Questions regarding the `otel collector metrics` service in

Question

Questions regarding the `otel collector metrics` service in the default docker compose file `clickhouse setup docker compose yaml` what exactly is it for what would you miss out if you d remove that service why is it sitting alongside the `otel collector` service

Pranay · Answer

< Ankit Nayan> Should be able to add more details here

Ankit Nayan · Answer

< Teymour> It s an alternative to Prometheus s scraper component We use it to scrape APM metrics generated by other otel collectors there is a workaround IMO to remove the dependency by making each otel collector scrape it s own prometheus receiver

Ankit Nayan · Answer

Also if you need to use some sort of Prometheus type scraping using configs you would need otel collector metrics If there is a target that needs to be scraped by just 1 otel collector or it will create duplicate data then you need otel collector metrics as otel collector metrics is supposed to be a single instance in a cluster or each otel collector metrics should have a different config to scrape Eg would be k8s cluster metrics which should be scraped by multiple otel collectors as they would generate duplicate data also it would be a redundant load on them as the otel collectors are expected to scale to large numbers

Ankit Nayan · Answer

If you do not need any cluster level metrics and you want to remove otel collector metrics you will lose APM metrics today which with a workaround can be made available

Ankit Nayan · Answer

Though I would recommend to keep otel collector metrics even if you don t make use of it much It will consume minimal resources accordingly