Instrument Python apps for Error Reporting

You can send error reports to Error Reporting from Python applications by using the Error Reporting library for Python.

Error Reporting is integrated with some Google Cloud services, such as App Engine, Compute Engine, and Google Kubernetes Engine. Error Reporting displays the errors that are logged to Cloud Logging by applications running on those services. For more information, go to Running on Google Cloud Platform on this page.

You can also send error data to Error Reporting using Logging. For information on the data formatting requirements, read Formatting error messages in Logging.

Before you begin

1. Sign in to your Google Cloud account. If you're new to Google Cloud, create an account to evaluate how our products perform in real-world scenarios. New customers also get $300 in free credits to run, test, and deploy workloads.

2. In the Google Cloud console, on the project selector page, select or create a Google Cloud project.

   Note: If you don't plan to keep the resources that you create in this procedure, create a project instead of selecting an existing project. After you finish these steps, you can delete the project, removing all resources associated with the project.

   Go to project selector

3. Make sure that billing is enabled for your Cloud project. Learn how to check if billing is enabled on a project.

4. Enable the Error Reporting API .

   Enable the API

5. In the Google Cloud console, on the project selector page, select or create a Google Cloud project.

   Note: If you don't plan to keep the resources that you create in this procedure, create a project instead of selecting an existing project. After you finish these steps, you can delete the project, removing all resources associated with the project.

   Go to project selector

6. Make sure that billing is enabled for your Cloud project. Learn how to check if billing is enabled on a project.

7. Enable the Error Reporting API .

   Enable the API

8. Prepare your environment for Python development.

   Go to the Python setup guide

Installing the client library

Error Reporting library for Python lets you monitor and view errors reported by Python applications running nearly anywhere.

1. Instantiate a virtual environment and use pip to install the package:

   pip install google-cloud-error-reporting --upgrade
   

2. Import the library and instantiate a client in order to begin reporting errors:

   Python

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   #!/usr/bin/env python
   #
   # Copyright 2022 Google, Inc.
   #
   # Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
   # you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
   # You may obtain a copy of the License at
   #
   #    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
   #
   # Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
   # distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
   # WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
   # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
   # limitations under the License.
   
   
   def simulate_error():
       from google.cloud import error_reporting
   
       client = error_reporting.Client()
       try:
           # simulate calling a method that's not defined
           raise NameError
       except Exception:
           client.report_exception()
   
   
   def report_manual_error():
       from google.cloud import error_reporting
   
       client = error_reporting.Client()
       client.report("An error has occurred.")
   
   
   if __name__ == '__main__':
       simulate_error()
       report_manual_error()
   

For more information on installation, read the documentation for the Error Reporting library for Python. You can also report issues using the issue tracker.

Configuring the client library

You can customize the behavior of Error Reporting library for Python. See client library documentation for configuration examples.

Reporting errors

You can manually report an error by calling the report method, as seen in the following example:

Python

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#!/usr/bin/env python
#
# Copyright 2022 Google, Inc.
#
# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
# You may obtain a copy of the License at
#
#    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
#
# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
# limitations under the License.


def simulate_error():
    from google.cloud import error_reporting

    client = error_reporting.Client()
    try:
        # simulate calling a method that's not defined
        raise NameError
    except Exception:
        client.report_exception()


def report_manual_error():
    from google.cloud import error_reporting

    client = error_reporting.Client()
    client.report("An error has occurred.")


if __name__ == '__main__':
    simulate_error()
    report_manual_error()

Running on Google Cloud

Using the Error Reporting library for Python requires the Identity and Access Management Error Reporting Writer role. Most Google Cloud computing platforms provide this role by default.

You can configure Error Reporting for Python on the following Google Cloud environments.

App Engine flexible environment

App Engine grants the Error Reporting Writer role by default.

The Error Reporting library for Python can be used without needing to explicitly provide credentials.

Error Reporting is automatically enabled for App Engine flexible environment applications. No additional setup is required.

Note: Error logs written to stderr are processed automatically by Error Reporting, without needing to use the Error Reporting library for Python directly.

Google Kubernetes Engine

On GKE, you must add the cloud-platform access scope when creating the cluster, as the following example command shows:

gcloud container clusters create example-cluster-name --scopes https://www.googleapis.com/auth/cloud-platform

Compute Engine

When using Compute Engine VM instances, add the cloud-platform access scope to each instance. When creating a new instance through the Google Cloud console, you can do this in the Identity and API access section of the Create Instance panel. Use the Compute Engine default service account or another service account of your choice, and select Allow full access to all Cloud APIs in the Identity and API access section. Whichever service account you select, ensure that it has been granted the Error Reporting Writer role in the IAM & admin section of the Google Cloud console.

Running locally and elsewhere

To use the Error Reporting library for Python outside of Google Cloud, including running the library on your own workstation, on your data center's computers, or on the VM instances of another cloud provider, you must supply your Google Cloud project ID and appropriate service account credentials directly to the Error Reporting library for Python.

You can create and obtain service account credentials manually. When specifying the Role field, use the Error Reporting Writer role. For more information on Identity and Access Management roles, go to Access control guide.

Viewing error reports

After deployment, you can view error reports in the Google Cloud console Error Reporting dashboard.

Go to the Error Reporting dashboard

For more information, see Viewing Errors.