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AWS X-Ray SDK for .NET and .NET Core

Screenshot of the AWS X-Ray console

Installing

The AWS X-Ray SDK for .NET and .NET Core (.netstandard 2.0 and above) is in the form of Nuget packages. You can install the packages from Nuget gallery or from Visual Studio editor. Search AWSXRayRecorder* to see various middlewares available.

Getting Help

Use the following community resources for getting help with the SDK. We use the GitHub issues for tracking bugs and feature requests.

Opening Issues

If you encounter a bug with the AWS X-Ray SDK for .NET/.NET Core, we want to hear about it. Before opening a new issue, search the existing issues to see if others are also experiencing the issue. Include platform (.NET/ .NET Core). In addition, include the repro case when appropriate.

The GitHub issues are intended for bug reports and feature requests. For help and questions about using the AWS X-Ray SDK for .NET and .NET Core, use the resources listed in the Getting Help section. Keeping the list of open issues lean helps us respond in a timely manner.

Documentation

The developer guide provides in-depth guidance about using the AWS X-Ray service. Following API reference documentation provides guidance for using the SDK and module-level documentation.

Quick Start

  1. Configuration
  2. ASP.NET Core Framework
  3. ASP.NET Framework
  4. Trace AWS SDK request
  5. Trace out-going HTTP requests
  6. Trace Query to SQL Server
  7. Multithreaded Execution
  8. Trace custom methods
  9. Creating custom Segment/Subsegment
  10. Adding metadata/annotations
  11. AWS Lambda support (.NET Core)
  12. ASP.NET Core on AWS Lambda
  13. Logging
  14. Enabling X-Ray on Elastic Beanstalk
  15. Enabling X-Ray on AWS Lambda

Configuration

.NET

You can configure X-Ray in the appsettings of your App.config or Web.config file.

<configuration>
  <appSettings>
    <add key="DisableXRayTracing" value="false"/>
    <add key="AWSXRayPlugins" value="EC2Plugin, ECSPlugin, ElasticBeanstalkPlugin"/>
    <add key="SamplingRuleManifest" value="JSONs\DefaultSamplingRules.json"/>
    <add key="AwsServiceHandlerManifest" value="JSONs\AWSRequestInfo.json"/>
    <add key="UseRuntimeErrors" value="true"/>
  </appSettings>
</configuration>

.NET Core

Following are the steps to configure your .NET Core project with X-Ray.

a) In appsettings.json file, configure items under XRay key

{
  "XRay": {
    "DisableXRayTracing": "false",
    "SamplingRuleManifest": "SamplingRules.json",
    "AWSXRayPlugins": "EC2Plugin, ECSPlugin, ElasticBeanstalkPlugin",
    "AwsServiceHandlerManifest": "JSONs\AWSRequestInfo.json",
    "UseRuntimeErrors":"true"
  }
}

b) Register IConfiguration instance with X-Ray:

using Amazon.XRay.Recorder.Core;
AWSXRayRecorder.InitializeInstance(configuration); // pass IConfiguration object that reads appsettings.json file

Note:

  1. You should configure this before initialization of AWSXRayRecorder instance and using any AWS X-Ray methods.
  2. If you manually need to configure IConfiguration object refer: Link
  3. For more information on configuration, please refer : Link

How to Use

Incoming Requests

ASP.NET Core Framework (.NET Core) : Nuget

You can instrument X-Ray for your ASP.NET Core App in the Configure() method of Startup.cs file of your project.
Note :

  1. Use app.UseXRay() middleware after app.UseExceptionHandler("/Error") in order to catch exceptions.
  2. You need to install Amazon.XRay.Recorder.Handlers.AspNetCore nuget package. This package adds extension methods to the IApplicationBuilder to make it easy to register AWS X-Ray to the ASP.NET Core HTTP pipeline.

A) With default configuration:

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder;

public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, IHostingEnvironment env)
{
    app.UseExceptionHandler("/Error");
    app.UseXRay("SampleApp"); // name of the app
    app.UseStaticFiles(); // rest of the middlewares
    app.UseMVC();
}

B) With custom X-Ray configuration

using Microsoft.AspNetCore.Builder;

public void Configure(IApplicationBuilder app, IHostingEnvironment env)
{
    app.UseExceptionHandler("/Error");
    app.UseXRay("SampleApp",configuration); // IConfiguration object is not required if you have used "AWSXRayRecorder.InitializeInstance(configuration)" method
    app.UseStaticFiles(); // rest of the middlewares
    app.UseMVC();	
}

Instead of name you can also pass SegmentNamingStrategy in the above two ways. Please refer: Link

ASP.NET Framework (.NET) : Nuget

HTTP Message handler for ASP.NET framework
Register your application with X-Ray in the Init() method of global.asax file

using Amazon.XRay.Recorder.Handlers.AspNet;

public class MvcApplication : System.Web.HttpApplication
{
     public override void Init()
     {
        base.Init();
        AWSXRayASPNET.RegisterXRay(this, "ASPNETTest"); // default name of the web app
     }
}

