Grafana is a free and open-source monitoring and data visualization software. By default, it supports Graphite, Elasticsearch, Prometheus, and other databases. It is a multi-platform interactive application that provides charts, graphs, and alerts on the web when connected to supported data sources. It is written in Go and TypeScript and supports multiple operating systems such as Linux, Windows, and macOS.
This article explains how to install Grafana on Alma Linux 8.
Prerequisites
- A server running Alma Linux 8.
- A valid domain name that points to the IP of your server.
- A root password is configured on the server.
Install Grafana on Alma Linux
By default, Grafana is not included in the Alma Linux default repository, so you will need to create a Grafana repository manually. You can create it with the following command:
nano /etc/yum.repos.d/grafana.repo
Add the following lines:
[grafana] name=grafana baseurl=https://packages.grafana.com/oss/rpm repo_gpgcheck=1 enabled=1 gpgcheck=1 gpgkey=https://packages.grafana.com/gpg.key sslverify=1 sslcacert=/etc/pki/tls/certs/ca-bundle.crt
Save and close the file when you’re done, and install the Grafana server with the following command:
dnf install grafana -y
Once the Grafana server is installed, check the Grafana package information with the following command:
rpm -qi grafana
You will get the following output:
Name : grafana Version : 8.4.6 Release : 1 Architecture: x86_64 Install Date: Friday 15 April 2022 09:11:57 AM UTC Group : default Size : 251112361 License : AGPLv3 Signature : RSA/SHA256, Monday 04 April 2022 10:04:18 AM UTC, Key ID 8c8c34c524098cb6 Source RPM : grafana-8.4.6-1.src.rpm Build Date : Monday 04 April 2022 10:03:45 AM UTC Build Host : 6c96bd4ba151 Relocations : / Packager : [email protected] Vendor : Grafana URL : https://grafana.com Summary : Grafana Description : Grafana
Now Grafana is installed on Alma Linux 8 and you can proceed to the next step.
Managing the Grafana service
The Grafana service is managed by systemd. You can start the Grafana service with the following command and enable it to be started when the system is restarted:
systemctl start grafana-server systemctl enable grafana-server
To check the status of Grafana, execute the following command:
systemctl status grafana-server
You will receive the status of the Grafana service in the following output:
? grafana-server.service - Grafana instance
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/grafana-server.service; disabled; vendor preset: disabled)
Active: active (running) since Fri 2022-04-15 09:12:37 UTC; 15s ago
Docs: http://docs.grafana.org
Main PID: 12120 (grafana-server)
Tasks: 8 (limit: 11412)
Memory: 31.6M
CGroup: /system.slice/grafana-server.service
??12120 /usr/sbin/grafana-server --config=/etc/grafana/grafana.ini --pidfile=/var/run/grafana/grafana-server.pid --packaging=rpm c>
Apr 15 09:12:37 linux grafana-server[12120]: logger=sqlstore t=2022-04-15T09:12:37.25 0000 lvl=info msg="Created default organization"
Apr 15 09:12:37 linux grafana-server[12120]: logger=plugin.manager t=2022-04-15T09:12:37.3 0000 lvl=info msg="Plugin registered" pluginId=inp>
Apr 15 09:12:37 linux grafana-server[12120]: logger=plugin.finder t=2022-04-15T09:12:37.3 0000 lvl=warn msg="Skipping finding plugins as dire>
Apr 15 09:12:37 linux grafana-server[12120]: logger=query_data t=2022-04-15T09:12:37.3 0000 lvl=info msg="Query Service initialization"
Apr 15 09:12:37 linux grafana-server[12120]: logger=live.push_http t=2022-04-15T09:12:37.31 0000 lvl=info msg="Live Push Gateway initializati>
Apr 15 09:12:37 linux grafana-server[12120]: logger=server t=2022-04-15T09:12:37.46 0000 lvl=info msg="Writing PID file" path=/var/run/grafan>
Apr 15 09:12:37 linux systemd[1]: Started Grafana instance.
