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.

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+ https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation Supported WildFly version https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/blob/main/docs/supported-libraries.md application-servers or 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="$JAVA OPTS -Dotel.logs.exporter=none" Verify these values: <region : Your SigNoz Cloud region https://signoz.io/docs/ingestion/signoz-cloud/overview/ endpoint <your-ingestion-key : Your SigNoz ingestion key https://signoz.io/docs/ingestion/signoz-cloud/keys/ . <service-name : A descriptive name for your service e.g., jboss-app . <service-version optional : Your release version, image tag, or git SHA e.g., 1.4.2 , a01dbef8 . Set service.version to a per-build value, not a static string. SigNoz detects a deployment each time this value changes. Common sources: Bash / shell : service.version=$ 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 For JBoss EAP /opt/jboss-eap-7.x/bin/standalone.sh For WildFly /opt/wildfly/bin/standalone.sh Step 1. Create a Dockerfile with the agent FROM jboss/wildfly:latest WORKDIR /opt/jboss Download the OpenTelemetry Java agent RUN curl -L https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/latest/download/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar -o /opt/jboss/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar Copy your application COPY target/<my-app .war /opt/jboss/wildfly/standalone/deployments/ Set JAVA OPTS for OpenTelemetry 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 : Your SigNoz Cloud region https://signoz.io/docs/ingestion/signoz-cloud/overview/ endpoint <your-ingestion-key : Your SigNoz ingestion key https://signoz.io/docs/ingestion/signoz-cloud/keys/ . <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 https://signoz.io/docs/opentelemetry-collection-agents/k8s/otel-operator/overview/ 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 https://signoz.io/docs/opentelemetry-collection-agents/k8s/otel-operator/install/ . 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 : Your SigNoz Cloud region https://signoz.io/docs/ingestion/signoz-cloud/overview/ endpoint <your-ingestion-key : Your SigNoz ingestion key https://signoz.io/docs/ingestion/signoz-cloud/keys/ . 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 For JBoss EAP C:\jboss-eap-7.x\bin\standalone.bat For WildFly C:\wildfly\bin\standalone.bat Step 1. Create a Dockerfile FROM jboss/wildfly:latest Download the OpenTelemetry Java agent RUN curl -L https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/latest/download/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar -o /opt/jboss/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar Copy your application WAR file COPY target/<my-app .war /opt/jboss/wildfly/standalone/deployments/ Set OpenTelemetry environment variables 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 : Your SigNoz Cloud region https://signoz.io/docs/ingestion/signoz-cloud/overview/ endpoint . <your-ingestion-key : Your SigNoz ingestion key https://signoz.io/docs/ingestion/signoz-cloud/keys/ . 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 click Refresh . Your application should appear. - Go to the Traces tab to see your application's traces. Troubleshooting 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="$JAVA OPTS -Dotel.javaagent.debug=true" Then restart JBoss and check the logs for OpenTelemetry output. Test connectivity: curl -v https://ingest.<region .signoz.cloud:443/v1/traces Agent not loading? Make sure the agent JAR path is correct and the file exists: ls -la /opt/jboss/lib/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar Verify the path in standalone.conf matches the actual location. JBoss fails to start? Check for syntax errors in standalone.conf . Each JAVA OPTS line should be on its own line without trailing spaces or special characters. Review the JBoss server log: tail -f /opt/jboss-eap-7.x/standalone/log/server.log Domain mode configuration If running JBoss in domain mode, configure JAVA OPTS in domain.conf instead of standalone.conf , or set JVM options in the domain controller's host configuration. Configuring the agent Optional Configuring the agent Optional configuring-the-agent-optional What can you configure? The OpenTelemetry Java agent https://signoz.io/docs/instrumentation/java/opentelemetry-java/ auto-instruments most libraries out of the box. Configuration lets you fine-tune what gets captured and how traces are exported. Why configure? Reduce noise — Disable instrumentation for internal health checks or chatty libraries Control costs — Sample a percentage of traces instead of capturing everything Add context — Tag traces with environment, version, or team info for easier filtering Common options Add these to standalone.conf : Disable specific instrumentations: JAVA OPTS="$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 https://opentelemetry.io/docs/languages/java/automatic/agent-config/ for all available options. Next steps Add manual instrumentation https://signoz.io/docs/instrumentation/java/manual-instrumentation/ for custom spans and business context Collect Java application logs https://signoz.io/docs/logs-management/send-logs/java-logs/ with OpenTelemetry Set up alerts https://signoz.io/docs/setup-alerts-notification/ for your JBoss/WildFly application Related resources :