Q: After deploying OpenTelemetry instrumentation, traces appear in staging but not production. The application logs show spans are being created. Where do you look first?
If spans are created inside the application but do not reach the backend, the problem is usually between the SDK and the telemetry backend.
#Observability #Procedure #1: Clear Deadlock #L2 #Monitoring #Prometheus #SRE
🎙️ Candidate Opening & Architectural Context
""Logs tell you what happened, metrics tell you where to look, and distributed traces pinpoint the exact slow component. The interviewer is testing: OpenTelemetry pipeline debugging, collector/exporter configuration.. I structure my answer around systematic triage first, root cause analysis second, and permanent remediation third.""
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🛠️ Production Runbook & Step-by-Step Resolution
1️⃣
Initial Diagnostics & Root Cause Analysis
If spans are created inside the application but do not reach the backend, the problem is usually between the SDK and the telemetry backend.
- Collector endpoint: Confirm production points to the correct OpenTelemetry Collector address and protocol (
grpcvshttp/protobuf). - Collector pipelines: Verify the
tracespipeline has a receiver, required processors, and the correct exporter wired together. - Exporter errors: Look at collector logs and metrics such as send failures, queue size, dropped spans, and retry counts.
2️⃣
Remediation & Permanent Safeguards
I would check: The fastest test is to enable collector debug logging or temporarily export to a local logging exporter. That proves whether spans reached the collector before debugging the vendor/backend side.
- Network and auth: Check NetworkPolicy, security groups, proxy settings, API keys, and TLS certificates.
- Sampling: Confirm production is not configured with an accidental 0% sampler.
💡 The Senior SRE Gold Nugget (Key Architectural Takeaway)
"Pro-Tip: Collector endpoint: Confirm production points to the correct OpenTelemetry Collector address and protocol (grpc vs http/protobuf).."
⚡ 60-Second Elevator Pitch Talking Points
- Collector endpoint: Confirm production points to the correct OpenTelemetry Collector address and ...
- Collector pipelines: Verify the traces pipeline has a receiver, required processors, and the corr...
- Exporter errors: Look at collector logs and metrics such as send failures, queue size, dropped sp...
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