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Customizing Java Instrumentation

Oracle Backend for Microservices and AI lets you pass custom environment variables to the OpenTelemetry Java agent through the obaas Helm chart. This makes it possible to tune logging, protocol settings, and agent behavior without modifying the core chart templates.

Before you start​

  • This guide applies to Java applications that use OpenTelemetry auto-instrumentation in OBaaS.
  • Your application must be deployed with otel.enabled: true for the OpenTelemetry Operator to inject the Java agent and its environment variables.

This approach is best when you want a persistent configuration that is easy to review and reuse across deployments.

Add the env list to your custom values file:

signoz:
  instrumentation:
    java:
      env:
        - name: "OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER"
          value: "otlp"
        - name: "OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_PROTOCOL"
          value: "grpc"
        - name: "OTEL_METRIC_EXPORT_INTERVAL"
          value: "15000"

In this example:

  • OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER=otlp enables exporting application logs through OTLP.
  • OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_PROTOCOL=grpc configures the OTLP logs exporter to use gRPC.
  • OTEL_METRIC_EXPORT_INTERVAL=15000 changes the metrics export interval to 15 seconds.

Deploy the updated configuration:

helm upgrade --install <app-release> obaas/obaas \
  -f my-values.yaml \
  -n <application-namespace> \
  --create-namespace [--debug]

Method 2: Using Helm CLI (--set-json)​

This method works well for quick testing or one-off overrides. --set-json is easier to read and maintain than a long --set expression when passing lists of objects.

helm upgrade --install <app-release> obaas/obaas \
  -n <application-namespace> \
  --create-namespace \
  --set-json 'signoz.instrumentation.java.env=[{"name":"OTEL_METRIC_EXPORT_INTERVAL","value":"15000"}]' \
  [--debug]

How to Verify Changes​

Check the Instrumentation resource​

Verify that the Instrumentation custom resource picked up your environment variables:

kubectl get instrumentation traces-instrumentation -n <application-namespace> -o yaml

In the output, look for your configured entries under the Java instrumentation environment list. You should see values such as OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER, OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_PROTOCOL, or OTEL_METRIC_EXPORT_INTERVAL in the resource definition.

If the change was applied successfully, the instrumentation resource should show your configured variables and the restarted pod should use the same values.

Restart application pods​

Important

The OpenTelemetry Operator injects environment variables only when pods are created. If your application pods are already running, restart them so the new settings are applied.

kubectl rollout restart deployment -n <application-namespace>

Check the pod environment​

After the new pods are running, inspect the environment inside one of the application pods:

kubectl exec <pod-name> -n <application-namespace> -- env | grep OTEL_

If you set a custom variable that does not start with OTEL_, such as CUSTOM_JAVA_SETTING, adjust the grep expression to match that variable name as well.