A Bootiful Podcast Jonatan Ivanov on how to measure all the things with Micrometer
Jan 14, 2026
Join Jonatan Ivanov, an observability expert and Micrometer contributor, as he dives into the fascinating world of JVM metrics and tracing. He discusses Micrometer's evolution into an observability powerhouse and its seamless integration with Spring Boot. Explore the powerful features of tracing, including the intricacies of OpenTelemetry and real-world applications. Jonatan also shares insights on configuring OTLP endpoints, utilizing the Observation API, and how these tools help visualize system behaviors. Don't miss his tips on the best practices for effective monitoring!
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Micrometer Is An Observability Facade
- Micrometer evolved from a JVM metrics library into a full observability facade covering metrics, tracing, and context propagation.
- Jonatan Ivanov explains Micrometer now exposes APIs for metrics and distributed tracing and acts like an observability facade.
Enable Micrometer Via Actuator And Starter
- Add Spring Actuator to get Micrometer automatically in Spring projects and pick additional modules as needed from start.spring.io.
- Point the OTLP endpoint via simple properties when using the new OpenTelemetry starter in Spring Boot 4.
Single OTEL Starter Simplifies Setup
- Spring Boot 4 adds a single OTEL starter that wires metrics and tracing to OpenTelemetry, replacing multiple manual dependencies.
- You still need a backend or OpenTelemetry Collector to receive OTLP and forward to your chosen observability backend.