Hands-on Lab: Getting started with OpenTelemetry
Details
BRING YOUR COMPUTERS TO THIS EVENT! And check out the prerequisites below.
Join us for the first hands-on lab session, snacks, and discussion! This time around instead of talks we are going to run a free hands-on lab on how to get started with OpenTelemetry.
We'll teach you how to run your own local observability stack and how to capture telemetry from the host all the way to the application layer.
Repository
https://github.com/grafana/grafanacon2026-opentelemetry-instrumentation
Prerequisites
- Git
- Docker and Docker Compose — or Podman with the `docker compose` CLI, see [PODMAN.md](https://github.com/grafana/grafanacon2026-opentelemetry-instrumentation/blob/main/PODMAN.md) for setup
Pull all Docker images at home before the session to avoid slow WiFi at the event:
git clone https://github.com/grafana/grafanacon2026-opentelemetry-instrumentation
cd grafanacon2026-opentelemetry-instrumentation
docker compose pull
docker compose up --build
The first build downloads images and compiles both services — it can take several minutes. Once images are cached, rebuilds are fast. See [TROUBLESHOOTING.md](https://github.com/grafana/grafanacon2026-opentelemetry-instrumentation/blob/main/TROUBLESHOOTING.md) in the repository if you hit issues.
Again special thanks to Nokia and Mark Prosser for hosting us at their downtown office.
Agenda:
6:00-6:15 PM: Arrivals and introductions
6:15-7:40 PM: Hands-On Lab
7:40-8:00 PM: Q&A, networking and wrap up
Facilitators: Nikola Grcevski and Marylia Gutierrez
