# In-memory Exporter for OpenTelemetry .NET [](https://www.nuget.org/packages/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.InMemory) [](https://www.nuget.org/packages/OpenTelemetry.Exporter.InMemory) The in-memory exporter stores data in a user provided memory buffer. > [!WARNING] > This component is intended to be used for testing purposes. It is not recommended for any production environment. ## Installation ```shell dotnet add package OpenTelemetry.Exporter.InMemory ``` ## Configuration See the [`TestInMemoryExporter.cs`](../../examples/Console/TestInMemoryExporter.cs) for an example of how to use the exporter for exporting traces to a collection. You can configure the `InMemoryExporter` through `Options` types properties and environment variables. The `Options` type setters take precedence over the environment variables. ## Environment Variables The following environment variables can be used to override the default values of the `PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions` (following the [OpenTelemetry specification](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/blob/v1.12.0/specification/sdk-environment-variables.md#periodic-exporting-metricreader). | Environment variable | `PeriodicExportingMetricReaderOptions` property | | ------------------------------| ------------------------------------------------| | `OTEL_METRIC_EXPORT_INTERVAL` | `ExportIntervalMilliseconds` | | `OTEL_METRIC_EXPORT_TIMEOUT` | `ExportTimeoutMilliseconds` | ## References * [OpenTelemetry Project](https://opentelemetry.io/)