Context Propagation

Prerequisites

Before starting this workshop, ensure you have the following tools installed and have a Splunk Observability Cloud account ready.

Knowledge Requirement #

This workshop assumes familiarity with:

• Basic Kubernetes concepts (pods, deployments, services)
• HTTP request/response flow
• The idea of distributed tracing (spans, traces…)

OpenTelemetry experience is required - we’ll explain context propagation challenges as we go.

Required Software #

These tools will already be installed on your instance:

Splunk Observability Access #

You’ll need access to a Splunk Observability Cloud org with permission to:

1. View APM traces - APM → Service Map & APM → Traces
2. View RUM sessions - Digital Experience → Session Search
3. [Optional] Gather Realm & Token Details - NOTE: These values are configured in your instance and detail are provided in the next step.

Validation Checklist #

Run these commands from your assigned instance before continuing. Each section includes expected output so you can confirm you’re ready.

1. Verify required tools #

Expected output (versions may vary):

docker --version
kubectl version --client
k3d version
helm version --short
git --version

Docker version 29.1.3, build 29.1.3-0ubuntu3~22.04.2
Client Version: v1.34.1
Kustomize Version: v5.7.1
k3d version v5.9.0
k3s version v1.35.5-k3s1 (default)
v3.21.3+g1ad6e68
git version 2.34.1

2. Confirm required ports are free #

lsof -i :30080 -i :5111 -i :15672 2>/dev/null || echo "Ports 30080, 5111, and 15672 are available"

Ports 30080, 5111, and 15672 are available