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Parse nginx access logs into semantic conventions

An nginx access log line holds the client, method, path, status, size, referer and user agent, but as one string. This config parses the combined log format on the filelog receiver and maps every field to its OpenTelemetry semantic-convention name - client.address, http.request.method, url.path, url.query, http.response.status_code (as an integer), http.response.body.size, user_agent.original - so the data lines up with your traces and with every backend dashboard built on the conventions, instead of with a parser vendor's field names. The record timestamp comes from the log line, not from when the collector read it.

Signals
Logs
Category
CollectionParsing
Source
nginx access log
Components
filelogbatchmemory_limitertransformotlphttp
Destination
OTLP/HTTP endpoint

OpenTelemetry Collector

OpenTelemetry Collector YAML
extensions:
  file_storage:
    directory: /var/lib/otelcol/storage
    create_directory: true

receivers:
  filelog:
    include: [/var/log/nginx/access.log]
    start_at: end
    storage: file_storage
    operators:
      # Combined log format: client, user, time, request line, status, bytes,
      # referer, user agent. The request line is split into method, path,
      # query and protocol version.
      - type: regex_parser
        regex: '^(?P<client_address>\S+) \S+ (?P<user_name>\S+) \[(?P<time>[^\]]+)\] "(?P<method>[A-Z]+) (?P<path>[^ ?"]*)(?:\?(?P<query>[^ "]*))? HTTP/(?P<protocol_version>[0-9.]+)" (?P<status>\d{3}) (?P<size>\d+|-) "(?P<referer>[^"]*)" "(?P<user_agent>[^"]*)"'
        timestamp:
          parse_from: attributes.time
          layout: '%d/%b/%Y:%H:%M:%S %z'
        on_error: send

processors:
  memory_limiter:
    check_interval: 1s
    limit_percentage: 80
    spike_limit_percentage: 25
  # Maps the parsed fields to OpenTelemetry semantic convention names and
  # types (status code and body size as integers).
  transform/semconv:
    error_mode: ignore
    log_statements:
      - context: log
        # Only lines the regex parsed: an unparsed line keeps its body and
        # gets none of these attributes.
        conditions:
          - attributes["method"] != nil
        statements:
          - set(attributes["client.address"], attributes["client_address"])
          - set(attributes["user.name"], attributes["user_name"]) where attributes["user_name"] != "-"
          - set(attributes["http.request.method"], attributes["method"])
          - set(attributes["url.path"], attributes["path"])
          - set(attributes["url.query"], attributes["query"]) where attributes["query"] != nil and attributes["query"] != ""
          - set(attributes["network.protocol.name"], "http")
          - set(attributes["network.protocol.version"], attributes["protocol_version"])
          - set(attributes["http.response.status_code"], Int(attributes["status"]))
          - set(attributes["http.response.body.size"], Int(attributes["size"])) where attributes["size"] != "-"
          - set(attributes["http.request.header.referer"], [attributes["referer"]]) where attributes["referer"] != "-"
          - set(attributes["user_agent.original"], attributes["user_agent"])
          - delete_matching_keys(attributes, "^(client_address|user_name|time|method|path|query|protocol_version|status|size|referer|user_agent)$")
  batch:
    timeout: 5s

exporters:
  otlphttp:
    endpoint: https://your-backend:4318

service:
  extensions: [file_storage]
  pipelines:
    logs:
      receivers: [filelog]
      processors: [memory_limiter, transform/semconv, batch]
      exporters: [otlphttp]

LinkMesh

LinkMesh has no built-in template for this job. Add it as a custom source in raw mode, with filelog as the component type and this body - the same lines as under filelog in the collector config:

Custom source body (filelog)
include: [/var/log/nginx/access.log]
start_at: end
storage: file_storage
operators:
  - type: regex_parser
    regex: '^(?P<client_address>\S+) \S+ (?P<user_name>\S+) \[(?P<time>[^\]]+)\] "(?P<method>[A-Z]+) (?P<path>[^ ?"]*)(?:\?(?P<query>[^ "]*))? HTTP/(?P<protocol_version>[0-9.]+)" (?P<status>\d{3}) (?P<size>\d+|-) "(?P<referer>[^"]*)" "(?P<user_agent>[^"]*)"'
    timestamp:
      parse_from: attributes.time
      layout: '%d/%b/%Y:%H:%M:%S %z'
    on_error: send

How custom components are validated and rolled out: create a custom source.

