IBM Support

MustGather: Instana NGINX Sensor/Tracer

Troubleshooting


Problem

This guide provides essential steps for collecting data related to Instana NGINX Sensor/Tracer. Before contacting IBM® support for assistance, please review the information below to familiarize yourself with the troubleshooting process.

Resolving The Problem

To explore potential solutions, search for issues, access documentation, or visit support forums, head to the IBM® Support page. If you are aware of the affected component, refer to the relevant MustGather details below:
MustGather Data Collection Requirements for Instana NGINX Sensor/Tracer

Monitored environment details:
  • Kind of deployment (Single host , Kubernetes, docker, podman, AWS Fargate)
  • OS (Linux/ Windows) and version
  • NGINX version: 
    • nginx -V
  • The full path to the NGINX binary: 
    • which nginx
  • Please send the output from running the file command using the full path to NGINX. For example: 
    • file /usr/sbin/nginx
Debug logs:
  • Debug logs are crucial for analyzing the issue. To retrieve the debug logs, enable the environment variable INSTANA_LOG_LEVEL and collect the log information from the console output.
Agent logs:
  • Collect the Instana agent debug log:
    • See the MustGather page for Instana Agent for more details
Agent configuration:
  • Collect <instana-agent-dir>/etc/instana/configuration.yaml 
Instrumentation type:
  • Autotrace Webhook:
    • Which Kubernetes distribution/version?
    • Share webhook pod log
    • Any custom webhook configuration (e.g., disabled modules, extra env vars)?
    • Enable debug logging for the following logs (found in the "ingress-nginx-controller-* pod) and upload it to the case:
      • libinstana_init (/tmp/instana/lii_logs/$PID.log)
        • Use the ENV variable INSTANA_LII_LOG_LEVEL 
          • INSTANA_LII_LOG_LEVEL=debug
      • watcher_nginx (/tmp/instana/iwn_logs/$PID.log)
        • Use the ENV variable INSTANA_IWN_LOG_LEVEL 
          • INSTANA_IWN_LOG_LEVEL=debug
Additional output & files to collect:
  • Nginx configuration file nginx.conf.
    • The Nginx configuration file is typically located at “/etc/nginx/nginx.conf”. You can verify the exact path by running the “nginx -t” command.
  • If the monitored service is using a serverless acceptor to receive trace data, the SaaS URL can be obtained from the INSTANA_ENDPOINT_URL environment variable.

Document Location

Worldwide

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Document Information

Modified date:
08 October 2025

UID

ibm17247169

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