OpenTelemetry Collector OPC UA Receiver

An OpenTelemetry Collector receiver for collecting logs from OPC UA servers implementing the LogObject specification (OPC UA Part 26).

Overview

This project provides a custom receiver for the OpenTelemetry Collector that enables collection of log records from OPC UA industrial automation servers. It bridges the gap between industrial OPC UA systems and modern observability platforms.

Features: multiple authentication methods (anonymous, username/password, X.509 certificates), configurable security policies, severity filtering, trace context propagation, ContinuationPoint pagination.

Status

Alpha: This receiver is in alpha stage. The API may change and the implementation is being actively developed.

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Go 1.25.1 or later
OpenTelemetry Collector Builder (OCB) v0.145.0 or later
OPC UA server (optional for development/testing)

Installation

Option 1: Build Custom Collector

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/bruegth/opentelemetry-collector-opcua-receiver.git
cd opentelemetry-collector-opcua-receiver

# Download OpenTelemetry Collector Builder
# Windows: Download ocb.exe from https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector/releases
# Linux/Mac: Download appropriate binary

# Build the collector
./ocb.exe --config builder-config.yaml

# Run the collector
cd otelcol-dev
./otelcol-dev --config ../config.yaml

Option 2: Use as Go Module

Add to your collector builder configuration or import directly:

# Install the module
go get github.com/bruegth/opentelemetry-collector-opcua-receiver/receiver/opcua@latest

// Import in your code
import "github.com/bruegth/opentelemetry-collector-opcua-receiver/receiver/opcua"

View the package documentation on pkg.go.dev.

Configuration

Basic Example

receivers:
  opcua:
    endpoint: opc.tcp://localhost:4840
    collection_interval: 30s

exporters:
  debug:
    verbosity: detailed

service:
  pipelines:
    logs:
      receivers: [opcua]
      exporters: [debug]

Advanced Example

receivers:
  opcua:
    endpoint: opc.tcp://opcua.server.local:4840
    security_policy: Basic256Sha256
    security_mode: SignAndEncrypt
    auth:
      type: username_password
      username: opcua_user
      password: ${env:OPCUA_PASSWORD}
    log_object_paths:
      - Objects/ServerLog
      - Objects/DeviceSets/Device1/Logs
    collection_interval: 30s
    max_records_per_call: 1000
    filter:
      min_severity: Info
      max_log_records: 10000
    connection_timeout: 30s
    request_timeout: 10s
    resource:
      service_name: my-opcua-server
      # service_namespace: production

exporters:
  otlphttp:
    endpoint: http://observability-backend:4318

service:
  pipelines:
    logs:
      receivers: [opcua]
      processors: [batch]
      exporters: [otlphttp]

For complete configuration options, see receiver/opcua/README.md.

Development

Project Structure

.
├── receiver/opcua/          # OPC UA receiver implementation
│   ├── config.go            # Configuration structure
│   ├── factory.go           # Receiver factory
│   ├── receiver.go          # Receiver lifecycle
│   ├── scraper.go           # Log collection logic
│   ├── client.go            # OPC UA client wrapper
│   ├── get_records.go       # GetRecords method call & parsing
│   ├── log_record_type.go   # ExtensionObject codec for LogRecord
│   ├── transformer.go       # Data transformation
│   ├── *_test.go            # Unit tests
│   ├── testdata/            # Test utilities & mock server
│   ├── metadata.yaml        # Receiver metadata
│   └── README.md            # Receiver documentation
├── testserver/              # C# OPC UA test server (Part 26)
│   ├── Program.cs           # Server entry point
│   ├── TestNodeManager.cs   # GetRecords method implementation
│   ├── LogRecordData.cs     # 10 fixed test records
│   ├── Dockerfile           # Container image
│   ├── ci-collector-config.yaml  # OTel collector config for E2E tests
│   ├── validate.sh          # E2E output validation script
│   └── expected/            # Expected test data
├── builder-config.yaml      # Collector builder configuration
├── config.yaml              # Runtime configuration
├── go.work                  # Go workspace file
└── README.md                # This file

Setting Up Development Environment

Install Go 1.25.1+
```
# Verify installation
go version
```

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/bruegth/opentelemetry-collector-opcua-receiver.git
cd opentelemetry-collector-opcua-receiver

