It seems that otel.metrics.exporter=none is not working

[HyoTaek-Jang]

Hello,

I only need trace data and do not need to send metrics and logs data to OpenTelemetry (OTel). According to the documentation at https://opentelemetry.io/docs/specs/otel/configuration/sdk-environment-variables/#exporter-selection, setting the exporter to “none” should achieve this.

However, the following three methods did not work:

1.	Using -Dotel.metrics.exporter=none
2.	Setting the environment variable OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER=none
3.	Configuring otel.metrics.exporter=none in application.yaml

Despite these attempts, metrics logs are still being generated. How can I prevent metrics and logs from being sent to the OTel collector?

[laurit]

Are you using the otel java agent or something else?

[HyoTaek-Jang]

Thank you very much for your response.

Yes, the metrics in the screenshot are part of the overall metrics, and they are indeed coming from Micrometer.
I thought that setting OTEL_METRICS_EXPORTER=none would prevent any metrics from being exported to the OTel collector by the Java client. However, that was not the case.

So, how can I configure the Java client to send only traces and not send metrics and logs?
Do you think this issue is because it is configured with the OTel SDK?

[trask]

they are indeed coming from Micrometer

hi @HyoTaek-Jang, I'd recommend asking the Micrometer folks about this (or you can use the OpenTelemetry Metrics SDK instead 😉)

[HyoTaek-Jang]

Okay, thank you for advise~!

[laurit]

I think you should google something like "spring boot disable metrics"

[HyoTaek-Jang]

Thank you all for your responses.

For those with a similar question, I’ll leave the solution here.
If you are using Micrometer, you also need to add the setting -Dmanagement.otlp.metrics.export.enabled=false. I initially thought the default was false, but it turns out it’s true.