Demo Setting up X Ray with a Sample Application

In this guide, you’ll learn how to deploy a demo app on AWS, instrument it with AWS X-Ray, and analyze traces and service maps in Amazon CloudWatch. By the end, you’ll have end-to-end visibility into a microservices architecture using HTTP endpoints, ECS, and DynamoDB.

Prerequisites

• An AWS account with permissions for CloudWatch, X-Ray, CloudFormation, ECS, DynamoDB, and IAM
• AWS CLI or Console access

Step 1: Deploy the Sample Application via CloudFormation

1. Log in to the AWS Console and open CloudWatch.
2. In the left sidebar, expand X-Ray Traces and select Service Map.
3. Click Setup Demo App, then choose Create Sample Application with CloudFormation.
4. Proceed through the wizard without changing defaults:
   • Next → Next
   • Acknowledge IAM capabilities → Submit

This creates a CloudFormation stack named xray-sample.

Step 2: Wait for Stack Completion

Monitor the stack events and wait until the status changes to CREATE_COMPLETE.

Step 3: Retrieve the Load Balancer URL

1. Once complete, switch to the Outputs tab.
2. Copy the LoadBalancerUrl value.

Step 4: Launch the Scorekeep Web App

Paste the LoadBalancerUrl into your browser to open the Scorekeep application.

Step 5: Create and Play a Game Session

1. Click Create.
2. Enter a session name (e.g., “ABC Tools Tic-Tac-Toe”).
3. Click Create, then Play.

Play several rounds of tic-tac-toe. AWS X-Ray collects traces for every request behind the scenes.

Step 6: View the Service Map

1. In the Scorekeep UI, click View Service Map.
2. This opens the X-Ray console displaying your microservices topology.

Drill Into Nodes and Traces

• Select any node (e.g., DynamoDB for user data).
• View metrics, latency distributions, and HTTP metadata.
• Click View traces to access individual X-Ray segments.

Opening a specific trace reveals each segment’s timeline:

Here you’ll see:

• A GET call to the Scorekeep endpoint
• The corresponding GetItem action on DynamoDB
• Latency and HTTP status codes for each segment

This full-stack visibility helps you pinpoint latency spikes, errors, and resource bottlenecks.

AWS X-Ray Key Components

Best Practices

• Enable X-Ray tracing in production by integrating the AWS X-Ray SDK into your code.
• Use sampling rules to control data volume and cost.
• Tag resources for trace grouping and filtering.

References

• AWS X-Ray Developer Guide
• Amazon CloudWatch Documentation
• AWS CloudFormation User Guide