Groups

A group is a logical collection of OpenTelemetry Collectors that share the same remote configuration assignment.

A group is a logical collection of OpenTelemetry Collectors that share the same remote configuration assignment. It defines target criteria based on attributes such as environment, operating system, that determine which collectors belong to the group.

Groups connect templates to collectors. A template defines the configuration to apply, while a group defines where to apply that configuration. When you assign templates to a group and deploy the group, matching collectors receive the corresponding OpenTelemetry Collector pipeline configuration through remote configuration.

Benefits of using groups

Groups help you manage remote configuration at fleet scale. Without groups, you must select individual collectors, update local configuration files, and coordinate redeployments whenever you change sampling, filtering, redaction, or exporter behavior.

You can do the following by using groups:

  • Dynamic fleet targeting: Define matching rules based on collector metadata. As collectors join, leave, or change metadata, the system evaluates whether they match the group.
  • Centralized template assignment: Assign templates to a group once so that all matching collectors receive the relevant configuration.
  • Operational consistency: Apply standard configurations to a fleet segment, such as Linux hosts, Windows hosts, Kubernetes node agents, gateways, or cluster receivers.
  • Reduced manual effort: Avoid SSH-based host updates, individual collector edits, and manual redeployments for every configuration change.
  • Rollout visibility: Track deployment status through process and audit views that show whether configuration was sent, applied, is applying, or failed.
  • Scalable configuration management: Evaluate configuration eligibility through metadata instead of manual assignment.

Group types

Currently, you can create host-based groups for Linux or Windows hosts. See Create a host-based group.

API specification

For information about the OpenAPI specs, see Group Management API.