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Point Java App to OTel and Validate Data

Add Java Auto-Instrumentation Library

  1. On the host running your Java app, go to the root directory of the app and download the auto-instrumentation library: 
    curl -L https://github.com/signalfx/splunk-otel-java/releases/latest/download/splunk-otel-javaagent.jar -o splunk-otel-javaagent.jar

  2. Set the following environment variables (replace <APP_NAME>, <ENV_NAME>, and <GATEWAY_IP>): 

    export OTEL_SERVICE_NAME='<APP_NAME>'
export OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES='deployment.environment=<ENV_NAME>'
export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT='http://<GATEWAY_IP>:4317'

  3. Finally, run your app with the javaagent tag added to specify the auto-instrumentation library (<GATEWAY_IP> may be localhost if the OTel collector is running on the same VM): 

    java -javaagent:./splunk-otel-javaagent.jar -Dsplunk.profiler.enabled=true -Dsplunk.metrics.enabled=true -Dsplunk.metrics.endpoint='http://<GATEWAY_IP>:9943' \
-jar myapp.jar
    If you are using the Spring PetClinic app, run this command instead, from the app's root directory: 
    java -javaagent:./splunk-otel-javaagent.jar -Dsplunk.profiler.enabled=true -Dsplunk.metrics.enabled=true -Dsplunk.metrics.endpoint='http://<GATEWAY_IP>:9943' -jar target/spring-petclinic-*-SNAPSHOT.jar

Validate Data in Splunk Enterprise

  1. Trace search (in Splunk/SPL) for validating ingestion and search: 
    index = apm_traces (last 15 minutes)

  2. Metric search for validating ingestion: 

    | mcatalog values(metric_name) WHERE index=apm_metrics
    Metric search for validating search: 
    | mstats avg(_value) prestats=t WHERE index=apm_metrics AND metric_name="runtime.jvm.memory.*" span=1m by metric_name | timechart avg(_value) as "Avg" span=1m by metric_name

  3. Learn how to work with metric data in Splunk Enterprise/Cloud. See:

  4. Splunk Enterprise/Cloud docs: Visualize metrics in the Analytics Workspace

  5. Metrics and attributes collected by the Splunk OTel Java agent (JVM metrics)

Validate Data in Splunk Observability Cloud

  1. Login to Splunk Observability Cloud and check for JVM metrics by searching jvm in Metric Finder.

  2. Check for traces in APM (on the service map and in the traces view), and also check for Code Profiling data in APM. If using a database, check DB Query Perfomance in APM.

Last update: August 11, 2022