OpenTelemetry

Plugin: otel.plugin Module: otel

Overview

This plugin ingests OpenTelemetry metrics and logs via the OTLP/gRPC protocol.

It receives OTLP-formatted data from any OpenTelemetry-compatible source (collectors, SDKs, instrumented applications) and automatically creates Netdata charts for visualization and alerting.

For logs, it stores them in systemd-compatible journal files with configurable rotation and retention policies.

The plugin listens on a gRPC endpoint (default 127.0.0.1:4317) for incoming OTLP data. It supports both metrics and logs signals. Metrics are mapped to Netdata charts using configurable mapping rules. Logs are stored in journal files for querying via the Netdata Logs tab.

This collector is only supported on the following platforms:

• Linux

This collector only supports collecting metrics from a single instance of this integration.

Default Behavior

Auto-Detection

The plugin starts automatically and listens on 127.0.0.1:4317 for incoming OTLP/gRPC connections.

Limits

The default configuration for this integration does not impose any limits on data collection.

Performance Impact

The default configuration for this integration is not expected to impose a significant performance impact on the system.

Metrics

Metrics are dynamically created based on the OpenTelemetry data received. The specific metrics depend on the OTLP sources sending data to the plugin.

Alerts

There are no alerts configured by default for this integration.

Setup

Prerequisites

OpenTelemetry data source

An OpenTelemetry Collector, SDK, or instrumented application configured to send OTLP data to the Netdata agent's gRPC endpoint.

Configuration

Options

The plugin is configured via otel.yaml in the Netdata configuration directory.

Config options

Option	Description	Default	Required
endpoint.path	gRPC endpoint to listen on for incoming OTLP data.	127.0.0.1:4317	no
endpoint.tls_cert_path	Path to TLS certificate file. Enables TLS when provided.		no
endpoint.tls_key_path	Path to TLS private key file. Required when TLS certificate is provided.		no
endpoint.tls_ca_cert_path	Path to TLS CA certificate file for client authentication.		no
metrics.chart_configs_dir	Directory with YAML files for mapping OTLP metrics to Netdata charts.	otel.d/v1/metrics/	no
metrics.buffer_samples	Number of samples to buffer for collection interval detection.	10	no
metrics.throttle_charts	Maximum number of new charts to create per collection interval.	100	no
logs.journal_dir	Directory to store journal files for ingested logs.		yes
logs.size_of_journal_file	Maximum file size before rotating to a new journal file.	100MB	no
logs.entries_of_journal_file	Maximum log entries per journal file.	50000	no
logs.duration_of_journal_file	Maximum time span within a single journal file.	2 hours	no
logs.number_of_journal_files	Maximum number of journal files to keep.	10	no
logs.size_of_journal_files	Maximum total size of all journal files.	1GB	no
logs.duration_of_journal_files	Maximum age of journal files.	7 days	no

via File

The configuration file name for this integration is otel.yaml.

You can edit the configuration file using the edit-config script from the Netdata config directory.

cd /etc/netdata 2>/dev/null || cd /opt/netdata/etc/netdata
sudo ./edit-config otel.yaml

Examples

Basic configuration

Listen on default endpoint with default settings.

endpoint:
  path: "127.0.0.1:4317"
metrics:
  chart_configs_dir: otel.d/v1/metrics/
  buffer_samples: 10
logs:
  journal_dir: /var/log/netdata/otel-journals

TLS-enabled configuration

Listen with TLS enabled for secure connections.

Config

endpoint:
  path: "0.0.0.0:4317"
  tls_cert_path: /etc/netdata/ssl/cert.pem
  tls_key_path: /etc/netdata/ssl/key.pem
metrics:
  chart_configs_dir: otel.d/v1/metrics/
  buffer_samples: 10
logs:
  journal_dir: /var/log/netdata/otel-journals