Otel col

This page shows sample configuration and instructions for creating an OpenTelemetry Collector.

Specifically, the config.yaml shows how to send traces to Dynatrace as a backend.

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Download Collector

The Python script will generate and push a trace to an OpenTelemetry collector. So of course, you need one available.

If you have a collector already available, go on ahead to run the tool. If you don't have one already available, follow these steps.

Download and extract the collector binary for your platform from here.

For example, for windows: https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-releases/releases/download/v0.78.0/otelcol-contrib_0.78.0_windows_amd64.tar.gz

Unzip and extract so you have the binary (eg. otelcol.exe)

Create config.yaml

The OpenTelemetry collector needs a config file - this is how you decide which trace backend the traces will go to.

Save this file alongside otelcol.exe as config.yaml.

You will need to modify the otlphttp code for your backend. The example given is for Dynatrace trace ingest. For Dynatrace, the API token needs Ingest OpenTelemetry traces permissions.

receivers:
  otlp:
    protocols:
      grpc:
      http:

processors:
  batch:
    send_batch_max_size: 1000
    timeout: 30s
    send_batch_size : 800

  memory_limiter:
    check_interval: 1s
    limit_percentage: 70
    spike_limit_percentage: 30

exporters:
  logging:
    verbosity: detailed

  otlphttp:
    endpoint: https://abc12345.live.dynatrace.com/api/v2/otlp
    headers:
      Authorization: "Api-Token dt0c01.sample.secret"

service:
  extensions: []
  pipelines:
    traces:
      receivers: [otlp]
      processors: [batch]
      exporters: [otlphttp,logging]
    metrics:
      receivers: [otlp]
      processors: [memory_limiter,batch]
      exporters: [otlphttp]

Start The Collector

Open a command / terminal window and run:

otelcol.exe --config config.yaml

Then run tracepusher:

python tracepusher.py --endpoint http://localhost:4318 --service-name tracepusher --span-name my-span --duration 2