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Integration with Redis Metrics

This guide provides step-by-step instructions to collect and monitor Redis metrics using OpenTelemetry Collector Contrib and forward them to OpenObserve.

Overview

Redis is a powerful in-memory data structure store, widely used as a database, cache, and message broker. It supports diverse use cases like caching, session management, and real-time data streaming for applications such as chat systems and gaming.

To monitor Redis, we will use the OpenTelemetry Collector Redis receiver, which fetches performance metrics using the INFO command and converts them into OpenTelemetry metrics that can be pushed to OpenObserve.

Steps to Integrate

Prerequisites
  • Running Redis instance(s)
  • OpenObserve account (Cloud or Self-Hosted)
  • Basic understanding of OpenTelemetry concepts
Step 1: Prepare Your Redis Environment

Ensure your Redis server is running and accessible on localhost:6379 (or your target host/port).

To enable authentication, update redis.conf:

requirepass yourpassword

Restart Redis after editing the config.

Step 2: Install OpenTelemetry Collector Contrib

Download and install the latest release of otelcol-contrib:

curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -fOL https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-releases/releases/download/v0.115.1/otelcol-contrib_0.115.1_darwin_arm64.tar.gz
tar -xvf otelcol-contrib_0.115.1_darwin_arm64.tar.gz
sudo mv otelcol-contrib /usr/local/bin/
otelcol-contrib --version

Replace v0.115.1 with the latest version for your OS/architecture.

Step 3: Configure the Collector

Create a file named config.yaml with the following configuration:

receivers:
  redis:
    endpoint: "localhost:6379"
    collection_interval: 10s
    password: ${env:REDIS_PASSWORD}

processors:
  batch:
    send_batch_size: 10000
    send_batch_max_size: 11000
    timeout: 10s

exporters:
  otlphttp/openobserve:
    endpoint: https://<your-openobserve-endpoint>/api/default
    headers:
      Authorization: Basic <your_auth_token>
      stream-name: default

service:
  pipelines:
    metrics:
      receivers: [redis]
      processors: [batch]
      exporters: [otlphttp/openobserve]

Replace <your-openobserve-endpoint> and <your_auth_token> with your OpenObserve details.

OpenObserve Redis Creds

A full list of metrics collected is available in the Redis receiver documentation.

Step 4: Run the Collector

Start the Collector with your configuration:

otelcol-contrib --config /path/to/config.yaml

Run the Collector

Step 5: Visualize in OpenObserve

  1. Open OpenObserve → Streams and select your metrics stream.
    Visualize Redis Metrics
    Visualize Redis Metrics

  2. Create dashboards to monitor Redis memory, connections, and operations.

Troubleshooting

Authentication Errors
  • Check that requirepass is set in redis.conf if using a password.
  • Ensure REDIS_PASSWORD env variable matches your Redis configuration.
Connection Refused
  • Verify Redis is running and accessible on the specified host/port.
  • Check firewall or container networking.
TLS Issues
  • If using TLS, configure ca_file, cert_file, and key_file properly.
  • Use tls.insecure_skip_verify: true only for testing.
No Metrics in OpenObserve
  • Inspect Collector logs for errors.
  • Verify exporter endpoint and token configuration.
  • Ensure OpenObserve is reachable from the Collector.