X-Ray and OpenTelemetry

When using the open source OpenTelemetry collector and SDK without the X-Ray SDK, you can still achieve X-Ray compatibility for span timeline visualization by using the AWS X-Ray propagator component. This component formats HTTP headers to meet the requirements of the AWS X-Ray trace header format.

By default, OpenTelemetry uses the W3C trace header format. However, to ensure compatibility with X-Ray and proper rendering of service names and segment names in the X-Ray UI, you need to configure the X-Ray propagator.

The X-Ray trace header format includes information such as the root trace ID and sampling decision. It differs from the default W3C format used by OpenTelemetry. The X-Ray header typically looks like this:

X-Amzn-Trace-Id: Root=1-5759e988-bd862e3fe1be46a994272793;Parent=[parent-id];Sampled=1

To use this format, you need to configure the OpenTelemetry SDK to use the AWS X-Ray propagator. This will ensure that the necessary information, including service names and segment names, is properly formatted in the HTTP headers.

By implementing the X-Ray propagator, you can transfer the context across process boundaries and services, allowing X-Ray to correctly visualize the service map and segment names in its UI. This approach enables you to leverage OpenTelemetry's instrumentation while still benefiting from X-Ray's visualization capabilities without directly using the X-Ray SDK.
Sources
Adding AWS X-Ray support to the OpenTelemetry PHP library | AWS Open Source Blog