---
title: Install Backend Error Tracking Using Datadog Tracing Libraries
description: Datadog, the leading service for cloud-scale monitoring.
breadcrumbs: >-
  Docs > Error Tracking > Backend Error Tracking > Getting Started > Install
  Backend Error Tracking Using Datadog Tracing Libraries
---

# Install Backend Error Tracking Using Datadog Tracing Libraries

To instrument your application with Datadog libraries:

1. Install and configure the Agent.
1. Add the Datadog tracing library to your code.

## Install and configure the Agent{% #install-and-configure-the-agent %}

Install the Datadog Agent by following the [relevant documentation](https://docs.datadoghq.com/agent.md).

To configure the agent for Error Tracking Backend only, you must be running Agent v7.61+.

{% tab title="Linux host or VM" %}

1. Open the [datadog.yaml configuration file](https://docs.datadoghq.com/agent/configuration/agent-configuration-files.md).

1. Add `core_agent` and `apm_config` as top-level attributes anywhere in the configuration file with the following settings:

   ```yaml
   core_agent:
     enabled: false
   apm_config:
     error_tracking_standalone:
       enabled: true
   ```

1. [Restart the Agent](https://docs.datadoghq.com/agent/configuration/agent-commands.md#restart-the-agent).

{% /tab %}

{% tab title="Docker" %}
If you're using the Docker containerized Agent, set the following environment variables:

- `DD_CORE_AGENT_ENABLED=false`
- `DD_APM_ERROR_TRACKING_STANDALONE_ENABLED=true`

Here's an example of how you can include these settings in your Docker run command:

```shell
docker run -d --name datadog-agent \
           --cgroupns host \
           --pid host \
           -e DD_API_KEY=<DATADOG_API_KEY> \
           -e DD_CORE_AGENT_ENABLED=false \
           -e DD_APM_ERROR_TRACKING_STANDALONE_ENABLED=true \
           -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock:ro \
           -v /proc/:/host/proc/:ro \
           -v /opt/datadog-agent/run:/opt/datadog-agent/run:rw \
           -v /sys/fs/cgroup/:/host/sys/fs/cgroup:ro \
           registry.datadoghq.com/agent:latest
```

{% /tab %}

{% tab title="Kubernetes" %}
If you're deploying the Agent in Kubernetes, make the following changes in your Helm chart in addition to your Agent configuration:

```yaml
agents:
  containers:
    agent:
      env:
        - name: DD_CORE_AGENT_ENABLED
          value: "false"
datadog:
[...]
  processAgent:
    enabled: false
    containerCollection: false
[...]
  apm:
    errorTrackingStandalone:
      enabled: true
```

{% /tab %}

## Instrument your application{% #instrument-your-application %}

Follow the relevant [documentation](https://docs.datadoghq.com/tracing/trace_collection/automatic_instrumentation/dd_libraries.md) to set up your application to send traces using one of the official Datadog tracing libraries. Follow the [OpenTelemetry API guide](https://docs.datadoghq.com/tracing/trace_collection/custom_instrumentation.md?tab=opentelemetryapi#getting-started) for your application language to manually send errors through span events.

## Further Reading{% #further-reading %}

- [Error Tracking Issue States and Workflows](https://docs.datadoghq.com/error_tracking/issue_states.md)
- [Learn about the Error Tracking Explorer](https://docs.datadoghq.com/error_tracking/explorer.md)
- [Enable infrastructure monitoring](https://docs.datadoghq.com/error_tracking/guides/enable_infra.md)
- [Enable APM](https://docs.datadoghq.com/error_tracking/guides/enable_apm.md)