Initialize the workspace

# The go.work file is already configured
# Install dependencies
cd receiver/opcua
go mod tidy
cd ../..

Download OpenTelemetry Collector Builder
- Windows: Download ocb.exe from releases
- Linux/Mac: Download appropriate binary
- Place in project root

Building

Build the Receiver Module Only

cd receiver/opcua
go build

Build the Complete Collector

# Build using OCB
./ocb.exe --config builder-config.yaml

# Or use PowerShell script (if available)
.\build.ps1

The compiled collector will be in otelcol-dev/otelcol-dev (or .exe on Windows).

Testing

cd receiver/opcua

# Run all tests
go test ./...

# Run with coverage
go test -cover ./...

# Generate HTML coverage report
go test -coverprofile=coverage.out ./... && go tool cover -html=coverage.out -o coverage.html

Code Quality

cd receiver/opcua
go fmt ./...
go vet ./...
golangci-lint run

CI/CD

This project uses GitHub Actions for continuous integration and delivery:

Build & Test: Runs on every push and pull request
Linting: Code quality checks
Coverage: Test coverage reporting
E2E Test: Runs C# OPC UA test server + OTel collector in Docker, validates file export output
Release: Automated releases on tags

See .github/workflows/ for workflow definitions.

Docker

Build Docker Image Locally

docker build -t otelcol-opcua:latest .

Run in Docker

docker run -p 4317:4317 -p 4318:4318 \
  -v $(pwd)/config.yaml:/etc/otelcol/config.yaml \
  otelcol-opcua:latest

Multi-Architecture Build

# Build for multiple platforms
docker buildx build --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 -t otelcol-opcua:latest .

Or use the PowerShell build script on Windows:

.\build.ps1

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Fork the repository, create a feature branch, write tests, and open a pull request. Follow standard Go conventions (gofmt, go vet, meaningful commit messages).

Troubleshooting

ocb.exe not found: Download OCB from releases and place in project root.
Module errors: Run cd receiver/opcua && go mod tidy.
Connection refused: Verify endpoint URL, network connectivity, and firewall rules.
Authentication failures: Check credentials, certificate paths, and server auth requirements.

For more detail, see receiver/opcua/README.md.

Documentation

Receiver Documentation: receiver/opcua/README.md
Configuration Reference: receiver/opcua/README.md#configuration
OPC UA Specification Part 26: OPC Foundation
OpenTelemetry Collector: Official Docs
gopcua Library: GitHub

Roadmap

OPC UA Part 26 GetRecords method call with ExtensionObject decoding
ContinuationPoint pagination for large log sets
E2E integration testing with C# OPC UA test server
Subscription-based log collection (in addition to polling)
Enhanced filtering capabilities
Performance metrics
Beta stability

License

This project is licensed under the Apache License 2.0 - see the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

Support

Issues: GitHub Issues
Discussions: GitHub Discussions
OpenTelemetry Slack: #otel-collector

Author

bruegth - GitHub Profile

Note: This is an independent project and is not officially endorsed by the OpenTelemetry project or OPC Foundation.

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 27 Commits
.claude		.claude
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
receiver/opcua		receiver/opcua
testserver		testserver
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
CONTRIBUTING.md		CONTRIBUTING.md
Dockerfile		Dockerfile
LICENSE		LICENSE
README.md		README.md
build.ps1		build.ps1
builder-config.yaml		builder-config.yaml
config.yaml		config.yaml
go.work		go.work
opentelemetry-collector-opcua-receiver.sln		opentelemetry-collector-opcua-receiver.sln
run-e2e-test.ps1		run-e2e-test.ps1

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OpenTelemetry Collector OPC UA Receiver

Overview

Status

Quick Start

Prerequisites

Installation

Option 1: Build Custom Collector

Option 2: Use as Go Module

Configuration

Basic Example

Advanced Example

Development

Project Structure

Setting Up Development Environment

Building

Build the Receiver Module Only

Build the Complete Collector

Testing

Code Quality

CI/CD

Docker

Build Docker Image Locally

Run in Docker

Multi-Architecture Build

Contributing

Troubleshooting

Documentation

Roadmap

License

Acknowledgments

Support

Author

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