GoatFam.OpenTelemetryDistroExtension 1.0.0

OpenTelemetryDistroExtension

A .NET 8.0 and .NET 10.0 library that simplifies the integration of OpenTelemetry with Azure Monitor.

Features

• Easy OpenTelemetry configuration with Azure Monitor - Streamlined setup with minimal configuration code to enable Azure Monitor telemetry collection
• Support for managed identity authentication - Authenticate to Azure Monitor using managed identities without storing connection strings or credentials
• Configurable sampling rates - Control telemetry volume and costs with flexible sampling configuration for traces and metrics
• Live metrics support - Enable real-time application monitoring through Azure Application Insights live metrics stream
• Custom resource attributes for service identification - Add service name, version, and environment tags for better telemetry organization and filtering

Getting Started

Prerequisites

• .NET 10.0 SDK (required to build this package from source)
• Azure subscription with Application Insights resource
• Azure.Monitor.OpenTelemetry.Exporter library (included as dependency)

Installation

Install the NuGet package in your project:

dotnet add package OpenTelemetryDistroExtension

Or add it via Package Manager:

Install-Package OpenTelemetryDistroExtension

For local development, reference the project directly:

<ProjectReference Include="..\..\src\OpenTelemetryDistroExtension\OpenTelemetryDistroExtension.csproj" />

Configuration

Add OpenTelemetry configuration to your appsettings.json:

{
  "AIMonitor": {
    "ConnectionString": "InstrumentationKey=your-instrumentation-key;IngestionEndpoint=https://your-region.in.applicationinsights.azure.com/",
    "ServiceName": "YourServiceName",
    "ServiceVersion": "1.0.0",
    "Environment": "Production",
    "SamplingRatio": 1.0
  }
}

Configuration Options

• ConnectionString: Application Insights connection string (required)
• ServiceName: Name of your service for telemetry identification
• ServiceVersion: Version of your service
• Environment: Deployment environment (Development, Staging, Production)
• SamplingRatio: Sampling rate from 0.0 to 1.0 (1.0 = 100% sampling)

Registration

Register OpenTelemetry in your Program.cs:

using OpenTelemetryDistroExtension.Extensions;

var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);

// Add OpenTelemetry with Azure Monitor
builder.Services.AddAzureMonitorOpenTelemetry(builder.Configuration);

var app = builder.Build();

Basic Usage

Once registered, OpenTelemetry automatically collects:

• HTTP requests - Incoming and outgoing HTTP calls
• Dependencies - Database calls, Redis operations, Azure SDK calls
• Exceptions - Unhandled exceptions and errors
• Custom traces - Your application's trace data

Custom Instrumentation

using System.Diagnostics;

public class OrderService
{
    private static readonly ActivitySource ActivitySource = new("MyApp.OrderService");
    
    public async Task ProcessOrderAsync(string orderId)
    {
        // Create a custom span
        using var activity = ActivitySource.StartActivity("ProcessOrder");
        activity?.SetTag("order.id", orderId);
        
        try
        {
            // Your business logic
            await ValidateOrderAsync(orderId);
            await ChargePaymentAsync(orderId);
            await ShipOrderAsync(orderId);
            
            activity?.SetTag("order.status", "completed");
        }
        catch (Exception ex)
        {
            activity?.SetStatus(ActivityStatusCode.Error, ex.Message);
            throw;
        }
    }
}

Sampling Configuration

Control telemetry volume by adjusting the sampling ratio:

{
  "AIMonitor": {
    "SamplingRatio": 0.1  // 10% sampling for production to reduce costs
  }
}

• 1.0 = 100% sampling (all telemetry collected)
• 0.5 = 50% sampling (half of telemetry collected)
• 0.1 = 10% sampling (recommended for high-traffic production)

Managed Identity Support

For Azure-hosted applications, use managed identity instead of connection strings:

{
  "AIMonitor": {
    "ConnectionString": "",
    "ServiceName": "YourServiceName",
    "ClientId": "your-managed-identity-client-id"
  }
}

Configure the extension method to use managed identity:

builder.Services.AddAzureMonitorOpenTelemetryWithManagedIdentity(builder.Configuration);

Viewing Telemetry

After configuration, telemetry data appears in Azure Portal:

1. Navigate to your Application Insights resource
2. View Live Metrics for real-time monitoring
3. Check Transaction Search for individual requests
4. Use Application Map to visualize dependencies
5. Create custom queries in Logs using KQL

Documentation

For detailed patterns and examples:

• docs/coding-patterns.md - OpenTelemetry patterns
• docs/sample-applications.md - Integration examples
• examples/ArticleManagementAPI - Working implementation

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.