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JBoss & WildFly OpenTelemetry Setup Guide

SigNoz released a guide for instrumenting JBoss EAP and WildFly application servers with OpenTelemetry to send traces to its observability platform. The guide covers manual configuration via JVM options and Docker/Kubernetes deployment, enabling users to monitor application performance with distributed tracing.

read6 min views1 publishedJun 17, 2026

This guide walks you through instrumenting your JBoss EAP or WildFly application server with OpenTelemetry and sending traces to SigNoz. JBoss and WildFly use standalone.conf

(Linux/Mac) or standalone.conf.bat

(Windows) to configure JVM options, making it straightforward to attach the OpenTelemetry Java agent.

Prerequisites

Java 8+Supported WildFly versionor compatible JBoss EAP- A SigNoz Cloud account or self-hosted SigNoz instance

Send traces to SigNoz

Step 1. Download the OpenTelemetry Java agent

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

Step 2. Edit standalone.conf

Open your JBoss/WildFly configuration file:

  • JBoss EAP: /opt/jboss-eap-7.x/bin/standalone.conf

  • WildFly: /opt/wildfly/bin/standalone.conf

Add the following lines:

JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -javaagent:/opt/jboss/lib/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar"
JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.service.name=<service-name>"
JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.resource.attributes=service.version=<service-version>"
JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.exporter.otlp.endpoint=https://ingest.<region>.signoz.cloud:443"
JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.exporter.otlp.headers=signoz-ingestion-key=<your-ingestion-key>"
JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.metrics.exporter=none"
JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.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.,jboss-app

).<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. Restart JBoss/WildFly

/opt/jboss-eap-7.x/bin/standalone.sh

/opt/wildfly/bin/standalone.sh

Step 1. Create a Dockerfile with the agent

FROM jboss/wildfly:latest
WORKDIR /opt/jboss

RUN curl -L https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/latest/download/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar -o /opt/jboss/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar

COPY target/<my-app>.war /opt/jboss/wildfly/standalone/deployments/

ENV JAVA_OPTS="-javaagent:/opt/jboss/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar"

EXPOSE 8080

CMD ["/opt/jboss/wildfly/bin/standalone.sh", "-b", "0.0.0.0"]

Replace <my-app>.war

with your application WAR file.

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.,jboss-app

).<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:

kubectl apply -f instrumentation.yaml

Step 3. Add annotations to your deployment

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

:

apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: jboss-app
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: jboss-app
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: jboss-app
      annotations:
        instrumentation.opentelemetry.io/inject-java: "true"
        resource.opentelemetry.io/service.name: "<service-name>"
        resource.opentelemetry.io/service.version: "<service-version>"
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: jboss
        image: jboss/wildfly:latest
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8080

Apply the deployment:

kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml

Verify these values:

<service-name>

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

).<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 "C:\jboss\lib\opentelemetry-javaagent.jar"

Step 2. Edit standalone.conf.bat

Open your JBoss/WildFly configuration file:

  • JBoss EAP: C:\jboss-eap-7.x\bin\standalone.conf.bat

  • WildFly: C:\wildfly\bin\standalone.conf.bat

Add the following lines:

set "JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -javaagent:C:\jboss\lib\opentelemetry-javaagent.jar"
set "JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Dotel.service.name=<service-name>"
set "JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Dotel.resource.attributes=service.version=<service-version>"
set "JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Dotel.exporter.otlp.endpoint=https://ingest.<region>.signoz.cloud:443"
set "JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Dotel.exporter.otlp.headers=signoz-ingestion-key=<your-ingestion-key>"
set "JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Dotel.metrics.exporter=none"
set "JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Dotel.logs.exporter=none"

Verify these values:

<service-name>

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

).<service-version>

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

,a01dbef8

).<region>

: YourSigNoz Cloud region<your-ingestion-key>

: Your SigNozingestion key.

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. Restart JBoss/WildFly

C:\jboss-eap-7.x\bin\standalone.bat

C:\wildfly\bin\standalone.bat

Step 1. Create a Dockerfile

FROM jboss/wildfly:latest

RUN curl -L https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/latest/download/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar -o /opt/jboss/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar

COPY target/<my-app>.war /opt/jboss/wildfly/standalone/deployments/

ENV JAVA_OPTS="-javaagent:/opt/jboss/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"

EXPOSE 8080

CMD ["/opt/jboss/wildfly/bin/standalone.sh", "-b", "0.0.0.0"]

Verify these values:

<my-app>.war

: Your application WAR file name.<service-name>

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

).<service-version>

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

,a01dbef8

).<region>

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

: Your SigNozingestion key.

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-jboss-app .
docker run -p 8080:8080 my-jboss-app

Or pass environment variables at runtime:

docker run -p 8080:8080 \
  -e OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES="service.name=my-jboss-app,service.version=<service-version>" \
  -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-jboss-app

Validate

With JBoss/WildFly running, verify traces are being sent to SigNoz:

  • Deploy an application to JBoss/WildFly and make a few requests to its 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?

Verify standalone.conf changes:

Check that your JAVA_OPTS

modifications are being loaded:

ps aux | grep java | grep javaagent

You should see the -javaagent

flag in the process arguments.

Enable debug logging:

Add the following to standalone.conf

:

JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.javaagent.debug=true"

Then restart JBoss and check the logs for OpenTelemetry output.

Test connectivity:

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

Agent not ?

Make sure the agent JAR path is correct and the file exists:

ls -la /opt/jboss/lib/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar

Verify the path in standalone.conf

matches the actual location.

JBoss fails to start?

Check for syntax errors in standalone.conf

. Each JAVA_OPTS

line should be on its own line without trailing spaces or special characters.

Review the JBoss server log:

tail -f /opt/jboss-eap-7.x/standalone/log/server.log

Domain mode configuration

If running JBoss in domain mode, configure JAVA_OPTS

in domain.conf

instead of standalone.conf

, or set JVM options in the domain controller's host configuration.

Configuring the agent (Optional)

Configuring the agent (Optional)

What can you configure?

The OpenTelemetry 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

Add these to standalone.conf

:

Disable specific instrumentations:

JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.instrumentation.jdbc.enabled=false"

Sample traces:

JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.traces.sampler=parentbased_traceidratio"
JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.traces.sampler.arg=0.1"  # Sample 10%

Add resource attributes:

JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.resource.attributes=service.name=my-app,deployment.environment=production"

See the full configuration reference for all available options.

Next steps

Add manual instrumentationfor custom spans and business contextCollect Java application logswith OpenTelemetrySet up alertsfor your JBoss/WildFly application

Related resources:

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