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Tracing a Java Application with OpenTel-Collector, Jaeger and Dynatrace.

OpenTelemetry Jaeger Dynatrace

Introduction

In modern observability stacks, OpenTelemetry (OTel) plays a key role in instrumenting applications and exporting trace data to backends like Jaeger, Tempo, or Dynatrace. With Jaeger v2 natively supporting OTLP, it's now easier than ever to collect, route, and visualize traces in a standardized format.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to instrument a Java JAR or WAR application using the OpenTelemetry Java Agent, send traces to the OpenTelemetry Collector, and view them in Jaeger, Tempo, or Dynatrace.

Architecture

This is how the full system looks:

OpenTelemetry Jaeger Dynatrace Architecture

Prerequisites

Step 1: Run Jaeger

i) Extract the Jaeger binary

tar -xzvf jaeger-*.tar.gz
cd jaeger-*

ii) Start Jaeger in the background

nohup ./jaeger-all-in-one &

This will expose the Jaeger UI at http://localhost:16686

Step 2: Start the Java Application

For JAR:

Start the App using below 

nohup java -javaagent:/path/to/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar
  -Dotel.service.name=bookstore
  -Dotel.exporter.otlp.endpoint=http://localhost:4317
  -Dotel.exporter.otlp.protocol=grpc
  -jar /path/to/yourapp.jar &

For WAR (Tomcat example):

Navigate to Tomcat's bin directory:

cd $HOME/tomcat/bin

Create the setenv.sh script:

touch setenv.sh

Edit the file:

vi setenv.sh

Add the following lines to setenv.sh:

export CATALINA_OPTS="$CATALINA_OPTS -javaagent:/path/to/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar"
export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:4318
export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_TRACES_PROTOCOL=http
export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_METRICS_PROTOCOL=http
export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_PROTOCOL=http
export OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES=service.name=test

Note: Replace /path/to/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar with the actual full path to your agent file.

Make the script executable:

chmod +x setenv.sh

Start Tomcat:

./startup.sh

View your traces in Jaeger UI

Step 3: Configure Opentelemetry Collector

To send traces to Dynatrace, Tempo, etc.

Create a Collector Configuration File (e.g., otel-config.yaml):

receivers:
  otlp:
    protocols:
      grpc:
        endpoint: 0.0.0.0:4317
      http:
        endpoint: 0.0.0.0:4318

processors:
  batch:

exporters:
  otlphttp:
    endpoint: "https://{your-environment-id}.live.dynatrace.com/api/v2/otlp"
    headers:
      Authorization: "Api-Token {your-dynatrace-api-token}"

service:
  pipelines:
    traces:
      receivers: [otlp]
      processors: [batch]
      exporters: [debug, otlphttp]
    metrics:
      receivers: [otlp]
      processors: [batch]
      exporters: [otlphttp]
    logs:
      receivers: [otlp]
      processors: [batch]
      exporters: [otlphttp]

Replace:

  • {your-environment-id} with your Dynatrace tenant (e.g., abc12345)
  • {your-dynatrace-api-token} with your actual API token

Start the OpenTelemetry Collector:

otelcol --config otel-config.yaml

Result: Your Java app sends telemetry via the agent → OpenTelemetry Collector → Dynatrace.

References