OpenTelemetry (OTLP)

The OpenTelemetry (OTLP) source receives metrics, logs, and traces sent in OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP) format. The collector runs an OTLP server that accepts data over gRPC (default port 4317) and HTTP (default port 4318). Any OTLP exporter, SDK, or other OpenTelemetry collector can send to it.

Supported Telemetry Types

Platform	Metrics	Logs	Traces
Linux	✓	✓	✓
macOS	✓	✓	✓
Windows	✓	✓	✓
Kubernetes Node (DaemonSet)	✓	✓	✓
Kubernetes Gateway	✓	✓	✓
OpenShift Node (DaemonSet)	✓	✓	✓
OpenShift Gateway	✓	✓	✓
Azure Container Apps (Gateway)	✓	✓	✓
AIX	✓	✓	✓

Prerequisites

This is a receive-only source, so the only requirement is a reachable listen address and open ports on the collector host.

• The collector must be able to bind the configured listen address and gRPC/HTTP ports. The defaults are 0.0.0.0:4317 (gRPC) and 0.0.0.0:4318 (HTTP).
• The gRPC port and HTTP port must be different values.
• Any firewall, security group, or Kubernetes Service in front of the collector must allow the senders to reach those ports.
• If you enable TLS, you need a server certificate and private key on the collector host. For mutual TLS you also need a certificate authority file to validate client certificates.

Configuration

General

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Choose Telemetry Type	telemetrySelector	No	["Logs", "Metrics", "Traces"]	Which signals the source receives. Valid values are Logs, Metrics, and Traces.
Listen Address	string	No	0.0.0.0	The IP address to listen on.
GRPC Port	int	No	4317	TCP port to receive OTLP telemetry using the gRPC protocol. The port used must not be the same as the HTTP port. Set to 0 to disable. Range 0-65535.
HTTP Port	int	No	4318	TCP port to receive OTLP telemetry using the HTTP protocol. The port used must not be the same as the gRPC port. Set to 0 to disable. Range 0-65535.

Advanced

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Maximum Message Size	int	No	20	Sets the maximum size (in MiB) of messages accepted by the server. Visible when GRPC Port is not 0.
Include Metadata	bool	No	false	Propagates the incoming connection's metadata to downstream consumers.

TLS

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Enable TLS	bool	No	false	Whether or not to use TLS.
Server Certificate File	string	Yes	(empty)	A path to the server certificate to be used for TLS. Required and visible when Enable TLS is true.
Server Private Key	string	Yes	(empty)	A path to the server private key to be used for TLS. Required and visible when Enable TLS is true.
Mutual TLS	bool	No	false	Whether or not to require client TLS authentication (mTLS). Visible when Enable TLS is true.
TLS Certificate Authority File	string	Yes	(empty)	A path to the certificate authority to use for authenticating client certificates. Required and visible when Enable TLS and Mutual TLS are both true.

GRPC Timeout

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Enable GRPC Timeout	bool	No	true	Enable to configure advanced GRPC timeout behavior. Visible when GRPC Port is not 0.
Max Idle Time	int	No	60	Maximum amount of time (seconds) after which an idle connection would be closed by sending a GoAway. Visible when GRPC Port is not 0 and Enable GRPC Timeout is true.
Max Connection Age	int	No	60	Maximum amount of time (seconds) a connection may exist before it will be closed by sending a GoAway. Visible when GRPC Port is not 0 and Enable GRPC Timeout is true.
Max Connection Age Grace	int	No	300	Additive period after Max Connection Age after which the connection will be forcibly closed. Visible when GRPC Port is not 0 and Enable GRPC Timeout is true.

CORS

Parameter	Type	Required	Default	Description
Configure CORS	bool	No	false	Enable Cross-Origin Resource Sharing support for HTTP requests. Visible when HTTP Port is not 0.
CORS Allowed Origins	strings	No	(empty)	A list of origins a cross-domain request can be executed from. Visible when Configure CORS is true and HTTP Port is not 0.
CORS Allowed Headers	strings	No	(empty)	The allowed headers sets what headers will be allowed in CORS requests. Visible when Configure CORS is true and HTTP Port is not 0.
CORS Max Age	int	No	0	Indicates how long (in seconds) the results of a preflight request can be cached. Visible when Configure CORS is true and HTTP Port is not 0.

Examples

Receive all three signals with defaults

The OTLP source has no required fields. With the defaults it listens on 0.0.0.0:4317 (gRPC) and 0.0.0.0:4318 (HTTP) for logs, metrics, and traces, without TLS.

apiVersion: bindplane.observiq.com/v1
kind: Source
metadata:
  name: otlp
spec:
  type: otlp
  parameters:
    - name: telemetry_types
      value:
        - Logs
        - Metrics
        - Traces
    - name: listen_address
      value: 0.0.0.0
    - name: grpc_port
      value: 4317
    - name: http_port
      value: 4318

Kubernetes: DaemonSet vs. Gateway

The OTLP source works on Node (DaemonSet) and Gateway collectors. Applications in the cluster send telemetry to the collectors through their clusterIP Services. The source needs no extra configuration; attach it to the collector type you want to receive on.