At the start of each Http request, a segment is created and stored in the context (Key : AWSXRayASPNET.XRayEntity) of HttpApplication instance. If users write their custom error handler for ASP.NET framework, they can access segment for the current request by following way :

<%@ Import Namespace="Amazon.XRay.Recorder.Handlers.AspNet" %>
<%@ Import Namespace="Amazon.XRay.Recorder.Core.Internal.Entities" %>
<script runat="server">
  protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
  {
     var context = System.Web.HttpContext.Current.ApplicationInstance.Context;
     var segment = (Segment) context.Items[AWSXRayASPNET.XRayEntity]; // get segment from the context
     segment.AddMetadata("Error","404");
  }
</script>

Trace AWS SDK request (.NET and .NET Core) : Nuget

using Amazon.XRay.Recorder.Handlers.AwsSdk;

AWSSDKHandler.RegisterXRayForAllServices(); //place this before any instantiation of AmazonServiceClient
AmazonDynamoDBClient client = new AmazonDynamoDBClient(RegionEndpoint.USWest2); // AmazonDynamoDBClient is automatically registered with X-Ray

Methods of AWSSDKHandler class:

AWSSDKHandler.RegisterXRayForAllServices(); // all instances of AmazonServiceClient created after this line are registered

AWSSDKHandler.RegisterXRay<IAmazonDynamoDB>(); // Registers specific type of AmazonServiceClient : All instances of IAmazonDynamoDB created after this line are registered

AWSSDKHandler.RegisterXRayManifest(String path); // To configure custom AWS Service Manifest file. This is optional, if you have followed "Configuration" section

Trace out-going HTTP requests (.NET and .NET Core) : Nuget

Using System.Net.HttpWebRequest

Synchronous request

An extension method GetResponseTraced() is provided to trace GetResponse() in System.Net.HttpWebRequest class. If you want to trace the out-going HTTP request, call the GetResponseTraced() instead of GetResponse(). The extension method will generate a trace subsegment, inject the trace header to the out-going HTTP request header and collect trace information.

using AWSXRayRecorder.Handlers.System.Net;

HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest) WebRequest.Create(URL); // enter desired url

// Any other configuration to the request

request.GetResponseTraced();

Asynchronous request

An extension method GetAsyncResponseTraced() is provided to trace GetResponseAsync() in System.Net.HttpWebRequest class. If you want to trace the out-going HTTP request, call the GetAsyncResponseTraced() instead of GetResponseAsync(). The extension method will generate a trace subsegment, inject the trace header to the out-going HTTP request header and collect trace information.

using AWSXRayRecorder.Handlers.System.Net;

HttpWebRequest request = (HttpWebRequest) WebRequest.Create(URL); // enter desired url

// Any other configuration to the request

request.GetAsyncResponseTraced();

Using System.Net.HttpClient

A handler derived from DelegatingHandler is provided to trace the HttpMessageHandler.SendAsync method

using AWSXRayRecorder.Handlers.System.Net;

var httpClient = new HttpClient(new HttpClientXRayTracingHandler(new HttpClientHandler()));

// Any other configuration to the client

httpClient.GetAsync(URL);

Trace Query to SQL Server (.NET and .NET Core) : Nuget

The SDK provides a wrapper class for System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand. The wrapper class can be used interchangable with SqlCommand class. By replacing instance of SqlCommand to TraceableSqlCommand, synchronized/asynchronized method will automatically generate subsegment for the SQL query.

Synchronous query

using AWSXRayRecorder.Handlers.SqlServer;

using (var connection = new SqlConnection("fake connection string"))
using (var command = new TraceableSqlCommand("SELECT * FROM products", connection))
{
    command.ExecuteNonQuery();
}

Asynchronous query

using AWSXRayRecorder.Handlers.SqlServer;

using (var connection = new SqlConnection(ConnectionString))
{
    var command = new TraceableSqlCommand("SELECT * FROM Products FOR XML AUTO, ELEMENTS", connection);
    command.Connection.Open();
    await command.ExecuteXmlReaderAsync();
}

Multithreaded Execution (.NET and .NET Core) : Nuget

In multithreaded execution, X-Ray context from current to its child thread is automatically set.

using AWSXRayRecorder.Core;

private static void TestMultiThreaded()
{
    int numThreads = 3;
    AWSXRayRecorder.Instance.BeginSegment("MainThread");
    Thread[] t= new Thread[numThreads];
 
    for(int i = 0; i < numThreads; i++)
    {
    	t[i] = new Thread(()=>MakeHttpRequest(i)); 
        t[i].Start();
    }
    for (int i = 0; i < numThreads; i++)
    {
        t[i].Join();
    }

    AWSXRayRecorder.Instance.EndSegment();
}

private static void MakeHttpRequest(int i)
{
    AWSXRayRecorder.Instance.TraceMethodAsync("Thread "+i, CreateRequestAsync<HttpResponseMessage>).Wait();
}

private static async Task<HttpResponseMessage> CreateRequestAsync <TResult>()
{
    var request = new HttpClient();
    var result = await request.GetAsync(URL); // Enter desired url
    return result;
}

Note:

  1. Context used to save traces in .NET : CallContext
  2. Context used to save traces in .NET Core : AsyncLocal

Trace custom methods (.NET and .NET Core)

It may be useful to further decorate portions of an application for which performance is critical. Generating subsegments around these hot spots will help in understanding their impact on application performance.

