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Better Stack OpenTelemetry logging
Start logging in 5 minutes
Send logs and metrics to Better Stack using OpenTelemetry collector.
1. Install
Install latest OpenTelemetry collector:
curl -sSL https://telemetry.betterstack.com/install/otelcol-contrib | sudo -E bash
2. Setup
Download OpenTelemetry configuration for your source:
sudo curl -L https://telemetry.betterstack.com/otel/$SOURCE_TOKEN -o /etc/otelcol-contrib/config.yaml
3. Restart
Restart OpenTelemetry collector for the new configuration to take effect:
sudo systemctl restart otelcol-contrib
You should see your logs in Better Stack → Live tail.
Check out your metrics in the OpenTelemetry dashboard.
No logs coming in?
Check the status and logs of OpenTelemetry collector:
systemctl status otelcol-contrib
journalctl -u otelcol-contrib -n 20 -f
Already have OpenTelemetry collector running?
Update your existing collector configuration, and send metrics and logs from your receivers to Better Stack.
You can usually find the configuration in /etc/otelcol-contrib/config.yaml or otelcol-config.yml in your project.
exporters:
# Add exporter for Better Stack:
otlphttp/betterstack:
endpoint: "https://$INGESTING_HOST"
headers:
Authorization: "Bearer $SOURCE_TOKEN"
processors:
batch:
service:
pipelines:
# Add extra logs and metrics pipelines for Better Stack:
metrics/betterstack:
receivers: [hostmetrics, otlp] # your metrics receivers
processors: [batch]
exporters: [otlphttp/betterstack]
logs/betterstack:
receivers: [otlp] # your logs receivers
processors: [batch]
exporters: [otlphttp/betterstack]# Use this configuration for sources created before February 2025
exporters:
# Add exporters for Better Stack:
otlp/betterstack:
endpoint: "https://in-otel.logs.betterstack.com:443"
prometheusremotewrite/betterstack:
endpoint: "https://in-otel.logs.betterstack.com/metrics"
processors:
# Add processors for Better Stack:
batch:
attributes/betterstack:
actions:
- key: better_stack_source_token
value: $SOURCE_TOKEN
action: insert
service:
pipelines:
# Add extra logs and metrics pipelines for Better Stack:
metrics/betterstack:
receivers: [hostmetrics, otlp] # your metrics receivers
processors: [batch, attributes/betterstack]
exporters: [prometheusremotewrite/betterstack]
logs/betterstack:
receivers: [otlp] # your logs receivers
processors: [batch, attributes/betterstack]
exporters: [otlp/betterstack]Restart the OpenTelemetry collector for the new configuration to take effect.
Need help?
Please let us know at hello@betterstack.com.
We're happy to help! 🙏