Use these endpoints to send to the managed Node (DaemonSet) collectors:

Protocol	Service	Endpoint
gRPC	clusterIP	bindplane-node-agent.bindplane-agent.svc.cluster.local:4317
gRPC	headless clusterIP	bindplane-node-agent-headless.bindplane-agent.svc.cluster.local:4317
HTTP	clusterIP	http://bindplane-node-agent.bindplane-agent.svc.cluster.local:4318

Use these endpoints to send to the managed Gateway collectors:

Protocol	Service	Endpoint
gRPC	clusterIP	bindplane-gateway-agent.bindplane-agent.svc.cluster.local:4317
gRPC	headless clusterIP	bindplane-gateway-agent-headless.bindplane-agent.svc.cluster.local:4317
HTTP	clusterIP	http://bindplane-gateway-agent.bindplane-agent.svc.cluster.local:4318

A DaemonSet collector runs one pod per node, so an application sends to the collector on its own node (typically through the node-local Service). This keeps the network hop local and tags telemetry with node-level context, but it scales with the number of nodes and competes for node resources with your workloads.

A Gateway collector runs as a separate scalable Deployment that all applications send to over the cluster Service. It scales independently of cluster size and centralizes processing, at the cost of an extra network hop and no automatic node-level association. Prefer the Gateway when DaemonSet resource consumption per node is a concern or when you want centralized, independently scaled ingestion. A common pattern is both: DaemonSet collectors enrich and forward node-local data to a Gateway tier.

Receive over gRPC only with mutual TLS

Disable the HTTP listener by setting its port to 0, then enable TLS and mutual TLS so only clients presenting a valid certificate are accepted.

apiVersion: bindplane.observiq.com/v1
kind: Source
metadata:
  name: otlp-mtls
spec:
  type: otlp
  parameters:
    - name: telemetry_types
      value:
        - Logs
        - Metrics
        - Traces
    - name: grpc_port
      value: 4317
    - name: http_port
      value: 0
    - name: enable_tls
      value: true
    - name: cert_file
      value: /opt/tls/server.crt
    - name: key_file
      value: /opt/tls/server.key
    - name: mutual_tls
      value: true
    - name: ca_file
      value: /opt/tls/ca.crt

Configuration Tips

• The gRPC and HTTP ports must differ. Set a protocol's port to 0 to disable that protocol entirely (for example HTTP Port 0 for a gRPC-only receiver).
• Enabling Mutual TLS requires Enable TLS to be on, and the CA file is then required so the server can validate client certificates. Enable mTLS on both this source and the sending exporter together, or connections will be rejected.
• CORS settings only apply to the HTTP listener. They have no effect when the HTTP port is disabled.

Troubleshooting

Collector fails to start or bind the port

Symptoms: The collector logs an "address already in use" or bind error, or no data arrives.

Solutions:

1. Confirm the gRPC and HTTP ports are different. Setting both to the same value is invalid.
2. Check that no other process or another OTLP source is already bound to the same listen address and port.
3. Verify the listen address is reachable. 0.0.0.0 binds all interfaces; a specific IP must exist on the host.

Senders cannot connect or are rejected

Symptoms: Exporters report connection refused, TLS handshake failures, or certificate errors.

Solutions:

1. Ensure firewalls, security groups, and Kubernetes Services forward the gRPC/HTTP ports to the collector.
2. When TLS is enabled, confirm the sender trusts the server certificate and is using the correct scheme (https/secure gRPC).
3. When Mutual TLS is enabled, confirm the sender presents a client certificate signed by the configured CA file.

Large payloads are dropped over gRPC

Symptoms: Big batches fail over gRPC while smaller ones succeed, often with a message-size error.

Solutions:

1. Raise Maximum Message Size (MiB) on this source to accommodate the largest expected batch.
2. Reduce batch size on the sending exporter so individual messages stay under the limit.

Standalone Source

apiVersion: bindplane.observiq.com/v1
kind: Source
metadata:
  name: otlp
spec:
  type: otlp
  parameters:
    - name: telemetry_types
      value:
        - Logs
        - Metrics
        - Traces
    - name: listen_address
      value: 0.0.0.0
    - name: grpc_port
      value: 4317
    - name: http_port
      value: 4318
    - name: enable_tls
      value: false

Related Resources

• OpenTelemetry Collector OTLP Receiver
• OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP) specification