OpenObserve Observability

Key Features

• Ultra-efficient storage with up to 140x reduction compared to Elasticsearch while maintaining full-text search capabilities
• Native OpenTelemetry support for ingesting logs, metrics, and distributed traces from applications
• SQL-based query language for complex data analysis and custom dashboards without learning proprietary syntax
• Built-in alerting system with support for multiple notification channels and threshold-based triggers
• Real-time log streaming and tail functionality for live monitoring and debugging sessions
• Multi-tenant architecture with role-based access control for secure data isolation
• RESTful API for programmatic access to data ingestion, querying, and configuration management
• Embedded visualization engine with customizable dashboards and chart types for operational insights

Common Use Cases

• 1Application performance monitoring for microservices architectures using distributed tracing
• 2Cost-effective log aggregation and analysis for startups and SMBs replacing expensive SaaS solutions
• 3Development environment observability where teams need full-stack monitoring without infrastructure overhead
• 4Edge computing and IoT monitoring where resource efficiency and low storage footprint are critical
• 5Compliance and audit logging with long-term retention requirements due to superior compression ratios
• 6Real-time operational dashboards for DevOps teams monitoring application health and system metrics
• 7Troubleshooting and debugging workflows requiring correlation between logs, metrics, and traces in a single platform

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose installed on the host system
• Minimum 2GB RAM available for OpenObserve container operations and data processing
• Port 5080 available on the host for web interface access
• Environment variables ZO_ROOT_USER_EMAIL and ZO_ROOT_USER_PASSWORD configured for initial admin access
• Sufficient disk space for log retention based on ingestion volume and retention policies
• Basic understanding of observability concepts and OpenTelemetry instrumentation for application integration

docker-compose.yml

1services: 
2  openobserve: 
3    image: public.ecr.aws/zinclabs/openobserve:latest
4    container_name: openobserve
5    environment: 
6      - ZO_ROOT_USER_EMAIL=${ZO_ROOT_USER_EMAIL}
7      - ZO_ROOT_USER_PASSWORD=${ZO_ROOT_USER_PASSWORD}
8      - ZO_DATA_DIR=/data
9    volumes: 
10      - openobserve_data:/data
11    ports: 
12      - "5080:5080"
13    networks: 
14      - openobserve-network
15
16volumes: 
17  openobserve_data: 
18
19networks: 
20  openobserve-network: 
21    driver: bridge

.env Template

1# OpenObserve
2ZO_ROOT_USER_EMAIL=admin@example.com
3ZO_ROOT_USER_PASSWORD=your_secure_password

Usage Notes

Quick Start

1# 1. Create the compose file
2cat > docker-compose.yml << 'EOF'
3services:
4  openobserve:
5    image: public.ecr.aws/zinclabs/openobserve:latest
6    container_name: openobserve
7    environment:
8      - ZO_ROOT_USER_EMAIL=${ZO_ROOT_USER_EMAIL}
9      - ZO_ROOT_USER_PASSWORD=${ZO_ROOT_USER_PASSWORD}
10      - ZO_DATA_DIR=/data
11    volumes:
12      - openobserve_data:/data
13    ports:
14      - "5080:5080"
15    networks:
16      - openobserve-network
17
18volumes:
19  openobserve_data:
20
21networks:
22  openobserve-network:
23    driver: bridge
24EOF
25
26# 2. Create the .env file
27cat > .env << 'EOF'
28# OpenObserve
29ZO_ROOT_USER_EMAIL=admin@example.com
30ZO_ROOT_USER_PASSWORD=your_secure_password
31EOF
32
33# 3. Start the services
34docker compose up -d
35
36# 4. View logs
37docker compose logs -f

One-Liner

Run this command to download and set up the recipe in one step:

1curl -fsSL https://docker.recipes/api/recipes/openobserve-logs/run | bash

Troubleshooting