Configuring OpenTelemetry for your instance

OpenTelemetry metrics are the future foundation for monitoring, available from GitHub Enterprise Server 3.18 onward. This new monitoring stack provides enhanced observability and management capabilities compared to the legacy collectd system.

Collectd metrics continue to be gathered by default and remain fully supported in this release.

Prerequisites

• GitHub Enterprise Server 3.18 or later
• Administrative access to the Management Console
• SSH access to your GitHub Enterprise Server appliance

Enabling OpenTelemetry metrics

OpenTelemetry metrics are disabled by default. You can enable them through the Management Console or command line.

Using the Management Console

1. From an administrative account on GitHub Enterprise Server, in the upper-right corner of any page, click .

2. If you're not already on the "Site admin" page, in the upper-left corner, click Site admin.

3. In the " Site admin" sidebar, click Management Console.

4. In the monitoring settings, select Enable OpenTelemetry.

5. Under the "Settings" sidebar, click Save settings.

   Remarque

   Saving settings in the Management Console restarts system services, which could result in user-visible downtime.

6. Wait for the configuration run to complete.

Using the command line

1. SSH into your GitHub Enterprise Server instance. If your instance comprises multiple nodes, for example if high availability or geo-replication are configured, SSH into the primary node. If you use a cluster, you can SSH into any node. Replace HOSTNAME with the hostname for your instance, or the hostname or IP address of a node. For more information, see Accessing the administrative shell (SSH).

   Shell

   ssh -p 122 admin@HOSTNAME
   

2. Run the following command to enable OpenTelemetry metrics.

   ghe-config observability.metrics.next-enabled true
   

3. To apply the configuration, run the following command.

   Remarque

   During a configuration run, services on your GitHub Enterprise Server instance may restart, which can cause brief downtime for users.

   Shell

   ghe-config-apply
   

4. Wait for the configuration run to complete.

Performance considerations

When configuring OpenTelemetry metrics, consider the following performance factors:

• Collection frequency: More frequent collection increases system load
• Data retention: Longer retention periods require more storage
• Custom exporters: Additional exporters may increase CPU and memory usage
• Network bandwidth: External metric shipping affects network usage

Configuring metrics collection

After enabling OpenTelemetry metrics, you can customize various aspects of the metrics collection process.

Setting collection intervals

The default metrics collection interval is 30 seconds. You can adjust this based on your monitoring needs.

Using the Management Console to set intervals

1. From an administrative account on GitHub Enterprise Server, in the upper-right corner of any page, click .

2. If you're not already on the "Site admin" page, in the upper-left corner, click Site admin.

3. In the " Site admin" sidebar, click Management Console.

4. In the monitoring settings, under Metrics scrape interval, enter the desired interval in seconds (for example, 60).

5. Under the "Settings" sidebar, click Save settings.

   Remarque

   Saving settings in the Management Console restarts system services, which could result in user-visible downtime.

6. Wait for the configuration run to complete.

Using the command line to set intervals

SSH into your GitHub Enterprise Server appliance and run the following commands:

# Set scrape interval to 60 seconds
ghe-config observability.metrics.interval 60
ghe-config-apply

Configuring data retention

By default, metrics data is retained for 30 days. You can modify this setting using either the Management Console or command line.

Using the Management Console to configure retention

1. From an administrative account on GitHub Enterprise Server, in the upper-right corner of any page, click .

2. If you're not already on the "Site admin" page, in the upper-left corner, click Site admin.

3. In the " Site admin" sidebar, click Management Console.

4. In the monitoring settings, under Metrics retention, enter the desired retention period in days (for example, 15).

5. Under the "Settings" sidebar, click Save settings.

   Remarque

   Saving settings in the Management Console restarts system services, which could result in user-visible downtime.

6. Wait for the configuration run to complete.

Using the command line to configure retention

SSH into your GitHub Enterprise Server appliance and run the following commands:

# Set retention to 15 days
ghe-config observability.metrics.retention 15
ghe-config-apply

Configuring the verbosity level for internal telemetry

The OpenTelemetry collector generates its own internal telemetry data for monitoring the health and performance of the collector itself. You can configure the verbosity of this internal telemetry using the command line.

The available telemetry levels are:

• none: Disables internal telemetry
• basic: Provides essential telemetry data (default)
• normal: Provides standard telemetry data
• detailed: Provides verbose telemetry data for debugging

SSH into your GitHub Enterprise Server appliance and run the following commands:

# Set internal telemetry level to normal
ghe-config observability.metrics.internal-otel-telemetry-level normal
ghe-config-apply

Troubleshooting configuration issues

If you encounter problems with OpenTelemetry configuration, the following information can help you identify and resolve common issues.

Common configuration problems

• Service startup failures: Check system logs for error messages
• Resource constraints: Monitor system resources when adjusting collection intervals

Viewing local logs

SSH into the node you want to debug and run the following commands:

View OpenTelemetry collector logs:

sudo journalctl -u otelcol-contrib -f

View VictoriaMetrics logs:

sudo journalctl -u victoriametrics -f

Next steps

• To enable advanced monitoring dashboards, see Enabling advanced dashboards of OpenTelemetry metrics
• To set up external monitoring, see Setting up external monitoring with OpenTelemetry.