Traceroute check

A Traceroute check runs a traceroute from probes to targets. You can trace the path of a request through the internet and get more detailed information about how your requests are flowing through the public internet.

Traceroute check can be useful to visualize network path, see how that path changes over time, and how it’s reaching the destination.

For more details, refer to How traceroute in the Synthetic Monitoring plugin for Grafana Cloud helps network troubleshooting.

Options

The list of common options to all check types:

Option	Description
Enabled	Whether the check is enabled or not.
Job name	Refer to the check name. Check metrics include a `job` label with the value of this option.
Target	Target of the check request. Check metrics include an `instance` label with the value of this option.
Probe locations	The locations where the check should run from. Check metrics include a `probe` label with the value of the probe location running the check.
Frequency	The frequency the check should run in seconds. The value can range from 60 to 3600 seconds. Only the `sm_check_info` metric includes the `frequency` label.
Timeout	Maximum execution time for the check. The value can range from 1 to 60 seconds.
Custom labels	(Optional) Custom labels applied to check metrics. Refer to Custom labels for querying instructions.

Additionally, Traceroute checks have the following options:

Option name	Description
Max hops	Maximum number of hops before giving up.
Max unknown hops	Maximum number of unknown hops before giving up.
PTR lookup	Perform a reverse lookup from IP to hostname.
Publish full set of metrics	Whether to publish additional metrics to create histograms (used for Apdex scores or heatmaps). Default is false to reduce the number of active series.

These last options don’t produce any additional labels in the resulting check metrics.

Metrics

Checks store their results as Prometheus metrics, including the list of common metrics:

Metric	Description
`probe_all_duration_seconds`	Returns how long the probe took to complete in seconds (histogram).
`probe_duration_seconds`	Returns how long the probe took to complete in seconds.
`probe_all_success`	Displays whether or not the probe was a success (summary).
`probe_success`	Displays whether or not the probe was a success.
`sm_check_info`	Provides information about a single check configuration.

Additionally, Traceroute checks produce the following metrics:

Metric	Description
`probe_traceroute_packet_loss_percent`	Overall percentage of packet loss during the traceroute.
`probe_traceroute_route_hash`	Hash of all the hosts in a traceroute path. Used to determine route volatility.
`probe_traceroute_total_hops`	Total hops to reach a traceroute destination.