Parameters, billing, and query methods - ApsaraMQ for RocketMQ

In distributed applications, ApsaraMQ for RocketMQ is a key service that provides asynchronous decoupling. The message trace data from the service links upstream and downstream business information to help you troubleshoot exceptions and locate problems. This topic describes the use cases of message traces, the trace parameters defined by ApsaraMQ for RocketMQ, and how to view message traces.

Use cases

ApsaraMQ for RocketMQ defines key data points in the message lifecycle as trace parameters and provides a visual query tool. Message traces allow you to quickly understand your business process status and identify exceptions.

Typical use cases for message traces include the following:

Scenario 1: Check whether a message was sent or consumed successfully.
Scenario 2: Check whether a scheduled and delayed message has been delivered.
Scenario 3: Check whether a transactional message has been committed or rolled back.
Scenario 4: View producer and consumer identity and machine information to investigate issues.

Trace parameters

The following table describes the trace parameters provided by ApsaraMQ for RocketMQ.

Category	Parameter	Description
Producer	Producer information	The account or AccessKey ID used by the message producer.
	Hostname	The hostname of the producer client's machine.
	Sent at	The time the producer sent the message.
	Arrival at	The time the message was stored on the ApsaraMQ for RocketMQ server.
	Sending result	The result of the message send operation. Valid values: Sent Failed
Basic message information	Message type	Normal messages Ordered messages Scheduled and delayed messages Transactional messages
	Message ID	A globally unique message identifier, automatically generated by ApsaraMQ for RocketMQ.
	Topic	The topic to which the message belongs.
	Message key	A business key set by the producer to uniquely identify a business logic.
	Message tag	A tag used to filter messages within a topic.
Ordered messages	MessageGroup	The producer-defined MessageGroup for an ordered message. Messages in the same MessageGroup are processed in first-in, first-out (FIFO) order.
Transactional messages	Check callback time	The time of the transaction status check callback for a half message.
	Committed at	The time the server committed the transactional message.
	Rolled back at	The time the transactional message was rolled back.
Scheduled messages	Preset delay time	The scheduled delivery time for the message.
Consumer	Consumption result	The result of one consumption attempt. Valid values: Consumed Failed No Response
	Consumer information	The ApsaraMQ for RocketMQ account or AccessKey ID that the consumer uses to subscribe to messages.
	Hostname	The hostname of the consumer client's machine.
	Ordered delivery	Indicates whether ordered consumption is enabled for the consumer's group.
	Delivery time	The time the ApsaraMQ for RocketMQ server delivered the message to the consumer.
	Response time	The time the ApsaraMQ for RocketMQ server received the consumption result from the consumer.
	invisibleDuration	The message invisibility duration specified by the SimpleConsumer. For more information, see SimpleConsumer consumption retry policy.
	Change invisible duration	The time the SimpleConsumer called the ChangeInvisibleDuration operation.
	Dead-letter time	The time a message was sent to the dead-letter queue after consumption failed.

Limitations

The message trace feature is disabled by default for clients using RocketMQ 4.x/3.x SDKs. To query message traces in the console, you must enable this feature in your code. Configure the following settings:

Producer

producer.setAccessChannel(AccessChannel.CLOUD);

Consumer

consumer.setAccessChannel(AccessChannel.CLOUD);

Billing

For subscription and pay-as-you-go instances, message tracing is enabled by default and is free.
For serverless instances, you can manually enable or disable message tracing. For more information, see Enable or disable message tracing for a serverless instance.

If you enable message tracing for a serverless instance, you are charged based on the number of message traces generated. For billing details, see Message trace fees.

Message trace retention period

For subscription and pay-as-you-go instances, message traces are stored for 3 days.
For serverless instances, message traces are stored for 14 days.

Query methods for message traces

ApsaraMQ for RocketMQ supports the following query methods:

Query by message ID: Performs an exact match. This fast and accurate method is recommended.
Query by message key: This method performs a fuzzy search that returns up to 1,000 traces. Use this method only if you have not recorded the message ID but have set a distinct message key.
Query by topic: Performs a range query. This method is suitable for low-volume scenarios where the message ID or message key is unknown. It is not recommended for general use because a time range may contain many non-distinct messages.

Enable or disable message tracing

Note

If you disable message tracing, trace data for the serverless instance cannot be stored or queried, and the message trace query option will not appear in the console.
If you enable message tracing, you are charged for the message traces generated by the serverless instance. For more information, see Message trace fees.

Log on to the ApsaraMQ for RocketMQ console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances.
In the top navigation bar, select a region, such as China (Hangzhou). On the Instances page, click the name of the instance that you want to manage.
On the Instance Details page, click the Basic Information tab. Then, click Enable or Disable next to the Message Trace parameter.
In the dialog box that appears, click OK.

Query message traces

Log on to the ApsaraMQ for RocketMQ console. In the left-side navigation pane, click Instances.
In the top navigation bar, select a region, such as China (Hangzhou). On the Instances page, click the name of the instance that you want to manage.
In the left-side navigation pane, click Message Traces. On the Message Traces page, select a query method, enter the conditions, and then click Query.

The results are displayed in a table that includes columns such as Message ID, Topic, Tag, Message Key, and Creation Time. In the Actions column, click Message Traces to view the trace details for the corresponding message.
Find the target message in the query results and click Message Trace in the Actions column. A panel appears where you can view detailed message information.

The message trace panel displays the message's complete lifecycle from production to consumption, divided into three areas: The Producer area shows the message source, producer information, hostname, sent time, server arrival time, and sending result. The MQ Server area shows the message type, message ID, topic, message keys, and tag. The Consumer area shows the group ID, consumption statistics (total and failed attempts), and the consumption status of each consumer group.
If the message was consumed successfully, click the group ID on the Consumer card to view detailed consumption information. Click Export Image to generate an image of the current message trace details.

The message trace details consist of three panels: The Producer panel displays the sent time, server arrival time, and sending result. The MQ Server panel displays the message type, message ID, topic, and tag. The consumer group panel (for example, test_group1), when expanded, shows the number of deliveries, delivery result, ordered delivery status, delivery time, and response time.

ApsaraMQ for RocketMQ:Message trace