Connecting to Datadog

This guide provides detailed configuration for the OpenTelemetry Collector and Datadog Agent methods.

Connection methods

Datadog supports multiple methods for ingesting OpenTelemetry data: the most relevant are covered in this guide for your convenience, but there are others available.

• Datadog OpenTelemetry collector (DDOT) - Datadog's distribution of the OpenTelemetry Collector

• OpenTelemetry collector - Vendor-neutral telemetry pipeline with advanced processing (guide available)

• Datadog agent - Direct connection with native Datadog features (guide available)

• Agentless - Direct OTLP ingestion to Datadog

For complete information on all connection methods including DDOT Collector and Agentless options, refer to Datadog's OpenTelemetry setup documentation and compatibility guide.

Choose a connection method

Choose one of the following methods based on your current Datadog setup:

• If you are setting up a new environment, use the Datadog OpenTelemetry Collector (DDOT) or the OpenTelemetry Collector.

• If you already have Datadog Agent running, use the Datadog Agent.

• For containerized deployments, consider the Apollo Runtime container which includes pre-configured examples for the OpenTelemetry Collector.

• For a direct connection with no agent deployment required, use the Agentless method.

Datadog OpenTelemetry collector (Recommended)

Datadog OpenTelemetry Collector is a Datadog-specific distribution of the OpenTelemetry collector that combines the OpenTelemetry Collector and the Datadog Agent. It is currently Datadog's recommended way to send OpenTelemetry to Datadog. This solution is tightly coupled to Datadog and is the most straightforward solution if your organization already uses Datadog.

OpenTelemetry collector

OpenTelemetry collector provides a vendor-neutral telemetry pipeline with advanced processing capabilities including sampling, filtering, and multi-backend support.

Datadog agent

The Datadog agent offers direct OTLP ingestion, integrating with Datadog's existing agent infrastructure for logs, infrastructure monitoring, and other telemetry collection.

• Datadog agent traces configuration

• Datadog agent metrics configuration

Agentless

Agentless provides direct OTLP ingestion to Datadog without requiring additional infrastructure components.

Next steps

After setting up your connection method:

1. Configure router instrumentation for Datadog-optimized telemetry.

2. Import dashboard templates for router monitoring.