Quick start for Tempo

The Tempo repository provides multiple examples to help you quickly get started using Tempo and tracing data.

Every example has a docker-compose.yaml manifest that includes all of the options needed to explore trace data in Grafana, including resource configuration and trace data generation. The Tempo examples running with docker-compose all include a version of Tempo and a storage configuration like Amazon S3 and GCS.

This quick start guide uses the local example running Tempo as a single binary (monolithic). Any data is stored locally in the tempo-data folder. To learn more, read the local storage example README.

Alternative: Complete MLT example

If you would like to use a demo with Tempo, Mimir, Loki and Grafana, then try the Introduction to Metrics, Logs and Traces in Grafana. Intro-to-mlt provides a self-contained environment for learning about Mimir, Loki, Tempo, and Grafana. It includes detailed explanations of each component and annotated configurations for a single-instance deployment. Data from intro-to-mlt can also be pushed to Grafana Cloud.

Before you begin

To follow this guide, you need:

Git, Docker, and docker-compose plugin

Clone Tempo and start Docker

Clone the Tempo repository:

git clone https://github.com/grafana/tempo.git

Go into the examples directory:
```
cd tempo/example/docker-compose/local
```
Start the services that are defined in the docker-compose file:
```
docker compose up -d
```

Verify that the services are running using docker compose ps. You should see something like:

docker compose ps
NAME                 COMMAND                  SERVICE             STATUS              PORTS
local-grafana-1      "/run.sh"                grafana             running             0.0.0.0:3000->3000/tcp
local-k6-tracing-1   "/k6-tracing run /ex…"   k6-tracing          running
local-prometheus-1   "/bin/prometheus --c…"   prometheus          running             0.0.0.0:9090->9090/tcp
local-tempo-1        "/tempo -config.file…"   tempo               running             0.0.0.0:3200->3200/tcp, 0.0.0.0:4317-4318->4317-4318/tcp, 0.0.0.0:9411->9411/tcp, 0.0.0.0:14268->14268/tcp

As part of the docker compose manifest, Grafana is now reachable on port 3000. Open a browser to localhost:3000 and sign in to Grafana.
Once logged in, navigate to the Explore page, select the Tempo data source and select the Search tab. Select Run query to list the recent traces stored in Tempo. Select one to view the trace diagram:
A couple of minutes after Tempo has successfully restarted, select the Service graph tab for the Tempo data source in the Explore page. Select Run query to view a service graph, generated by Tempo’s metrics-generator.
To stop the services: