This guide complements the Configure the OpenTelemetry Collector documentation, focusing on migrating from the Datadog Agent to OpenTelemetry while maintaining dual compatibility with Firetiger and Datadog during the transition period.

1. Why Migrate to OpenTelemetry?

• Vendor Neutrality: Avoid lock-in with a standardized CNCF solution.
• Unified Observability: Use a single pipeline for logs, metrics, and traces.
• Cost Efficiency: Reduce reliance on proprietary agents while leveraging Firetiger's capabilities.
• Future-Proofing: Align with industry standards supported by major cloud providers.

2. Key Architectural Differences

3. Migration Steps

A. Install OpenTelemetry Collector (Contrib Distribution)

Use the Contrib distribution to access both Firetiger and Datadog exporters:

# On Linux
wget <https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-releases/releases/download/v0.88.0/otelcol-contrib_0.88.0_linux_amd64.tar.gz>
tar -xvzf otelcol-contrib_*.tar.gz

B. Configure Dual Exporters

Modify your config.yaml to send data to both Firetiger and Datadog:

exporters:
  otlphttp/firetiger:
    endpoint: "<https://firetiger-firetiger-dev-0-ingest-frontend-254294960595.us-central1.run.app>"
    headers:
      "User-Agent": "opentelemetry-collector"

  datadog:
    api:
      key: "${DD_API_KEY}"  # From Datadog dashboard
      site: "datadoghq.com"

service:
  pipelines:
    metrics:
      exporters: [otlphttp/firetiger, datadog]
    logs:
      exporters: [otlphttp/firetiger, datadog]
    traces:
      exporters: [otlphttp/firetiger, datadog]

C. Replace Datadog Receivers