OpenTelemetry and Apache Inlong Integration

Input and output integration overview

This plugin receives traces, metrics, and logs from OpenTelemetry clients and agents via gRPC, enabling comprehensive observability of applications.

The Inlong plugin connects Telegraf to Apache InLong, enabling seamless transmission of collected metrics to an InLong instance.

Integration details

OpenTelemetry

The OpenTelemetry plugin is designed to receive telemetry data such as traces, metrics, and logs from clients and agents implementing OpenTelemetry via gRPC. This plugin initiates a gRPC service that listens for incoming telemetry data, making it distinct from standard plugins that collect metrics at defined intervals. The OpenTelemetry ecosystem aids developers in observing and understanding their applications’ performance by providing a vendor-neutral way to instrument, generate, collect, and export telemetry data. Key features of this plugin include customizable connection timeouts, adjustable maximum message sizes for incoming data, and options for specifying span, log, and profile dimensions to tag the incoming metrics. With this flexibility, organizations can tailor their telemetry collection to meet precise observability requirements and ensure seamless data integration into systems like InfluxDB.

Apache Inlong

This Inlong plugin is designed to publish metrics to an Apache InLong instance, which facilitates the management of data streams in a scalable manner. Apache InLong provides a robust framework for efficient data transmission between various components in a distributed environment. By leveraging this plugin, users can effectively route and transmit metrics collected by Telegraf to their InLong data-proxy infrastructure. As a key component in a data pipeline, the Inlong Output Plugin helps ensure that data is consistently formatted, streamed correctly, and managed in compliance with the standards set by Apache InLong, making it an essential tool for organizations looking to enhance their data analytics and reporting capabilities.

Configuration

OpenTelemetry

[[inputs.opentelemetry]]
  ## Override the default (0.0.0.0:4317) destination OpenTelemetry gRPC service
  ## address:port
  # service_address = "0.0.0.0:4317"

  ## Override the default (5s) new connection timeout
  # timeout = "5s"

  ## gRPC Maximum Message Size
  # max_msg_size = "4MB"

  ## Override the default span attributes to be used as line protocol tags.
  ## These are always included as tags:
  ## - trace ID
  ## - span ID
  ## Common attributes can be found here:
  ## - https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector/tree/main/semconv
  # span_dimensions = ["service.name", "span.name"]

  ## Override the default log record attributes to be used as line protocol tags.
  ## These are always included as tags, if available:
  ## - trace ID
  ## - span ID
  ## Common attributes can be found here:
  ## - https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector/tree/main/semconv
  ## When using InfluxDB for both logs and traces, be certain that log_record_dimensions
  ## matches the span_dimensions value.
  # log_record_dimensions = ["service.name"]

  ## Override the default profile attributes to be used as line protocol tags.
  ## These are always included as tags, if available:
  ## - profile_id
  ## - address
  ## - sample
  ## - sample_name
  ## - sample_unit
  ## - sample_type
  ## - sample_type_unit
  ## Common attributes can be found here:
  ## - https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector/tree/main/semconv
  # profile_dimensions = []

  ## Override the default (prometheus-v1) metrics schema.
  ## Supports: "prometheus-v1", "prometheus-v2"
  ## For more information about the alternatives, read the Prometheus input
  ## plugin notes.
  # metrics_schema = "prometheus-v1"

  ## Optional TLS Config.
  ## For advanced options: https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/blob/v1.18.3/docs/TLS.md
  ##
  ## Set one or more allowed client CA certificate file names to
  ## enable mutually authenticated TLS connections.
  # tls_allowed_cacerts = ["/etc/telegraf/clientca.pem"]
  ## Add service certificate and key.
  # tls_cert = "/etc/telegraf/cert.pem"
  # tls_key = "/etc/telegraf/key.pem"

Apache Inlong

[[outputs.inlong]]
  ## Manager URL to obtain the Inlong data-proxy IP list for sending the data
  url = "http://127.0.0.1:8083"

  ## Unique identifier for the data-stream group
  group_id = "telegraf"  

  ## Unique identifier for the data stream within its group
  stream_id = "telegraf"  

  ## Data format to output.
  ## Each data format has its own unique set of configuration options, read
  ## more about them here:
  ## https://github.com/influxdata/telegraf/blob/master/docs/DATA_FORMATS_OUTPUT.md
  # data_format = "influx"

Input and output integration examples

OpenTelemetry

1. Unified Monitoring Across Services: Use the OpenTelemetry plugin to collect and consolidate telemetry data from various microservices within a Kubernetes environment. By instrumenting each service with OpenTelemetry, you can utilize this plugin to gather a holistic view of application performance and dependencies in real-time, enabling faster troubleshooting and improved reliability of complex systems.

2. Enhanced Debugging with Traces: Implement this plugin to capture end-to-end traces of requests flowing through multiple services. For instance, when a user initiates a transaction that triggers several backend services, the OpenTelemetry plugin can record detailed traces that highlight performance bottlenecks, giving developers the necessary insights to debug issues and optimize their code.

3. Dynamic Load Testing and Performance Monitoring: Leverage the capabilities of this plugin during load testing phases by collecting live metrics and traces under simulated higher loads. This approach helps to evaluate the resilience of the application components and identify potential performance degradations preemptively, ensuring a smooth user experience in production.

4. Integrated Logging and Metrics for Real-Time Monitoring: Combine the OpenTelemetry plugin with logging frameworks to gather real-time logs alongside metric data, creating a powerful observability platform. For example, integrate it within a CI/CD pipeline to monitor builds and deployments, while collecting logs that help diagnose failures or performance issues in real-time.

Apache Inlong

1. Real-time Metrics Monitoring: Integrating the Inlong plugin with a real-time monitoring dashboard allows teams to visualize system performance continuously. As metrics flow from Telegraf to InLong, organizations can create dynamic panels in their monitoring tools, providing instant insights into system health, resource utilization, and performance bottlenecks. This setup encourages proactive management and swift identification of potential issues before they escalate into critical failures.

2. Centralized Data Processing: Use the Inlong plugin to send Telegraf metrics to a centralized data processing pipeline that processes large volumes of data for analysis. By directing all collected metrics through Apache InLong, businesses can streamline their data workflows and ensure consistency in data formatting and processing. This centralized approach facilitates easier data integration with business intelligence tools and enhances decision-making through consolidated data insights.

3. Integration with Machine Learning Models: By feeding metrics collected through the Inlong Output Plugin into machine learning models, teams can enhance predictive analytics capabilities. For instance, metrics can be analyzed to predict system failures or performance trends. This application allows organizations to leverage historical data and infer future performance, helping them optimize resource allocation and minimize downtime using automated alerts based on model predictions.

Feedback

Thank you for being part of our community! If you have any general feedback or found any bugs on these pages, we welcome and encourage your input. Please submit your feedback in the InfluxDB community Slack.