Django Notes App with Distributed Tracing

Overview

This is a Django-based Notes application deployed on Kubernetes with distributed tracing using OpenTelemetry and Grafana.

Architecture

• Django Web Application
• PostgreSQL Database
• Kubernetes Deployment
• OpenTelemetry Instrumentation
• Grafana Tempo for Distributed Tracing

Prerequisites

• Kubernetes Cluster
• kubectl
• Helm (optional)
• Docker

Components

• notes-app: Django web application
• postgresql: Database for storing notes

Configuration

Environment Variables

• DB_NAME: Database name (default: notes)
• DB_USER: Database user (default: django)
• DB_PASSWORD: Database password
• OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT: OpenTelemetry collector endpoint

Deployment

kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml

Database Migrations

After deploying, execute database migrations:

# Find the correct pod name
kubectl get pods

# Run makemigrations
kubectl exec <notes-app-pod-name> -- python manage.py makemigrations

# Apply migrations
kubectl exec <notes-app-pod-name> -- python manage.py migrate

Example:

kubectl exec notes-app-64887b67d6-86w86 -- python manage.py makemigrations
kubectl exec notes-app-64887b67d6-86w86 -- python manage.py migrate

Migration Output

When you run migrations, you'll see:

• Creation of initial migrations for notes_app
• Application of Django default migrations (contenttypes, auth, admin, sessions)

⚠️ Always run migrations after initial deployment or when changing models.``

Distributed Tracing

Database Tracing Configuration

• Uses OpenTelemetry Django and Psycopg2 instrumentations
• Traces include:
  • Database connection details
  • Query performance
  • Distributed tracing context

Tracing Packages

• opentelemetry-instrumentation-django
• opentelemetry-instrumentation-psycopg2
• opentelemetry-exporter-otlp

Tracing Features

• Comprehensive OpenTelemetry instrumentation
• Spans for each view method
• Error tracking and status reporting
• Detailed attributes:
  • HTTP methods
  • Note primary keys
  • Form validation status

Traced Operations

• List notes
• Create notes
• Update notes
• Delete notes
• View note details

Tracing Attributes

• http.method: HTTP request method
• notes.count: Number of notes
• note.pk: Primary key of specific notes
• form.is_valid: Form validation status

Debugging Tracing

• Verify OpenTelemetry packages are installed
• Check OTLP exporter configuration
• Ensure tracing is enabled in Django settings

Troubleshooting Tracing

• Verify OTLP exporter endpoint
• Check Grafana Alloy configuration
• Ensure network connectivity between services and tracing backend

Tracing Endpoint

http://grafana-k8s-monitoring-alloy.grafana.svc.cluster.local:4317

Development

1. Clone the repository
2. Install dependencies: pip install -r requirements.txt
3. Run locally: python manage.py runserver

Docker Build

docker build -t dalareo/notes-app:latest .

Monitoring

Traces can be viewed in the Grafana Tempo dashboard.

Security Considerations

⚠️ Update default database credentials in production!