Apr 15 09:12:37 linux grafana-server[12120]: logger=http.server t=2022-04-15T09:12:37.47 0000 lvl=info msg="HTTP Server Listen" address=[::]:>
Apr 15 09:12:37 linux grafana-server[12120]: logger=ngalert t=2022-04-15T09:12:37.47 0000 lvl=info msg="warming cache for startup"
Apr 15 09:12:37 linux grafana-server[12120]: logger=ngalert.multiorg.alertmanager t=2022-04-15T09:12:37.47 0000 lvl=info msg="starting MultiO>
At this point, Grafana is started and listening on port 3000 You can check this with the following command:
ss -antpl | grep 3000
You will receive the Grafana listening port in the following output:
LISTEN 0 128 *:3000 *:* users:(("grafana-server",pid=12120,fd=9))
Configure Nginx as a reverse proxy
Next, you need to install Nginx and configure it as a reverse proxy for Grafana. First, run the following command to install the Nginx server:
dnf install nginx -y
Once Nginx is installed, create a configuration file for the Nginx virtual host:
nano /etc/nginx/conf.d/grafana.conf
Add the following lines:
server {
server_name grafana.example.com;
listen 80 ;
access_log /var/log/nginx/grafana.log;
location / {
proxy_pass http://localhost:3000;
proxy_set_header Host $http_host;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Host $host:$server_port;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-Server $host;
proxy_set_header X-Forwarded-For $proxy_add_x_forwarded_for;
}
}
Save and close the file and check the Nginx configuration file with the following command:
nginx -t
If everything is ok, you will get the following output:
nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
Next, you need to reload the Nginx service so that the configuration changes are applied:
systemctl restart nginx
You can check the status of Nginx with the following command:
systemctl status nginx
You should see the Nginx status in the following output:
? nginx.service - The nginx HTTP and reverse proxy server
Loaded: loaded (/usr/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service; disabled; vendor preset: disabled)
Drop-In: /usr/lib/systemd/system/nginx.service.d
??php-fpm.conf
Active: active (running) since Fri 2022-04-15 09:14:40 UTC; 4s ago
Process: 14064 ExecStart=/usr/sbin/nginx (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Process: 14063 ExecStartPre=/usr/sbin/nginx -t (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Process: 14061 ExecStartPre=/usr/bin/rm -f /run/nginx.pid (code=exited, status=0/SUCCESS)
Main PID: 14066 (nginx)
Tasks: 2 (limit: 11412)
Memory: 3.7M
CGroup: /system.slice/nginx.service
??14066 nginx: master process /usr/sbin/nginx
??14067 nginx: worker process
Apr 15 09:14:39 linux systemd[1]: Starting The nginx HTTP and reverse proxy server...
Apr 15 09:14:40 linux nginx[14063]: nginx: the configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf syntax is ok
Apr 15 09:14:40 linux nginx[14063]: nginx: configuration file /etc/nginx/nginx.conf test is successful
Apr 15 09:14:40 linux systemd[1]: nginx.service: Failed to parse PID from file /run/nginx.pid: Invalid argument
Apr 15 09:14:40 linux systemd[1]: Started The nginx HTTP and reverse proxy server.
Now Nginx is installed and configured as a reverse proxy for Grafana. You can now proceed to the next step.
Configure the firewall
Next, you need to allow HTTP through the firewall. You can allow it with the following command:
firewall-cmd --add-port=80/tcp --permanent
Next, you need to reload the firewall so that the configuration changes are applied:
firewall-cmd --reload
Access to the Grafana Dashboard
Now open your web browser and access the Grafana Dashboard via the URL http://grafana.example.com. You should see the Grafana login page:
Enter the default username admin and password admin and click the Login button. You will be prompted to set a new password (see below):
Enter a new admin password and click the ” Submit ” button. On the following page you should see the Grafana dashboard:
Conclusion
Congratulations! You have successfully installed Grafana with Nginx as a reverse proxy on Alma Linux 8. Now you can connect your data sources to Grafana and monitor them from a central location. If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me.
