Working with OTel

Gonzo can act as an OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP) log receiver, accepting logs directly from OpenTelemetry-instrumented applications.

Basic OTLP Setup

# Start Gonzo as OTLP receiver
gonzo --otlp-enabled

# Custom ports
gonzo --otlp-enabled --otlp-grpc-port=5317 --otlp-http-port=5318

# OTLP with file backup
gonzo --otlp-enabled -f backup.log --follow

Default Endpoints:

• gRPC: localhost:4317

• HTTP: http://localhost:4318/v1/logs

OpenTelemetry Collector Configuration

gRPC Configuration

OpenTelemetry Collector (otelcol) config:

# otel-collector-config.yaml
exporters:
  otlp/gonzo_grpc:
    endpoint: localhost:4317
    tls:
      insecure: true

service:
  pipelines:
    logs:
      receivers: [filelog, otlp]
      processors: [batch]
      exporters: [otlp/gonzo_grpc]

Start collector:

otelcol --config=otel-collector-config.yaml

HTTP Configuration

OpenTelemetry Collector (otelcol) config:

# otel-collector-config.yaml
exporters:
  otlphttp/gonzo_http:
    endpoint: http://localhost:4318/v1/logs

service:
  pipelines:
    logs:
      receivers: [filelog, otlp]
      processors: [batch]
      exporters: [otlphttp/gonzo_http]

Benefits of HTTP:

• Easier debugging with standard HTTP tools

• Better firewall compatibility

• Works with HTTP proxies

Application Integration

Python Application:

from opentelemetry.exporter.otlp.proto.grpc._log_exporter import OTLPLogExporter
from opentelemetry.sdk._logs import LoggerProvider
from opentelemetry.sdk._logs.export import BatchLogRecordProcessor

# Configure OTLP exporter
otlp_exporter = OTLPLogExporter(
    endpoint="localhost:4317",
    insecure=True
)

# Set up logging pipeline
logger_provider = LoggerProvider()
logger_provider.add_log_record_processor(
    BatchLogRecordProcessor(otlp_exporter)
)

# Your application logs now flow to Gonzo
import logging
logging.info("This log will appear in Gonzo!")

Node.js Application:

const { NodeSDK } = require('@opentelemetry/sdk-node');
const { OTLPLogExporter } = require('@opentelemetry/exporter-logs-otlp-grpc');

const sdk = new NodeSDK({
  logRecordProcessor: new BatchLogRecordProcessor(
    new OTLPLogExporter({
      url: 'http://localhost:4317',
    })
  ),
});

sdk.start();

OTLP Advantages

Why Use OTLP with Gonzo:

✅ Native integration - Structured log data preserves all attributes ✅ Real-time streaming - Logs appear immediately as they're generated ✅ Metadata preservation - Service names, trace IDs, and custom attributes ✅ Standardized format - Works with any OpenTelemetry-compatible application ✅ Scalable architecture - Handle logs from multiple services simultaneously

Use Cases:

• Microservice architectures - Centralized log collection from all services

• Cloud-native applications - Integration with OpenTelemetry ecosystems

• Real-time monitoring - Immediate visibility into application behavior

• Distributed tracing correlation - Logs automatically linked to traces

OTLP Issues

# Connection refused
# Check if Gonzo is listening:
netstat -ln | grep 4317

# No logs appearing
# Verify OTLP configuration:
curl -X POST http://localhost:4318/v1/logs -d '{}'

# Port conflicts
# Use custom ports:
gonzo --otlp-enabled --otlp-grpc-port=5317

What's Next?

Now that you understand all input methods, explore these advanced topics:

• Filtering & Search - Find exactly what you need in your logs

• Configuration - Set up persistent input configurations

• Integration Examples - Real-world input scenarios

• AI Integration - Add intelligence to your log analysis

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You now have complete mastery over getting data into Gonzo! 🚀 Whether you're analyzing static files, monitoring real-time streams, or integrating with OpenTelemetry, you know the optimal approach for every scenario.