Synchronous method

using AWSXRayRecorder.Core;

AWSXRayRecorder.Instance.TraceMethod("custom method", () => DoSomething(arg1, arg2, arg3));

Asynchronous method

using AWSXRayRecorder.Core;

var response = await AWSXRayRecorder.Instance.TraceMethodAsync("AddProduct", () => AddProduct<Document>(product));

private async Task<Document> AddProduct <TResult>(Product product)
{
    var document = new Document();
    document["Id"] = product.Id;
    document["Name"] = product.Name;
    document["Price"] = product.Price;
    return await LazyTable.Value.PutItemAsync(document);
}

Creating custom Segment/Subsegment (.NET and .NET Core)

Segment

using AWSXRayRecorder.Core;

AWSXRayRecorder.Instance.BeginSegment("segment name"); // generates `TraceId` for you
try
{
    DoSometing();
    // can create custom subsegments
}
catch (Exception e)
{
    AWSXRayRecorder.Instance.AddException(e);
}
finally
{
    AWSXRayRecorder.Instance.EndSegment();
}

If you want to pass custom TraceId:

using AWSXRayRecorder.Core;

String traceId = TraceId.NewId(); // This function is present in : Amazon.XRay.Recorder.Core.Internal.Entities
AWSXRayRecorder.Instance.BeginSegment("segment name",traceId); // custom traceId used while creating segment
try
{
    DoSometing();
    // can create custom subsegments
}
catch (Exception e)
{
    AWSXRayRecorder.Instance.AddException(e);
}
finally
{
    AWSXRayRecorder.Instance.EndSegment();
}

Subsegment

Note: This should only be used after BeginSegment() method.

using AWSXRayRecorder.Core;

AWSXRayRecorder.Instance.BeginSubsegment("subsegment name");
try
{
    DoSometing();
}
catch (Exception e)
{
    AWSXRayRecorder.Instance.AddException(e);
}
finally
{
    AWSXRayRecorder.Instance.EndSubsegment();
}

Adding metadata/annotations (.NET and .NET Core)

using Amazon.XRay.Recorder.Core;
AWSXRayRecorder.Instance.AddAnnotation("mykey", "my value");
AWSXRayRecorder.Instance.AddMetadata("my key", "my value");

AWS Lambda support (.NET Core)

You can create Subsegment inside lambda function.
Note: The AWS Lambda execution environment creates a Segment before the Lambda function is invoked, so a Segment cannot be created inside the Lambda function.

public string FunctionHandler(string input, ILambdaContext context)
{
    AWSXRayRecorder recorder = new AWSXRayRecorder();
    recorder.BeginSubsegment("UpperCase");
    recorder.BeginSubsegment("Inner 1");
    String result = input?.ToUpper();
    recorder.EndSubsegment();
    recorder.BeginSubsegment("Inner 2");
    recorder.EndSubsegment();
    recorder.EndSubsegment();
    return result;
}

ASP.NET Core on AWS Lambda (.NET Core)

We support instrumenting ASP.NET Core web app on Lambda. Please follow the steps of ASP.NET Core instrumentation.

Logging (.NET)

The AWS X-Ray .NET SDK share the same logging mechanism as AWS .NET SDK. If the application had already configured logging for AWS .NET SDK, it should just work for AWS X-Ray .NET SDK. The recommended way to configure an application is to use the element in the project’s App.config or Web.config file.

<configuration>
  <configSections>
    <section name="aws" type="Amazon.AWSSection, AWSSDK.Core"/>
  </configSections>
  <aws>
    <logging logTo="Log4Net"/>
  </aws>
</configuration>

Other ways to configure logging is to edit the element in the App.config or Web.config file, and set property values in the AWSConfig class. Refer to the following page for more details and example : Link

Logging (.NET Core)

Currently we support log4net logging and options provided in LoggingOptions. You should configure logging before initialization of AWSXRayRecorder instance or using any X-Ray methods.
Following is the way to configure logging with X-Ray SDK:

using Amazon;
using Amazon.XRay.Recorder.Core;

class Program
{
    static Program()
    {
         AWSXRayRecorder.RegisterLogger(LoggingOptions.Log4Net); // Log4Net instance should already be configured before this point
    }
}

log4net.config example:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<log4net>
  <appender name="FileAppender" type="log4net.Appender.FileAppender,log4net">
    <file value="c:\logs\sdk-log.txt" />
    <layout type="log4net.Layout.PatternLayout">
      <conversionPattern value="%date [%thread] %level %logger - %message%newline" />
    </layout>
  </appender>
  <logger name="Amazon">
    <level value="DEBUG" />
    <appender-ref ref="FileAppender" />
  </logger>
</log4net>

Note: For log4net configuration, refer : Link

License

The AWS X-Ray SDK for .NET and .NET Core is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License. See LICENSE and NOTICE.txt for more information.

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