> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://otel.fyi/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Bmchelix

> OpenTelemetry exporter for Bmchelix

# Bmchelix Exporter

![Status](https://img.shields.io/badge/status-alpha-red)

**Available in:** `contrib`

**Maintainers:** [@bertysentry](https://github.com/bertysentry), [@NassimBtk](https://github.com/NassimBtk), [@MovieStoreGuy](https://github.com/MovieStoreGuy)

**Source:** [opentelemetry-collector-contrib](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/tree/main/exporter/bmchelixexporter)

## Supported Telemetry

![Metrics](https://img.shields.io/badge/metrics-alpha-green)

## Overview

> **Note:** The exporter type has been renamed from `bmchelix` to `bmc_helix` to follow the
> snake\_case naming convention. The old name `bmchelix` is preserved as a deprecated alias and
> will continue to work, but a deprecation warning will be logged at startup. Please update your
> configuration to use `bmc_helix:`.

This exporter supports sending metrics to [BMC Helix Operations Management](https://docs.bmc.com/xwiki/bin/view/IT-Operations-Management/Operations-Management/BMC-Helix-Operations-Management/bhom261/Getting-started/Product-overview/) through its [metric ingestion REST API](https://docs.bmc.com/docs/helixoperationsmanagement/244/en/metric-operation-management-endpoints-in-the-rest-api-1392780044.html).

## Getting Started

The following settings are **required**:

* `endpoint`: is the *BMC Helix Portal URL* of your environment, at **onbmc.com** for a BMC Helix SaaS tenant (e.g., `https://company.onbmc.com`), or your own Helix Portal URL for an on-prem instance.
* `api_key`: API key to authenticate the exporter. Connect to BMC Helix Operations Management, go to the Administration > Repository page, and click on the Copy API Key button to get your API Key. Alternatively, it is recommended to create and use a dedicated [authentication key for external integration](https://docs.bmc.com/xwiki/bin/view/Helix-Common-Services/BMC-Helix-Portal/BMC-Helix-Portal/helixportal261/Administering/Using-API-keys-for-external-integrations/).

Example:

```yaml theme={null}
exporters:
  bmc_helix/helix1:
    endpoint: https://company.onbmc.com
    api_key: <api-key>
    sending_queue:
      batch:
```

### Optional Settings

The following settings can be **optionally configured**:

* `timeout`: (default = `10s`) Timeout for requests made to the BMC Helix.
* `enrich_metric_with_attributes`: (default = `true`) When enabled, creates enriched metrics by appending datapoint attribute values to the metric name. This provides more detailed identification in BMC Helix Operations Management but increases metric cardinality. Set to `false` to reduce the number of unique metric series.
* `retry_on_failure` [details here](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector/tree/main/exporter/exporterhelper#configuration)
  * `enabled` (default = true)
  * `initial_interval` (default = 5s) Time to wait after the first failure before retrying; ignored if `enabled` is false.
  * `max_interval` (default = 30s) The upper bound on backoff; ignored if `enabled` is false.
  * `max_elapsed_time` (default = 300s) The maximum amount of time spent trying to send a batch; ignored if `enabled` is false. If set to 0, the retries are never stopped.

Example:

```yaml theme={null}
exporters:
  bmc_helix/helix2:
    endpoint: https://company.onbmc.com
    api_key: <api-key>
    timeout: 20s
    enrich_metric_with_attributes: false
    sending_queue:
      batch:
    retry_on_failure:
      enabled: true
      initial_interval: 5s
      max_interval: 1m
      max_elapsed_time: 8m
```

***

## Setting Required Attributes for Metrics

To ensure metrics are correctly populated in BMC Helix, the following attributes must be set either at the *Resource* level, or at the *Metric* level:

* `entityName`: Unique identifier for the entity. Used as display name if `instanceName` is missing.
* `entityTypeId`: Type identifier for the entity.
* `instanceName`: Display name of the entity.

> **Note:** If `entityName` or `entityTypeId` is missing, the metric will not be exported.

To ensure the necessary attributes are present, it is recommended to leverage the [transform processor](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/tree/main/processor/transformprocessor) with [OTTL](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-collector-contrib/tree/main/pkg/ottl), and include it in the configuration of the telemetry pipeline.

The minimal pipeline most often looks like: `OTEL metrics --> (memory limit) --> transform processor --> bmc_helix exporter`.

### Transformer Example for Hardware Metrics

You can use the following OpenTelemetry Transformation Language (OTTL) configuration to map these attributes dynamically:

```yaml theme={null}
  transform/hw_to_helix:
   # Apply transformations to all metrics
    metric_statements:

      - context: datapoint
        statements:
          # Create a new attribute 'entityName' with the value of 'id'
          - set(attributes["entityName"], attributes["id"]) where attributes["id"] != nil
          # Create a new attribute 'instanceName' with the value of 'name'
          - set(attributes["instanceName"], attributes["name"]) where attributes["name"] != nil

      - context: datapoint
        conditions:
          - IsMatch(metric.name, ".*\\.agent\\..*")
        statements:
          - set(attributes["entityName"], attributes["host.id"]) where attributes["host.id"] != nil
          - set(attributes["instanceName"], attributes["service.name"]) where attributes["service.name"] != nil
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "agent")

      - context: datapoint
        statements:
          # Mapping entityTypeId based on metric names and attributes
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "connector") where IsMatch(metric.name, ".*\\.connector\\..*")
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "host") where IsMatch(metric.name, ".*\\.host\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "host"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "battery") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.battery\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "battery"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "blade") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.blade\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "blade"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "cpu") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.cpu\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "cpu"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "disk_controller") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.disk_controller\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "disk_controller"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "enclosure") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.enclosure\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "enclosure"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "fan") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.fan\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "fan"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "gpu") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.gpu\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "gpu"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "led") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.led\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "led"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "logical_disk") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.logical_disk\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "logical_disk"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "lun") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.lun\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "lun"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "memory") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.memory\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "memory"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "network") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.network\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "network"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "other_device") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.other_device\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "other_device"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "physical_disk") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.physical_disk\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "physical_disk"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "power_supply") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.power_supply\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "power_supply"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "robotics") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.robotics\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "robotics"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "tape_drive") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.tape_drive\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "tape_drive"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "temperature") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.temperature.*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "temperature"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "vm") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.vm\\..*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "vm"
          - set(attributes["entityTypeId"], "voltage") where IsMatch(metric.name, "hw\\.voltage.*") or attributes["hw.type"] == "voltage"
```

This transformer dynamically sets the attributes required for BMC Helix based on metric names and resource attributes.

## Configuration

### Example Configuration

```yaml theme={null}
bmc_helix/helix1:
  endpoint: https://helix1:8080
  api_key: api_key
  enrich_metric_with_attributes: true
bmc_helix/helix2:
  endpoint: https://helix2:8080
  api_key: api_key
  timeout: 20s
  enrich_metric_with_attributes: true
  retry_on_failure:
    enabled: true
    initial_interval: 5s
    max_interval: 1m
    max_elapsed_time: 8m
```

***

*Last generated: 2026-07-06*