# Grafana Tempo

Grafana Tempo is an open-source distributed tracing backend. It is open source and self-hosted, installable on Kubernetes (Helm), Docker Hub and Unraid.

Canonical page: https://ourlocalhost.com/app/40/grafana-tempo

## Description

Grafana Tempo is an open-source distributed tracing backend. It collects, stores, and queries traces using OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP) over gRPC or Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), helping homelab and small production users investigate latency and request flows in Grafana.

## Platform availability

Available on 2 of 9 platforms: Unraid, Helm.

## Health score

80/100 (Excellent), based on 3 of 4 factors.
- Maintained: 100 (last commit 24 days ago)
- Popular: 75 (5,499 GitHub stars)
- Easy to install: 45 (2 install platforms, install notes, Docker image)

## Links

- GitHub: https://github.com/grafana/tempo
- Kubernetes (Helm): https://artifacthub.io/packages/helm/grafana-community/tempo
- Docker Hub: https://hub.docker.com/r/grafana/tempo
- Unraid: https://ca.unraid.net/apps/tempo-031stcu11u5bfm?q=tempo
- Official website: https://grafana.com/oss/tempo/
- Documentation: https://grafana.com/docs/tempo/latest/?pg=oss-tempo&plcmt=resources

## Common questions

### Which tracing protocols can Tempo ingest?

Tempo can ingest batches in Jaeger, Zipkin, Kafka, and OpenTelemetry formats. It buffers those batches before writing them to storage.

### Does Tempo require Elasticsearch or Cassandra?

Traditional tracing tools may require a database like Elasticsearch or Cassandra, but Tempo requires only object storage to operate.

### What query language does Tempo use for trace queries?

Tempo implements TraceQL, a traces-first query language inspired by LogQL and PromQL. It supports targeted queries and UI-driven analyses.

### Does Tempo work with Grafana, Prometheus, and Loki?

Tempo is deeply integrated with Grafana, Prometheus, and Loki.

### Where do I look if my Tempo data source in Grafana is not working?

The Tempo data source troubleshooting guide covers common issues with configuring or using the data source in Grafana. It includes issues related to connecting Grafana to Tempo and using the data source features.

## Alternatives

- BareTail
- Datadog: Datadog Agent is an on-host monitoring agent that collects metrics, logs, and traces from hosts, containers, and Kubernetes clusters and se…
- Graylog: Graylog is a centralized log management platform built on open standards for capturing, storing, and analyzing terabytes of machine data in…
- Honeybadger: Honeybadger is an application health monitoring tool built by developers for developers.
- LogExpert: LogExpert is a Windows tail program (a GUI replacement for the Unix tail command).
- LogViewPlus: Looking for a better way to view log files?

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Source: Our Local Host (https://ourlocalhost.com/app/40/grafana-tempo), the self-hosted and open-source app directory.