jaeger query

In Jaeger v2, the query service, collector, and all-in-one modes are all the same binary — the operating mode is determined entirely by the configuration file. The standalone v1 jaeger-query image reached end-of-life at the end of 2025; this image is its v2 successor.

Run the jaeger-query container

Run the following command, replacing <tag> with the image variant you want to use. The query service starts and serves the UI even without a storage backend, but it will have nothing to query until one is configured (see Point at production storage).

docker run -d --name jaeger-query \
  -p 16686:16686 \
  -p 16685:16685 \
  -p 8888:8888 \
  registry.ghost-prod.alphabravo.io/ghost-base/jaeger-query:<tag>

Once running, open http://localhost:16686 in your browser to access the Jaeger UI.

To inspect available CLI flags, run:

docker run --rm registry.ghost-prod.alphabravo.io/ghost-base/jaeger-query:<tag> --help

To print the binary version:

docker run --rm registry.ghost-prod.alphabravo.io/ghost-base/jaeger-query:<tag> --version

Point at production storage

The shipped configuration points jaeger_storage at a remote gRPC backend (localhost:17271) — the same default the upstream Jaeger query config uses. For most deployments you will provide your own configuration file that points jaeger_storage at your persistent backend, and pass it to the container with --config /path/to/config.yaml.

The following example uses an Elasticsearch backend. Mount your config file into the container and override the default config path:

docker run -d --name jaeger-query \
  -p 16686:16686 \
  -p 16685:16685 \
  -v $(pwd)/config-query.yaml:/etc/jaeger/config-query.yaml:ro \
  registry.ghost-prod.alphabravo.io/ghost-base/jaeger-query:<tag>

A minimal config-query.yaml targeting an Elasticsearch cluster looks like the following. Adjust the endpoints, index_prefix, and any TLS settings for your environment.

service:
  extensions: [jaeger_storage, jaeger_query, healthcheckv2]
  pipelines:
    traces:
      receivers: [nop]
      processors: [batch]
      exporters: [nop]
  telemetry:
    resource:
      service.name: jaeger-query
    metrics:
      level: detailed
      readers:
        - pull:
            exporter:
              prometheus:
                host: 0.0.0.0
                port: 8888
    logs:
      level: info

extensions:
  healthcheckv2:
    use_v2: true
    http:
      endpoint: 0.0.0.0:13133

  jaeger_query:
    storage:
      traces: es_storage

  jaeger_storage:
    backends:
      es_storage:
        elasticsearch:
          endpoints:
            - https://elasticsearch:9200
          index_prefix: jaeger
          tls:
            insecure_skip_verify: false

receivers:
  nop:

processors:
  batch:

exporters:
  nop:

For the full list of supported backends (Cassandra, OpenSearch, ClickHouse, Badger, remote-storage gRPC) and their configuration options, see the Jaeger v2 storage backends documentation.

Health checks

The query service exposes a health endpoint on port 13133 via the OpenTelemetry Collector healthcheckv2 extension. Use GET /status for liveness and readiness probes — a healthy response returns HTTP 200 with a JSON body such as {"healthy":true,...}.

The upstream configuration leaves the health endpoint at its default bind address, which listens on localhost only, so it is not reachable from outside the container as shipped. To probe it externally (for example with Kubernetes httpGet probes against the published port), bind it to all interfaces by overriding the endpoint at startup:

docker run -d --name jaeger-query \
  -p 13133:13133 \
  registry.ghost-prod.alphabravo.io/ghost-base/jaeger-query:<tag> \
  --config /etc/jaeger/config-query.yaml \
  --set extensions::healthcheckv2::http::endpoint=0.0.0.0:13133

With that override in place, the following Kubernetes probes work against the published port:

livenessProbe:
  httpGet:
    path: /status
    port: 13133
  initialDelaySeconds: 5
  periodSeconds: 15

readinessProbe:
  httpGet:
    path: /status
    port: 13133
  initialDelaySeconds: 5
  periodSeconds: 10

The runtime image is minimal: it contains no shell and no HTTP client such as wget or curl, so it cannot run a self-contained Docker HEALTHCHECK. Probe the /status endpoint from outside the container instead — for example with the Kubernetes httpGet probe shown above — once the endpoint is bound to all interfaces as shown.

