Docker

This guide configures logs, traces, metrics. Replace YOUR_INGEST_KEY with your key on your server, never in a public example.

1. Save collector.yaml

The container network can reach this receiver. Publish it only on loopback if host applications need access. To ingest container stdout, add the Collector filelog receiver with read-only mounts for your runtime log files, or use the Vector docker_logs source below.

receivers:
  otlp:
    protocols:
      http:
        endpoint: 0.0.0.0:4318
processors:
  memory_limiter:
    check_interval: 1s
    limit_mib: 256
    spike_limit_mib: 64
  resource:
    attributes:
      - {key: service.name, value: "my-service", action: upsert}
      - {key: deployment.environment.name, value: "production", action: upsert}
  batch:
    send_batch_size: 256
    send_batch_max_size: 512
    timeout: 1s
exporters:
  otlphttp/siteqwality:
    endpoint: https://otlp.siteqwality.com
    headers:
      Authorization: "Bearer YOUR_INGEST_KEY"
    compression: gzip
    sending_queue: {enabled: true, queue_size: 1000}
    retry_on_failure: {enabled: true, initial_interval: 1s, max_interval: 30s, max_elapsed_time: 300s}
service:
  pipelines:
    logs:
      receivers: [otlp]
      processors: [memory_limiter, resource, batch]
      exporters: [otlphttp/siteqwality]
    traces:
      receivers: [otlp]
      processors: [memory_limiter, resource, batch]
      exporters: [otlphttp/siteqwality]
    metrics:
      receivers: [otlp]
      processors: [memory_limiter, resource, batch]
      exporters: [otlphttp/siteqwality]

2. Save compose.yaml

Choose a released Collector version and pin its image digest for production. Keep collector.yaml private because it contains the key. Applications in this Compose network use http://collector:4318, not the cloud key.

services:
  collector:
    image: otel/opentelemetry-collector-contrib:${COLLECTOR_VERSION:?set a released version}
    command: ["--config=/etc/otelcol-contrib/config.yaml"]
    volumes: ["./collector.yaml:/etc/otelcol-contrib/config.yaml:ro"]
    ports: ["127.0.0.1:4318:4318"]
    restart: unless-stopped

3. Start and inspect

Enable SDK instrumentation in your app, send a request and inspect the selected explorer. Container stdout is separate from OTLP until you configure its log source.

export COLLECTOR_VERSION=YOUR_RELEASED_COLLECTOR_VERSION
docker compose config
docker compose up -d
docker compose logs --tail=50 collector

See your data

Open Logs, Traces or Metrics. New data usually shows up within a minute, and a page that says it is waiting for data switches to your data on its own. Nothing arriving? See what each status code means in failure handling.

Production checklist

Store the key in your platform secret mechanism, rotate it when exposed and remove test keys. Set a stable service.name and deployment.environment.name; avoid user IDs or unbounded values in metric labels. Prefer a persistent queue, bounded retries and exporter failure monitoring. Review redaction and processors before increasing traffic.