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Grafana Cloud

Traceroute check

A Traceroute check runs a traceroute from probes to targets. You can trace the path of a request through the internet and get more detailed information about how your requests are flowing through the public internet.

Traceroute check can be useful to visualize network path, see how that path changes over time, and how it’s reaching the destination.

For more details, refer to How traceroute in the Synthetic Monitoring plugin for Grafana Cloud helps network troubleshooting.

Options

The list of common options to all check types:

OptionDescription
EnabledWhether the check is enabled or not.
Job nameRefer to the check name. Check metrics include a job label with the value of this option.
TargetTarget of the check request. Check metrics include an instance label with the value of this option.
Probe locationsThe locations where the check should run from. Check metrics include a probe label with the value of the probe location running the check.
FrequencyThe frequency the check should run in seconds. The value can range from 60 to 3600 seconds. Only the sm_check_info metric includes the frequency label.
TimeoutMaximum execution time for the check. The value can range from 1 to 60 seconds.
Custom labels(Optional) Custom labels applied to check metrics. Refer to Custom labels for querying instructions.

Additionally, Traceroute checks have the following options:

Option nameDescription
Max hopsMaximum number of hops before giving up.
Max unknown hopsMaximum number of unknown hops before giving up.
PTR lookupPerform a reverse lookup from IP to hostname.
Publish full set of metricsWhether to publish additional metrics to create histograms (used for Apdex scores or heatmaps). Default is false to reduce the number of active series.

These last options don’t produce any additional labels in the resulting check metrics.

Metrics

Checks store their results as Prometheus metrics, including the list of common metrics:

MetricDescription
probe_all_duration_secondsReturns how long the probe took to complete in seconds (histogram).
probe_duration_secondsReturns how long the probe took to complete in seconds.
probe_all_successDisplays whether or not the probe was a success (summary).
probe_successDisplays whether or not the probe was a success.
sm_check_infoProvides information about a single check configuration.

Additionally, Traceroute checks produce the following metrics:

MetricDescription
probe_traceroute_packet_loss_percentOverall percentage of packet loss during the traceroute.
probe_traceroute_route_hashHash of all the hosts in a traceroute path. Used to determine route volatility.
probe_traceroute_total_hopsTotal hops to reach a traceroute destination.