Install Observe Agent using Ansible¶

Note

These instructions apply to tenants created on or after June 6, 2025. If your tenant was created earlier, follow the legacy guide: Install Observe Agent using Ansible [Legacy]. Interested in upgrading to the new experience? Open Docs & Support → Contact Support in the product and let us know.

This page provides instructions for installing the Observe Agent on Linux systems via Ansible to collect metrics, logs, and application telemetry—including OpenTelemetry traces—and forward them to Observe.

Installation¶

Install the Observe Agent¶

Before you begin, install Ansible on your control node.

Debian-based distributions

Install the observe-agent package. You’ll need to first add the Observe debian repository to your trusted depositories in your sources.list.d file. Create package.yaml under /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/.

- name : Install Observe Agent
  hosts: all
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: add observe-agent apt source
      ansible.builtin.copy:
        dest: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/observeinc.list
        mode: 0644
        content: |
          deb [trusted=yes] https://repo.observeinc.com/apt/ /
    - name: install observe-agent package
      ansible.builtin.apt:
        install_recommends: no
        name: observe-agent
        state: latest
        update_cache: yes   

Use ansible-playbook to install the Observe Agent with package.yaml. Your ansible-playbook could be similar to the following one.

$ ansible-playbook -i /etc/ansible/hosts/my.aws_ec2.ini --private-key observe-agent-test.pem /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/package.yaml

PLAY [Observe Agent Getting Started Playbook] ******************************************************************************************************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [ansible-managed-node-1]
ok: [ansible-managed-node-2]

TASK [add observe-agent apt source] ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [ansible-managed-node-1]
changed: [ansible-managed-node-2]

TASK [install observe-agent package] ***************************************************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [ansible-managed-node-1]
changed: [ansible-managed-node-2]

PLAY RECAP *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ansible-managed-node-1 : ok=3    changed=2    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0   
ansible-managed-node-2 : ok=3    changed=2    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0   

RedHat-based distributions

Install the observe-agent package. You’ll need to first add the Observe yum repository to your trusted repositories in your yum.repos.d folder. Create package.yaml under /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/.

- name : Install Observe Agent
  hosts: all
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: add observe-agent yum source
      ansible.builtin.yum_repository:
        name: observe
        description: Gemfury Private Repo
        baseurl: https://yum.fury.io/observeinc/
        mode: 0644
    - name: install observe-agent package
      yum:
        name: observe-agent
        state: latest
        update_cache: yes
        disable_gpg_check: yes

Use ansible-playbook to install the Observe Agent with package.yaml. Your ansible-playbook could be similar to the following one.

$ ansible-playbook --private-key observe-agent-test.pem /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/package.yaml

PLAY [Install Observe Agent] ************************************************************************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] ******************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [54.202.68.91]
ok: [35.87.95.246]

TASK [add observe-agent yum source] *****************************************************************************************************************
ok: [54.202.68.91]
ok: [35.87.95.246]

TASK [install observe-agent package] ****************************************************************************************************************
changed: [54.202.68.91]
changed: [35.87.95.246]

PLAY RECAP ******************************************************************************************************************************************
35.87.95.246               : ok=3    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0
54.202.68.91               : ok=3    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0

Configure the Observe Agent¶

Debian-based distributions

Create config.yaml under /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/.

- name : Config Observe Agent
  hosts: all
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: install observe-agent.yaml
      ansible.builtin.template:
        src: ../templates/observe-agent.yaml.j2
        dest: /etc/observe-agent/observe-agent.yaml
        owner: root
        group: observe-agent
        mode: 0640

Create observe-agent.yaml.j2 under /etc/ansible/roles/agent/templates.

Replace the contents of the agent configuration file with the config file below. Replace <YOUR_INGEST_TOKEN> with your instance’s ingest token you create from the Add Data for Linux page (ex: a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9k0:l1m2n3o4p5q6r7s8t9u0v1w2x3y4z5a6) and <YOUR_OBSERVE_COLLECTION_ENDPOINT> with your instance’s collection endpoint (ex: https://123456789012.collect.observeinc.com/) on each host. For more information on configuring the agent, see Configuration.

