Skip to main content
Lantern Home

 

Splunk Lantern

Compiling the Splunk OpenTelemetry Collector

  1. Last updated
  2. Save as PDF

 

This article provides a guide on how to compile the Splunk OpenTelemetry Collector, allowing you to integrate custom components and tailor the collector to specific operational requirements.

Why compile the Splunk OpenTelemetry Collector?

Compiling your own Splunk OpenTelemetry Collector offers several advantages, especially when the standard distribution doesn't meet all your needs:

  • Add custom components: You can include components that are not part of the official Splunk distribution. This is often a better approach than solely relying on the OpenTelemetry Contrib, as it allows you to maintain all the benefits of the Splunk distribution.
  • Retain Splunk distribution features: By compiling, you keep all the extra benefits of the Splunk distribution, such as out-of-the-box content, correlation capabilities, easy installation, and Splunk Helm Chart compatibility.

When you can engage with Splunk Support for general issues on OpenTelemetry Contrib components or custom compilations, support for is typically on a "best effort" basis. We recommend only opening P3 or P4 tickets for these issues.

How to compile the Splunk OpenTelemetry Collector

This section provides step-by-step instructions for compiling the Splunk OpenTelemetry Collector.

The compilation environment used for the examples in this article was:

  • Hypervisor: UTM Hypervisor on Apple OS X
  • Operating system: debian-12-arm64-utm image
  • RAM: 6000 MB (Note that segfaults were observed at the default 4GB)

1. Modify source code to include custom components

To add new components, you need to modify two key files within the splunk-otel-collector directory:  ./go.mod  which manages the module dependencies, and ./internal/components/components.go which OpenTelemetry refers to when loading modules.

  1. ./go.mod:

    • Add the new components along with their version numbers.
    • Ensure the version numbers match the version of the collector you are compiling to avoid a cascade of broken dependencies.

  2. ./internal/components/components.go:

    • Include the new components in the import {} block.
    • Instantiate the components using newFactory().

The blue arrow in the screenshot below shows the addition of the Azure Blob exporter to ./go.mod. 

unnamed - 2025-06-30T105851.049.png

The blue arrows in the two screenshots below show the addition of the Azure Blob exporter to  ./internal/components/components.go .

unnamed - 2025-06-30T105919.923.png

unnamed - 2025-06-30T105927.451.png

2. Compile the Collector

This step uses a Makefile to complete the remaining actions. A Makefile is a script used by the make command to automate repetitive tasks such as compiling code, running tests, and managing dependencies. It's useful because it automates build steps, saves time, reduces human error, and ensures consistent project workflows.

In the terminal, use the Makefile below:

# Clone Splunk OpenTelemetry Collector
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y git
git clone https://github.com/signalfx/splunk-otel-collector

# Find the version of Go to compile with
cd splunk-otel-collector/
grep '^go' go.mod

# Install Go
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/go
cd /tmp
wget https://go.dev/dl/go1.23.8.linux-arm64.tar.gz
sudo tar -C /usr/local -xzf go1.23.8.linux-arm64.tar.gz
echo 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/go/bin' >> ~/.profile
source ~/.profile

# Verify Go
go version

#Modify source code to include components
cd ~/splunk-otel-collector
vi go.mod
vi internal/components/components.go
go mod tidy

#Compile binary
sudo apt install -y make
make binaries-linux_arm64

#Install and configure Docker in preparation of packaging deb
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ca-certificates curl gnupg lsb-release
sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/debian/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg
echo \
 "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) \
 signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] \
 https://download.docker.com/linux/debian \
 $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | \
 sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker
echo { \"dns\":[\"8.8.8.8\", \"8.8.4.4\"] } | sudo tee /etc/docker/daemon.json
sudo systemctl restart docker

#Deb Package
make ARCH=arm64 deb-package
ls dist/

#Install deb pacakge
sudo dpkg -i dist/splunk-otel-collector_0.126.0-64-g95a48d6f_arm64.deb

#Configure OTEL
sudo mv /etc/otel/collector/splunk-otel-collector.conf.example /etc/otel/collector/splunk-otel-collector.conf
sudo vi /etc/otel/collector/splunk-otel-collector.conf
sudo vi /etc/otel/collector/agent_config.yaml

Next steps

While custom compilation can serve as a short-term fix for specific needs, you can help implement longer-term strategies:

  • Open a Splunk idea: If you find a component or feature missing that you believe would benefit many users, consider submitting an idea to Splunk.
  • Ask your Splunk representative to advocate for you: Speak to your Splunk representative and ask them to advocate within Splunk for the inclusion of the missing component in future official distributions.