open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector

Feature Request: Create an API to service custom Collector builds via HTTP

Open

#4,311 opened on Jul 14, 2021

View on GitHub
 (5 comments) (0 reactions) (0 assignees)Go (2,146 forks)auto 404
area:builderenhancementhelp wanted

Repository metrics

Stars
 (7,237 stars)
PR merge metrics
 (PR metrics pending)

Description

As the Collector-Builder functionality is enhanced to support Collector users to create custom builds of the Collector, it would be useful for both maintainers and users to have an API to programmatically build binaries. Optionally, by additionally hosting an HTTP server, this service would be able to support both hosting of common pre-built distributions (as proposed in this Collector issue) and to service distribution build requests through a web-based UI.

To achieve these goals, the following features would need to be implemented:

  • Adding an API to the OTEL Collector Builder that can accept user manifest files or commands, process through HTTP, and produce/return a custom Collector binary.
  • Hosting common pre-built distributions (as specified in the issue above). The implementation should be vendor-agnostic.
  • Creating a web-based, UI-driven experience to increase the accessibility of the Collector-Builder to users.
  • Tracking metrics of what users are requesting and building the most, so contributors to Collector better understand customer needs.

Contributor guide

Research direction
Study the OpenTelemetry Collector Builder (ocb) to understand how builds work. Read the referenced issue #3474 for pre built distributions. Design an HTTP API that accepts manifests or commands, and consider using a Go web framework like Gin or Echo. For metrics, plan to instrument with OpenTelemetry.
Tech stack
go
Domain
backendapi
Issue type
Feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
4
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
Over 1 week
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
Active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
Clear
Prerequisites
GoHTTP
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
25