Note

Some Observe instances may optionally use a name instead of Customer ID; if this is the case for your instance, contact your Observe Data Engineer to discuss implementation. A stem name will work as is, but a DNS redirect name may require client configuration.

# Observe data token (ex: a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9k0:l1m2n3o4p5q6r7s8t9u0v1w2x3y4z5a6)
token: "<YOUR_INGEST_TOKEN>"

# Target Observe collection url (ex: https://123456789012.collect.observeinc.com/)
observe_url: "<YOUR_OBSERVE_COLLECTION_ENDPOINT>"

health_check:
    enabled: true
    endpoint: localhost:13133
    path: /status

forwarding:
    enabled: true
    metrics:
        output_format: otel

internal_telemetry:
    enabled: true
    metrics:
        enabled: true
        host: localhost
        port: 8888
        level: detailed
    logs:
        enabled: true
        level: ${env:OTEL_LOG_LEVEL}

self_monitoring:
    enabled: true

host_monitoring:
    enabled: true
    logs:
        enabled: true
    metrics:
        host:
            enabled: true

# otel_config_overrides:
#   exporters:
#     debug:
#       verbosity: detailed
#       sampling_initial: 5
#       sampling_thereafter: 200
#   service:
#     pipelines:
#       metrics:
#         receivers: [hostmetrics]
#         processors: [memory_limiter]
#         exporters: [debug]

Use ansible-playbook to configure the Observe Agent with config.yaml. Your ansible-playbook could be similar to the following one.

$ ansible-playbook -i /etc/ansible/hosts/my.aws_ec2.ini --private-key observe-agent-test.pem /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/config.yaml

PLAY [Config Observe Agent] ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [ansible-managed-node-1]
ok: [ansible-managed-node-2]

TASK [install observe-agent.yaml] ******************************************************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [ansible-managed-node-1]
changed: [ansible-managed-node-2]

PLAY RECAP *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ansible-managed-node-1 : ok=2    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0   
ansible-managed-node-2 : ok=2    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0   

RedHat-based distributions

Create config.yaml under /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/.

- name : Config Observe Agent
  hosts: all
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: install observe-agent.yaml
      ansible.builtin.template:
        src: ../templates/observe-agent.yaml.j2
        dest: /etc/observe-agent/observe-agent.yaml
        owner: root
        group: observe-agent
        mode: 0640

Create observe-agent.yaml.j2 under /etc/ansible/roles/agent/templates.

# Observe data token (ex: a1b2c3d4e5f6g7h8i9k0:l1m2n3o4p5q6r7s8t9u0v1w2x3y4z5a6)
token: "<YOUR_INGEST_TOKEN>"

# Target Observe collection url (ex: https://123456789012.collect.observeinc.com/)
observe_url: "<YOUR_OBSERVE_COLLECTION_ENDPOINT>"

health_check:
    enabled: true
    endpoint: localhost:13133
    path: /status

forwarding:
    enabled: true
    metrics:
        output_format: otel

internal_telemetry:
    enabled: true
    metrics:
        enabled: true
        host: localhost
        port: 8888
        level: detailed
    logs:
        enabled: true
        level: ${env:OTEL_LOG_LEVEL}

self_monitoring:
    enabled: true

host_monitoring:
    enabled: true
    logs:
        enabled: true
    metrics:
        host:
            enabled: true

# otel_config_overrides:
#   exporters:
#     debug:
#       verbosity: detailed
#       sampling_initial: 5
#       sampling_thereafter: 200
#   service:
#     pipelines:
#       metrics:
#         receivers: [hostmetrics]
#         processors: [memory_limiter]
#         exporters: [debug]

Use ansible-playbook to configure the Observe Agent with config.yaml. Your ansible-playbook could be similar to the following one.

