
Description
Auto-instrument an application's HTTP / gRPC / DB traffic with Grafana Beyla eBPF — no code changes, no SDK, no restart. Covers requirements (Linux 5.8+ with BTF, CAP_SYS_ADMIN, host PID), language matrix (Go / Java / Python / Ruby / Node / .NET / Rust / C++ / PHP), Docker + Helm + DaemonSet install, port- / process- / Kubernetes-metadata discovery, OTLP traces + Prometheus metrics export, routes decorator (cardinality control), trace sampling, and Grafana Cloud via Alloy. Use when adding observability to a service you can't recompile, instrumenting a closed-source binary, getting RED metrics + spans onto Tempo/Mimir without touching the app, or rolling Beyla as a cluster-wide DaemonSet — even when the user says "zero-code APM", "instrument legacy app", "trace this binary", "eBPF observability", or "no SDK" without naming Beyla.
SKILL.md
Grafana Beyla
Zero-code HTTP / gRPC / DB instrumentation via eBPF. Emits OTLP traces + Prometheus metrics.
Prerequisites
- Linux kernel 5.8+ with BTF enabled (
ls /sys/kernel/btf/vmlinuxmust exist) - Root or
CAP_SYS_ADMIN(orprivileged: truein Kubernetes +hostPID: true) - x86_64 or ARM64
- An OTLP receiver (Tempo, Alloy, OTel Collector) reachable from Beyla
Common Workflows
1. Instrument a single binary with Docker
# 1. Run Beyla against the app's port (the app must already be running, listening on 8080)
docker run --privileged --pid=host \
-v /sys/kernel/debug:/sys/kernel/debug:ro \
-e BEYLA_OPEN_PORT=8080 \
-e BEYLA_PROMETHEUS_PORT=8999 \
-e OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=http://otel-collector:4318 \
-p 8999:8999 \
grafana/beyla
# 2. Generate some traffic
curl http://localhost:8080/ ; curl http://localhost:8080/api/users/42
# 3. Verify Beyla emitted metrics — should list http_server_request_duration_seconds + counters
curl -s http://localhost:8999/metrics | grep -E '^http_(server|client)_request_duration'
# 4. Verify traces — in Grafana Explore on Tempo, search by service.name (default = process name)
# Or: query Tempo's search API for spans with service.name="<app>"
2. Deploy as a cluster-wide DaemonSet
Full DaemonSet + RBAC YAML lives in references/kubernetes.md. After applying:
# 1. Verify DaemonSet rollout
kubectl -n monitoring rollout status ds/beyla
# 2. Verify pods are Running, one per node
kubectl -n monitoring get pods -l app=beyla -o wide
# 3. Verify eBPF probes attached (no errors mentioning BTF or "permission denied")
kubectl -n monitoring logs ds/beyla --tail=50 | grep -Ei 'error|fail|btf' || echo "clean"
# 4. Verify telemetry is flowing — check the Tempo/Alloy receiver for spans from the cluster
# Or scrape one pod directly:
kubectl -n monitoring port-forward ds/beyla 8999:8999 &
curl -s localhost:8999/metrics | head
3. Send to Grafana Cloud via Alloy
# beyla-config.yml
otel_traces_export: { endpoint: http://alloy:4318 }
otel_metrics_export: { endpoint: http://alloy:4318 }
# Verify Alloy is forwarding — check Alloy UI (localhost:12345) for the
# otelcol.receiver.otlp.beyla component showing received spans/metrics > 0.
Full Alloy + Beyla YAML: references/config.md.
Troubleshooting
failed to load BPF object→ kernel < 5.8 or BTF missing; check/sys/kernel/btf/vmlinux- No spans in Tempo, but Prometheus metrics show → check
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT, protocol (http vs grpc), and ports (4318 http / 4317 grpc) - HTTP route cardinality explosion → set
routes.unmatched: heuristicand add patterns (seereferences/config.md) - Pod restarts with
CrashLoopBackOff→ likely missinghostPID: trueorprivileged: true/ required capabilities
Resources
- Beyla docs
- Beyla GitHub
references/config.md— full config, env vars, samplers, routes decorator, generated metrics table, runtime matrixreferences/kubernetes.md— DaemonSet + RBAC + discovery filters + Helm
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