Microsoft is expanding OpenTelemetry (OTel) support to two major Azure services—Logic Apps and Functions—as part of its growing focus on open observability. This integration, now in public preview for Azure Functions, brings standardized telemetry to cloud-native and hybrid applications.
🧠 What Is OpenTelemetry?
OpenTelemetry, a project by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), standardizes how telemetry (logs, traces, and metrics) is collected. It removes the need for vendor-specific tools and supports seamless integration with platforms like Azure Monitor, Grafana Tempo, and Jaeger.
🔧 What’s New?
In Azure Logic Apps:
- Gain consistent, connected telemetry across hybrid environments.
- Supports better monitoring and debugging of workflows that span on-prem and cloud.
In Azure Functions:
- Offers standards-based tracing that extends beyond Application Insights.
- Enables richer diagnostics, though some portal features like log streaming aren’t yet available during the preview.
⚙️ How to Enable It
To use OpenTelemetry:
- Update your
host.json: jsonCopyEdit{ "telemetryMode": "OpenTelemetry" } - Set environment variables:
OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT: The telemetry destination.OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS: Optional custom headers.
Changes can be made via Visual Studio Code, Azure Portal, or deployment scripts depending on your hosting model.
🌐 Microsoft’s Observability Strategy
This move is part of Microsoft’s broader push toward open standards for observability:
- Azure Monitor OpenTelemetry Distro provides preconfigured SDKs for .NET, Java, Node.js, and Python.
- Azure SDKs now emit OpenTelemetry signals for HTTP and messaging.
- .NET Aspire includes a developer dashboard for real-time OpenTelemetry visualization during local development.
“We’re making OpenTelemetry available everywhere,”
— David Fowler, Microsoft
🧪 Supported Scenarios
- Logic Apps: Supports HTTP, Service Bus, and Event Hub triggers (metrics not yet available).
- Functions: Still in preview; lacks portal-based log streaming with OTel enabled.
📌 Conclusion
Microsoft’s OpenTelemetry support in Logic Apps and Functions offers developers a standardized, flexible way to monitor apps across cloud and hybrid setups—helping teams build, debug, and scale with confidence.
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