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[ARTICLE · art-32183] src=signoz.io ↗ pub= topic=developer-tools verified=true sentiment=· neutral

Java & Spring Boot OpenTelemetry Setup Guide

SigNoz released a guide for instrumenting Java and Spring Boot applications with OpenTelemetry to send traces to its observability platform. The guide covers automatic instrumentation via the OpenTelemetry Java agent, configuration for SigNoz Cloud, and deployment steps for Docker and Kubernetes. It aims to help developers monitor application performance using distributed tracing.

read6 min views1 publishedJun 17, 2026

This guide walks you through instrumenting your Java or Spring Boot application with OpenTelemetry and sending traces to SigNoz. The Java agent handles most popular libraries and frameworks automatically—Spring, JDBC, HTTP clients, message queues, and more.

Prerequisites

Java 8+- A SigNoz Cloud account or self-hosted SigNoz instance

Send traces to SigNoz

Step 1. Download the OpenTelemetry Java agent

wget https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/latest/download/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar

Step 2. Set environment variables

export OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES="service.name=<service-name>,service.version=<service-version>"
export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT="https://ingest.<region>.signoz.cloud:443"
export OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS="signoz-ingestion-key=<your-ingestion-key>"
export OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER="none"
export OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER="none"

Verify these values:

<region>

: YourSigNoz Cloud region.<your-ingestion-key>

: Your SigNozingestion key.<service-name>

: A descriptive name for your service (e.g.,payment-service

).<service-version>

(optional): Your release version, image tag, or git SHA (e.g.,1.4.2

,a01dbef8

).

Set service.version

to a per-build value, not a static string. SigNoz detects a deployment each time this value changes. Common sources:

Bash / shell:service.version=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)

GitHub Actions:service.version=${{ github.sha }}

GitLab CI:service.version=$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA

Kubernetes: inject from your Helm chart image tag or CI variable

Step 3. Run your application

For Spring Boot applications:

java -javaagent:./opentelemetry-javaagent.jar -jar your-app.jar

For generic Java applications, you can also pass config as system properties:

java -javaagent:./opentelemetry-javaagent.jar \
  -Dotel.service.name=my-service \
  -Dotel.exporter.otlp.endpoint=https://ingest.us.signoz.cloud:443 \
  -Dotel.exporter.otlp.headers=signoz-ingestion-key=<key> \
  -jar your-app.jar

Step 1. Add the agent to your Dockerfile

FROM eclipse-temurin:17-jre
WORKDIR /app

COPY target/<my-app>.jar app.jar

RUN wget https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/latest/download/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar -O opentelemetry-javaagent.jar

ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-javaagent:/app/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar", "-jar", "app.jar"]

Step 2. Deploy to Kubernetes

Add these environment variables to your deployment manifest:

env:
- name: OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES
  value: 'service.name=<service-name>,service.version=<service-version>'
- name: OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT
  value: 'https://ingest.<region>.signoz.cloud:443'
- name: OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS
  value: 'signoz-ingestion-key=<your-ingestion-key>'
- name: OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER
  value: 'none'
- name: OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER
  value: 'none'

Verify these values:

<region>

: YourSigNoz Cloud region.<your-ingestion-key>

: Your SigNozingestion key.<service-name>

: A descriptive name for your service (e.g.,payment-service

).<service-version>

(optional): Your release version, image tag, or git SHA (e.g.,1.4.2

,a01dbef8

).

Set service.version

to a per-build value, not a static string. SigNoz detects a deployment each time this value changes. Common sources:

Bash / shell:service.version=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)

GitHub Actions:service.version=${{ github.sha }}

GitLab CI:service.version=$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA

Kubernetes: inject from your Helm chart image tag or CI variable

The OpenTelemetry Operator auto-injects the Java agent into your pods without modifying your container image.

Step 1. Set up the OpenTelemetry Operator

Install the Operator and Collector following the K8s OTel Operator installation guide.

Step 2. Create the Instrumentation resource

Create instrumentation.yaml

to configure Java auto-instrumentation:

apiVersion: opentelemetry.io/v1alpha1
kind: Instrumentation
metadata:
  name: java-instrumentation
spec:
  exporter:
    endpoint: http://otel-collector-collector:4318
  propagators:
    - tracecontext
    - baggage
  env:
    - name: OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER
      value: "none"
    - name: OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER
      value: "none"
  java:
    image: ghcr.io/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-operator/autoinstrumentation-java:latest

Deploy this resource to your cluster.

Step 3. Add annotations to your deployment

Add these annotations to your pod template's metadata.annotations

:

instrumentation.opentelemetry.io/inject-java: "true"
resource.opentelemetry.io/service.name: "<service-name>"
resource.opentelemetry.io/service.version: "<service-version>"

Verify these values:

<service-name>

: A descriptive name for your service (e.g.,payment-service

).<service-version>

(optional): Your release version, image tag, or git SHA (e.g.,1.4.2

,a01dbef8

).

Set service.version

to a per-build value, not a static string. SigNoz detects a deployment each time this value changes. Common sources:

Bash / shell:service.version=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)

GitHub Actions:service.version=${{ github.sha }}

GitLab CI:service.version=$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA

Kubernetes: inject from your Helm chart image tag or CI variable

Step 1. Download the OpenTelemetry Java agent

Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/latest/download/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar" -OutFile "opentelemetry-javaagent.jar"

Step 2. Set environment variables

$env:OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES = "service.name=<service-name>,service.version=<service-version>"
$env:OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT = "https://ingest.<region>.signoz.cloud:443"
$env:OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS = "signoz-ingestion-key=<your-ingestion-key>"
$env:OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER = "none"
$env:OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER = "none"

Verify these values:

<region>

: YourSigNoz Cloud region.<your-ingestion-key>

: Your SigNozingestion key.<service-name>

: A descriptive name for your service (e.g.,payment-service

).<service-version>

(optional): Your release version, image tag, or git SHA (e.g.,1.4.2

,a01dbef8

).

