend:
          serviceName: echo
          servicePort: 80

ROUTE is the id or name of the route that this plugin configuration will target.

Note: The KongPlugin resource only needs to be defined once and can be applied to any service, consumer, or route in the namespace. If you want the plugin to be available cluster-wide, create the resource as a KongClusterPlugin instead of KongPlugin.

For example, configure this plugin on a route by adding this section to your declarative configuration file:

plugins:
- name: zipkin
  route: <route>
  config: 
    http_endpoint: http://your.zipkin.collector:9411/api/v2/spans
    sample_ratio: 0.001

ROUTE is the id or name of the route that this plugin configuration will target.

Configure this plugin on a route:

  1. In Kong Manager, select the workspace.
  2. From the Dashboard, select Routes in the left navigation.
  3. Click View for the route row.
  4. Scroll down to plugins and click Add Plugin.

  5. Find and select the Zipkin plugin.

    Note: If the plugin is greyed out, then it is not available for your product tier. See Kong Gateway tiers.
  6. If the option is available, select Scoped.
  7. Add the Route ID if it is not already prefilled.

  8. Enter the following parameters, updating the default or sample values as needed:

    • Config.Http Endpoint: http://your.zipkin.collector:9411/api/v2/spans
  9. Click Create.

Enabling the plugin on a consumer

For example, configure this plugin on a consumer with:

$ curl -X POST http://{HOST}:8001/consumers/{CONSUMER}/plugins \
    --data "name=zipkin"  \
    --data "config.http_endpoint=http://your.zipkin.collector:9411/api/v2/spans" \
    --data "config.sample_ratio=0.001"

CONSUMER is the id or username of the consumer that this plugin configuration will target.

You can combine consumer.id, service.id, or route.id in the same request, to further narrow the scope of the plugin.

First, create a KongPlugin resource:

apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongPlugin
metadata:
  name: <zipkin-example>
config: 
  http_endpoint: http://your.zipkin.collector:9411/api/v2/spans
  sample_ratio: 0.001
plugin: zipkin

Then, apply it to a consumer by annotating the KongConsumer resource as follows:

apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongConsumer
metadata:
  name: {CONSUMER}
  annotations:
    konghq.com/plugins: <zipkin-example>
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: kong

CONSUMER is the id or username of the consumer that this plugin configuration will target.

Note: The KongPlugin resource only needs to be defined once and can be applied to any Service, Consumer, or Route in the namespace. If you want the plugin to be available cluster-wide, create the resource as a KongClusterPlugin instead of KongPlugin.

For example, configure this plugin on a consumer by adding this section to your declarative configuration file:

plugins:
- name: zipkin
  consumer: {CONSUMER}
  config: 
    http_endpoint: http://your.zipkin.collector:9411/api/v2/spans
    sample_ratio: 0.001

CONSUMER is the id or username of the consumer that this plugin configuration will target.

Configure this plugin on a consumer:

  1. In Kong Manager, select the workspace.
  2. From the Dashboard, scroll down to Consumers and click View for the consumer row.
  3. Select the Plugins tab.
  4. Click Add Plugin.

  5. Find and select the Zipkin plugin.

    Note: If the plugin is greyed out, then it is not available for your product tier. See Kong Gateway tiers.
  6. If the option is available, select Global.

  7. Enter the following parameters, updating the default or sample values as needed:

    • Config.Http Endpoint: http://your.zipkin.collector:9411/api/v2/spans
  8. Click Create.

Enable the plugin globally

A plugin which is not associated to any service, route, or consumer is considered global, and will be run on every request. Read the Plugin Reference and the Plugin Precedence sections for more information.

For example, configure this plugin globally with:

$ curl -X POST http://{HOST}:8001/plugins/ \
    --data "name=zipkin"  \
    --data "config.http_endpoint=http://your.zipkin.collector:9411/api/v2/spans" \
    --data "config.sample_ratio=0.001"

Create a KongClusterPlugin resource and label it as global:

apiVersion: configuration.konghq.com/v1
kind: KongClusterPlugin
metadata:
  name: <global-zipkin>
  annotations:
    kubernetes.io/ingress.class: kong
  labels:
    global: \"true\"
config: 
  http_endpoint: http://your.zipkin.collector:9411/api/v2/spans
  sample_ratio: 0.001
plugin: zipkin

For example, configure this plugin using the plugins: entry in the declarative configuration file:

plugins:
- name: zipkin
  config: 
    http_endpoint: http://your.zipkin.collector:9411/api/v2/spans
    sample_ratio: 0.001

Configure this plugin globally:

  1. In Kong Manager, select the workspace.
  2. From the Dashboard, select Plugins in the left navigation.
  3. Click New Plugin.

  4. Find and select the Zipkin plugin.

    Note: If the plugin is greyed out, then it is not available for your product tier. See Kong Gateway tiers.
  5. If the option is available, set the plugin scope to Global.

  6. Enter the following parameters, updating the default/sample values as needed:

    • Config.Http Endpoint: http://your.zipkin.collector:9411/api/v2/spans
  7. Click Create.

Parameters

Here's a list of all the parameters which can be used in this plugin's configuration:

Form Parameter Description
name
required

Type: string		 The name of the plugin, in this case zipkin.
service.id

Type: string		 The ID of the Service the plugin targets.
route.id

Type: string		 The ID of the Route the plugin targets.
consumer.id

Type: string		 The ID of the Consumer the plugin targets.
enabled
required

Type: boolean

Default value: true		 Whether this plugin will be applied.
api_id

Type: string		 The ID of the API the plugin targets.

Note: The API Entity is deprecated in favor of Services since CE 0.13.0 and EE 0.32.
config.http_endpoint
required

Default value:

The full HTTP(S) endpoint to which Zipkin spans should be sent by Kong.
config.sample_ratio
optional

Default value: 0.001

How often to sample requests that do not contain trace ids. Set to 0 to turn sampling off, or to 1 to sample all requests.

How it Works

When enabled, this plugin traces requests in a way compatible with zipkin.

The code is structured around an opentracing core using the opentracing-lua library to collect timing data of a request in each of Kong’s phases. The plugin uses opentracing-lua compatible extractor, injector, and reporters to implement Zipkin’s protocols.

Extractor and Injector

An opentracing “extractor” collects information from an incoming request. If no trace ID is present in the incoming request, then one is probabilistically generated based on the sample_ratio configuration value.

An opentracing “injector” adds trace information to an outgoing request. Currently, the injector is only called for the request proxied by kong; it is not yet used for requests to the database or by other plugins (such as the http-log plugin).

This plugin follows Zipkin’s “B3” specification as to which HTTP headers to use. Additionally, it supports Jaegar-style uberctx- headers for propagating baggage.

Reporter

An opentracing “reporter” is how tracing data is reported to another system. This plugin records tracing data for a given request, and sends it as a batch to a Zipkin server using the Zipkin v2 API. Note that zipkin version 1.31 or higher is required.

The http_endpoint configuration variable must contain the full uri including scheme, host, port and path sections (i.e. your uri likely ends in /api/v2/spans).

FAQ

Can I use this plugin with other tracing systems, like Jaeger?

Probably! Jaeger accepts spans in Zipkin format - see https://www.jaegertracing.io/docs/features/#backwards-compatibility-with-zipkin for more information.