Use the Collector: How to perform common tasks 🔗
Browse the table below to learn how to carry out common tasks with the Splunk Distribution of the OpenTelemetry Collector.
I want to… |
Why? |
When? |
See… |
|---|---|---|---|
Control data pre-ingest |
To optimize data ingestion performance, reduce storage costs, allow for customization, and address privacy concerns by controlling the data sent to Splunk Observability Cloud. |
Use this when you encounter redundant or unnecessary telemetry data, need to modify data to meet specific requirements, or must sanitize sensitive information before ingestion using the Collector. |
|
Work with tags or attributes |
To add, modify, or remove tags or attributes on data for better organization and control. |
Use this when learning how to modify tags and attributes on data before ingestion using the Collector. |
|
Obfuscate sensitive data in logs |
To protect privacy by ensuring sensitive log data is not ingested. |
Use this when sensitive information needs to be sanitized before ingestion using the Collector. |
|
Obfuscate sensitive data in traces |
To protect privacy by ensuring sensitive trace data is not ingested. |
Use this when sensitive information needs to be sanitized before ingestion using the Collector. |
|
Filter unwanted logs |
To prevent ingestion of unwanted log data by using filtering logic to include or exclude specific logs. This helps to optimize data flow and reduce costs. |
Use this when you need to collect log data only from certain sources or of specific types, or when log ingestion load is too high. |
|
Filter unwanted metrics |
To prevent ingestion of unwanted metric data by using filtering logic to include or exclude specific metrics. This helps to optimize data flow and reduce costs. |
Use this when you need to collect metric data only from certain sources or of specific types, or when metric ingestion load is too high. |
|
Filter unwanted traces |
To prevent ingestion of unwanted trace data by using filtering logic to include or exclude specific traces. This helps to optimize data flow and reduce costs. |
Use this when you need to collect trace data only from certain sources or of specific types, or when trace ingestion load is too high. |
|
Collect a fraction of logs using sampling |
To reduce log ingestion volume and costs by using probabilistic sampling to collect a percentage of log data. |
Use this when you need to collect only a sample set of log data which can help address ingesting too many logs. |
|
Collect a fraction of traces using sampling |
To reduce trace ingestion volume and costs by using tail sampling to collect a percentage of trace data. |
Use this when you need to collect only a sample set of trace data which can help address ingesting too many traces. |
|
Collect custom metrics |
To send custom infrastructure and application metrics to Splunk Observability Cloud for deeper custom visibility. |
Use this when instrumenting a service that isn’t natively supported or when specific custom metrics are required. |
|
Collect Prometheus metrics |
To collect widely used Prometheus metrics and send them to Splunk Observability Cloud. |
Use this when instrumenting a Prometheus source for monitoring. |
|
Collect host logs |
To collect on-disk logs for analysis and monitoring. |
Use this when you need to collect logs from the local system or host. |
|
Dynamically collect data from new data sources at runtime |
To monitor data sources that may be created, removed, or recreated during runtime. |
Use this when the receiver creator feature is needed to dynamically create receivers at runtime, based on configured rules and observer extensions. |
|
Look for collector support for a specific environment |
To ensure that your environment is compatible with the Collector. |
Validate support for your target environment before deploying your Collector instance. |
Compatibility and requirements for Splunk Observability Cloud |
Evaluate Collector deployment options like Ansible, Chef, PCF, or Puppet |
Different deployment methods have unique requirements and features, allowing you to tailor the deployment to your specific needs. |
Before deploying the Collector choose the most suitable deployment mechanism for your environment and requirements. |
Other Collector deployment tools and options: ECS/EC2, Fargate, Nomad, PCF |
Review release changes before collector version upgrades |
New Collector versions include important features, optimizations, and fixes, which are documented in the release notes. |
Always review the release notes before upgrading the collector to understand the changes. |
Tasks specific to Kubernetes environments 🔗
These tasks are specific to Kubernetes environments:
I want to… |
Why? |
When? |
See… |
|---|---|---|---|
Collect Kubernetes events |
To enable the collection of Kubernetes events (events.k8s.io/v1) for enhanced observability. |
Use this when you want Kubernetes events to be available in your observability setup for better insight into cluster activities. |
|
Filter collecting telemetry data at different levels in Kubernetes |
To filter Kubernetes metrics, logs, and traces from specific clusters, namespaces, pods, or containers, reducing unnecessary data collection. |
Use this when you need to minimize telemetry ingestion by excluding data from certain parts of the cluster or when focusing on specific Kubernetes data souces. |
|
Review release changes before collector version upgrades |
New collector versions often include important features, optimizations, and fixes, which are documented in the release notes. |
Always review the release notes before upgrading the collector to understand the changes. |