This guide walks you through instrumenting your JBoss EAP or WildFly application server with OpenTelemetry and sending traces to SigNoz. JBoss and WildFly use standalone.conf (Linux/Mac) or standalone.conf.bat (Windows) to configure JVM options, making it straightforward to attach the OpenTelemetry Java agent.
Prerequisites
- Java 8 or higher
- JBoss EAP or WildFly installed and configured
- A SigNoz Cloud account or self-hosted SigNoz instance
Send traces to SigNoz
Step 1. Download the OpenTelemetry Java agent
wget -P /opt/jboss/lib/ https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/latest/download/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar
Step 2. Edit standalone.conf
Open your JBoss/WildFly configuration file:
- JBoss EAP:
/opt/jboss-eap-7.x/bin/standalone.conf - WildFly:
/opt/wildfly/bin/standalone.conf
Add the following lines:
JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -javaagent:/opt/jboss/lib/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar"
JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.service.name=<service-name>"
JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.exporter.otlp.endpoint=https://ingest.<region>.signoz.cloud:443"
JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.exporter.otlp.headers=signoz-ingestion-key=<your-ingestion-key>"
Replace the following:
<region>: Your SigNoz Cloud region (us,eu, orin). See endpoints.<your-ingestion-key>: Your SigNoz ingestion key.<service-name>: A descriptive name for your service (e.g.,jboss-app).
Step 3. Restart JBoss/WildFly
# For JBoss EAP
/opt/jboss-eap-7.x/bin/standalone.sh
# For WildFly
/opt/wildfly/bin/standalone.sh
Step 1. Create a Dockerfile with the agent
FROM jboss/wildfly:latest
WORKDIR /opt/jboss
# Download the OpenTelemetry Java agent
RUN curl -L https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/latest/download/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar -o /opt/jboss/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar
# Copy your application
COPY target/<my-app>.war /opt/jboss/wildfly/standalone/deployments/
# Set JAVA_OPTS for OpenTelemetry
ENV JAVA_OPTS="-javaagent:/opt/jboss/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar"
EXPOSE 8080
CMD ["/opt/jboss/wildfly/bin/standalone.sh", "-b", "0.0.0.0"]
Replace <my-app>.war with your application WAR file.
Step 2. Deploy to Kubernetes
Add these environment variables to your deployment manifest:
env:
- name: OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES
value: 'service.name=<service-name>'
- name: OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT
value: 'https://ingest.<region>.signoz.cloud:443'
- name: OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS
value: 'signoz-ingestion-key=<your-ingestion-key>'
Replace the following:
<region>: Your SigNoz Cloud region (us,eu, orin). See endpoints.<your-ingestion-key>: Your SigNoz ingestion key.<service-name>: A descriptive name for your service (e.g.,jboss-app).
The OpenTelemetry Operator auto-injects the Java agent into your pods without modifying your container image.
Step 1. Set up the OpenTelemetry Operator
Install the Operator and Collector following the K8s OTel Operator installation guide.
Step 2. Create the Instrumentation resource
Create instrumentation.yaml to configure Java auto-instrumentation:
apiVersion: opentelemetry.io/v1alpha1
kind: Instrumentation
metadata:
name: java-instrumentation
spec:
exporter:
endpoint: http://otel-collector-collector:4318
propagators:
- tracecontext
- baggage
java:
image: ghcr.io/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-operator/autoinstrumentation-java:latest
Deploy this resource to your cluster:
kubectl apply -f instrumentation.yaml
Step 3. Add annotations to your deployment
Add these annotations to your pod template's metadata.annotations:
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
name: jboss-app
spec:
replicas: 1
selector:
matchLabels:
app: jboss-app
template:
metadata:
labels:
app: jboss-app
annotations:
instrumentation.opentelemetry.io/inject-java: "true"
resource.opentelemetry.io/service.name: "<service-name>"
spec:
containers:
- name: jboss
image: jboss/wildfly:latest
ports:
- containerPort: 8080
Apply the deployment:
kubectl apply -f deployment.yaml
Step 1. Download the OpenTelemetry Java agent
Invoke-WebRequest -Uri "https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/latest/download/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar" -OutFile "C:\jboss\lib\opentelemetry-javaagent.jar"
Step 2. Edit standalone.conf.bat
Open your JBoss/WildFly configuration file:
- JBoss EAP:
C:\jboss-eap-7.x\bin\standalone.conf.bat - WildFly:
C:\wildfly\bin\standalone.conf.bat
Add the following lines:
set "JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -javaagent:C:\jboss\lib\opentelemetry-javaagent.jar"
set "JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Dotel.service.name=<service-name>"
set "JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Dotel.exporter.otlp.endpoint=https://ingest.<region>.signoz.cloud:443"
set "JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Dotel.exporter.otlp.headers=signoz-ingestion-key=<your-ingestion-key>"
Replace <region>, <your-ingestion-key>, and <service-name> with your values.
