Splunk AppDynamics for OpenTelemetry

OpenTelemetry is a collection of tools, APIs, and SDKs used to instrument, generate, collect, and export telemetry data (metrics, logs, and traces) to help you analyze software performance and behavior.

Splunk AppDynamics provides an OpenTelemetry-compatible backend to ingest OpenTelemetry trace data using OpenTelemetry components. The ingested data is processed by the Splunk AppDynamics backend and displayed in the Controller UI. This service is referred to as Splunk AppDynamics for OpenTelemetry.


Splunk AppDynamics supports OpenTelemetry in several ways, depending on your desired outcome:

  • Extending AppDynamics Agent capabilities with OpenTelemetry
  • Direct support for native OpenTelemetry agents and instrumentations
  • Instrumentation for Splunk AppDynamics and Splunk Observability Cloud

Extending AppDynamics Agent capabilities with OpenTelemetry – AppDynamics Hybrid Agent

Selected Splunk AppDynamics Agents (Java, .NET, Node.js) support Hybrid Mode, which extends AppDynamics Agent telemetry with additional data generated by built-in OpenTelemetry components. This scenario is intended for users who want to continue using AppDynamics Agents, enhanced with selected OpenTelemetry capabilities, with the AppDynamics Observability backend. See the AppDynamics Hybrid Agent overview for more details.

Instrumentation for Splunk AppDynamics and Splunk Observability Cloud – AppDynamics Combined Agent

Standard Splunk AppDynamics agents include Splunk OpenTelemetry agent distributions, which, if enabled, can send data to Splunk Observability Cloud. This scenario is intended for existing AppDynamics users who want to evaluate, integrate, or transition to Splunk Observability Cloud as their observability backend. See the AppDynamics Combined Agent overview for additional information.

Direct support for native OpenTelemetry agents and instrumentation – OpenTelemetry Native Agents

Splunk AppDynamics for OpenTelemetry supports a subset of OpenTelemetry agents and instrumentation libraries, and accepts trace data sent via the OpenTelemetry Collector and OTLP protocol to the AppDynamics ingest endpoint for OpenTelemetry. This scenario is designed for users who want to use native OpenTelemetry agents and instrumentation directly, especially if the corresponding AppDynamics Agent is not available, while continuing to use the AppDynamics Observability backend. See the AppDynamics for OpenTelemetry overview for further details.