$ ansible-playbook --private-key observe-agent-test.pem /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/config.yaml

PLAY [Config Observe Agent] *************************************************************************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] ******************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [54.202.68.91]
ok: [35.87.95.246]

TASK [install observe-agent.yaml] *******************************************************************************************************************
changed: [54.202.68.91]
changed: [35.87.95.246]

PLAY RECAP ******************************************************************************************************************************************
35.87.95.246               : ok=2    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0
54.202.68.91               : ok=2    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0

Start the Observe Agent¶

Debian-based distributions

Create enable.yaml under /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/.

- name : Start Observe Agent
  hosts: all
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: enable observe-agent
      ansible.builtin.systemd_service:
        enabled: true
        name: observe-agent
        state: started 

Use ansible-playbook to start the Observe Agent with enable.yaml. Your ansible-playbook could be similar to the following one.

$ ansible-playbook -i /etc/ansible/hosts/my.aws_ec2.ini --private-key observe-agent-test.pem /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/enable.yaml

PLAY [Start Observe Agent] *************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [ansible-managed-node-1]
ok: [ansible-managed-node-2]

TASK [Enable observe-agent] ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [ansible-managed-node-1]
changed: [ansible-managed-node-2]

PLAY RECAP *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ansible-managed-node-1 : ok=2    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0   
ansible-managed-node-2 : ok=2    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0   

RedHat-based distributions

Create enable.yaml under /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/.

- name : Start Observe Agent
  hosts: all
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: enable observe-agent
      systemd:
        enabled: true
        name: observe-agent
        state: started

Use ansible-playbook to start the Observe Agent with enable.yaml. Your ansible-playbook could be similar to the following one.

$ ansible-playbook --private-key observe-agent-test.pem /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/enable.yaml

PLAY [Start Observe Agent] **************************************************************************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] ******************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [54.202.68.91]
ok: [35.87.95.246]

TASK [enable observe-agent] *************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [35.87.95.246]
changed: [54.202.68.91]

PLAY RECAP ******************************************************************************************************************************************
35.87.95.246               : ok=2    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0
54.202.68.91               : ok=2    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0

Configure application instrumentation¶

Once the Observe Agent is deployed, configure your application instrumentation or set the OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT environment variable to one of the following addresses to send application telemetry including traces to the Observe Agent.

Note

When setting up the endpoint to send traces, make sure you use the path that your OTLP library requires. Some libraries need traces to go to /v1/traces, while others expect them at the root path /.

OTLP/HTTP endpoint: http://localhost:4318
OTLP/grpc endpoint: http://localhost:4317

Learn more about how to instrument your app

Uninstall the Observe Agent¶

Debian-based distributions

Create uninstall.yaml under /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/.

- name : Uninstall Observe Agent
  hosts: all
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: stop observe-agent
      ansible.builtin.systemd_service:
        name: observe-agent
        state: stopped
    - name: purge observe-agent
      ansible.builtin.apt:
        name: observe-agent
        state: absent
        purge: true 

Use ansible-playbook to start the Observe Agent with uninstall.yaml. Your ansible-playbook could be similar to the following one.

$ ansible-playbook -i /etc/ansible/hosts/my.aws_ec2.ini --private-key observe-agent-test.pem /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/uninstall.yaml

PLAY [Uninstall Observe Agent] *****************************************************************************************************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] *************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [ansible-managed-node-1]
ok: [ansible-managed-node-2]

TASK [stop observe-agent] **********************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [ansible-managed-node-1]
ok: [ansible-managed-node-2]

TASK [purge observe-agent] *********************************************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [ansible-managed-node-1]
changed: [ansible-managed-node-2]

PLAY RECAP *************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ansible-managed-node-1 : ok=3    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0   
ansible-managed-node-2 : ok=3    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0   

RedHat-based distributions

Create uninstall.yaml under /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/.