Step 3. Restart JBoss/WildFly
# For JBoss EAP
C:\jboss-eap-7.x\bin\standalone.bat
# For WildFly
C:\wildfly\bin\standalone.bat
Step 1. Create a Dockerfile
FROM jboss/wildfly:latest
# Download the OpenTelemetry Java agent
RUN curl -L https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-java-instrumentation/releases/latest/download/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar -o /opt/jboss/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar
# Copy your application WAR file
COPY target/<my-app>.war /opt/jboss/wildfly/standalone/deployments/
# Set OpenTelemetry environment variables
ENV JAVA_OPTS="-javaagent:/opt/jboss/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar"
ENV OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES="service.name=<service-name>"
ENV OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT="https://ingest.<region>.signoz.cloud:443"
ENV OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS="signoz-ingestion-key=<your-ingestion-key>"
EXPOSE 8080
CMD ["/opt/jboss/wildfly/bin/standalone.sh", "-b", "0.0.0.0"]
Replace <my-app>.war, <region>, <your-ingestion-key>, and <service-name> with your values.
Step 2. Build and run
docker build -t my-jboss-app .
docker run -p 8080:8080 my-jboss-app
Or pass environment variables at runtime:
docker run -p 8080:8080 \
-e OTEL_RESOURCE_ATTRIBUTES="service.name=my-jboss-app" \
-e OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT="https://ingest.us.signoz.cloud:443" \
-e OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_HEADERS="signoz-ingestion-key=<key>" \
my-jboss-app
Validate
With JBoss/WildFly running, verify traces are being sent to SigNoz:
- Deploy an application to JBoss/WildFly and make a few requests to its endpoints.
- In SigNoz, open the Services tab and click Refresh. Your application should appear.
- Go to the Traces tab to see your application's traces.
Troubleshooting
Traces not showing up in SigNoz?
Verify standalone.conf changes:
Check that your JAVA_OPTS modifications are being loaded:
ps aux | grep java | grep javaagent
You should see the -javaagent flag in the process arguments.
Enable debug logging:
Add the following to standalone.conf:
JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.javaagent.debug=true"
Then restart JBoss and check the logs for OpenTelemetry output.
Test connectivity:
curl -v https://ingest.<region>.signoz.cloud:443/v1/traces
Agent not loading?
Make sure the agent JAR path is correct and the file exists:
ls -la /opt/jboss/lib/opentelemetry-javaagent.jar
Verify the path in standalone.conf matches the actual location.
JBoss fails to start?
Check for syntax errors in standalone.conf. Each JAVA_OPTS line should be on its own line without trailing spaces or special characters.
Review the JBoss server log:
tail -f /opt/jboss-eap-7.x/standalone/log/server.log
Domain mode configuration
If running JBoss in domain mode, configure JAVA_OPTS in domain.conf instead of standalone.conf, or set JVM options in the domain controller's host configuration.
Configuring the agent (Optional)
What can you configure?
The Java agent auto-instruments most libraries out of the box. Configuration lets you fine-tune what gets captured and how traces are exported.
Why configure?
- Reduce noise — Disable instrumentation for internal health checks or chatty libraries
- Control costs — Sample a percentage of traces instead of capturing everything
- Add context — Tag traces with environment, version, or team info for easier filtering
Common options
Add these to standalone.conf:
Disable specific instrumentations:
JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.instrumentation.jdbc.enabled=false"
Sample traces:
JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.traces.sampler=parentbased_traceidratio"
JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.traces.sampler.arg=0.1" # Sample 10%
Add resource attributes:
JAVA_OPTS="$JAVA_OPTS -Dotel.resource.attributes=service.name=my-app,deployment.environment=production"
See the full configuration reference for all available options.
Next steps
- Add manual instrumentation for custom spans and business context
- Collect Java application logs with OpenTelemetry
- Set up alerts for your JBoss/WildFly application
Related resources:
