O11ycast Ep. #78, Exploring OTTL with Tyler Helmuth and Evan Bradley
Feb 11, 2025
Join Tyler Helmuth, an engineer at Honeycomb, and Evan Bradley, a key maintainer at Dynatrace, as they unpack the innovative OpenTelemetry Transformation Language (OTTL). They delve into OTTL’s powerful telemetry data transformations and its evolution within the OpenTelemetry ecosystem. Discover the practical applications, challenges, and limitations of OTTL, including issues with state management. The conversation also highlights the need for better documentation and emphasizes community involvement as OTTL approaches its beta version.
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OTTL Simplifies Transformations
- OTTL simplifies telemetry transformations within the OpenTelemetry Collector.
- It provides a less powerful but more convenient alternative to recompiling or using other components.
OTTL's Origin
- OTTL was introduced around 2021, simplifying custom data transformations.
- Before OTTL, developers had to write code and recompile the collector for such tasks.
OTTL's Flexibility
- OTTL lets users modify telemetry data, even breaking OpenTelemetry specifications if needed.
- This allows flexibility for specific transformations, like altering data point attributes without re-aggregation.