Download config.yamlValidated with otelcol-contrib v0.161.0 on 2026-10-26

Complete config files, each checked with the collector's own validate command (otelcol-contrib v0.161.0). Replace https://your-backend:4318 with your own OTLP endpoint before you run it.

Before and after

Example telemetry in, and what this exact config sent out when we ran it in otelcol-contrib v0.161.0. CI re-runs it on every change and fails if the output differs. Changed values are highlighted.

3 log records in, 3 log records out

  1. Before

    body
    203.0.113.7 - - [22/Oct/2026:10:15:02 +0200] "GET /api/orders?page=2 HTTP/1.1" 200 5320 "https://shop.example.ch/cart" "Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) Firefox/131.0"

    After

    body
    203.0.113.7 - - [22/Oct/2026:10:15:02 +0200] "GET /api/orders?page=2 HTTP/1.1" 200 5320 "https://shop.example.ch/cart" "Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) Firefox/131.0"
    timestamp
    2026-10-22T08:15:02.000Z
    attributes.log.file.name
    input.log
    attributes.client.address
    203.0.113.7
    attributes.http.request.method
    GET
    attributes.url.path
    /api/orders
    attributes.url.query
    page=2
    attributes.network.protocol.name
    http
    attributes.network.protocol.version
    1.1
    attributes.http.response.status_code
    200
    attributes.http.response.body.size
    5320
    attributes.http.request.header.referer
    ["https://shop.example.ch/cart"]
    attributes.user_agent.original
    Mozilla/5.0 (X11; Linux x86_64) Firefox/131.0
  2. Before

    body
    198.51.100.23 - anna [22/Oct/2026:10:15:03 +0200] "POST /api/checkout HTTP/2.0" 502 0 "-" "curl/8.5.0"

    After

    body
    198.51.100.23 - anna [22/Oct/2026:10:15:03 +0200] "POST /api/checkout HTTP/2.0" 502 0 "-" "curl/8.5.0"
    timestamp
    2026-10-22T08:15:03.000Z
    attributes.log.file.name
    input.log
    attributes.client.address
    198.51.100.23
    attributes.user.name
    anna
    attributes.http.request.method
    POST
    attributes.url.path
    /api/checkout
    attributes.network.protocol.name
    http
    attributes.network.protocol.version
    2.0
    attributes.http.response.status_code
    502
    attributes.http.response.body.size
    0
    attributes.user_agent.original
    curl/8.5.0
  3. Before

    body
    192.0.2.44 - - [22/Oct/2026:10:15:04 +0200] "\x16\x03\x01\x00\xA5" 400 157 "-" "-"

    After

    body
    192.0.2.44 - - [22/Oct/2026:10:15:04 +0200] "\x16\x03\x01\x00\xA5" 400 157 "-" "-"
    attributes.log.file.name
    input.log

The gotcha

Lines that are not a normal request still land in the access log - a TLS handshake sent to the plain-HTTP port, a scanner's garbage. They do not match the pattern and are shipped unparsed. Without the conditions guard on the transform, every set() statement then writes an empty value: in our test such a line came out with client.address, http.request.method and friends all set to null. With the guard it arrives as a plain line with its body intact.

Manage this across a fleet

LinkMesh manages collector configuration across a fleet from one self-hosted control plane, so a change like this is made once rather than host by host. The first 25 Collectors are free after a no-card registration in the OpenSight Customer Portal (5 without one).

Doing this in LinkMesh: Sources