SQL Server OpenTelemetry Input Package

The SQL Server OpenTelemetry Input Package for Elastic enables collection of telemetry data from Microsoft SQL Server instances through OpenTelemetry protocols using the sqlserverreceiver.

This package receives telemetry data from SQL Server instances by configuring the SQL Server receiver in the Input Package, which then gets applied to the sqlserverreceiver present in the EDOT collector, which then forwards the data to Elastic Agent. The Elastic Agent processes and enriches the data before sending it to Elasticsearch for indexing and analysis.

Make sure to run the collector as administrator to collect all performance counters for metrics.

When configured to directly connect to the SQL Server instance, the user must have the following permissions:

1. At least one of the following permissions:

   • CREATE DATABASE
   • ALTER ANY DATABASE
   • VIEW ANY DATABASE

2. Permission to view server state:

   • SQL Server pre-2022: VIEW SERVER STATE
   • SQL Server 2022 and later: VIEW SERVER PERFORMANCE STATE

For the full list of settings exposed for the receiver and examples, refer to the configuration section.

For a complete list of all available metrics and their detailed descriptions, refer to the SQL Server Receiver documentation in the upstream OpenTelemetry Collector repository.

The SQL Server receiver can collect log events when a direct database connection is configured. Two event types are available, both turned off by default:

• Query Sample Events (db.server.query_sample): Captures currently executing queries at scrape time, including session details, wait information, and resource consumption. Enable by setting Enable Query Sample Events to true.

• Top Query Events (db.server.top_query): Captures the most expensive queries by execution time within a configurable lookback window, including execution counts, CPU time, and logical reads. Enable by setting Enable Top Query Events to true.

Both event types require a direct database connection. Configure either the individual connection settings (server, port, username, and password) or the datasource connection string. The query_sample_collection and top_query_collection settings control the behavior of each event type.

For a complete list of log attributes, refer to the SQL Server Receiver logs documentation in the upstream OpenTelemetry Collector repository.

Starting with EDOT Collector versions based on OpenTelemetry Collector Contrib v0.129.0+, the upstream receiver includes a feature gate receiver.sqlserver.RemoveServerResourceAttribute that removes server.address and server.port from resource attributes, as they are not identified as resource attributes in the semantic conventions. This feature gate is currently opt-in. Refer to the upstream documentation for details.