Distributed Tracing with Sleuth/Zipkin
Integrate Spring Cloud Sleuth and Zipkin for distributed tracing, gaining visibility into request flows across microservices.
Distributed Tracing with Sleuth/Zipkin is a free API Gateway & Reverse Proxy (Nginx + Spring Cloud Gateway) lesson on CoddyKit — lesson 2 of 4. You can read the complete lesson below for free — then practise it hands-on in the browser with a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor. It is part of the API Gateway & Reverse Proxy (Nginx + Spring Cloud Gateway) learning path, one of 4 lessons in the course, and your progress syncs across the web and the CoddyKit app.
What is Distributed Tracing?
In microservices, a single user request often travels through many different services. This makes it hard to follow the request's journey!
Distributed tracing is a technique that helps you track the path of a request as it moves across various services in your system.
Why Trace Microservices?
Without tracing, debugging issues in microservices is like finding a needle in a haystack. You don't know which service failed or where the delay occurred.
- Debugging: Pinpoint errors faster.
- Performance: Identify bottlenecks in the request flow.
- Visibility: Understand how services interact.
Sleuth: The Tracing Enabler
Spring Cloud Sleuth integrates with Spring applications to automatically add tracing information to requests and logs.
It injects unique identifiers into HTTP headers and logging contexts, allowing you to link related operations across services.
Trace & Span IDs Explained
Sleuth uses two main IDs:
- Trace ID: A unique ID for the entire request, from start to finish, across all services it touches.
- Span ID: A unique ID for a single operation or unit of work within a service (e.g., an HTTP request or a method call). Spans form a tree structure within a trace.
Add Sleuth Dependency
To enable Sleuth in your Spring Boot application, add the spring-cloud-starter-sleuth dependency to your pom.xml (Maven) or build.gradle (Gradle).
For Maven:
<dependency>
<groupId>org.springframework.cloud</groupId>
<artifactId>spring-cloud-starter-sleuth</artifactId>
</dependency>For Gradle:
implementation 'org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-starter-sleuth'Zipkin: The Tracing UI
While Sleuth adds tracing info, you need a way to collect and visualize it. That's where Zipkin comes in!
Zipkin is a distributed tracing system that collects and stores trace data, then provides a web UI to search and view these traces.
Run Zipkin Server
The easiest way to get Zipkin running locally is using Docker. This command pulls the Zipkin image and starts it on port 9411.
docker run -d -p 9411:9411 openzipkin/zipkinYou can then access the Zipkin UI at http://localhost:9411 in your browser.
Configure Sleuth for Zipkin
Once Zipkin is running, tell your Sleuth-enabled Spring Boot application where to send its trace data. Add this to your application.properties or application.yml.
application.properties:
spring.zipkin.base-url=http://localhost:9411Now, your application will send trace data to the local Zipkin server.
Tracing a Service Call
Let's see how a simple Spring Boot service logs trace IDs. With Sleuth, your logs will automatically include [appName,traceId,spanId,exportable].
Run this simple app, then make a request to /hello. Check the console logs for the added IDs.
import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
import org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.SpringBootApplication;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.GetMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RestController;
@SpringBootApplication
@RestController
public class TracingApp {
public static void main(String[] args) {
SpringApplication.run(TracingApp.class, args);
}
@GetMapping("/hello")
public String hello() {
System.out.println("Hello endpoint called!");
return "Hello from TracingApp!";
}
}Quick Check
Which of the following statements correctly describe the roles of Spring Cloud Sleuth and Zipkin in distributed tracing? (Select all that apply)
Recap & Next Steps
You've learned how distributed tracing helps in microservices, especially with Spring Cloud Sleuth and Zipkin.
- Sleuth: Integrates with Spring apps to inject
traceIdandspanId. - Zipkin: Collects these traces and provides a UI for visualization and analysis.
These tools are crucial for understanding and debugging complex distributed systems.
Frequently asked questions
Is the “Distributed Tracing with Sleuth/Zipkin” lesson free?
Yes — the full text of “Distributed Tracing with Sleuth/Zipkin” is free to read here on the web, and the API Gateway & Reverse Proxy (Nginx + Spring Cloud Gateway) course includes 4 lessons in total. To practise it interactively (a built-in code editor and a 24/7 AI tutor) and unlock the rest of the API Gateway & Reverse Proxy (Nginx + Spring Cloud Gateway) course, upgrade to CoddyKit PRO.
What will I learn in “Distributed Tracing with Sleuth/Zipkin”?
Integrate Spring Cloud Sleuth and Zipkin for distributed tracing, gaining visibility into request flows across microservices. You practise API Gateway & Reverse Proxy (Nginx + Spring Cloud Gateway) with hands-on code you run directly in the browser, and a 24/7 AI tutor answers your questions as you work through the lesson.
Do I need any experience to start API Gateway & Reverse Proxy (Nginx + Spring Cloud Gateway)?
No prior experience is required. API Gateway & Reverse Proxy (Nginx + Spring Cloud Gateway) on CoddyKit is structured for beginners through advanced learners; this is — lesson 2 of 4, so you can start here or from the beginning and move at your own pace.
How long does the “Distributed Tracing with Sleuth/Zipkin” lesson take?
Most CoddyKit lessons take about 5–10 minutes. Each one is bite-sized and interactive, so you make steady progress and pick up exactly where you left off across the web and the app.
Can I write and run code in this API Gateway & Reverse Proxy (Nginx + Spring Cloud Gateway) lesson?
Yes. Every API Gateway & Reverse Proxy (Nginx + Spring Cloud Gateway) lesson includes a built-in code editor, so you write and run real code right in your browser and get instant AI feedback — no local setup required.
All lessons in this course
- JWT Authentication & Authorization
- Distributed Tracing with Sleuth/Zipkin
- Centralized Configuration with Config Server
- Exposing Metrics with Actuator & Prometheus