Choose Your Own Observability Adventure

Great observability begins with great instrumentation! We know it's hard to decide where to start your observability journey, so we've come up with a perfect introduction to this observability workshop collection getting you hands-on with the best CNCF open source cloud native observability projects available. Attendees can pick their own cloud native observability learning path (https://o11y-workshops.gitlab.io) in this session from the following workshops:

OpenTelemetry (traces) - Learn how to adopt OpenTelemetry by instrumenting a sample application with spans and metrics. You’ll leave with an understanding of how telemetry travels and be ready to bring OpenTelemetry to your project. The workshop is self-paced and available online, so attendees can continue to explore after the event: https://o11y-workshops.gitlab.io/workshop-opentelemetry

OpenTelemetry for Java Developers (Java) - Ready to go deeper with OpenTelemetry? This workshop guides you through setting up OTel and instrumenting a Java application locally to collect and analyze trace data. You'll work hands-on across automatic, programmatic, and manual instrumentation, explore your traces in Jaeger, and link metrics to traces via exemplars. The workshop is self-paced and available online, so attendees can continue to explore after the event: https://o11y-workshops.gitlab.io/workshop-otel-developers/

Prometheus (metrics) - During the workshop, you will install Prometheus, collect metrics, and learn how to effectively run it in your observability stack. The workshop is self-paced and available online, so attendees can continue to explore after the event: https://o11y-workshops.gitlab.io/workshop-prometheus

Fluent Bit (pipelines) - This workshop will guide you through the open source project Fluent Bit, what it is, a basic installation, and setting up a first cloud native observability pipeline project. The workshop is self-paced and available online, so attendees can continue to explore after the event: https://o11y-workshops.gitlab.io/workshop-fluentbit

Perses (visualization) - Great observability is impossible without great visualization! Learn how to adopt truly open visualization by installing Perses, exploring the provided tooling, tinkering with its API, and then get your hands dirty building your first dashboard in no time! The workshop is self-paced and available online, so attendees can continue to explore after the event: https://o11y-workshops.gitlab.io/workshop-perses

Transcript

1. Choose Your Own Observability Adventure Eric D. Schabell Technology Advocate Lead @ericschabell{@fosstodon.org} DevOpsDays PDX, Sep 2026
2. “Platform engineering is an emerging trend in tended to modernize enterprise software delivery, parti cularly for digital transformation.”
3. “Imagine a team of engineers starting a project with observability as a top priority, dedicating time, and resources to creating a comprehensive telemetry strategy from the outset.”
4. “Great engineering teams will prioritize observability, just as they would prioritize testing, continuous integration, and continuous deployment, from the outset.”
5. Short link: https://o11y-workshops.gitlab.io
6. Short link: bit.ly/prom-workshop
7. Prometheus for metrics, alerting, queries
8. Instrumentation (java client lib)
9. Short link: bit.ly/prom-workshop
10. Short link: bit.ly/workshop-opentelemetry
11. OpenTelemetry (auto) instrumentation Applications (Java) OTel Auto Instrumentation (libraries) OTel API OTel SDK OTLP OTLP OTLP OTel Collector
12. OpenTelemetry Collector (agent) Host Applications OTel Auto Instrumentation Observability Backend (Prometheus, Jaeger, Fluent Bit, etc.), OTel API OTel SDK OTLP OTLP OTLP OTel Collector Agent OTLP
13. OpenTelemetry Collector (gateway) Host Observability Backend (Prometheus, Jaeger, Fluent Bit, etc.), Applications OTel Auto Instrumentation OTel API OTel SDK OTel Collector Gateway OTLP OTLP OTLP OTel Collector Agent OTLP
14. Short link: bit.ly/otel-java-dev-workshop
16. Short link: bit.ly/fluentbit-workshop
19. Short link: bit.ly/perses-workshop
20. Building beautiful dashboards and visualizations
21. Questions? 21