---
title: Send data from a contrib OpenTelemetry Collector
description: Send data from a contrib OpenTelemetry Collector to a self-managed Elastic Stack by routing it through an EDOT Collector gateway.
url: https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/7032/solutions/observability/get-started/opentelemetry/use-cases/upstream-collector
products:
  - Elastic Distribution of OpenTelemetry Collector
  - Elastic Observability
applies_to:
  - Elastic Stack: Generally available since 9.2
---

# Send data from a contrib OpenTelemetry Collector
This guide shows how to forward telemetry data from an upstream contrib OpenTelemetry Collector to a self-managed Elastic Stack using an EDOT Collector in gateway mode.

## When to use this setup

Use this pattern if you:
- Already run a contrib OpenTelemetry Collector and want to add Elastic as a backend without replacing your existing setup
- Need to fan out telemetry to multiple observability backends from a single contrib Collector
- Evaluate Elastic alongside another backend before committing to a full migration
- Use a technology or language for which Elastic doesn't provide an EDOT distribution


## Architecture

Your services send telemetry to the contrib Collector (`otelcol-contrib`), which forwards it over OTLP/gRPC to the EDOT Collector gateway. The gateway applies Elastic-specific processing and writes directly to Elasticsearch.
```mermaid
flowchart LR
    S["Your services"] -->|OTLP| U["Upstream otelcol-contrib<br/>(one per host)"]
    U -->|"OTLP/gRPC :4317"| G

    subgraph G["EDOT Collector (gateway)"]
        P["elasticapm processor<br/>enriches spans"]
        C["elasticapm connector<br/>generates aggregated metrics"]
    end

    G -->|"elasticsearch exporter<br/>mapping.mode: otel"| E[("ES")]
```

The `elasticsearch` exporter with `mapping.mode: otel` is the recommended path for self-managed deployments. The Managed OTLP endpoint isn't available for self-managed installations. Sending directly to APM Server or the managed intake service through OTLP is also possible but not recommended. Use the EDOT gateway path when available.

## Prerequisites

- A running self-managed Elasticsearch cluster
- The [EDOT Collector](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/elastic-agent/tree/main/reference/edot-collector) installed on the gateway host. It ships as part of the Elastic Agent package and runs as Elastic Agent in `otel` mode.
- The [contrib OpenTelemetry Collector](https://opentelemetry.io/docs/collector/installation/) installed on your agent hosts
- Network connectivity from the contrib Collector hosts to the EDOT gateway host on port 4317

<stepper>
  <step title="Create an {{es}} API key">
    The EDOT gateway authenticates to Elasticsearch using an API key.
    1. In Kibana, navigate to **Stack Management** → **API keys**.
    2. Select **Create API key**.
    3. Give the key a name (for example, `edot-gateway`) and assign it the necessary privileges for writing to Elasticsearch data streams.
    4. Copy the encoded key to use as the `ELASTIC_API_KEY` value in the gateway configuration.
  </step>

  <step title="Configure the EDOT gateway">
    Create a configuration file for the EDOT Collector running in gateway mode. Save this as `gateway.yml` on the gateway host.Set the following environment variables on the gateway host before starting the Collector:
    ```bash
    export ELASTIC_ENDPOINT=https://your-elasticsearch:9200
    export ELASTIC_API_KEY=your-encoded-api-key
    ```
    Then create `gateway.yml`:
    ```yaml
    receivers:
      otlp:
        protocols:
          grpc:
            endpoint: 0.0.0.0:4317
          http:
            endpoint: 0.0.0.0:4318

    connectors:
      elasticapm: {}

    processors:
      batch:
        send_batch_size: 1000
        timeout: 1s
        send_batch_max_size: 1500
      batch/metrics:
        send_batch_max_size: 0
        timeout: 1s
      elasticapm: {}

    exporters:
      elasticsearch/otel:
        endpoints:
          - ${env:ELASTIC_ENDPOINT}
        api_key: ${env:ELASTIC_API_KEY}
        mapping:
          mode: otel

