Cloud APM

k6 Cloud platform supports exporting metrics to APM platforms, thereby enabling users to export metrics from a running test in near real-time to their preferred APM platform(s).

⭐️ APM integrations are available on Pro and Enterprise plans, as well as the annual Team plan and Trial.

Supported APM Providers

Each supported APM platform is called a provider in Cloud APM. As you'll see in each platform's respective section, the provider is a key passed to the APM configuration object and its value should match the providers listed below. Also, each provider has a separate set of configuration parameters. Therefore you need to visit your provider's page:

This list will be expanded in the future. Please contact us if you would like an integration that isn't currently listed.

Configuration Parameters

To increase flexibility, the APM export functionality is configured on the test-run level. The required parameters should be specified in options.ext.loadimpact.apm (See extension options for more information).

Common configuration parameters for all providers are as follows:

export let options = {
  ext: {
    loadimpact: {
      apm: [
        {
          provider: "<first provider>",
          // provider-specific configurations
          metrics: ["http_req_sending", "my_rate", "my_gauge", ...],
          includeDefaultMetrics: true,
          includeTestRunId: true
        },
        {
          provider: "<second provider>",
          // provider-specific configurations
          metrics: ["http_req_sending", "my_rate", "my_gauge", ...],
          includeDefaultMetrics: true,
          includeTestRunId: true
        },
      ]
    },
  },
};

Here's what each key means:

• provider is the name of the APM platform.
• // provider-specific configurations is the respective configuration parameters for your APM provider, which are listed in their respective platform pages.
• metrics is the array of custom metrics you want to export from your test run, if you want.
• includeDefaultMetrics should be set if you want built-in metrics to be included in you export. Otherwise only the keys in metrics will be exported. This is enabled by default, which means the metrics key is populated with built-in metrics. Passing custom metrics to the metrics key and having includeDefaultMetrics key enabled makes the configuration object to combine built-in and custom metrics.
• includeTestRunId should be set if you want to have test run ID as a tag/label in your metrics export. Because it increases the number of metrics recorded by each APM provider, hence increased costs, it is disabled (false) by default.

As you see in the configuration object above, there is an array containing two different objects under the apm key. This means that you can send metrics to multiple APM providers, provided that you have them enabled in your subscription. Please contact us if you want multiple providers to be able to your test run at the same time.

Built-in Metrics

The following built-in metrics are enabled by default, and are exported to the APM platform of your choice. They can also be disabled by setting the includeDefaultMetrics key to false. If you disable default metrics, you will need to specify an array of metrics using the metrics key.

• data_sent
• data_received
• http_req_duration
• http_reqs
• iterations
• vus

Requirements

For the metric export to function properly, you have to fulfill the following:

• If you use custom metrics in your script, remember to add them to the metrics array, otherwise, those metrics won't be automatically exported.
• If you want to export built-in metrics that are not listed above, you can include them in the metrics array.
• If the APM configuration has errors, (e.g. invalid provider, wrong credentials, etc) the configuration will be ignored, and the test will be executed without the APM functionality.
• If you provide invalid metrics to the metrics field, the test will continue, but the metrics export(s) will not include the invalid metric.
• The metrics defined in metrics are case-sensitive.
• Each APM provider gives you the ability to filter metrics based on test_run_id, but we don't export test_run_id as an extra tag by default. If you want to export it, you should set includeTestRunId to true.

Limitations

1. APM data export is supported for tests that are up to 1 hour long (3600 seconds plus 30 seconds of gracefulStop). Longer tests are currently not supported.
2. The data exported in near real-time may appear incorrect until the test is finished and the 2nd pass export has completed. The Prometheus Remote Write integration doesn't have a 2nd pass export.
3. Duplicate APM configuration parameters of the same provider is not allowed. For example, you cannot export metrics to two Prometheus Remote Write servers at the same time. This also applies to the other providers.