> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.nebius.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# How to ingest traces with Nebius Observability Agent for Kubernetes

Nebius Observability Agent for Kubernetes can receive traces from applications in your Managed Service for Kubernetes® clusters via [OTLP](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/specs/otlp/) and forward them to Nebius AI Cloud. You can then view the traces in Grafana® using the Tempo data source.

## Prerequisites

1. [Install](/cli/install) and [configure](/cli/configure) Nebius AI Cloud CLI.

2. If you don’t have a service account for observability services, [create one](/iam/service-accounts/manage).

3. Make sure that the service account is in a [group](/iam/authorization/groups) that has at least the `viewer` role within your tenant; for example, the default `viewers` group. You can check this in the [Administration → IAM](https://console.nebius.com/iam/service-accounts) section of the web console.

   If the service account is not in the required group, click <Icon icon="https://mintcdn.com/nebius-ai-cloud/1Ha0sWR6e1mnIaHS/_assets/button-vellipsis.svg?fit=max&auto=format&n=1Ha0sWR6e1mnIaHS&q=85&s=e80b8e57c43bfd117679262e6a1334ad" width="12" height="24" data-path="_assets/button-vellipsis.svg" /> → **Add to group**, and select `viewers`.

4. Issue a [static key](/iam/authorization/static-keys) for the service account using the following command:

   ```bash theme={null}
   nebius iam static-key issue \
     --name <name_for_the_key> \
     --account-service-account-id <service_account_ID> \
     --service=OBSERVABILITY
   ```

   Copy the value of the static key from the `token` parameter of the response. You will need it on later steps.

## Enable trace collection

To collect traces from your Managed Service for Kubernetes cluster, enable traces in the Nebius Observability Agent for Kubernetes:

1. Create or update your `values.yaml` file:

   ```yaml theme={null}
   config:
     traces:
       enabled: true
   ```

2. Install or upgrade the Nebius Observability Agent for Kubernetes:

   ```bash theme={null}
   helm upgrade --install nebius-observability-agent oci://cr.nebius.cloud/observability/public/nebius-observability-agent-helm \
     --version $(curl https://nebius-observability-agent.storage.eu-north1.nebius.cloud/nebius-observability-agent-helm/latest-release) \
     --namespace observability --create-namespace \
     --values values.yaml
   ```

For more details on the agent configuration, see [Nebius Observability Agent for Kubernetes](../agents/nebius-o11y-agent).

## Send traces from your application

When traces are enabled, the Nebius Observability Agent for Kubernetes exposes an OTLP endpoint for receiving traces:

```
nebius-observability-agent.<namespace>.svc.cluster.local:4317
```

Where `<namespace>` is the namespace where the agent is installed (default: `observability`).

### Configure your application

Configure your application to send traces to the OTLP endpoint using OpenTelemetry SDK and OTLP exporter for your programming language:

* [Python](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/languages/python/)
* [Java](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/languages/java/)
* [Go](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/languages/go/)
* [JavaScript / Node.js](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/languages/js/)
* [.NET](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/languages/net/)
* [Ruby](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/languages/ruby/)
* [PHP](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/languages/php/)

You can also find instrumentation libraries for your framework in the [OpenTelemetry Registry](https://opentelemetry.io/ecosystem/registry/).

For applications that support OpenTelemetry auto-instrumentation, you can configure the OTLP endpoint using environment variables in your Managed Service for Kubernetes deployment:

```yaml theme={null}
env:
  - name: OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT
    value: "http://nebius-observability-agent.<namespace>.svc.cluster.local:4317"
  - name: OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL
    value: "grpc"
```

Replace `<namespace>` with the namespace where the Nebius Observability Agent for Kubernetes is installed.

## View traces

After configuring trace collection, you can view the traces in Grafana. For instructions on how to connect and explore traces, see [How to view traces in Grafana®](./grafana).

## See also

* [How to view traces in Grafana®](./grafana)
* [Nebius Observability Agent for Kubernetes](../agents/nebius-o11y-agent)
* [OpenTelemetry documentation](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/)
* [OpenTelemetry Registry](https://opentelemetry.io/ecosystem/registry/): find instrumentation libraries for your language or framework