<commit_before>---
title: Jaeger
description: Learn how to configure the proxies to send tracing requests to Jaeger.
weight: 10
keywords: [telemetry,tracing,jaeger,span,port-forwarding]
---

To learn how Istio handles tracing, visit this task's [overview](../overview/).

## Before you begin

1.  To set up Istio, follow the instructions in the [Installation guide](/docs/setup/kubernetes/install/helm)
    and use the `--set tracing.enabled=true`  Helm install options to enable tracing.

    {{< warning >}}
    When you enable tracing, you can set the sampling rate that Istio uses for tracing.
    Use the `pilot.traceSampling` option to set the sampling rate. The default sampling rate is 1%.
    {{< /warning >}}

1.  Deploy the [Bookinfo](/docs/examples/bookinfo/#deploying-the-application) sample application.

## Accessing the dashboard

1.  To setup access to the tracing dashboard, use port forwarding:

    {{< text bash >}}
    $ kubectl port-forward -n istio-system $(kubectl get pod -n istio-system -l app=jaeger -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') 16686:16686  &
    {{< /text >}}

    Open your browser to [http://localhost:16686](http://localhost:16686).

1.  To use a Kubernetes ingress, specify the Helm chart option `--set tracing.ingress.enabled=true`.

## Generating traces using the Bookinfo sample

1.  When the Bookinfo application is up and running, access `http://$GATEWAY_URL/productpage` one or more times
    to generate trace information.

    {{< boilerplate trace-generation >}}

1.  From the left-hand pane of the dashboard, select `productpage` from the **Service** drop-down list and click
    **Find Traces**:

    {{< image link="./istio-tracing-list.png" caption="Tracing Dashboard" >}}<commit_msg>Add information about configuring Istio to use an external Jaeger (production) instance (#4210)<commit_after>---
title: Jaeger
description: Learn how to configure the proxies to send tracing requests to Jaeger.
weight: 10
keywords: [telemetry,tracing,jaeger,span,port-forwarding]
---

To learn how Istio handles tracing, visit this task's [overview](../overview/).

## Before you begin

1.  To set up Istio, follow the instructions in the [Installation guide](/docs/setup/kubernetes/install/helm)
    and then configure:

    a) a demo/test environment by setting the `--set tracing.enabled=true`  Helm install option to enable tracing "out of the box"

    b) a production environment by referencing an existing Jaeger instance, e.g. created with the [operator](https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger-operator), and then setting the `--set global.tracer.zipkin.address=<jaeger-collector-service>.<jaeger-collector-namespace>:9411` Helm install option.

    {{< warning >}}
    When you enable tracing, you can set the sampling rate that Istio uses for tracing.
    Use the `pilot.traceSampling` option to set the sampling rate. The default sampling rate is 1%.
    {{< /warning >}}

1.  Deploy the [Bookinfo](/docs/examples/bookinfo/#deploying-the-application) sample application.

## Accessing the dashboard

1.  To setup access to the tracing dashboard, use port forwarding:

    {{< text bash >}}
    $ kubectl port-forward -n istio-system $(kubectl get pod -n istio-system -l app=jaeger -o jsonpath='{.items[0].metadata.name}') 16686:16686  &
    {{< /text >}}

    Open your browser to [http://localhost:16686](http://localhost:16686).

1.  To use a Kubernetes ingress, specify the Helm chart option `--set tracing.ingress.enabled=true`.

## Generating traces using the Bookinfo sample

1.  When the Bookinfo application is up and running, access `http://$GATEWAY_URL/productpage` one or more times
    to generate trace information.

    {{< boilerplate trace-generation >}}

1.  From the left-hand pane of the dashboard, select `productpage` from the **Service** drop-down list and click
    **Find Traces**:

    {{< image link="./istio-tracing-list.png" caption="Tracing Dashboard" >}}
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