Using OpenTelemetry with Dynatrace

OpenTelemetry is an open standard for the collection and exchange of telemetry data. It enables applications to record and create relevant data points and publish them to backends (such as Dynatrace) for further aggregation and analysis.

With OpenTelemetry, you can create, collect, transform, and publish the following telemetry signals in a fully interoperable and vendor-agnostic fashion:

For this purpose, OpenTelemetry provides a set of SDKs and API libraries for a wide range of modern and popular programming languages (such as Java, JavaScript, C++, and more).

Dynatrace has been an active supporter and a key contributor of OpenTelemetry from the beginning of the project. A large number of Dynatrace technologies already support OpenTelemetry natively and Dynatrace is committed to further extending that coverage.

Native OTLP support with Dynatrace

OpenTelemetry can be ingested using the following services:

SaaS ingest API

The SaaS endpoint provides the easiest ingest option, as you only need to configure your application for a standard OTLP export and do not require other installed components or services.

See Export to ActiveGate for more details.

Collector

Export to the Collector if you want an intermediate service layer for data collection, protocol conversion, or central post-processing of your telemetry data. You can also use the Collector to send your data to more than one backend at the same time.

See Dynatrace Collector and Collector use cases for more details.

ActiveGate

Central collection gateway to the Dynatrace backend, providing OTLP endpoints for OpenTelemetry data.

See Export to ActiveGate for more details.