Upgrade k8s-infra OpenTelemetry collection agent to v0.16.0

This guide walks you through upgrading your k8s-infra Helm chart to version 0.16.0, which changes the default OTLP exporter from gRPC to HTTP.

What's New in v0.16.0

• OTLP/HTTP is the default exporter. presets.otlphttpExporter.enabled now defaults to true and presets.otlpExporter.enabled to false. OTLP/HTTP works more reliably across load balancers, ingresses, and proxies than gRPC, and is now the recommended protocol for sending telemetry to SigNoz Cloud and self-hosted SigNoz.
• Autogenerated endpoint port updated. When otelCollectorEndpoint is not set (typical when k8s-infra is installed as a sub-chart of signoz), the chart now resolves to the OTLP/HTTP port 4318 instead of 4317.

Breaking Change

If you set otelCollectorEndpoint to a gRPC endpoint (e.g., <host>:4317 or ingest.<region>.signoz.cloud:443 without https://), the chart will now send OTLP/HTTP to that endpoint and the export will fail. You must either update the endpoint to OTLP/HTTP, or explicitly opt back into gRPC.

Prerequisites

• A SigNoz backend (SigNoz Cloud or self-hosted) to receive OpenTelemetry data
• K8s-infra OpenTelemetry collection agent installed in your Kubernetes Cluster
• A backup of your current k8s-infra Helm chart configuration file (usually values.yaml)

Upgrade Process

Pick the scenario that matches your current setup.

Scenario 1: Custom otelCollectorEndpoint (SigNoz Cloud or self-hosted)

If you set otelCollectorEndpoint explicitly, you must update it to the OTLP/HTTP endpoint.

Step 1: Update Helm Repository

helm repo update signoz

Step 2: Update Your Values File

For SigNoz Cloud:

- otelCollectorEndpoint: ingest.<region>.signoz.cloud:443
+ otelCollectorEndpoint: https://ingest.<region>.signoz.cloud:443

For self-hosted SigNoz:

- otelCollectorEndpoint: <IP-or-Endpoint-of-SigNoz-OtelCollector>:4317
+ otelCollectorEndpoint: http://<IP-or-Endpoint-of-SigNoz-OtelCollector>:4318

If you previously set the exporter presets explicitly, update them too:

  presets:
-   otlpExporter:
-     enabled: true
+   otlphttpExporter:
+     enabled: true

Step 3: Run the Upgrade

helm upgrade <RELEASE_NAME> signoz/k8s-infra \
  -n <NAMESPACE> \
  -f your-values.yaml

Step 4: Verify the Upgrade

kubectl get pods -n <NAMESPACE> -l app.kubernetes.io/name=k8s-infra
kubectl logs -n <NAMESPACE> -l app.kubernetes.io/component=otel-agent --tail=50

Confirm telemetry is flowing in SigNoz under the cluster name you configured.

Scenario 2: Keep using OTLP/gRPC

If you can't change the endpoint (firewall rules, existing infra), or you prefer gRPC, opt back into it explicitly. gRPC has no chart-version requirement and will continue to work.

presets:
  otlpExporter:
    enabled: true
  otlphttpExporter:
    enabled: false

Keep your existing otelCollectorEndpoint (<host>:4317) unchanged.

Scenario 3: Sub-chart of signoz with no custom endpoint

If you installed k8s-infra as a sub-chart of the signoz chart and did not set otelCollectorEndpoint, no configuration change is required — the autogenerated endpoint now points at port 4318, which the SigNoz collector already exposes.

Step 1: Update Helm Repository

helm repo update signoz

Step 2: Run the Upgrade

helm upgrade <RELEASE_NAME> signoz/signoz \
  -n <NAMESPACE> \
  -f your-values.yaml

Step 3: Verify the Upgrade

kubectl get pods -n <NAMESPACE> -l app.kubernetes.io/name=k8s-infra
kubectl logs -n <NAMESPACE> -l app.kubernetes.io/component=otel-agent --tail=50

All pods should be Running. The logs should be free of connection refused or unsupported protocol errors from the exporter.

Next Steps

• Configure K8s-Infra
• K8s-Infra Overview
• Telemetry Data Requirements for Infrastructure Monitoring