- name : Uninstall Observe Agent
  hosts: all
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: stop observe-agent
      systemd:
        name: observe-agent
        state: stopped
    - name: purge observe-agent
      yum:
        name: observe-agent
        state: absent

Use ansible-playbook to start the Observe Agent with uninstall.yaml. Your ansible-playbook could be similar to the following one.

$ ansible-playbook --private-key observe-agent-test.pem /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/uninstall.yaml

PLAY [Uninstall Observe Agent] **********************************************************************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] ******************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [54.202.68.91]
ok: [35.87.95.246]

TASK [stop observe-agent] ***************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [54.202.68.91]
ok: [35.87.95.246]

TASK [purge observe-agent] **************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [54.202.68.91]
changed: [35.87.95.246]

PLAY RECAP ******************************************************************************************************************************************
35.87.95.246               : ok=3    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0
54.202.68.91               : ok=3    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0

Upgrade the Observe Agent¶

Warning

Observe Agent v2.0.0 includes breaking changes. Learn more about these changes in Upgrade to Observe Agent v2.0.0 Observe Agent v1.0.0 includes breaking changes. Learn more about these changes in Upgrade to Observe Agent v1.0.0

Debian-based distributions

Create upgrade.yaml under /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/.

- name : Upgrade Observe Agent
  hosts: all
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: upgrade observe-agent package
      ansible.builtin.apt:
        install_recommends: no
        name: observe-agent
        update_cache: yes
        only_upgrade: true
    - name: restart observe-agent
      ansible.builtin.systemd_service:
        enabled: true
        state: restarted
        name: observe-agent

Use ansible-playbook to upgrade and restart the Observe Agent with upgrade.yaml. Your ansible-playbook could be similar to the following one.

$ ansible-playbook -i /etc/ansible/hosts/my.aws_ec2.ini --private-key observe-agent-test.pem /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/upgrade.yaml

PLAY [Upgrade Observe Agent] *******************************************************************************************************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] *************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [ansible-managed-node-1]
ok: [ansible-managed-node-2]

TASK [upgrade observe-agent package] ***********************************************************************************************************************************************
ok: [ansible-managed-node-1]
ok: [ansible-managed-node-2]

TASK [restart observe-agent] *******************************************************************************************************************************************************
changed: [ansible-managed-node-1]
changed: [ansible-managed-node-2]

PLAY RECAP *************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
ansible-managed-node-1 : ok=3    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0   
ansible-managed-node-2 : ok=3    changed=1    unreachable=0    failed=0    skipped=0    rescued=0    ignored=0  

RedHat-based distributions

Create upgrade.yaml under /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/.

- name : Upgrade Observe Agent
  hosts: all
  become: yes
  tasks:
    - name: upgrade observe-agent package
      yum:
        name: observe-agent
        disable_gpg_check: yes
        state: latest
        update_cache: yes
    - name: restart observe-agent
      systemd:
        enabled: true
        name: observe-agent
        state: restarted

Use ansible-playbook to upgrade and restart the Observe Agent with upgrade.yaml. Your ansible-playbook could be similar to the following one.

$ ansible-playbook –private-key observe-agent-test.pem /etc/ansible/roles/agent/tasks/upgrade.yaml

PLAY [Upgrade Observe Agent] *****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

TASK [Gathering Facts] *********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** ok: [35.87.95.246] ok: [54.202.68.91]

TASK [upgrade observe-agent package] ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************* ok: [54.202.68.91] ok: [35.87.95.246]

TASK [restart observe-agent] ***************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** changed: [54.202.68.91] changed: [35.87.95.246]

PLAY RECAP *********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** 35.87.95.246 : ok=3 changed=1 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0 54.202.68.91 : ok=3 changed=1 unreachable=0 failed=0 skipped=0 rescued=0 ignored=0

Next steps¶

Use both the Log Explorer and the Metric Explorer to monitor your systems. To analyze your trace data, explore both the Trace Explorer and the Service Explorer