Set service.version

to a per-build value, not a static string. SigNoz detects a deployment each time this value changes. Common sources:

Bash / shell:service.version=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)

GitHub Actions:service.version=${{ github.sha }}

GitLab CI:service.version=$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA

Kubernetes: inject from your Helm chart image tag or CI variable

Step 3. Run your application

For Spring Boot applications:

java -javaagent:.\opentelemetry-javaagent.jar -jar your-app.jar

For generic Java applications, you can also pass config as system properties:

java -javaagent:.\opentelemetry-javaagent.jar `
  -Dotel.service.name=my-service `
  -Dotel.exporter.otlp.endpoint=https://ingest.us.signoz.cloud:443 `
  -Dotel.exporter.otlp.headers=signoz-ingestion-key=<key> `
  -jar your-app.jar

Step 1. Add the agent to your Dockerfile

FROM eclipse-temurin:17-jre
WORKDIR /app

COPY target/<my-app>.jar app.jar

RUN wget https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/latest/download/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar -O opentelemetry-javaagent.jar

ENV OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES="service.name=<service-name>,service.version=<service-version>"
ENV OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT="https://ingest.<region>.signoz.cloud:443"
ENV OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS="signoz-ingestion-key=<your-ingestion-key>"
ENV OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER="none"
ENV OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER="none"

ENTRYPOINT ["java", "-javaagent:/app/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar", "-jar", "app.jar"]

Verify these values:

<region>

: YourSigNoz Cloud region.<your-ingestion-key>

: Your SigNozingestion key.<service-name>

: A descriptive name for your service (e.g.,payment-service

).<service-version>

(optional): Your release version, image tag, or git SHA (e.g.,1.4.2

,a01dbef8

).

Set service.version

to a per-build value, not a static string. SigNoz detects a deployment each time this value changes. Common sources:

Bash / shell:service.version=$(git rev-parse --short HEAD)

GitHub Actions:service.version=${{ github.sha }}

GitLab CI:service.version=$CI_COMMIT_SHORT_SHA

Kubernetes: inject from your Helm chart image tag or CI variable

Step 2. Build and run

docker build -t my-java-app .
docker run -p 8080:8080 my-java-app

Or pass environment variables at runtime:

docker run -p 8080:8080 \
  -e OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES="service.name=my-service" \
  -e OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT="https://ingest.us.signoz.cloud:443" \
  -e OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS="signoz-ingestion-key=<key>" \
  -e OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER="none" \
  -e OTEL_LOGS_EXPORTER="none" \
  my-java-app

Validate

With your application running, verify traces are being sent to SigNoz:

  • Make a few requests to your application endpoints.
  • In SigNoz, open the Services tab and clickRefresh. Your application should appear. - Go to the Traces tab to see your application's traces.

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

Traces not showing up in SigNoz?

Check environment variables:

echo $OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT
echo $OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES

Enable debug logging:

OTEL_LOG_LEVEL=debug java -javaagent:./opentelemetry-javaagent.jar -jar app.jar

Look for span output in stdout. If spans appear locally but not in SigNoz, check your endpoint URL and ingestion key.

Test connectivity:

curl -v https://ingest.<region>.signoz.cloud:443/v1/traces

Agent not attaching?

Make sure -javaagent

comes before -jar

:

java -javaagent:./agent.jar -jar app.jar

java -jar app.jar -javaagent:./agent.jar

Configuring the agent (Optional)

Configuring the agent (Optional)

What can you configure?

The Java agent auto-instruments most libraries out of the box. Configuration lets you fine-tune what gets captured and how traces are exported.

Why configure?

Reduce noise— Disable instrumentation for internal health checks or chatty libraries** Control costs**— Sample a percentage of traces instead of capturing everything** Add context**— Tag traces with environment, version, or team info for easier filtering

Common options

Disable specific instrumentations:

-Dotel.instrumentation.jdbc-datasource.enabled=false

Some instrumentations are disabled by default because they're noisy:

jdbc-datasource

— creates spans for everyDataSource.getConnection()

calldropwizard-metrics

— limited attribute support in Dropwizard's metrics API

Sample traces:

export OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER=parentbased_traceidratio
export OTEL_TRACES_SAMPLER_ARG=0.1  # Sample 10% of traces

Add resource attributes:

export OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES="service.name=my-app,deployment.environment=production,service.version=1.2.3"

See the full configuration reference for all available options.

Setup OpenTelemetry Collector (Optional)

Setup OpenTelemetry Collector (Optional)

What is the OpenTelemetry Collector?

The Collector sits between your app and SigNoz. Your app sends traces to the Collector, which then forwards them to SigNoz.

Why use it?

Filter and transform- Drop noisy traces or redact sensitive data before it leaves your network** Reduce app overhead**- Let the Collector handle batching, retries, and compression** Add metadata**- Automatically tag traces with Kubernetes pod info, cloud region, etc.** Multi-backend**- Send to multiple observability tools without changing your app

See Switch from direct export to Collector for setup instructions.

Next steps

Add manual instrumentationfor custom spans and business context- Send metricsandlogsfrom your Java application for complete observability Set up alertsfor your Java application- For a framework-focused walkthrough, our Spring Boot OpenTelemetry tutorialcovers instrumentation patterns specific to Spring alongside the agent setup above.

Sample applications:

source & further reading
signoz.io — original article Using the OpenTelemetry Datadog Receiver JBoss & WildFly OpenTelemetry Setup Guide Auto-instrumentation of Python applications with OpenTelemetry
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