Compatibility & supported versions

LinkMesh has three independent compatibility axes: server ↔ agent, supported collector runtimes, and the OpAMP spec the server serves. This page is the published version of the compatibility matrix that ships with the server, so the numbers below are the ones the product actually enforces.

Check the collector runtime window before you install

A collector below the supported floor does not lose one feature — it loses everything. Both runtimes parse a served config as a whole, so a config naming a component the build does not have is rejected in full: every source, processor and destination on that collector stops, while the collector still reports as running. On a first enrolment there is no previous config to fall back to, so it runs nothing.

Install a runtime inside the window in Supported collector runtimes before onboarding.

Server ↔ agent

The optional agent is version-bound to the server: a server tolerates its own agent minor and the one before it, in both directions. Patch versions within a minor are interchangeable — 1.25.0 and 1.25.4 are the same row.

Server	Supported agent versions	Recommended
1.25	1.24, 1.25	1.25
1.24	1.23, 1.24	1.24

An agent one minor behind the server is supported but flagged in the UI. An agent two or more minors behind is not supported — upgrade the agent first, then the server.

This axis is optional

The agent is an onboarding add-on, not the collector. If you onboard collectors directly (the usual case), this table does not apply to you — the runtime windows below are the ones that matter. See Add a collector.

Supported collector runtimes

Both runtimes are first-class. LinkMesh ships no collector distribution of its own — you install upstream Grafana Alloy or upstream otelcol-contrib, and LinkMesh configures it.

Runtime	Config transport	Minimum supported	Validated pin	Maximum
Grafana Alloy	remotecfg (collector pulls)	1.13.0	1.13.2	No upper bound — tracks upstream
otelcol-contrib	OpAMP (server pushes)	0.151.0	0.153.0	No upper bound — tracks upstream

Minimum supported is a floor, not a recommendation: below it, LinkMesh flags the collector and may serve it a config it cannot parse. Validated pin is the version LinkMesh installs and tests against; a collector behind the pin but above the floor is supported and shows an amber Update badge in the Collectors list — see Upgrade collectors.

There is no upper bound on either runtime today. Newer upstream releases are expected to work, but only the pin is validated against each LinkMesh release.

Grafana Alloy

Supported from 1.13.0, installs pin 1.13.2. Config arrives over Alloy’s native remotecfg component, which polls LinkMesh and authenticates with a per-collector bearer token.

Check what you have before onboarding:

alloy --version

Setup: Onboard Grafana Alloy via remotecfg.

otelcol-contrib

Supported from 0.151.0, installs pin 0.153.0. Config arrives over OpAMP, pushed down a WebSocket by the server and applied by opampsupervisor.

Check what you have before onboarding:

otelcol-contrib --version

Builds older than 0.151.0 are missing processors LinkMesh’s config generator emits — notably the current transform syntax and k8sattributes filters. Such a build can still receive a reduced config built from the intersection of what it supports, which is a degraded pipeline rather than a working one.

Setup: Onboard otelcol-contrib via OpAMP.

OpAMP spec

Collectors on the OpAMP path speak the OpAMP spec rather than any LinkMesh-specific protocol, so this is its own axis.

Server 1.25

Serves OpAMP spec 0.13.x. Tested supervisors:

• otelcol-contrib >= v0.110.0 with opampsupervisor
• grafana-alloy >= 1.0 with remotecfg

Server 1.24

Serves OpAMP spec 0.13.x. Tested supervisors:

• otelcol-contrib >= v0.110.0 with opampsupervisor
• grafana-alloy >= 1.0 with remotecfg

Keeping this page correct

The numbers on this page are generated from the compatibility matrix that ships with LinkMesh server 1.25 — they are not maintained by hand here. If a version window changes in a release, it changes here.

Related

• Add a collector — choose a runtime
• System requirements & sizing — capacity, not versions
• Upgrade collectors — moving a fleet onto the pin
• Upgrade LinkMesh — moving the server