Honeycomb Forwarder (via OTel)

This guide explains how to forward logs from Apica Ascent / Flow to Honeycomb using the OpenTelemetry (OTLP) Logs Forwarder over HTTPS.

The OpenTelemetry Logs Forwarder converts logs ingested into Apica into OTLP-compliant log data and forwards them to a remote OTLP/HTTP endpoint.

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Prerequisites

Before configuring the forwarder, ensure the following:

• Logs are already being ingested into Apica Ascent

• You have access to the Ascent UI with permissions to create forwarders

• You have a Honeycomb account

• You have a valid Honeycomb API key with permissions to ingest telemetry

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Honeycomb OTLP Logs Endpoint

Honeycomb supports OpenTelemetry log ingestion over HTTPS using the OTLP/HTTP protocol.

Endpoint format

https://api.honeycomb.io/v1/logs

EU region

https://api.eu1.honeycomb.io/v1/logs

Authentication is performed using a Honeycomb-specific HTTP header.

Required header

x-honeycomb-team: <HONEYCOMB_API_KEY>

Optional header

x-honeycomb-dataset: <DATASET_NAME>

If the dataset header is omitted, Honeycomb uses the default dataset associated with the API key.

Note: Honeycomb requires TLS for all ingest traffic and recommends OTLP/HTTP using the proto format for best performance.

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Create an OpenTelemetry Logs Forwarder

1. In the Ascent UI, navigate to Forwarders

2. Select Create Forwarder

3. Choose OpenTelemetry Logs as the forwarder type

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Configuration Fields

Field	Description
Name	A descriptive name for the forwarder (for example, honeycomb-otlp-logs)
Endpoint	The Honeycomb OTLP logs endpoint
Headers	HTTP headers required by Honeycomb
Output Format	OTLP payload format

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Example Configuration

Endpoint

https://api.honeycomb.io/v1/logs

Headers

x-honeycomb-team=<HONEYCOMB_API_KEY>

Output Format

proto

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Map the Forwarder to Log Sources

Creating a forwarder does not automatically forward logs. You must map the forwarder to the applications or namespaces whose logs you want to forward.

Map via Explore

1. Navigate to Explore

2. Select the application or namespace receiving logs

3. Open the Actions (⋯) menu

4. Select Map Forwarder

5. Choose the Honeycomb OTLP logs forwarder

6. Save the mapping

Once mapped, all logs for the selected application or namespace will be forwarded to Honeycomb.