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.
41:40
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Quick takeaways
- OTTL simplifies telemetry data transformations by enabling users to write command-like YAML statements, eliminating the need for extensive programming knowledge.
- Despite its capabilities, OTTL currently faces limitations in processing lists and maintaining state, with future enhancements aimed at improving these aspects.
Deep dives
Understanding OTTL and Its Functionality
Open Telemetry Transformation Language (OTTL) is a framework primarily utilized within the transform processor for conducting data transformations. This framework empowers users to alter data without requiring recompilation of the collector, thus streamlining custom transformations. OTTL grants access to all fields in the OpenTelemetry Protocol (OTLP) payload, enabling users to write command-like statements in YAML format that instruct the transform processor on how to manipulate underlying telemetry data. Although OTTL does not act as a conventional programming language, it allows effective transformations by interpreting these commands, which can apply to various telemetry signals.
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