Documentation Grafana Cloud Instrument and send data Grafana Alloy Set up OpenTelemetry Engine Helm chart

Run the Alloy OpenTelemetry Engine with the OpenTelemetry Collector Helm chart

Use the upstream OpenTelemetry Collector Helm chart to run the OTel Engine on Kubernetes. The chart deploys the Alloy image with the standard upstream chart values, so you configure it the same way you configure any OpenTelemetry Collector deployment.

Before you begin

Make sure you have the following:

• Helm installed on your computer
• A Kubernetes cluster that you can use for Alloy
• A local Kubernetes context that points at the cluster

Run the OTel Engine

1. Add the OpenTelemetry Collector Helm chart repository:

   shell Copy

   helm repo add open-telemetry https://open-telemetry.github.io/opentelemetry-helm-charts
   helm repo update

2. Create a values.yaml file. The following example runs the configuration from Send data to Grafana Cloud in a Kubernetes Deployment:

   YAML Copy

   image:
     repository: grafana/alloy
     tag: <ALLOY_VERSION>
   
   command:
     name: "bin/otelcol"
   
   mode: deployment
   
   ports:
     metrics:
       enabled: true
   
   config:
     extensions:
       basicauth/my_auth:
         client_auth:
           username: "<USERNAME>"
           password: "<PASSWORD>"
   
     receivers:
       otlp:
         protocols:
           grpc: {}
           http: {}
       jaeger: null
       zipkin: null
       prometheus: null
   
     processors:
       batch:
         timeout: 1s
         send_batch_size: 512
   
     exporters:
       debug: null
       otlp_http/my_backend:
         endpoint: <URL>
         auth:
           authenticator: basicauth/my_auth
   
     service:
       telemetry:
         metrics:
           readers:
             - pull:
                 exporter:
                   prometheus:
                     host: 0.0.0.0
                     port: 8888
       extensions: [basicauth/my_auth, health_check]
       pipelines:
         logs: null
         metrics: null
         traces:
           receivers: [otlp]
           processors: [batch]
           exporters: [otlp_http/my_backend]

   Replace the following:

   • <ALLOY_VERSION>: The Alloy release you want to run, for example v1.20.1.
   • <USERNAME>: Your Grafana Cloud instance ID.
   • <PASSWORD>: Your Grafana Cloud API token.
   • <URL>: Your Grafana Cloud OTLP endpoint URL.

   For more information about where to find the Grafana Cloud values, refer to Send data using OpenTelemetry Protocol.

   The chart runs /<COMMAND_NAME> as the container command, so bin/otelcol resolves to /bin/otelcol. This path is a compatibility entrypoint in the Alloy image that runs alloy otel. Without this setting, the chart runs the image’s default entrypoint, which starts the Default Engine.

   The example sets the chart defaults it doesn’t need to null and uses the chart’s own health_check extension without redefining it. Refer to the Helm chart documentation for how config combines with the chart’s defaults.

   The example also sets the metrics endpoint host to 0.0.0.0 so it listens on all interfaces inside the Pod. The chart’s default binds the Pod IP, which other Pods in the cluster can already reach. Set 0.0.0.0 when you also want to reach the endpoint on 127.0.0.1 inside the Pod, for example from a sidecar container. Set ports.metrics.enabled to true to expose port 8888 on the Pod and the Service.

3. Install the chart:

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   helm install <RELEASE_NAME> open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector --values values.yaml

   Replace <RELEASE_NAME> with a name for your Helm release.

4. Verify that the Pod runs:

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   kubectl get pods

   The Pod reaches Running status once the OTel Engine starts.

Configuration options

Configure the OTel Engine through the chart’s config field, as the preceding example does. The Helm chart documentation describes this field and how your values combine with the chart’s defaults.

The chart also provides alternateConfig, which replaces the chart’s default configuration instead of combining with it. Upstream provides that field for use as a subchart and doesn’t recommend it when you install the chart directly.

Refer to the upstream documentation for more information about configuring the Helm chart for your use case.