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Configure OpenTelemetry distributed tracing, metrics, and logging in ASP.NET Core using the .NET OpenTelemetry SDK. Use when adding observability, setting up OTLP exporters, creating custom metrics/spans, or troubleshooting distributed trace correlation.
npx skill4agent add dotnet/skills configuring-opentelemetry-dotnet| Input | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| ASP.NET Core project | Yes | The application to instrument |
| Observability backend | No | Where to export: OTLP collector, Aspire dashboard, Jaeger (accepts OTLP natively) |
# Core SDK + ASP.NET Core instrumentation + logging integration
dotnet add package OpenTelemetry.Extensions.Hosting
dotnet add package OpenTelemetry.Instrumentation.AspNetCore
dotnet add package OpenTelemetry.Instrumentation.Http
# Exporter
dotnet add package OpenTelemetry.Exporter.OpenTelemetryProtocol # OTLP exporter for traces, metrics, AND logs
# Optional — dev/local debugging only (do NOT include in production deployments)
# dotnet add package OpenTelemetry.Exporter.ConsoleOpenTelemetryOpenTelemetry.Extensions.Hostingdotnet add package OpenTelemetry.Instrumentation.SqlClient # SQL Server queries
dotnet add package OpenTelemetry.Instrumentation.EntityFrameworkCore # EF Core
dotnet add package OpenTelemetry.Instrumentation.GrpcNetClient # gRPC calls
dotnet add package OpenTelemetry.Instrumentation.Runtime # GC, thread pool metricsusing OpenTelemetry.Resources;
using OpenTelemetry.Trace;
using OpenTelemetry.Metrics;
using OpenTelemetry.Logs;
var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
builder.Services.AddOpenTelemetry()
.ConfigureResource(resource => resource
.AddService(serviceName: builder.Environment.ApplicationName))
.WithTracing(tracing => tracing
.AddAspNetCoreInstrumentation(options =>
{
// Filter out health check endpoints from traces
options.Filter = httpContext =>
!httpContext.Request.Path.StartsWithSegments("/healthz");
})
.AddHttpClientInstrumentation(options =>
{
options.RecordException = true;
})
// Optional: add SQL instrumentation if using SqlClient directly
// .AddSqlClientInstrumentation(options =>
// {
// options.SetDbStatementForText = true;
// options.RecordException = true;
// })
// Custom activity sources (must match ActivitySource names in your code)
.AddSource("MyApp.Orders")
.AddSource("MyApp.Payments")
.AddSource("MyApp.Messaging"))
.WithMetrics(metrics => metrics
.AddAspNetCoreInstrumentation()
.AddHttpClientInstrumentation()
// Optional: .AddRuntimeInstrumentation() for GC and thread pool metrics
// (requires OpenTelemetry.Instrumentation.Runtime package)
// Custom meters (must match Meter names in your code)
.AddMeter("MyApp.Metrics"))
.WithLogging(logging =>
{
logging.IncludeScopes = true;
// logging.IncludeFormattedMessage = true; // Enable if you need the formatted message string in log exports
})
// Single OTLP exporter for all signals — reads OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT
// env var (defaults to http://localhost:4317). Override via environment variable
// or appsettings.json configuration.
.UseOtlpExporter();.WithLogging().ConfigureResource()UseOtlpExporter()SetResourceBuilderusing System.Diagnostics;
using Microsoft.Extensions.Logging;
public class OrderService
{
// Create an ActivitySource matching what you registered in Step 2
private static readonly ActivitySource ActivitySource = new("MyApp.Orders");
private readonly ILogger<OrderService> _logger;
public OrderService(ILogger<OrderService> logger) => _logger = logger;
public async Task<Order> ProcessOrderAsync(CreateOrderRequest request)
{
// Start a new span
using var activity = ActivitySource.StartActivity("ProcessOrder");
// Add attributes (tags) to the span
activity?.SetTag("order.customer_id", request.CustomerId);
activity?.SetTag("order.item_count", request.Items.Count);
try
{
// Child span for validation
using (var validationActivity = ActivitySource.StartActivity("ValidateOrder"))
{
await ValidateOrderAsync(request);
validationActivity?.SetTag("validation.result", "passed");
}
// Child span for payment
using (var paymentActivity = ActivitySource.StartActivity("ProcessPayment",
ActivityKind.Client)) // Client = outgoing call
{
paymentActivity?.SetTag("payment.method", request.PaymentMethod);
await ProcessPaymentAsync(request);
}
var order = new Order { Id = Guid.NewGuid(), CustomerId = request.CustomerId, Status = "Completed" };
activity?.SetTag("order.status", "completed");
activity?.SetStatus(ActivityStatusCode.Ok);
return order;
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
activity?.SetStatus(ActivityStatusCode.Error, ex.Message);
// Log via ILogger — OpenTelemetry captures this with trace correlation.
