Installing Bindplane: server, BDOT Collector and OpAMP connection

1. The server #

Three ways to install it.

Options #

Good to know: The server requires a license (BINDPLANE_LICENSE variable), including for the free edition: create an account on the Bindplane website and get the key from the download page.

Docker Compose #

services:
  bindplane:
    image: ghcr.io/observiq/bindplane-ee:1.89.5
    ports: ["3001:3001"]
    environment:
      BINDPLANE_LICENSE: ${BINDPLANE_LICENSE}
      BINDPLANE_USERNAME: admin
      BINDPLANE_PASSWORD: ${BINDPLANE_PASSWORD}
      BINDPLANE_REMOTE_URL: http://localhost:3001
      BINDPLANE_SESSION_SECRET: ${BINDPLANE_SESSION_SECRET}
      BINDPLANE_LOG_OUTPUT: stdout
      BINDPLANE_ACCEPT_EULA: "true"
      BINDPLANE_PROMETHEUS_ENABLE: "true"
      BINDPLANE_PROMETHEUS_ENABLE_REMOTE: "true"
      BINDPLANE_PROMETHEUS_HOST: prometheus
      BINDPLANE_PROMETHEUS_PORT: "9090"
      BINDPLANE_TRANSFORM_AGENT_ENABLE_REMOTE: "true"
      BINDPLANE_TRANSFORM_AGENT_REMOTE_AGENTS: transform:4568
      BINDPLANE_STORE_TYPE: postgres
      BINDPLANE_POSTGRES_HOST: postgres
      BINDPLANE_POSTGRES_PORT: "5432"
      BINDPLANE_POSTGRES_DATABASE: bindplane
      BINDPLANE_POSTGRES_USERNAME: bindplane
      BINDPLANE_POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}
    depends_on: [postgres, prometheus, transform]
  postgres:
    image: postgres:16
    environment: { POSTGRES_DB: bindplane, POSTGRES_USER: bindplane, POSTGRES_PASSWORD: "${POSTGRES_PASSWORD}" }
    volumes: ["bindplane:/var/lib/postgresql/data"]
  prometheus:
    image: ghcr.io/observiq/bindplane-prometheus:1.89.5
    volumes: ["prometheus:/prometheus"]
  transform:
    image: ghcr.io/observiq/bindplane-transform-agent:1.89.5-bindplane
volumes: { bindplane: {}, prometheus: {} }

cat > .env <<EOF
BINDPLANE_LICENSE=<votre clé>
BINDPLANE_PASSWORD=$(openssl rand -hex 12)
BINDPLANE_SESSION_SECRET=$(uuidgen)
POSTGRES_PASSWORD=$(openssl rand -hex 12)
EOF
docker compose up -d && docker compose logs -f bindplane

Common mistake: $(uuidgen) written directly in the Compose file is not evaluated: generate the secrets in the .env file as above. Also change the examples' default admin password.

The transform agent is used by the interface to preview the effect of processors; Prometheus stores throughput measurements. Use the latest published version of the images, keeping the same one for the three observiq images.

2. BDOT collectors #

Linux, Docker, Kubernetes.

Connection #

In the interface, Collectors > Install Collectors generates the installation command for the chosen platform, with two key parameters:

Docker #

docker run -d --name bdot \
  -e OPAMP_ENDPOINT=ws://bindplane:3001/v1/opamp \
  -e OPAMP_SECRET_KEY=<clé> \
  -e OPAMP_LABELS=env=lab,team=web \
  -e MANAGER_YAML_PATH=/etc/otel/storage/manager.yaml \
  -v bdot-storage:/etc/otel/storage \
  -p 4317:4317 -p 4318:4318 \
  ghcr.io/observiq/bindplane-agent:1.84.0

Kubernetes #

Create a Kubernetes platform configuration, then Install Collectors provides a manifest to apply. Three modes: Kubernetes Node (DaemonSet, one collector per node, for node logs and metrics), Kubernetes Cluster (one-pod Deployment, for cluster events and metrics) and Kubernetes Gateway (scalable Deployment or StatefulSet).

kubectl apply -f bindplane-node-collector.yaml
kubectl -n bindplane-agent get pod

Good to know: Collectors are deployed in the bindplane-agent namespace. If the server runs in the same cluster, OPAMP_ENDPOINT can target the service: ws://bindplane.default.svc.cluster.local:3001/v1/opamp.

3. The CLI #

Everything the interface does, from the command line.

Essential commands #

bindplane profile set lab --remote-url http://localhost:3001 --username admin --password "$BINDPLANE_PASSWORD"
bindplane profile use lab

bindplane get agents                         # collecteurs connectés
bindplane get configurations
bindplane get configuration web-logs --export --output yaml > web-logs.yaml
bindplane apply -f web-logs.yaml             # créer ou mettre à jour
bindplane rollout start web-logs             # déployer la nouvelle version
bindplane rollout status web-logs

Good practice: Export configurations created in the interface and version them in Git: bindplane apply in a CI recreates them identically on another server (staging, production).

Good to know: Profile connection options may vary between versions: bindplane profile set --help lists them.