Get started: Understand and use the Collector 🔗

For a quick overview of the Collector, see Get started with the Splunk Distribution of the OpenTelemetry Collector.

Get started with the available options to install, deploy, and configure the Splunk Distribution of the OpenTelemetry Collector. Next, learn how to use the Collector.

See Processor architecture for compatible CPU architectures and operating systems.
See Collector deployment modes for information on the two deployment modes for the Collector: host monitoring (agent) mode, and data forwarding (gateway) mode.

Install the Collector using packages and deployment tools¶

The Splunk Distribution of the OpenTelemetry Collector is supported on Kubernetes, Linux, Windows, and Mac. Use one of the following packages to gather data for Splunk Observability Cloud:

Verify the Docker image of the Collector¶

Docker images of the Collector are automatically signed.

If you need to verify and trust your software package, use the following public key to verify the Docker images of the Collector for versions 0.93 or higher:

For older Collector versions, use this public key:

Images are signed using cosign. To verify them:

Save the public key to a file. For example, cosign.pub.
Run the following command:

cosign verify --insecure-ignore-tlog --key cosign.pub quay.io/signalfx/splunk-otel-collector:<collector-version>

Configure the Collector: Config files, auto discovery, and other configuration sources¶

Use these configurations to change the default settings in each Collector package:

Kubernetes: Helm configuration, advanced config, and log config
Advanced configuration for Linux
Advanced configuration for Windows

The Splunk Distribution of the OpenTelemetry Collector has the following configuration options than can be used by several Collector components.

Automatic discovery¶

Splunk Observability Cloud offers several options for no-hassle automatic discovery and configuration. Learn more at Discover telemetry sources automatically.

Use multiple configuration files¶

To define multiple config files simultaneously use:

./otelcol --config=file:/path/to/first/file --config=file:/path/to/second/file

Additional configuration sources¶

You can also use these additional configuration sources:

Collect logs ¶

To collect logs with the Splunk Distribution of the OpenTelemetry Collector:

In Kubernetes environments, native OpenTelemetry log collection is supported by default. See more at Collect logs and events for the Collector for Kubernetes.
For Linux and Windows environments (physical hosts and virtual machines), use the Universal Forwarder to send logs to the Splunk platform. See more at Use the Splunk Universal Forwarder with the Collector.

Note

If you wish to collect logs for the target host, install and enable Fluentd in your Collector instance.

Collect logs using Fluentd ¶

The Collector can capture logs using Fluentd, but this option is deactivated by default. To learn more, see Fluent Forward receiver.

To activate Fluentd refer to:

Common sources such as filelog, journald, and Windows Event Viewer are included in the installation.

Use the Collector¶

The OpenTelemetry Collector is a tech-agnostic way to receive, process and export telemetry data.

After you’ve installed the Collector in your platform, update your config file to define the different Collector components (receivers, processors, and exporters) you want to use. However, receivers and exporters are not enabled until they are in a pipeline, as explained in the next paragraph. You can also add extensions that provide the OpenTelemetry Collector with additional functionality, such as diagnostics and health checks. Find the available components at Collector components.

Next, you need to configure your service pipelines to determine how to process your data. In the pipelines section you tie together the receivers, processors and exporters, designing the path your data takes. Multiple pipelines can be defined, and a single receiver or exporter definition can be used in multiple pipelines. A single pipeline can also have multiple receivers or exporters within it. Learn more at Process your data with pipelines.

See also the following documents to understand how the Collector works, and how to use it:

Components and services of the Collector¶

The Splunk Distribution of the OpenTelemetry Collector has the following components and services:

Receivers: Determine how you’ll get data into the Collector.
Processors: Configure which operations you’ll perform on data before it’s exported. For example, filtering.
Exporters: Set up where to send data to. It can be one or more backends or destinations.
Extensions: Extend the capabilities of the Collector.
Services. It consists of two elements:
- List of the extensions you’ve configured.
- Pipelines: Path data will follow from reception, then through processing or modification, and finally exiting through exporters.

For more information, see Collector components.

Collector variables and internal metrics¶

The Collector operates using these environmental variables and internal metrics:

This page was last updated on Oct 30, 2024.

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