---
title: Send data to Elastic Cloud Serverless using the contrib Collector
description: Learn how to send data to Elastic Observability using the contrib OpenTelemetry Collector instead of Elastic Agent.
url: https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3776/reference/edot-collector/upstream-collector
products:
  - Elastic Agent
  - Elastic Agent
  - Elastic Cloud Serverless
  - Elastic Observability
applies_to:
  - Serverless Observability projects: Generally available
  - Elastic Stack: Generally available
  - Elastic Agent: Generally available
---

# Send data to Elastic Cloud Serverless using the contrib Collector
While Elastic Agent provides a streamlined experience with pre-selected components, you can also use the contrib OpenTelemetry Collector or a custom distribution to send data to Elastic Observability. This approach requires more configuration but gives you more control over your OpenTelemetry setup.

## Overview

The contrib OpenTelemetry Collector is the community-maintained version that provides the foundation for all OpenTelemetry distributions. To configure it to work with Elastic Observability, you need to:
- Manually select and configure components.
- Set up proper data processing pipelines.
- Handle authentication and connection details.
- Ensure required components have been properly configured in accordance to your use case.


## Deployment scenarios

The configuration requirements vary depending on your use case and the Elastic deployment model you want to send data to. The following sections outline what you need for each scenario.

### Elastic Cloud Serverless

Elastic Cloud Serverless provides a [Managed OTLP Endpoint](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3776/reference/opentelemetry/managed-inputs/managed-otlp-endpoint) that accepts OpenTelemetry data in its native format. This makes it the simplest scenario for using contrib components because scaling and signal processing (for example producing metrics from events) is handled by Elastic.
The following configuration example shows how to send data to the Managed OTLP Endpoint:
```yaml
exporters:
  otlp:
    endpoint: "https://your-deployment.elastic-cloud.com:443"
    headers:
      authorization: "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

service:
  pipelines:
    traces:
      exporters: [otlp]
    metrics:
      exporters: [otlp]
    logs:
      exporters: [otlp]
```


### Elastic Cloud Hosted

Because Elastic Cloud Managed OTLP Endpoint is not yet available for Elastic Cloud Hosted, you need to set up Elastic Agent as a gateway, handling processing required for some use cases, like deriving metrics from events in APM, and writing data directly to Elasticsearch.
Point your contrib Collector OTLP exporter to the Elastic Agent gateway. Refer to [Gateway configuration](/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3776/reference/edot-collector/config/default-config-standalone#gateway-mode) for more information.

### Self-managed Elastic

Self-managed deployments have similar requirements to Elastic Cloud Hosted but with your own Elasticsearch instance. The configuration is similar to Elastic Cloud Hosted. You also need to:
- Point to your self-managed Elasticsearch instance.
- Configure appropriate security settings.
- Ensure your Elasticsearch version is compatible.
- Set up proper index templates and mappings.


## Configuration best practices

When using the contrib OpenTelemetry Collector with Elastic Observability, follow these best practices:

### Resource detection

Always include the `resourcedetectionprocessor` to automatically add host, cloud, and Kubernetes metadata:
```yaml
processors:
  resourcedetection:
    detectors: [env, system, gcp, ecs, ec2, azure, aks, eks, gke]
    timeout: 5s
    override: true
```


### Attribute processing

Use the `attributesprocessor` to ensure consistent attribute naming and add required metadata:
```yaml
processors:
  attributes:
    actions:
      - key: service.name
        value: "your-service-name"
        action: insert
      - key: service.version
        value: "1.0.0"
        action: insert
```


### Batching

Configure the `batchprocessor` for optimal performance:
```yaml
processors:
  batch:
    timeout: 1s
    send_batch_size: 1024
    send_batch_max_size: 2048
```


### Security

For production deployments, always use secure connections:
```yaml
exporters:
  elasticsearch:
    tls:
      insecure: false
      ca_file: "/path/to/ca.crt"
    user: "elastic"
    password: "YOUR_PASSWORD"
```


## Limitations and considerations

Using the contrib OpenTelemetry Collector instead of Elastic Agent comes with some trade-offs. Refer to [Elastic Agent compared to the contrib Collector](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3776/reference/opentelemetry/compatibility/edot-vs-upstream) for more information.

## Next steps

- [Build a custom Collector](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3776/reference/edot-collector/custom-collector) for more control.
- [Configure Elastic Agent](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3776/reference/edot-collector/config) for optimal Elastic integration.
- [Learn about Elastic Agent components](https://www.elastic.co/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3776/reference/edot-collector/components) to understand what's included.
- [Explore deployment architectures](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-builder/docs/3776/reference/opentelemetry/architecture) for different environments.