Upgrade k8s-infra OpenTelemetry collection agent to v0.15.0

This guide walks you through upgrading your k8s-infra Helm chart to version 0.15.0, which includes important updates to the OpenTelemetry Collector and simplified configuration options.

What's New in v0.15.0

This release brings several improvements:

OpenTelemetry Collector Update: Upgraded from version 0.109.0 to 0.139.0, delivering performance improvements and bug fixes.

Simplified Self-Telemetry Configuration: The presets.selfTelemetry option simplifies the process of configuring how k8s-infra reports its own metrics. The setup now automatically manages endpoint formatting and TLS settings.

Configuration Cleanup: Removed deprecated fields no longer supported in newer OpenTelemetry Collector versions, streamlining your configuration files.

Prerequisites

Before setting up OpenTelemetry monitoring for your Kubernetes cluster, ensure you have:

• 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)

Important Changes to Know About

Removed Configuration Fields

Two types of configuration fields have been removed:

Telemetry Metrics Address: The service::telemetry::metrics::address field is no longer supported. OpenTelemetry Collector v0.123.0 deprecated this field, and it's now completely ignored. The collector manages telemetry metrics exposure internally, so you should remove any references to:

• otelAgent.service::telemetry::metrics::address
• otelDeployment.service::telemetry::metrics::address

Upgrade Process

Choose the scenario that matches your current setup:

Scenario 1: Basic Setup (No Self-Telemetry)

If you're not using self-telemetry features, your upgrade is straightforward.

Step 1: Update Helm Repository

helm repo update signoz

Step 2: Save Current Configuration

Save your current k8s-infra configuration to a local file for reference and backup:

helm get values <RELEASE_NAME> -n <NAMESPACE> > current-values.yaml

Replace <RELEASE_NAME> with your Helm release name and <NAMESPACE> with the namespace where k8s-infra is installed.

Step 3: Remove Deprecated Fields

Check your current-values.yaml for these deprecated fields and remove them if present:

otelAgent:
  service
    telemetry:
-     metrics:
-       address: 0.0.0.0:8888

otelDeployment:
  service
    telemetry:
-     metrics:
-       address: 0.0.0.0:8888

Step 4: Run the Upgrade

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

Or to upgrade to a specific version:

helm upgrade <RELEASE_NAME> signoz/k8s-infra \
  -n <NAMESPACE> \
  --version 0.15.0 \
  -f your-values.yaml

Step 5: Verify the Upgrade

Check that pods are running the new version:

# Verify image versions
kubectl get pods -n <NAMESPACE> -l app.kubernetes.io/component=otel-agent \
  -o jsonpath='{.items[*].spec.containers[*].image}'

kubectl get pods -n <NAMESPACE> -l app.kubernetes.io/component=otel-deployment \
  -o jsonpath='{.items[*].spec.containers[*].image}'

You should see images tagged with version 0.139.0 or later.

Confirm all pods are healthy:

kubectl get pods -n <NAMESPACE> -l app.kubernetes.io/name=k8s-infra

All pods should show a Running status.

Step 6: Check Logs

kubectl logs -n <NAMESPACE> -l app.kubernetes.io/component=otel-agent --tail=50
kubectl logs -n <NAMESPACE> -l app.kubernetes.io/component=otel-deployment --tail=50

Scenario 2: With Self-Telemetry Using Custom Endpoint Configuration

If you're using self-telemetry with a directly configured endpoint, you'll need to migrate to the new presets.selfTelemetry configuration.

Step 1: Update Helm Repository

helm repo update signoz

Step 2: Save Current Configuration

helm get values <RELEASE_NAME> -n <NAMESPACE> > current-values.yaml

Step 3: Update k8s-infra Helm chart configuration

Update your current-values.yaml file with these changes:

otelAgent:
  service
    telemetry:
-     metrics:
-       address: 0.0.0.0:8888
otelDeployment:
  service
    telemetry:
-     metrics:
-       address: 0.0.0.0:8888
# No changes required for the selfTelemetry preset
presets:
  selfTelemetry:
    endpoint: your-endpoint:4317
    insecure: false
    insecureSkipVerify: false
    signozApiKey: your-ingestion-key
    traces:
      enabled: true
    metrics:
      enabled: true
    logs:
      enabled: true

Step 4: Remove Deprecated Environment Variables (If Manually Set)

The chart no longer automatically renders OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_INSECURE and OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_INSECURE_SKIP_VERIFY environment variables. If you were manually setting these in your values file, remove them:

otelAgent:
  env:
-     - name: OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_INSECURE
-       value: "true"
-     - name: OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_INSECURE_SKIP_VERIFY
-       value: "false"

If you weren't manually setting these variables, no action is needed.

Step 5: Run the Upgrade

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

Step 6: Verify the Upgrade

Check that pods are running the new version:

kubectl get pods -n <NAMESPACE> -l app.kubernetes.io/name=k8s-infra

All pods should show a Running status with image version 0.139.0 or later.

Example Configuration

global:
  cloud: others
  clusterName: my-cluster
  deploymentEnvironment: production

otelCollectorEndpoint: ingest.us.signoz.cloud:443
signozApiKey: <YOUR_API_KEY>

presets:
  otlpExporter:
    enabled: true
  selfTelemetry:
    endpoint: ingest.us.signoz.cloud:443
    insecure: false
    insecureSkipVerify: false
    signozApiKey: <YOUR_SELF_TELEMETRY_KEY>
    traces:
      enabled: true
    metrics:
      enabled: true
    logs:
      enabled: true

Scenario 3: With Self-Telemetry Using default self-telemetry endpoint configuration

If you're using the default collector endpoint configuration for self-telemetry the same as the one used for sending your infra signals, your upgrade is simpler.

Step 1: Update Helm Repository

helm repo update signoz

Step 2: Save Current Configuration

helm get values <RELEASE_NAME> -n <NAMESPACE> > current-values.yaml

Step 3: Update Configuration

Remove the telemetry.metrics.address field if present:

otelAgent:
  telemetry:
-     metrics:
-       address: 0.0.0.0:8888
otelDeployment:
  telemetry:
-     metrics:
-       address: 0.0.0.0:8888

Update your current-values.yaml file with these changes:

# No changes required for the selfTelemetry preset
presets:
  selfTelemetry:
    signozApiKey: your-ingestion-key
    traces:
      enabled: true
    metrics:
      enabled: true
    logs:
      enabled: true

otelCollectorEndpoint: ingest.us.signoz.cloud:443
# Use global settings for TLS configuration
otelInsecure: false
insecureSkipVerify: false

Step 4: Run the Upgrade

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

Step 5: Verify the Upgrade

# Check image versions
kubectl get pods -n <NAMESPACE> -l app.kubernetes.io/component=otel-agent \
  -o jsonpath='{.items[*].spec.containers[*].image}'

# Check pod status
kubectl get pods -n <NAMESPACE> -l app.kubernetes.io/name=k8s-infra

# Review logs
kubectl logs -n <NAMESPACE> -l app.kubernetes.io/component=otel-agent --tail=50

How Self-Telemetry Endpoint Selection Works

The self-telemetry endpoint is determined in this order:

1. If you specify presets.selfTelemetry.endpoint, it uses that value, with insecure and insecureSkipVerify coming from your presets.selfTelemetry settings.
2. Otherwise, it falls back to the OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT environment variable if available, with settings coming from the global otelInsecure and insecureSkipVerify values.

Next Steps

• Configure K8s-Infra
• K8s-Infra Overview