Connect OpenTelemetry Collectors Using the OpAMP Supervisor

This guide walks through building a custom OpenTelemetry Collector with the OpenTelemetry Collector Builder (OCB) that includes Bindplane components and running it under the OpAMP Supervisor so it can be remotely managed by Bindplane.

This approach is ideal when you want to:

• Customize which receivers, processors, and exporters are compiled into your collector

• Retain centralized configuration and lifecycle management through Bindplane

• Experiment locally or deploy to VMs and bare-metal hosts

NOTE

This guide is intended as a starting point. For a more production-ready workflow outline that uses the OpenTelemetry Distribution Builder and Bindplane Agent Types, please refer to the detailed guides here:

• Using an OpenTelemetry Distribution with Bindplane

• Custom OpenTelemetry Collectors: Build, Run, and Manage at Scale

• BYOC - Feature Guide

Prerequisites and Version Alignment

Before building anything, ensure all components use the same base OpenTelemetry Collector version.

Choose a base version

1. Identify the OpenTelemetry Collector version used by the Bindplane Distribution of OpenTelemetry (BDOT).

2. Use this version consistently across:

   • OpenTelemetry Collector Contrib

   • OpenTelemetry Collector Builder (OCB)

   • OpAMP Supervisor

   • All components referenced in your manifest

NOTE

Some OpenTelemetry artifacts (such as OCB or the OpAMP Supervisor) may not be released for every collector version if no changes occurred. Always refer to the official OpenTelemetry Collector Releases for the correct versions.

Download the OpenTelemetry Collector Builder (OCB)

The OpenTelemetry Collector Builder generates a custom collector binary from a manifest file.

Requirements

• Go installed on your system.

Download

• Download the OCB release that matches your chosen collector version from from the OpenTelemetry Collector Releases.

NOTE

For more guidance view the OCB documentation.

Create the Collector Manifest

Start with the standard OpenTelemetry Collector Contrib manifest and save it as manifest.yaml.

• Base Manifest: Use the base otelcol-contrib manifest.

This file defines which components are compiled into your custom collector.

Add Bindplane Components to the Manifest

Update manifest.yaml to include the Bindplane extension and processors.

Extensions

extensions:
  - gomod:
      github.com/observiq/bindplane-otel-collector/extension/bindplaneextension v1.91.0

Processors

processors:
  - gomod:
      github.com/observiq/bindplane-otel-collector/processor/snapshotprocessor v1.91.0
  - gomod:
      github.com/observiq/bindplane-otel-collector/processor/throughputmeasurementprocessor v1.91.0
  - gomod:
      github.com/observiq/bindplane-otel-collector/processor/topologyprocessor v1.91.0

Ensure the Bindplane component versions align with your selected collector version.

Distribution metadata

dist:
  name: otelcol-contrib-bp
  description: OpenTelemetry Collector Contrib with Bindplane
  version: 0.1.0
  otelcol_version: 0.143.0
  output_path: ./_build

Complete manifest.yaml file sample

extensions:
  - gomod: github.com/observiq/bindplane-otel-collector/extension/bindplaneextension v1.91.0
  # ... other extensions

processors:
  - gomod: github.com/observiq/bindplane-otel-collector/processor/snapshotprocessor v1.91.0
  - gomod: github.com/observiq/bindplane-otel-collector/processor/throughputmeasurementprocessor v1.91.0
  - gomod: github.com/observiq/bindplane-otel-collector/processor/topologyprocessor v1.91.0
  # ... other processors

# Example for the 'dist' section:
dist:
  name: otelcol-contrib-bp
  description: OpenTelemetry Collector Contrib w/ Bindplane
  version: 0.1.0
  otelcol_version: 0.143.0
  output_path: ./_build

Build the Custom Collector

Run OCB with your manifest:

./ocb --config manifest.yaml

This produces a custom collector binary. This example will produce otelcol-contrib-bp since that is the value of dist.name in the manifest.yaml.

Download the OpAMP Supervisor

The OpAMP Supervisor is a standalone executable binary that manages the collector process and handles communication with Bindplane.

Download the OpAMP Supervisor binary that matches your collector version from the OpenTelemetry Collector Releases.

Configure the OpAMP Supervisor

Create a file named supervisor.yaml to configure the connection to Bindplane.

• server.endpoint: Set the endpoint to the Bindplane OpAMP server.

• server.headers.Authorization: Set the Authorization header using your Bindplane Secret Key.

• agent.executable: Point the executable to the custom collector you built with OCB.

server:
  endpoint: wss://app.bindplane.com/v1/opamp
  headers:
    Authorization: "Secret-Key <BINDPLANE_SECRET_KEY>"
  tls:
    insecure: false
    insecure_skip_verify: false

capabilities:
  accepts_remote_config: true
  reports_remote_config: true
  reports_available_components: true

agent:
  executable: ./otelcol-contrib-bp
  config_apply_timeout: 30s
  bootstrap_timeout: 5s

storage:
  directory: .

Optional: Enable local collector logging

To persist collector logs locally, reference an additional config file:

agent:
  executable: ./otelcol-contrib-bp
  config_apply_timeout: 30s
  bootstrap_timeout: 5s
  config_files:
    - $OPAMP_EXTENSION_CONFIG
    - logging.yaml
    - $REMOTE_CONFIG

Create logging.yaml:

service:
  telemetry:
    logs:
      level: info
      encoding: json
      disable_stacktrace: true
      sampling:
        enabled: false
      output_paths:
        - collector.log
      error_output_paths:
        - collector.log

Run the Supervisor and Collector

Start the system by running the OpAMP Supervisor:

./opampsupervisor --config ./supervisor.yaml

The supervisor will:

• Launch your custom collector

• Register it with Bindplane

• Apply remote configuration updates automatically

Once connected, the collector appears in Bindplane and is fully managed through the platform.