otelcol

What it does

How to write it

otelcol-contrib --config=FILE
otelcol-contrib validate --config=FILE

Main parts

Config sections

receivers

Where data comes in (otlp, prometheus, filelog, hostmetrics).

processors

Change data (batch, memory_limiter, attributes, filter).

exporters

Where data goes (otlp, otlphttp, prometheusremotewrite, debug).

extensions

health_check, pprof, zpages, auth.

service.pipelines

traces / metrics / logs: receivers → processors → exporters.

Most used

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$ run as a normal user# run as root (or with sudo)

1. 1A simple gateway config

   $cat /etc/otelcol-contrib/config.yaml
   receivers:
     otlp:
       protocols:
         grpc: { endpoint: 0.0.0.0:4317 }
         http: { endpoint: 0.0.0.0:4318 }
   processors:
     memory_limiter: { check_interval: 1s, limit_percentage: 80, spike_limit_percentage: 20 }
     batch: {}
   exporters:
     otlp/tempo: { endpoint: tempo.monitoring.svc:4317, tls: { insecure: true } }
     prometheusremotewrite: { endpoint: http://prometheus.monitoring.svc:9090/api/v1/write }
     debug: { verbosity: basic }
   service:
     pipelines:
       traces:  { receivers: [otlp], processors: [memory_limiter, batch], exporters: [otlp/tempo] }
       metrics: { receivers: [otlp], processors: [memory_limiter, batch], exporters: [prometheusremotewrite] }

2. 2Validate and start

   $otelcol-contrib validate --config=/etc/otelcol-contrib/config.yaml
   #systemctl restart otelcol-contrib

3. 3Run in a container

   $podman run -d --name otelcol -p 4317:4317 -p 4318:4318 -v ./config.yaml:/etc/otelcol-contrib/config.yaml:Z docker.io/otel/opentelemetry-collector-contrib:0.112.0

4. 4Send a test trace with telemetrygen

   $telemetrygen traces --otlp-insecure --otlp-endpoint localhost:4317 --traces 5

5. 5Point an app at the collector

   $export OTEL_SERVICE_NAME=shop-api
   $export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=http://otelcol:4318
   $export OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES=deployment.environment=prod
   $opentelemetry-instrument python app.py

6. 6Collect host metrics too

   $cat hostmetrics.yaml
   receivers:
     hostmetrics:
       collection_interval: 30s
       scrapers: { cpu: {}, memory: {}, filesystem: {}, network: {} }

7. 7Remove sensitive attributes

   $cat redact.yaml
   processors:
     attributes/redact:
       actions:
         - { key: http.request.header.authorization, action: delete }
         - { key: user.email, action: hash }

8. 8Install on Kubernetes with Helm

   $helm repo add open-telemetry https://open-telemetry.github.io/opentelemetry-helm-charts
   $helm install otel open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector -n monitoring --set mode=daemonset --set image.repository=otel/opentelemetry-collector-contrib

9. 9Check health

   $curl -s http://localhost:13133/

10. 10List the components of your build

    $otelcol-contrib components | head -40

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Files

/etc/otelcol-contrib/config.yaml

Configuration (RPM/DEB packages).

Exit codes