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OpenTelemetry Binary

Set up and configure the OpenTelemetry Collector through binary downloaded from releases page.

Overview​

This guide demonstrates how to set up and configure the OpenTelemetry Collector binary for collecting and exporting telemetry data to base14 Scout.

  • Binary installation and configuration
  • Log collection setup with file monitoring
  • Secure data export with OAuth2 authentication
  • Sample application integration

Key Features​

  • Easy Installation: Direct binary download and setup
  • Flexible Configuration: YAML-based configuration
  • Secure Authentication: Built-in OAuth2 support
  • Data Processing: Log filtering and batching
  • Real-time Monitoring: Live log collection and export

Prerequisites​

  • curl command-line tool
  • Node.js (for running the example application)
  • A base14 Scout account with valid authentication credentials

Install the collector binary​

The collector binary can be downloaded from the releases page.

An example of how to download and extract the collector binary is shown below for macos arm64.

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -fOL https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-releases/releases/download/v0.119.0/otelcol_0.119.0_darwin_arm64.tar.gz
tar -xvf otelcol_0.119.0_darwin_arm64.tar.gz

Example configuration​

An example config can be seen to collect logs from a file to export to Scout

extensions:
  oauth2client:
    client_id: demo
    client_secret: 01JM94R5DPSZXBGK5QA4D329N5
    endpoint_params:
      audience: b14collector
    token_url: https://id.b14.dev/realms/playground/protocol/openid-connect/token

exporters:
  debug:
  otlphttp/auth:
    endpoint: https://otel.play.b14.dev/01jm94npk4h8ys63x1kzw2bjes/otlp
    auth:
      authenticator: oauth2client

processors:
  batch:
    redaction:
      blocked_values:
        # MasterCard number
        - "(5[1-5][0-9]{14})"
        summary: debug

receivers:
  # Data sources: traces, metrics, logs
  filelog:
    include: [ "app.log" ]

service:
  extensions: [ oauth2client ]
  pipelines:
    logs:
      receivers: [ filelog ]
      processors: [ batch ]
      exporters: [ otlphttp/auth, debug ]

Running the collector​

./otelcol --config ./config.yaml

Run a Sample Node.js Application​

Let's create a simple Node.js application that generates structured logs using the pino logging library. The OpenTelemetry Collector will collect these logs and forward them to Scout.

1. Install Dependencies​

First, install the pino logging library, which provides structured JSON logging capabilities:

npm install pino

2. Create the Application​

Create a new file called main.js with the following code that demonstrates basic logging functionality:

main.js
const logger = require('pino')()

logger.info('hello world')

const child = logger.child({ a: 'property' })
child.info('hello child!')

3. Run the Application​

Execute the application and redirect its output to app.log. The OpenTelemetry Collector will monitor this file as configured in the previous section:

node main.js > app.log

View Logs in base14 Scout​

After running the application, you can view the collected logs in Scout:

  1. Open your base14 Scout dashboard
  2. Navigate to the Dashboards > Library > Logs View in the main menu
  3. You should see the following log entries:
    • A "hello world" message from the root logger
    • A "hello child!" message with an additional property {a: 'property'}

The logs will appear with timestamps and other metadata added by the OpenTelemetry Collector.