    service:
      pipelines:
        traces:
          receivers: [otlp]
          processors: [batch, elasticapm]
          exporters: [elasticapm, elasticsearch/otel]
        metrics:
          receivers: [otlp]
          processors: [batch/metrics]
          exporters: [elasticsearch/otel]
        metrics/aggregated-otel-metrics:
          receivers: [elasticapm]
          processors: []
          exporters: [elasticsearch/otel]
        logs:
          receivers: [otlp]
          processors: [batch]
          exporters: [elasticsearch/otel]
    ```
    Key components in this configuration:
    - **`elasticapm` processor** (under `processors`): Enriches spans with attributes required by the APM UI.
    - **`elasticapm` connector** (under `connectors`): Generates pre-aggregated APM metrics from trace data. It appears as an exporter in the `traces` pipeline and as a receiver in the `metrics/aggregated-otel-metrics` pipeline.
    - **`elasticsearch/otel` exporter**: Writes data directly to Elasticsearch using native OpenTelemetry data streams (`mapping.mode: otel`).

    <note>
      The `elasticapm` connector and processor are required for full APM functionality (service maps, transaction histograms, service-level indicators). You only need them when exporting directly to Elasticsearch. If you send to the Managed OTLP endpoint or APM Server or the managed intake service, they are not required.Refer to [APM services missing due to misconfigured elasticapm connector](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/7032/troubleshoot/ingest/opentelemetry/edot-collector/misconfigured-elasticapm-connector) for more information.
    </note>
  </step>
  Start the EDOT gateway. The EDOT Collector is the Elastic Agent binary run in `otel` mode, so start it with the `otel` subcommand:
  ```bash
  elastic-agent otel --config gateway.yml
  ```

  <step title="Configure the contrib Collector">
    On each contrib Collector host, configure the OTLP exporter to point to the EDOT gateway. Add or update the `exporters` and `service` sections in your existing `config.yml`:
    ```yaml
    exporters:
      otlp:
        endpoint: "gateway-host:4317"
        tls:
          insecure: true 

    service:
      pipelines:
        traces:
          exporters: [otlp]
        metrics:
          exporters: [otlp]
        logs:
          exporters: [otlp]
    ```
    Replace `gateway-host` with the hostname or IP of your EDOT gateway host. In production, configure TLS to secure communication between the contrib Collector and the gateway.
    <tip>
      Set the `deployment.environment` resource attribute in your contrib Collector so that services appear under the correct environment in the Kibana APM Service Map. Without it, all services show as "unset" in the environment selector.
      ```yaml
      processors:
        resource:
          attributes:
            - key: deployment.environment
              action: insert
              value: production
      ```
      Refer to [Attributes and labels](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/7032/solutions/observability/apm/opentelemetry/attributes) for more details.
    </tip>
  </step>
  Restart the contrib Collector to apply the changes.
  <step title="Verify data in {{kib}}">
    After starting both Collectors, wait a few minutes for data to appear. Then verify in Kibana:
    - Navigate to **Observability** → **APM** → **Services** to confirm your services appear.
    - Navigate to **Observability** → **APM** → **Service Map** to confirm environment-based filtering works.
    - Navigate to **Discover** and check the `traces-generic.otel-default`, `logs-generic.otel-default`, and `metrics-generic.otel-default` data streams for incoming data.
    If no data appears, refer to [No logs, metrics, or traces visible in Kibana](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/7032/troubleshoot/ingest/opentelemetry/no-data-in-kibana).
  </step>
</stepper>


## Next steps

- [EDOT Collector gateway configuration reference](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/elastic-agent/tree/main/reference/edot-collector/config/default-config-standalone#gateway-mode)
- [Kubernetes observability with EDOT](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/7032/solutions/observability/get-started/opentelemetry/use-cases/kubernetes)
- [Attributes and labels](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/docs-content/pull/7032/solutions/observability/apm/opentelemetry/attributes)
- [EDOT compared to contrib OpenTelemetry](https://docs-v3-preview.elastic.dev/elastic/opentelemetry/tree/main/reference/compatibility/edot-vs-upstream)