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Documentation Tempo documentation Get started Quick start for Tempo

Quick start for Tempo

The Tempo repository provides multiple examples to help you quickly get started using Tempo and distributed 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 using 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 MLTP example

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

Before you begin

To follow this guide, you need:

• Git
• Docker
• The docker-compose plugin

Clone the Tempo repository and start Docker

1. Clone the Tempo repository:

   bash Copy

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

2. Go into the examples directory:

   bash Copy

   cd tempo/example/docker-compose/local

3. Start the services defined in the docker-compose file:

   bash Copy

   docker compose up -d

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

   console Copy

   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

5. As part of the docker compose manifest, Grafana is now accessible on port 3000. Open a browser to localhost:3000 and sign in to Grafana.

6. 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:

   

7. A couple of minutes after Tempo has started up successfully, 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.

   

8. To stop the services:

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   docker-compose down -v