Jaeger

The Jaeger destination configures an OTLP exporter to send traces to a Jaeger server for ingestion. Jaeger accepts OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP) data natively since v1.35, so no Jaeger-specific exporter is required. This destination exports traces only.

Supported Telemetry

Metrics	Logs	Traces
		✓

Prerequisites

You need a reachable Jaeger OTLP endpoint. Jaeger must be started with OTLP ingestion enabled, which exposes the OTLP receiver on port 4317 for gRPC and port 4318 for HTTP. Confirm the Jaeger server is reachable from the collector on the chosen port and protocol. If the endpoint terminates TLS, have the certificate authority file (and a client certificate and key when the server requires mutual TLS) available on the collector host.

See the Jaeger APIs documentation for OTLP port and format details.

Configuration

Traces

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Hostname	String	Yes	(empty)	Hostname or IP address of the Jaeger server.
Protocol	Enum: grpc, http	No	grpc	The OTLP protocol to use when sending to the Jaeger server.
Port	Integer	No	4317	Port (gRPC) of the Jaeger server to send OTLP data. Shown when Protocol is grpc.
Port	Integer	No	4318	Port (HTTP) of the Jaeger server to send OTLP data. Shown when Protocol is http.

Advanced

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Compression	Enum	No	gzip	Compression algorithm to use when sending data.1 Ensure the server supports the algorithm selected.
Additional Headers	Map	No	(empty)	Additional headers to attach to each request.

1. Valid values for gRPC: none, gzip, snappy, zstd. For HTTP: none, gzip, deflate, snappy, zlib, zstd.

TLS

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Enable TLS	Boolean	No	false	Whether or not to use TLS.
Skip TLS Certificate Verification	Boolean	No	false	Skip TLS certificate verification. Shown when Enable TLS is true.
TLS Certificate Authority File	String	No	(empty)	Certificate authority used to validate TLS certificates. Shown when Enable TLS is true and certificate verification is not skipped.
Mutual TLS	Boolean	No	false	Whether or not to use mutual TLS authentication. Shown when Enable TLS is true.
Mutual TLS Client Certificate File	String	No	(empty)	A TLS certificate used for client authentication. Shown when Mutual TLS is true.
Mutual TLS Client Private Key File	String	No	(empty)	A TLS private key used for client authentication. Shown when Mutual TLS is true.

Retry on Failure

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Enable Retry on Failure	Boolean	No	true	Attempt to resend telemetry data that has failed to be transmitted.
Initial interval	Integer	No	5	Time (in seconds) to wait after the first failure before retrying. Shown when retry is enabled.
Max interval	Integer	No	30	The upper bound (in seconds) on backoff. Shown when retry is enabled.
Max elapsed time	Integer	No	300	The maximum amount of time (in seconds) spent trying to send a batch, used to avoid a never-ending retry loop. Shown when retry is enabled.

Sending Queue

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Enable Sending Queue	Boolean	No	true	Buffer telemetry data temporarily before sending to help ensure data is not lost during a temporary network outage.
Number of Consumers	Integer	No	10	Number of consumers that dequeue batches. Shown when the sending queue is enabled.
Queue Size	Integer	No	5000	Maximum number of batches kept in memory before dropping. Shown when the sending queue is enabled.
Enable Persistent Queuing	Boolean	No	true	Buffer telemetry data to disk before sending to help ensure data is not lost during network outages or collector restarts. Shown when the sending queue is enabled.
Persistent Queue Storage	Extension	Yes	file_storage_persistent_queue	The storage extension to use for the persistent queue. Shown when both the sending queue and persistent queuing are enabled.

Examples

Export traces over gRPC with TLS and persistent queuing

This destination sends traces to a Jaeger server over gRPC on port 4317, validates the server certificate against a CA file, and buffers to disk so traces survive a temporary outage or collector restart.

apiVersion: bindplane.observiq.com/v1
kind: Destination
metadata:
  name: jaeger
spec:
  type: jaeger_otlp
  parameters:
    - name: hostname
      value: jaeger.example.com
    - name: protocol
      value: grpc
    - name: grpc_port
      value: 4317
    - name: grpc_compression
      value: gzip
    - name: enable_tls
      value: true
    - name: ca_file
      value: /opt/tls/ca.crt
    - name: retry_on_failure_enabled
      value: true
    - name: sending_queue_enabled
      value: true
    - name: persistent_queue_enabled
      value: true

Configuration Tips

• Match the Port to the Protocol. Jaeger's OTLP receiver listens on 4317 for gRPC and 4318 for HTTP. Sending the wrong protocol to a port results in connection or decode errors.
• Confirm the Jaeger server supports the selected compression algorithm before enabling it. The gRPC and HTTP protocols accept different sets of algorithms.
• Keep the sending queue and persistent queuing enabled for production. Persistent queuing buffers traces to disk so they survive collector restarts and network outages.

Troubleshooting

Traces are not arriving in Jaeger

Symptoms: spans never appear in the Jaeger UI, and the collector logs connection refused or transport errors.

Solutions:

1. Verify the Hostname and Port are reachable from the collector and that the Port matches the Protocol (4317 gRPC, 4318 HTTP).
2. Confirm Jaeger was started with OTLP ingestion enabled.

TLS handshake failures

Symptoms: the collector logs certificate verification or handshake errors when Enable TLS is set.

Solutions:

1. Provide the correct TLS Certificate Authority File, or enable Skip TLS Certificate Verification only for testing.
2. When the server requires mutual TLS, supply both the client certificate and private key files.

Spans are dropped under load

Symptoms: trace volume in Jaeger is lower than expected and the collector reports queue-full or dropped data.

Solutions:

1. Increase the sending queue Queue Size, or add consumers with Number of Consumers.
2. Enable persistent queuing so spilled batches buffer to disk instead of being dropped.

Standalone Destination

apiVersion: bindplane.observiq.com/v1
kind: Destination
metadata:
  name: jaeger
spec:
  type: jaeger_otlp
  parameters:
    - name: hostname
      value: jaeger.example.com
    - name: protocol
      value: grpc
    - name: grpc_port
      value: 4317
    - name: persistent_queue_storage_extension
      value:
        type: file_storage_persistent_queue
        parameters:
          - name: persistent_queue_directory
            value: ${OIQ_OTEL_COLLECTOR_HOME}/storage
          - name: timeout
            value: 1
          - name: persistent_queue_fsync
            value: true

Related Resources

• OTLP Exporter (gRPC) — OpenTelemetry Collector
• OTLP/HTTP Exporter — OpenTelemetry Collector
• Jaeger APIs (OTLP ingestion) — Jaeger documentation