otel-serverless-plugin

The otel-serverless-plugin is a plugin for the Serverless Framework that automates the configuration of layers and environment variables required to instrument AWS Lambda functions with OpenTelemetry. It is designed to be flexible and highly configurable, allowing different clients and environments to be easily managed.

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Features

• ✅ Automatically adds OpenTelemetry layers to Lambda functions.
• ✅ Configures environment variables specific to each Lambda function.
• ✅ Supports custom configurations such as tenant, token, endpoint, and env.
• ✅ Works seamlessly with any number of Lambda functions without manual adjustments.
• ✅ Easy to integrate into the Serverless Framework.

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Installation

1. Add the plugin to your Serverless project

   Install the plugin via npm:

   npm install --save-dev otel-serverless-plugin

2. Configure your serverless.yml

   Add the plugin to the plugins section in the serverless.yml file:

   plugins:
     - otel-serverless-plugin

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Configuration

Add the custom.otelLayerPlugin section to your serverless.yml file to customize the configuration:

custom:
  otelLayerPlugin:
    tenant: "production-tenant"
    token: "super-secret-token"
    endpoint: "https://otel-endpoint:4318/"
    env: prod
    region: us-east-1

These configurations will automatically be applied to all Lambda functions' environment variables.

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Complete Configuration Example

Here's a complete example of how to use the plugin in your serverless.yml:

service: otel-service

plugins:
  - otel-serverless-plugin

custom:
  otelLayerPlugin:
    tenant: "production-tenant"
    token: "super-secret-token"
    endpoint: "https://otel-endpoint:4318/"
    env: prod
    region: us-east-1

provider:
  name: aws
  runtime: nodejs18.x
  region: us-east-1
  environment:
    STAGE: ${opt:stage, 'dev'}

functions:
  myLambdaFunction:
    handler: handler.main
  anotherLambdaFunction:
    handler: another.handler

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How It Works

1. Layer Addition:

   • The plugin automatically adds the following layers to your Lambda functions:
     • OpenTelemetry layer: opentelemetry-nodejs
     • Logs collector layer: collector-logs-js
   • You can also specify custom layers in the configuration.

2. Environment Variable Configuration:

   • The plugin configures environment variables such as:

     {
       "TENANT_ID": "production-tenant",
       "API_TOKEN": "super-secret-token",
       "OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT": "https://otel-endpoint:4318/",
       "OTEL_SERVICE_NAME": "myLambdaFunction",
       "OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES": "service.name=myLambdaFunction,environment=prod"
     }

3. Environment-Based Configuration:

   • Values like tenant, token, env, region, and layers can be customized for each client or environment directly in the serverless.yml.

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Available Parameters

Section custom.otelLayerPlugin

Parameter	Description	Default Value
tenant	Unique identifier for the client or environment.	"default-tenant"
token	Authentication token, if required.	"" (empty)
endpoint	OpenTelemetry Collector URL for telemetry data export.	"http://default-endpoint:4318/"
env	Current environment, such as prod, dev, or qa.	"dev"
region	AWS Lambda region.	"us-east-1"
layers	Custom layers for OpenTelemetry and logs.	Default layers for metrics and logs: arn:aws:lambda:${region}:184161586896:layer:opentelemetry-nodejs-0_11_0:1 arn:aws:lambda:${region}:204595508824:layer:collector-logs-js:14

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Testing

1. Package the Service:

   serverless package

2. Verify the Result:

   • Confirm that the layers and environment variables were added to the Lambdas in the generated .serverless/cloudformation-template-update-stack.json file.

3. Deploy to AWS:

   serverless deploy

4. Validate in the AWS Console:

   • Go to the AWS Lambda Console.
   • Verify that the layers and environment variables are correctly configured.

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FAQs

1. What happens if I don't specify a parameter in serverless.yml?

The plugin will use default values defined in the code:

• tenant: "default-tenant"
• token: ""
• endpoint: "http://default-endpoint:4318/"
• env: "dev"
• region: "us-east-1"
• layer:
  • arn:aws:lambda:${region}:184161586896:layer:opentelemetry-nodejs-0_11_0:1
  • arn:aws:lambda:${region}:204595508824:layer:collector-logs-js:17

2. Can I use this plugin with runtimes other than nodejs?

Yes, as long as the layers are compatible with the runtime used.

3. How do I update the plugin?

If you're using npm, simply update the version:

npm install --save-dev otel-serverless-plugin@latest

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Contributing

Feel free to open issues or pull requests in the repository to suggest improvements or fix bugs.

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License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.