// Prefer logging over activity.RecordException() as OTel is deprecating
// span events for exception recording in favor of log-based exceptions.
_logger.LogError(ex, "Order processing failed for customer {CustomerId}", request.CustomerId);
throw;
}
}
}ActivitySourceAddSource("...")IMeterFactoryusing System.Diagnostics;
using System.Diagnostics.Metrics;
public class OrderMetrics
{
private readonly Counter<long> _ordersProcessed;
private readonly Histogram<double> _orderProcessingDuration;
private readonly UpDownCounter<int> _activeOrders;
public OrderMetrics(IMeterFactory meterFactory)
{
// Meter name must match AddMeter("...") in configuration
var meter = meterFactory.Create("MyApp.Metrics");
// Counter — use for things that only go up
_ordersProcessed = meter.CreateCounter<long>(
"orders.processed", "orders", "Total orders successfully processed");
// Histogram — use for measuring distributions (latency, sizes)
_orderProcessingDuration = meter.CreateHistogram<double>(
"orders.processing_duration", "ms", "Time to process an order");
// UpDownCounter — use for things that go up AND down
_activeOrders = meter.CreateUpDownCounter<int>(
"orders.active", "orders", "Currently processing orders");
}
public void RecordOrderProcessed(string region, double durationMs)
{
// Tags enable dimensional filtering (by region, status, etc.)
var tags = new TagList
{
{ "region", region },
{ "order.type", "standard" }
};
_ordersProcessed.Add(1, tags);
_orderProcessingDuration.Record(durationMs, tags);
}
}OrderMetricsbuilder.Services.AddSingleton<OrderMetrics>();AddHttpClientInstrumentation()using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Diagnostics;
using OpenTelemetry.Context.Propagation;
// ActivitySource should be static — register via .AddSource("MyApp.Messaging") in Step 2
private static readonly ActivitySource MessageSource = new("MyApp.Messaging");
// Manual context propagation (e.g., across message queues)
// On the SENDING side:
var propagator = Propagators.DefaultTextMapPropagator;
var activityContext = Activity.Current?.Context ?? default;
var context = new PropagationContext(activityContext, Baggage.Current);
var carrier = new Dictionary<string, string>();
propagator.Inject(context, carrier, (dict, key, value) => dict[key] = value);
// Send carrier dictionary as message headers
// On the RECEIVING side:
var parentContext = propagator.Extract(default, carrier,
(dict, key) => dict.TryGetValue(key, out var value) ? new[] { value } : Array.Empty<string>());
Baggage.Current = parentContext.Baggage;
using var activity = MessageSource.StartActivity("ProcessMessage",
ActivityKind.Consumer,
parentContext.ActivityContext); // Links to parent trace!ActivitySourceAddSource()MeterAddMeter()| Pitfall | Solution |
|---|---|
| Source name doesn't match any |
| Traces not appearing in exporter | Check OTLP endpoint: gRPC uses port 4317, HTTP uses 4318 |
| Missing HTTP client spans | Ensure |
| High cardinality tags | Don't use user IDs, request IDs, or UUIDs as metric tags — explodes storage |
| OTLP gRPC vs HTTP mismatch | Default is gRPC (port 4317); if collector only accepts HTTP, set |
| |