Configuring OpenTelemetry in API Gateway

You can configure OpenTelemetry directly from the Platform UI without additional manual setup on the Gateway.

Prerequisites

• API Gateway is installed and running.

• OpenTelemetry plugin (bundled with Gateway).

• OTel Collector or platform ingestion endpoint and authentication key for the observability platform (For example, New Relic API key).

Configuring OpenTelemetry in API Gateway

You can configure OpenTelemetry from the Platform UI. Follow these steps to configure OpenTelemetry in API Gateway:

1. Navigate to API Gateways > OpenTelemetrySettings.

2. Enable your OpenTelemetry settings for APIs. By default, the status remains disabled.

3. Configure the following:

   a. Exporter Endpoint URL - OTel collector URL for the connection collector (host and port). NewRelic example: OTLP Port – 4317 (gRPC) or 4318 (HTTP). For more information on the NewRelic endpoint URL, refer New Relic OTLP endpoint.

   b. Compression - Select the compression algorithm for data transmission: Gzip or None.

   • Gzip – This method compresses data before sending it to the configured OTEL collector URL, reducing the size of transmitted data.
   • None – Sends the data directly without applying any compression.

   c. SSL - When you enable SSL, the system transmits data securely over HTTPS instead of plain HTTP, which encrypts and protects data against unauthorized access. Use SSL when connecting to systems requiring secure communication for telemetry export.

   d. Select the data types:

   • Traces – Represent the flow of an API call through the Gateway. Each span corresponds to a unit of work (policy execution, request forwarding, etc.).

   • Logs – Capture application-level events generated by the Gateway or its policies.

   • Metrics – Provide performance data such as memory usage, garbage collection activity, CPU utilization, and JVM statistics.

   When configuring OpenTelemetry, you can enable traces, metrics, and logs. However, not all collectors support every telemetry type. If you enable unsupported types, the Gateway still attempts to export the data, but the collector ignores it. This behavior can create unnecessary connection overhead. Enable only the telemetry types supported by your target observability backend to ensure efficient data flow and avoid extra load.

   e. Add header — Use this option to add custom headers (for example, API keys) when sending data to external observability tools such as New Relic. A cloud-based setup requires authentication to ensure only authorized users can connect. Each account receives an API key, and the system establishes the connection through this key. The authentication header includes the API key, which verifies the connection and ensures that the data is sent securely to the intended pipeline.

4. Save the configuration. When you save the configuration, the system registers the gateway with the specified name and initiates the connection to the OTEL collector (including SSL and other settings, if enabled). After the system establishes the connection, you can open the OpenTelemetry service dashboard to view the gateway along with its metrics, logs, and test results.

Optional OTel container properties

In addition to system properties, Boomi API Gateway supports optional container properties. These properties let you fine-tune observability behavior, especially for controlling log batching and monitoring API health checks. By default, the Gateway applies reasonable settings to minimize overhead, but you can override them if needed.

Properties	Description	When to use
com.boomi.container.apigateway.healthcheck.trace.enabled	Controls whether the system exports API health check traces to the OpenTelemetry observability tool. Default Value: false (disabled).	Enable only if you want to track API health check traces for debugging or monitoring purposes.
com.boomi.container.apigateway.otel.log.batch.size	Defines the number of log records batched together before export. Helps manage performance by controlling batch size during log transmission. Default Value: 512.	Increase for high-throughput environments to reduce the number of export calls, or decrease for near real-time log visibility.
com.boomi.container.apigateway.otel.log.queue.size	Define the maximum number of log records the system can queue in memory at one time. This limit helps the system maintain connection stability and prevent overload when it generates logs faster than it can export them. Default Value: 2048.	Increase in cases where the system generates bursts of logs, or decrease to conserve memory resources.

Setting up optional OTel container properties

1. In the API Gateway, go to Gateway Properties > Custom Container Properties.

2. Click Add Property.

3. Enter the required Property Name.

4. Set the Value based on your requirement:

   • Enter true or false for Boolean properties (healthcheck.test.enabled).

   • Enter an integer value for numeric properties (otel.log.batch.size and otel.log.queue.size).

5. Save your changes. The new property takes effect after the Gateway restart or container reload.