OpenTelemetry in Practice: The Complete Observability Course

Packt via Coursera

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Provider

Coursera
Pricing

Paid Course
Languages

English
Certificate

Certificate Available
Effort

13 weeks, 1 hour a week
Sessions

Self-Paced
Level

Intermediate
Subtitles

English

Found in

Overview

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Build production-ready observability using OpenTelemetry and a modern stack. Progress from fundamentals to full instrumentation and Kubernetes deployment through guided labs and real-world workflows. This course begins by establishing a strong foundation in observability, introducing metrics, logs, and traces along with service level objectives and error budgets. You will explore how modern systems are monitored and how different telemetry signals combine to provide deep insights into application behavior and performance. The journey then moves into building a complete observability stack using Prometheus, Loki, Tempo, and Grafana. Through guided labs, you will configure, deploy, and validate each component while integrating them into a unified system. You will also gain practical experience with OpenTelemetry fundamentals, including APIs, SDKs, collectors, and semantic conventions. As you progress, the focus shifts to real-world instrumentation of applications. You will implement metrics, traces, and logs using both automatic and manual techniques, understand context propagation, and apply advanced patterns. The course culminates in deploying everything to Kubernetes, verifying telemetry pipelines, and troubleshooting distributed systems in a production-like environment. This course is designed for software engineers, DevOps professionals, and platform engineers who want to implement observability in modern distributed systems. It is ideal for learners with prior experience in Docker, Kubernetes, and application development, as well as those familiar with command line workflows and version control systems. The course follows a hands-on, lab-driven approach that mirrors real-world implementation workflows across each stage. It starts with foundational concepts, then incrementally builds a complete observability stack with guided exercises. Learners continuously validate their setup through practical scenarios, reinforcing both theory and application. This course is based on OpenTelemetry in Practice: The Complete Observability Course, by LM Academy. This course is licensed and distributed by Packt. All rights reserved. Packt is one of the world's most prolific publishers of cutting-edge technical content. For over two decades we've made it our mission to curate and publish the knowledge of only the very best technical experts. We focus on real-world courses that help our customers get the job done, with coverage that extends across a wide range of established and cutting-edge technical topics. If you're an individual or an organisation that embraces learning by doing, Packt is the perfect fit for you.

Syllabus

Getting Started
- This module introduces learners to the course structure, learning goals, and foundational concepts of observability. It also helps learners align their expectations and understand the practical journey ahead.
Environment Setup
- This module guides learners through setting up a local development environment, with a focus on Windows users installing and using WSL. It covers essential tools, workflows, and resources to support hands-on learning and lab activities.
Foundations of Observability
- This module covers the fundamentals of observability in modern software systems, including the three pillars of metrics, logs, and traces, how to measure system performance, and how to apply service level indicators and objectives to manage reliability and risk.
Building the Observability Stack
- This module provides hands-on experience in setting up and integrating key components of an observability stack, including Prometheus for metrics, Loki for logs, and Tempo for tracing. Learners will gain practical skills in deploying these tools and connecting them to a sample application for comprehensive monitoring and analysis.
OpenTelemetry Fundamentals
- This module introduces the core concepts of OpenTelemetry, covering its role in modern instrumentation, the distinction between API and SDK, and the importance of semantic conventions in standardizing telemetry data. Learners will gain an understanding of how to effectively implement and utilize OpenTelemetry in observability practices.
the OTel Collector
- This module provides an in-depth look at the OpenTelemetry Collector, covering its architecture, deployment, and configuration. Learners will gain hands-on experience with setting up a development environment, deploying the collector, and validating data flow. It also includes practical labs to reinforce understanding of telemetry pipelines and monitoring.
Metrics Instrumentation
- This module covers the fundamentals of metrics instrumentation using OpenTelemetry, including auto-instrumentation, manual instrumentation, and exporting metrics to Prometheus. Learners will gain hands-on experience in defining custom business metrics and validating telemetry data for observability.
Trace Instrumentation
- This module explores the fundamentals of trace instrumentation using OpenTelemetry, covering both auto-instrumentation and manual methods. Learners will gain hands-on experience in setting up, debugging, and maintaining distributed tracing in applications. The module emphasizes practical techniques for improving visibility and debugging performance issues.
Log Instrumentation
- This module provides an in-depth look at log instrumentation using OpenTelemetry, covering both auto-instrumentation and manual logging techniques. Learners will explore how to validate log setups, correlate logs with traces in Grafana, and manage configuration externally for better flexibility and maintainability.
Worker Service Instrumentation
- This module explores the essential practices of instrumenting worker services for observability, focusing on metrics, logs, and traces. Learners will gain hands-on experience with auto-instrumentation techniques and understand how to integrate these with observability platforms. The module emphasizes context propagation and validation of telemetry in distributed systems.
Context Propagation
- This module covers the principles and practical implementation of context propagation in distributed systems, focusing on how to maintain trace visibility across different services. Learners will gain hands-on experience with injecting and extracting trace contexts in frontend and worker environments, ensuring seamless distributed tracing. The module also includes validation techniques and bidirectional propagation strategies.
Advanced Instrumentation Patterns
- This module focuses on advanced techniques for instrumenting software systems, including adding custom metrics, spans, and structured logging. Learners will explore how to enhance observability through tools like Redis exporters and environment-driven configurations. The content builds practical skills in monitoring, debugging, and improving system performance.
Kubernetes Deployment
- This module focuses on the process of deploying applications and observability tools using Kubernetes. Learners will gain hands-on experience with writing and validating Kubernetes manifests, as well as implementing best practices for configuration management and telemetry verification.