Modernize incrementally
Add trace visibility through a small shim instead of making a full PHP rewrite a prerequisite.
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Observability / Legacy Modernization
Legacy PHP Modernization and Distributed Tracing
Brought modern distributed tracing and OpenTelemetry into a legacy PHP 5.6 application without rewriting it, using a lightweight shim and edge-level trace injection.
Tracing flow
Trace visibility without a full rewrite
The tracing integration connects edge injection, a lightweight legacy application shim, and trace/log correlation.
Inject at the edge
Use native OpenTelemetry injection in the proxy.
- Traefik
- OpenTelemetry
Instrument the legacy app
Introduce tracing with an auto_prepend_file shim.
- PHP 5.6
Correlate traces & logs
Connect trace data and log-derived fields for investigation.
- Tempo
- Loki
The challenge
Legacy PHP systems need trace visibility and modernization paths without risky full rewrites.
The approach
Used an auto_prepend_file shim, Traefik native OpenTelemetry injection, Grafana Tempo, and Loki derived fields to correlate traces and logs while supporting route-by-route strangler migration into Kubernetes.
My role
Integrated tracing across legacy application code, edge routing, logs, and Kubernetes migration work.
Engineering decisions
Support route-by-route migration
Use trace/log correlation while the monolith moves toward Kubernetes through a strangler migration.
Scope & delivery
- Distributed tracing for PHP 5.6 without a rewrite.
- Traefik native OpenTelemetry injection at the edge.
- Loki-to-Tempo trace correlation with derived fields.
- Strangler-pattern migration support for a legacy monolith moving route by route into Kubernetes.