Grafana Cloud Database Observability
Docs: https://grafana.com/docs/grafana-cloud/monitor-applications/database-observability/
Query-level insights (RED metrics, query samples, explain plans) for MySQL and PostgreSQL without application code changes. GA since April 2026.
Common Workflows
PostgreSQL setup
-- 1. Enable pg_stat_statements (requires restart)
-- In postgresql.conf: shared_preload_libraries = 'pg_stat_statements'
-- Then restart PostgreSQL.
-- 2. Create a least-privilege monitoring user
CREATE USER grafana_monitoring WITH PASSWORD 'secret';
GRANT pg_monitor TO grafana_monitoring;
GRANT CONNECT ON DATABASE mydb TO grafana_monitoring;
-- 3. Enable the extension on each monitored DB
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pg_stat_statements;
-- 4. Verify
SELECT count(*) FROM pg_stat_statements;
-- Should return >= 0 (not an error). If "relation does not exist": step 3 didn't run.
- Add the Alloy config block from references/alloy-config.md § PostgreSQL
- Restart Alloy and wait ~60s for first scrape
- Verify in Grafana Cloud → Database Observability — the instance should appear with non-empty
db_query_total{db_instance="mydb"} series. If empty after 2 minutes: check Alloy logs for connection errors, then re-verify pg_stat_statements permissions.
MySQL setup
-- 1. Create least-privilege monitoring user
CREATE USER 'grafana_monitoring'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'secret';
GRANT SELECT, PROCESS, REPLICATION CLIENT ON *.* TO 'grafana_monitoring'@'%';
GRANT SELECT ON performance_schema.* TO 'grafana_monitoring'@'%';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
-- 2. Verify performance_schema is enabled (default in MySQL 8+)
SELECT @@performance_schema;
-- Returns 1 → enabled. 0 → set performance_schema=ON in my.cnf + restart.
- Add the Alloy config block from references/alloy-config.md § MySQL
- Restart Alloy, wait ~60s, verify the instance appears in Grafana Cloud → Database Observability
Supported databases
| Database |
Variants |
| MySQL |
Self-managed, RDS MySQL, Aurora MySQL, Cloud SQL MySQL, Azure Database for MySQL |
| PostgreSQL |
Self-managed, RDS PostgreSQL, Aurora PostgreSQL, Cloud SQL PostgreSQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL |
For managed databases (RDS / Cloud SQL / Azure), pg_stat_statements is preinstalled but disabled — enable it via the parameter group / flag, then re-create the extension at the DB level.
What you get
- Query Performance dashboard (auto-provisioned): top queries by total time / call count / mean latency, sampled query texts with parameters, visual explain plans, RED metrics per query digest
- APM correlation: drill from a slow service-latency span to the specific slow SQL via
db.statement / db.system / db.name OTel attributes — see references/queries-alerts.md § Trace correlation
- Alerting on query latency, error rate, and connection-pool saturation — full alert YAML in references/queries-alerts.md § Alert rules
References
references/alloy-config.md — full Alloy database_observability.postgres / database_observability.mysql config blocks + collector reference (pg_stat_statements, query_samples, schema_details, explain_plans)references/queries-alerts.md — key PromQL queries, alert rule YAML, and trace-correlation setup
1---2name: database-observability3description: Set up Grafana Cloud Database Observability for MySQL and PostgreSQL — enables `pg_stat_statements` / Performance Schema, creates a least-privilege monitoring user, configures the `database_observability.postgres` / `database_observability.mysql` Alloy components, ships query samples + visual explain plans + RED metrics + schema details to Grafana Cloud, and correlates slow queries with application traces via `db.statement` / `db.system` OTel attributes. Use when monitoring database performance, diagnosing slow queries, setting up DB observability for RDS / Aurora / Cloud SQL / Azure Database / self-managed instances, correlating DB metrics with APM, or alerting on query latency — even when the user says "my database is slow", "find the slow queries", or "monitor RDS" without saying "observability".4license: Apache-2.05---6
7# Grafana Cloud Database Observability
8
9> **Docs**: https://grafana.com/docs/grafana-cloud/monitor-applications/database-observability/
10
11Query-level insights (RED metrics, query samples, explain plans) for MySQL and PostgreSQL without application code changes. GA since April 2026.