Prometheus self-telemetry

The query service exposes its own internal OpenTelemetry Collector metrics on port 8888 at the /metrics path in Prometheus exposition format. These metrics cover the health and performance of the query service itself — for example, request latency and storage operation counts.

Add the following scrape target to your Prometheus configuration to collect them:

scrape_configs:
  - job_name: jaeger-query
    static_configs:
      - targets: ['jaeger-query:8888']

Image variants

Ghost hardened images come in different variants depending on their intended use. Image variants are identified by their tag.

• Runtime variants are designed to run your application in production. These images are intended to be used either directly or as the FROM image in the final stage of a multi-stage build. These images typically:

  • Run as a nonroot user
  • Do not include a shell or a package manager
  • Contain only the minimal set of libraries needed to run the app

• Build-time variants typically include dev in the tag name and are intended for use in the first stage of a multi-stage Dockerfile. These images typically:

  • Run as the root user
  • Include a shell and package manager
  • Are used to build or compile applications

• FIPS variants include fips in the variant name and tag. They come in both runtime and build-time variants. These variants use cryptographic modules that have been validated under FIPS 140, a U.S. government standard for secure cryptographic operations. For example, usage of MD5 fails in FIPS variants.

To view the image variants and get more information about them, select the Tags tab for this repository, and then select a tag.

Migrate to a Ghost hardened image

To migrate your application to a Ghost hardened image, you must update your Dockerfile. At minimum, you must update the base image in your existing Dockerfile to a Ghost hardened image. This and a few other common changes are listed in the following table of migration notes.

The following steps outline the general migration process.

1. Find hardened images for your app.

   A hardened image may have several variants. Inspect the image tags and find the image variant that meets your needs.

2. Update the base image in your Dockerfile.

   Update the base image in your application's Dockerfile to the hardened image you found in the previous step. For framework images, this is typically going to be an image tagged as dev because it has the tools needed to install packages and dependencies.

3. For multi-stage Dockerfiles, update the runtime image in your Dockerfile.

   To ensure that your final image is as minimal as possible, you should use a multi-stage build. All stages in your Dockerfile should use a hardened image. While intermediary stages will typically use images tagged as dev, your final runtime stage should use a non-dev image variant.

4. Install additional packages

   Ghost hardened images contain minimal packages in order to reduce the potential attack surface. You may need to install additional packages in your Dockerfile. Inspect the image variants to identify which packages are already installed.

   Only images tagged as dev typically have package managers. You should use a multi-stage Dockerfile to install the packages. Install the packages in the build stage that uses a dev image. Then, if needed, copy any necessary artifacts to the runtime stage that uses a non-dev image.

   For Alpine-based images, you can use apk to install packages. For Debian-based images, you can use apt-get to install packages.

Troubleshooting migration

The following are common issues that you may encounter during migration.

General debugging

The hardened images intended for runtime don't contain a shell nor any tools for debugging. The recommended method for debugging applications built with Ghost hardened images is to use Docker Debug to attach to these containers. Docker Debug provides a shell, common debugging tools, and lets you install other tools in an ephemeral, writable layer that only exists during the debugging session.

Permissions

By default image variants intended for runtime, run as the nonroot user. Ensure that necessary files and directories are accessible to the nonroot user. You may need to copy files to different directories or change permissions so your application running as the nonroot user can access them.

Privileged ports

Non-dev hardened images run as a nonroot user by default. As a result, applications in these images can't bind to privileged ports (below 1024) when running in Kubernetes or in Docker Engine versions older than 20.10. To avoid issues, configure your application to listen on port 1025 or higher inside the container, even if you map it to a lower port on the host. For example, docker run -p 80:8080 my-image will work because the port inside the container is 8080, and docker run -p 80:81 my-image won't work because the port inside the container is 81.

No shell

By default, image variants intended for runtime don't contain a shell. Use dev images in build stages to run shell commands and then copy any necessary artifacts into the runtime stage. In addition, use Docker Debug to debug containers with no shell.

Entry point

Ghost hardened images may have different entry points than images such as Docker Official Images. Use docker inspect to inspect entry points for Ghost hardened images and update your Dockerfile if necessary.