Redis logs and metrics with OpenTelemetry

Collect self-hosted Redis server logs and cache metrics — slow log entries, replication events, and memory use — with the OpenTelemetry Collector.

Collect logs from a self-hosted Redis server with the OpenTelemetry Collector. The same Collector can also forward traces and metrics from your apps — see Connect OpenTelemetry Collector to Bronto.

Prerequisites

• A Bronto account and API key (how to create one)
• Redis configured to log to a file. By default logfile is empty (Redis logs to stdout); set it in redis.conf
• An OpenTelemetry Collector (recommended) or Fluent Bit installed on the same host

redis.conf

logfile  /var/log/redis/redis-server.log
loglevel notice

Configure the Collector

Redis writes one entry per line, so no multiline handling is needed:

/etc/otel/config.yaml

receivers:
  filelog/redis:
    include:
      - /var/log/redis/redis-server.log
    resource:
      service.name: redis
      service.namespace: <YOUR_COLLECTION_NAME>

processors:
  batch:

exporters:
  otlphttp/brontologs:
    logs_endpoint: "https://ingestion.<REGION>.bronto.io/v1/logs"
    compression: gzip
    headers:
      x-bronto-api-key: <YOUR_API_KEY>

service:
  pipelines:
    logs:
      receivers: [filelog/redis]
      processors: [batch]
      exporters: [otlphttp/brontologs]

Set <REGION> to eu or us.

Metrics

The Collector Contrib redis receiver reads Redis INFO data for memory, clients, commands, keyspace, persistence, and replication metrics:

receivers:
  redis:
    endpoint: localhost:6379
    password: <REDIS_PASSWORD>
    collection_interval: 30s

Add this receiver to the Bronto metrics pipeline. Check the Collector Contrib Redis receiver documentation for measurements available in your Redis and Collector versions.

What you will see in Bronto

Open Search and filter by service.name = redis. Each line carries the process role indicator (e.g. M master, S replica, C child), a timestamp, a level symbol, and the message — startup, configuration warnings, RDB/AOF persistence, replication, and client events. Bronto’s Custom Parser extracts these fields server-side.

Redis’s slow-command log (SLOWLOG) is held in memory and read with the SLOWLOG GET command — it is not written to the log file, so file tailing does not collect it.

Troubleshooting

• No logs? If logfile is empty, Redis logs to stdout (or journald under systemd). Set a file path in redis.conf and restart, or collect from journald with the journald receiver.
• For general issues, see OTel Collector troubleshooting.

Alternative: Fluent Bit

If you already run Fluent Bit, tail the Redis log file and forward it over HTTP:

fluent-bit.conf

[INPUT]
    name  tail
    path  /var/log/redis/redis-server.log
    tag   redis

[OUTPUT]
    name        http
    match       redis
    host        ingestion.<REGION>.bronto.io
    port        443
    tls         on
    format      json_lines
    compress    gzip
    header      x-bronto-api-key    <YOUR_API_KEY>
    header      x-bronto-dataset    redis
    header      x-bronto-collection <YOUR_COLLECTION_NAME>

Set Format to json_lines, not json. See Connect Fluent Bit to Bronto for installation and the full output reference.