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database-observability

Grafana Cloud Database Observability — query-level performance insights for MySQL and PostgreSQL. Covers setup with Grafana Alloy, query samples, visual explain plans, RED metrics, pg_stat_statements and Performance Schema integration, and correlation with application traces. Use when monitoring database performance, diagnosing slow queries, setting up database observability for MySQL or PostgreSQL (self-managed, RDS, Aurora, Azure, Cloud SQL), or correlating DB metrics with APM data.

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Grafana Cloud Database Observability

Docs: https://grafana.com/docs/grafana-cloud/monitor-applications/database-observability/

Provides query-level insights (RED metrics, query samples, explain plans) for MySQL and PostgreSQL without application code changes. Generally Available as of April 2026.

Supported Databases

DatabaseVariants
MySQLSelf-managed, RDS MySQL, Aurora MySQL, Cloud SQL MySQL, Azure Database for MySQL
PostgreSQLSelf-managed, RDS PostgreSQL, Aurora PostgreSQL, Cloud SQL PostgreSQL, Azure Database for PostgreSQL

Prerequisites

PostgreSQL

-- 1. Enable pg_stat_statements in postgresql.conf
-- shared_preload_libraries = 'pg_stat_statements'
-- Then restart PostgreSQL

-- 2. Create 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
CREATE EXTENSION IF NOT EXISTS pg_stat_statements;

MySQL

-- Create monitoring user with least-privilege permissions
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;

Alloy Configuration

PostgreSQL

database_observability.postgres "mydb" {
  data_source_name = "postgresql://grafana_monitoring:secret@localhost:5432/mydb?sslmode=disable"

  enable_collectors = ["pg_stat_statements", "query_samples", "schema_details"]

  forward_metrics_to = [prometheus.remote_write.cloud.receiver]
  forward_logs_to    = [loki.write.cloud.receiver]
}

prometheus.remote_write "cloud" {
  endpoint {
    url = sys.env("PROMETHEUS_URL")
    basic_auth {
      username = sys.env("PROMETHEUS_USER")
      password = sys.env("GRAFANA_CLOUD_API_KEY")
    }
  }
}

loki.write "cloud" {
  endpoint {
    url = sys.env("LOKI_URL")
    basic_auth {
      username = sys.env("LOKI_USER")
      password = sys.env("GRAFANA_CLOUD_API_KEY")
    }
  }
}

MySQL

database_observability.mysql "mydb" {
  data_source_name = "grafana_monitoring:secret@tcp(localhost:3306)/mydb"

  enable_collectors = ["query_samples", "explain_plans", "schema_details"]

  forward_metrics_to = [prometheus.remote_write.cloud.receiver]
  forward_logs_to    = [loki.write.cloud.receiver]
}

Key Metrics

# Query rate by database
rate(db_query_total{db_instance="mydb"}[5m])

# P95 query latency
histogram_quantile(0.95, rate(db_query_duration_seconds_bucket[5m]))

# Error rate
rate(db_query_errors_total[5m]) / rate(db_query_total[5m])

# Slow queries (over 1 second)
count(db_query_duration_seconds > 1) by (db_query_digest)

# Active connections
db_connections_active{db_instance="mydb"}

What You Get

Query Performance Dashboard (auto-provisioned):

  • Top queries by total time, call count, mean latency
  • Query samples with actual parameters and timing
  • Visual explain plans showing index usage, scan types, costs
  • RED metrics per query digest

Correlation with APM:

  • Link slow DB queries to the application traces that triggered them
  • db.statement, db.system, db.name OTel attributes connect DB spans to query samples
  • Drill from service latency spike → specific slow SQL query → explain plan

Alert Rules

groups:
  - name: database-observability
    rules:
      - alert: SlowQueryDetected
        expr: histogram_quantile(0.95, rate(db_query_duration_seconds_bucket[5m])) > 1
        for: 5m
        labels:
          severity: warning
        annotations:
          summary: "P95 query latency > 1s on {{ $labels.db_instance }}"

      - alert: HighDBErrorRate
        expr: rate(db_query_errors_total[5m]) / rate(db_query_total[5m]) > 0.05
        for: 5m
        labels:
          severity: critical
        annotations:
          summary: "DB error rate > 5% on {{ $labels.db_instance }}"

      - alert: TooManyConnections
        expr: db_connections_active / db_connections_max > 0.8
        for: 5m
        labels:
          severity: warning
        annotations:
          summary: "DB connection pool >80% on {{ $labels.db_instance }}"

Setup Checklist

  1. Enable pg_stat_statements (PostgreSQL) or Performance Schema (MySQL)
  2. Create least-privilege monitoring user
  3. Add database_observability.* block to Alloy config
  4. Verify metrics appear in Grafana Cloud → Database Observability
  5. Set up alerting on slow queries and error rates
  6. Enable trace correlation by ensuring app uses db.statement span attributes
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