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OTEL-061: memory_ballast extension (deprecated, use GOMEMLIMIT)

Severity: warn (advisory)

Rule Details​

memory_ballast was a Collector workaround for the Go garbage collector's old behavior — it pre-allocated a large unused block so the GC trigger would sit at a predictable fraction of the container limit. Since Go 1.19 the same effect is achieved by setting the GOMEMLIMIT environment variable, and the Collector team has deprecated the extension. Remove memory_ballast and set GOMEMLIMIT on the process instead.

This rule fires when an extension whose base name is memory_ballast is configured.

Options​

This rule has no options.

Examples​

Avoid
extensions:
  memory_ballast:
    size_mib: 512
Prefer
# remove the extension — set GOMEMLIMIT on the process:
#   env:
#     GOMEMLIMIT: 1GiB
extensions:
  health_check:
    endpoint: "localhost:13133"

When Not To Use It​

Never — the extension is deprecated. Use GOMEMLIMIT.

  • OTEL-073 — memory_limiter ballast_size_mib (deprecated)
  • OTEL-001 — memory_limiter processor must be configured

Version​

Available since augur v0.1.0.

Further Reading​

Resources​