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Configure Beyla performance

You can use the eBPF tracer to fine-tune Beyla performance.

You can configure the component under the ebpf section of your YAML configuration or with environment variables.

YAML
environment variable		DescriptionTypeDefault
wakeup_len
BEYLA_BPF_WAKEUP_LEN		Sets how many messages Beyla accumulates in the eBPF ringbuffer before sending a wake-up request to user space. Refer to wakeup len.string(unset)
traffic_control_backend
BEYLA_BPF_TC_BACKEND		Selects the backend for attaching traffic control probes. Refer to the traffic control backend section for details.stringauto
http_request_timeout
BEYLA_BPF_HTTP_REQUEST_TIMEOUT		Sets the time interval after which Beyla considers an HTTP request a timeout. Refer to the http request timeout section for details.string(0ms)
high_request_volume
BEYLA_BPF_HIGH_REQUEST_VOLUME		Sends telemetry events as soon as Beyla detects a response. Refer to the high request volume section for details.boolean(false)

Wakeup len

Beyla accumulates messages in the eBPF ringbuffer and sends a wake-up request to user space when it reaches this value.

For high-load services, set this option higher to reduce CPU overhead.

For low-load services, high values can delay when Beyla submits metrics and when they become visible.

Traffic control backend

This option selects the backend for attaching traffic control probes. Linux 6.6 adds support for TCX, a file-descriptor based traffic control attachment. TCX is more robust, doesn’t require explicit qdisc management, and chains probes deterministically. We recommend the tcx backend for kernels >= 6.6. When set to auto, Beyla chooses the best backend for your kernel.

Accepted backends: tc, tcx, and auto. If you leave this value empty or unset, Beyla uses auto.

Http request timeout

This option sets how long Beyla waits before considering an HTTP request a timeout. Beyla can report HTTP transactions that time out and never return. Set this option to a non-zero value to enable automatic HTTP request timeouts. When a request times out, Beyla reports HTTP status code 408. Disconnects can look like timeouts, so setting this value may increase your request averages.

High request volume

This option makes Beyla send telemetry events as soon as it detects a response. It reduces timing accuracy for requests with large responses, but in high-volume scenarios, it helps reduce dropped trace events.