AWS X-Ray | Using AWS X-Ray

Question 1

What is the X-Ray agent?

Using AWS X-Ray

AWS X-Ray | Developer Tools

Answer 1

The X-Ray agent collects data from log files and sends them to the X-Ray service for aggregation, analysis, and storage. The agent makes it easier for you to send data to the X-Ray service, instead of using the APIs directly, and is available for Amazon Linux AMI, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), and Windows Server 2012 R2 or later operating systems.

Question 2

How do I get started with X-Ray?

Using AWS X-Ray

AWS X-Ray | Developer Tools

Answer 2

You can get started with X-Ray by including the X-Ray language SDK in your application and installing the X-Ray agent. For more information see the X-Ray user guide.

Question 3

What types of applications can I use with X-Ray?

Using AWS X-Ray

AWS X-Ray | Developer Tools

Answer 3

X-Ray can be used with distributed applications of any size to trace and debug both synchronous requests and asynchronous events. For example, X-Ray can be used to trace web requests made to a web application or asynchronous events that utilize Amazon SQS queues.

Question 4

Which AWS services can I use with X-Ray?

Using AWS X-Ray

AWS X-Ray | Developer Tools

Answer 4

You can use X-Ray with applications running on EC2, ECS, Lambda, and Elastic Beanstalk. In addition, the X-Ray SDK automatically captures metadata for API calls made to AWS services using the AWS SDK. In addition, the X-Ray SDK provides add-ons for MySQL and PostgreSQL drivers.

Question 5

What code changes do I need to make to my application to use X-Ray?

Using AWS X-Ray

AWS X-Ray | Developer Tools

Answer 5

If you’re using Elastic Beanstalk, you will need to include the language-specific X-Ray libraries in your application code. For applications running on other AWS services, such as EC2 or ECS, you will need to install the X-Ray agent and instrument your application code.