Overview

Please check simpler-example-with-analysis branch for a simpler example and additional analysis.

This is a simple project showing the inconsistency in transaction names given by newrelic-java-agent, depending on Spring Boot major version and Spring Cloud OpenFeign's @EnableFeignClients annotation.

Steps to reproduce

1. Configure New Relic Java Agent 8.0.1 as per instructions at https://docs.newrelic.com/install/java/ (newrelic.yml used for tests can be found in src/main/resources - it has not been modified apart from app_name, license_key and log_level).

2. Run ./gradlew clean bootJar

3. Run java -javaagent:/full/path/to/newrelic.jar -jar build/libs/demo-0.0.1-SNAPSHOT.jar (JDK used in tests: OpenJDK Temurin-17.0.6+10 x64)

4. Access the endpoint at http://localhost:8080/hello - e.g. curl http://localhost:8080/hello.

5. Check the transaction name of the request at https://one.newrelic.com/data-exploration, e.g. SELECT appName, http.statusCode, name, transactionSubType, transactionType FROM Transaction WHERE transactionType = 'Web' AND appName = 'myapptest':

   • it will be WebTransaction/Servlet/dispatcherServlet (unexpected - this is because there is annotation @EnableFeignClients(basePackageClasses = TestClient.class) in src/main/java/com/example/demo/DemoApplication.java)

6. Change the annotation in src/main/java/com/example/demo/DemoApplication.java file to @EnableFeignClients(basePackages = "com.example.demo") and run steps 2-5 again:

   • it will be WebTransaction/SpringController/hello (GET) (expected)

7. Restore the annotation to @EnableFeignClients(basePackageClasses = TestClient.class), downgrade Spring Boot and Spring Cloud in build.gradle:

   plugins {
       ...
       id 'org.springframework.boot' version '2.7.10'
       ...
   }
   ...
   dependencyManagement {
       imports {
           mavenBom "org.springframework.cloud:spring-cloud-dependencies:2021.0.6"
       }
   }
   ...
   

   and run steps 2-5 again:

   • it will be WebTransaction/SpringController/TestController/sayHello (unexpected - why different than WebTransaction/SpringController/hello (GET)?)

Results screenshot and summary

The following screenshot presents the results at one.newrelic.com (all entries are from the same application and the same GET /hello request, but with various libraries versions and @EnableFeignClients parameters):

The following table provides a summary for the tested cases:

Spring Boot	Spring Cloud / OpenFeign	Annotation	Transaction name at one.newrelic.com	Expected?
2.7.10	2021.0.6 / 3.1.6	none or @EnableFeignClients(basePackages = "com.example.demo")	WebTransaction/SpringController/hello (GET)	✔️ Y
2.7.10	2021.0.6 / 3.1.6	@EnableFeignClients(basePackageClasses = TestClient.class) or @EnableFeignClients(clients = TestClient.class)	WebTransaction/SpringController/TestController/sayHello	⚠️ N (not sure why changed?)
3.0.5	2022.0.2 / 4.0.2	none or @EnableFeignClients(basePackages = "com.example.demo")	WebTransaction/SpringController/hello (GET)	✔️ Y
3.0.5	2022.0.2 / 4.0.2	@EnableFeignClients(basePackageClasses = TestClient.class) or @EnableFeignClients(clients = TestClient.class)	WebTransaction/Servlet/dispatcherServlet	❌ N (does not have required information)

New Relic Agent log entries

The following entries were observed in newrelic_agent.log:

• When the generated transaction name is WebTransaction/SpringController/hello (GET):

com.newrelic FINE: com.newrelic.instrumentation.spring-4.3.0: weaved target jdk.internal.loader.ClassLoaders$AppClassLoader@251a69d7-com/example/demo/TestController
com.newrelic FINE: 	com/nr/agent/instrumentation/SpringController_Instrumentation.sayHello:()Ljava/lang/String;
com.newrelic FINE: 	com/nr/agent/instrumentation/SpringController_Instrumentation.sayHello:()Ljava/lang/String;

• When the generated transaction name is WebTransaction/SpringController/TestController/sayHello:

com.newrelic FINEST: Skipping instrumentation module com.newrelic.instrumentation.spring-4.3.0. The most likely cause is that com.newrelic.instrumentation.spring-4.3.0 shouldn't apply to this application.
...
com.newrelic FINER: Setting transaction name to "/TestController/sayHello" using Spring controller
com.newrelic FINEST: Setting transaction name to "/TestController/sayHello" for transaction com.newrelic.agent.Transaction@80c7de4 using LEGACY scheme

• When the generated transaction name is WebTransaction/Servlet/dispatcherServlet (in this case there are no lines containing TestController):

com.newrelic FINEST: Skipping instrumentation module com.newrelic.instrumentation.spring-4.3.0. The most likely cause is that com.newrelic.instrumentation.spring-4.3.0 shouldn't apply to this application.