Use this guide when an instrumented application runs on Windows Server and exports OTLP to a network-reachable Collector or trace proxy.

Configure the endpoint

Use the hostname, protocol, and port provided for your deployment. For a host-based trace-proxy setup, product documentation lists gRPC port 9090 and HTTP port 8082; confirm the configured listener and network path before using them.

For an application SDK that supports the standard OpenTelemetry environment variables, a PowerShell process can be configured as follows:

$env:OTEL_SERVICE_NAME = "orders-api"
$env:OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_ENDPOINT = "<redacted URL><trace-proxy-host>:8082"
$env:OTEL_EXPORTER_OTLP_PROTOCOL = "http/protobuf"

These assignments apply to the current PowerShell process and processes it starts. For a Windows service, set the values through the service’s supported configuration mechanism and restart the service. Variable names and accepted endpoint forms depend on the language SDK.

Protect credentials

Use the organization’s Windows secret-management facility or a protected service configuration. Limit read access to the service identity, and do not store secrets in a source file, script, image, or command history.

Verify

Confirm the service starts with the intended configuration, can reach the Collector or proxy, and reports successful exports. Then follow Verify Trace Ingestion.