12
13## Common Workflows
14
15### PostgreSQL setup
16
17```sql
18-- 1. Enable pg_stat_statements (requires restart)
19-- In postgresql.conf: shared_preload_libraries = 'pg_stat_statements'
20-- Then restart PostgreSQL.
21
22-- 2. Create a least-privilege monitoring user
23CREATE USER grafana_monitoring WITH PASSWORD 'secret';
24GRANT pg_monitor TO grafana_monitoring;
25GRANT CONNECT ON DATABASE mydb TO grafana_monitoring;
26
27-- 3. Enable the extension on each monitored DB
28CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pg_stat_statements;
29
30-- 4. Verify
31SELECT count(*) FROM pg_stat_statements;
32-- Should return >= 0 (not an error). If "relation does not exist": step 3 didn't run.
33```
34
355. Add the [Alloy config block from references/alloy-config.md § PostgreSQL](references/alloy-config.md#postgresql)
366. Restart Alloy and wait ~60s for first scrape
377. **Verify in Grafana Cloud** → Database Observability — the instance should appear with non-empty `db_query_total{db_instance="mydb"}` series. If empty after 2 minutes: check Alloy logs for connection errors, then re-verify pg_stat_statements permissions.
38
39### MySQL setup
40
41```sql
42-- 1. Create least-privilege monitoring user
43CREATE USER 'grafana_monitoring'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY 'secret';
44GRANT SELECT, PROCESS, REPLICATION CLIENT ON *.* TO 'grafana_monitoring'@'%';
45GRANT SELECT ON performance_schema.* TO 'grafana_monitoring'@'%';
46FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
47
48-- 2. Verify performance_schema is enabled (default in MySQL 8+)
49SELECT @@performance_schema;
50-- Returns 1 → enabled. 0 → set performance_schema=ON in my.cnf + restart.
51```
52
533. Add the [Alloy config block from references/alloy-config.md § MySQL](references/alloy-config.md#mysql)
544. Restart Alloy, wait ~60s, verify the instance appears in Grafana Cloud → Database Observability
55
56## Supported databases
57
58| Database | Variants |
59|----------|---------|
60| **MySQL** | Self-managed, RDS MySQL, Aurora MySQL, Cloud SQL MySQL, Azure Database for MySQL |
61| **PostgreSQL** | Self-managed, RDS PostgreSQL, Aurora PostgreSQL, Cloud SQL PostgreSQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL |
62
63For managed databases (RDS / Cloud SQL / Azure), `pg_stat_statements` is preinstalled but disabled — enable it via the parameter group / flag, then re-create the extension at the DB level.
64
65## What you get
66
67- **Query Performance dashboard** (auto-provisioned): top queries by total time / call count / mean latency, sampled query texts with parameters, visual explain plans, RED metrics per query digest
68- **APM correlation**: drill from a slow service-latency span to the specific slow SQL via `db.statement` / `db.system` / `db.name` OTel attributes — see [references/queries-alerts.md § Trace correlation](references/queries-alerts.md#trace-correlation)
69- **Alerting** on query latency, error rate, and connection-pool saturation — full alert YAML in [references/queries-alerts.md § Alert rules](references/queries-alerts.md#alert-rules)
70
71## References
72
73- [`references/alloy-config.md`](references/alloy-config.md) — full Alloy `database_observability.postgres` / `database_observability.mysql` config blocks + collector reference (`pg_stat_statements`, `query_samples`, `schema_details`, `explain_plans`)
74- [`references/queries-alerts.md`](references/queries-alerts.md) — key PromQL queries, alert rule YAML, and trace-correlation setup
grafana