Better Stack OpenTelemetry Logging

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Collect logs and metrics from your application using OpenTelemetry.

1. Install OpenTelemetry collector

Install and set up OpenTelemetry collector.

2. Add required modules

Add the following components to your collector distribution:

• Exporters: OTLP and Prometheus Remote Write
• Processors: Attributes

To add them, you will need to add the modules to your YAML manifest file (replace 0.81.0 by your used version):

dist:
  # your distribution metadata...

exporters:
  # your currently used exporters...
  - gomod: go.opentelemetry.io/collector/exporter/otlpexporter v0.81.0
  - gomod: github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/exporter/prometheusremotewriteexporter v0.81.0

processors:
  # your currently used processors...
  - gomod: github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/processor/attributesprocessor v0.81.0

After changing the configuration, rebuild your collector distribution.

3. Set up sending logs and metrics

Set up new logs and metrics pipeline to send the data to Better Stack. Use your collector YAML configuration file:

exporters:
  otlp/betterstack:
    endpoint: "https://in-otel.logs.betterstack.com:443"
  prometheusremotewrite/betterstack:
    endpoint: "https://in-otel.logs.betterstack.com/metrics"

processors:
  attributes/betterstack:
    actions:
      - key: better_stack_source_token
        value: $SOURCE_TOKEN
        action: insert

service:
  pipelines:
    metrics/betterstack:
      receivers: [otlp, spanmetrics] # your current metrics receivers
      processors: [filter, batch, attributes/betterstack] # your current metrics processors + attributes/betterstack
      exporters: [prometheusremotewrite/betterstack]
    logs/betterstack:
      receivers: [otlp] # your current logs receivers
      processors: [batch, attributes/betterstack] # your current logs processors + attributes/betterstack
      exporters: [otlp/betterstack]

4. Restart OpenTelemetry collector

Restart your OTel collector for the new configuration to take effect.

You should see your logs in Better Stack -> Live tail.

Need help?

Please let us know at hello@betterstack.com.
We're happy to help! 🙏

Additional information

You could add the attributes/betterstack processor and otlp/betterstack / prometheusremotewrite/betterstack exporters to your pipelines instead of defining new ones. However, this would expose your Better Stack source token to other logs or metrics tools.