A Docker Logging Driver plugin that forwards container logs to an OpenTelemetry (OTLP) Logs endpoint.

Install and configure gRPC logs endpoint

The host permission is required to use host level networking.

docker plugin install --disable --grant-all-permissions moritzloewenstein/otel-docker-logging-driver
docker plugin set moritzloewenstein/otel-docker-logging-driver \
  OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:4317 \
  OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_PROTOCOL=grpc \
  OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_INSECURE=true
docker plugin enable moritzloewenstein/otel-docker-logging-driver

Install and configure http logs endpoint

The host permission is required to use host level networking.

docker plugin install --disable --grant-all-permissions moritzloewenstein/otel-docker-logging-driver
docker plugin set moritzloewenstein/otel-docker-logging-driver \
  OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_ENDPOINT=http://localhost:4318 \
  OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_PROTOCOL=http \
  OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_INSECURE=true
docker plugin enable moritzloewenstein/otel-docker-logging-driver

Use globally

In /etc/docker/daemon.json:

{
  "log-driver": "moritzloewenstein/otel-docker-logging-driver:latest",
  "log-opts": {
    "include-labels": "true"
  }
}

Use per docker compose

logging:
  driver: moritzloewenstein/otel-docker-logging-driver:latest
  options:
    include-labels: "true"

Per docker container

docker run --log-driver=moritzloewenstein/otel-docker-logging-driver:latest --log-opt include-labels=true nginx

Configuration

Plugin-level options (set via docker plugin set), defined in plugin/config.json:

• OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_ENDPOINT – OTLP logs endpoint (e.g., http://localhost:4317 or http://localhost:4318).

• OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_PROTOCOL – grpc or http/protobuf. Default is grpc for backward compatibility.

• OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_INSECURE – set true to disable TLS when using http.

• OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_HEADERS – comma-separated headers, k=v,k2=v2.

• OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_COMPRESSION – compression setting for gRPC (e.g., gzip).

• TLS (file-based certificates, gRPC only):

  • OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_CERTIFICATE – path to CA certificate PEM file enabling TLS. If unset, the generic OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_CERTIFICATE is used as a fallback. TLS creds are applied only when a CA certificate is provided (see the implementation in internal/otelx/otel.go).
  • OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_CLIENT_CERTIFICATE – optional path to client certificate PEM for mTLS.
  • OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_LOGS_CLIENT_KEY – optional path to client private key PEM for mTLS.

Per-container options (set via --log-opt or compose logging.options), implemented in internal/driver/driver.go:

• include-labels – true|1|yes to include container labels as docker.label.<key> attributes.
• Note: endpoint/headers overrides per container are not yet supported; the driver logs a warning if provided.

The plugin server exposes a Unix socket named otel-logs when started by Docker Plugin runtime.