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Migrate from Grafana Agent Static to Grafana Alloy

The built-in Alloy convert command can migrate your Grafana Agent Static configuration to an Alloy configuration.

This topic describes how to:

  • Convert a Grafana Agent Static configuration to an Alloy configuration.
  • Run a Grafana Agent Static configuration natively using Alloy.

Components used in this topic

Before you begin

  • You must have a Grafana Agent Static configuration.
  • You must be familiar with the Components concept in Alloy.

Convert a Grafana Agent Static configuration

To fully migrate Grafana Agent Static to Alloy, you must convert your Grafana Agent Static configuration into an Alloy configuration. This conversion allows you to take full advantage of the many additional features available in Alloy.

In this task, you use the convert CLI command to output an Alloy configuration from a Grafana Agent Static configuration.

  1. Open a terminal window and run the following command.

    shell 
    alloy convert --source-format=static --output=<OUTPUT_CONFIG_PATH> <INPUT_CONFIG_PATH>

    Replace the following:

    • <INPUT_CONFIG_PATH>: The full path to the configuration file for Grafana Agent Static.
    • <OUTPUT_CONFIG_PATH>: The full path to output the Alloy configuration.

  2. Run Alloy using the new Alloy configuration from <OUTPUT_CONFIG_PATH>:

Debugging

  1. If the convert command can’t convert a Grafana Agent Static configuration, diagnostic information is sent to stderr. You can use the --bypass-errors flag to bypass any non-critical issues and output the Alloy configuration using a best-effort conversion.

    Caution

    If you bypass the errors, the behavior of the converted configuration may not match the original Grafana Agent Static configuration. Make sure you fully test the converted configuration before using it in a production environment.
    shell 
    alloy convert --source-format=static --bypass-errors --output=<OUTPUT_CONFIG_PATH> <INPUT_CONFIG_PATH>

    Replace the following:

    • <INPUT_CONFIG_PATH>: The full path to the configuration file for Grafana Agent Static.
    • <OUTPUT_CONFIG_PATH>: The full path to output the Alloy configuration.

  2. You can use the --report flag to output a diagnostic report.

    shell 
    alloy convert --source-format=static --report=<OUTPUT_REPORT_PATH> --output=<OUTPUT_CONFIG_PATH> <INPUT_CONFIG_PATH>

    Replace the following:

    • <INPUT_CONFIG_PATH>: The full path to the configuration file for Grafana Agent Static.
    • <OUTPUT_CONFIG_PATH>: The full path to output the Alloy configuration.
    • <OUTPUT_REPORT_PATH>: The output path for the report.

    Using the example Grafana Agent Static configuration below, the diagnostic report provides the following information.

    plaintext 
    (Warning) Please review your agent command line flags and ensure they are set in your Alloy configuration file where necessary.

Run a Grafana Agent Static mode configuration

If you’re not ready to completely switch to an Alloy configuration, you can run Alloy using your Grafana Agent Static configuration. The --config.format=static flag tells Alloy to convert your Grafana Agent Static configuration to Alloy and load it directly without saving the configuration. This allows you to try Alloy without modifying your Grafana Agent Static configuration infrastructure.

In this task, you use the run CLI command to run Alloy using a Grafana Agent Static configuration.

Run Alloy and include the command line flag --config.format=static. Your configuration file must be a valid Grafana Agent Static configuration file.

Debugging

  1. Follow the convert CLI command debugging instructions to generate a diagnostic report.

  2. Refer to the Alloy debugging UI for more information about running Alloy.

  3. If your Grafana Agent Static configuration can’t be converted and loaded directly into Alloy, diagnostic information is sent to stderr. You can use the --config.bypass-conversion-errors flag with --config.format=static to bypass any non-critical issues and start Alloy.

    Caution

    If you bypass the errors, the behavior of the converted configuration may not match the original Grafana Agent Static configuration. Don’t use this flag in a production environment.

Example

This example demonstrates converting a Grafana Agent Static configuration file to an Alloy configuration file.

The following Grafana Agent Static configuration file provides the input for the conversion.

yaml 
server:
  log_level: info

metrics:
  global:
    scrape_interval: 15s
    remote_write:
      - url: https://prometheus-us-central1.grafana.net/api/prom/push
        basic_auth:
          username: USERNAME
          password: PASSWORD
  configs:
    - name: test
      host_filter: false
      scrape_configs:
        - job_name: local-agent
          static_configs:
            - targets: ['127.0.0.1:12345']
              labels:
                cluster: 'localhost'

logs:
  global:
    file_watch_config:
      min_poll_frequency: 1s
      max_poll_frequency: 5s
  positions_directory: /var/lib/agent/data-agent
  configs:
    - name: varlogs
      scrape_configs:
        - job_name: varlogs
          static_configs:
            - targets:
              - localhost
              labels:
                job: varlogs
                host: mylocalhost
                __path__: /var/log/*.log
          pipeline_stages:
            - match:
                selector: '{filename="/var/log/*.log"}'
                stages:
                - drop:
                    expression: '^[^0-9]{4}'
                - regex:
                    expression: '^(?P<timestamp>\d{4}/\d{2}/\d{2} \d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}) \[(?P<level>[[:alpha:]]+)\] (?:\d+)\#(?:\d+): \*(?:\d+) (?P<message>.+)$'
                - pack:
                    labels:
                      - level
      clients:
        - url: https://USER_ID:API_KEY@logs-prod3.grafana.net/loki/api/v1/push

traces:
  configs:
    - name: tempo
      receivers:
        otlp:
          protocols:
            grpc:
            http:
      batch:
        send_batch_size: 10000
        timeout: 20s
      remote_write:
        - endpoint: tempo-us-central1.grafana.net:443
          basic_auth:
            username: USERNAME
            password: PASSWORD

The convert command takes the YAML file as input and outputs a Alloy configuration file.

shell 
alloy convert --source-format=static --output=<OUTPUT_CONFIG_PATH> <INPUT_CONFIG_PATH>

Replace the following:

  • <INPUT_CONFIG_PATH>: The full path to the configuration file for Grafana Agent Static.
  • <OUTPUT_CONFIG_PATH>: The full path to output the Alloy configuration.

The Alloy configuration file looks like this:

alloy 
prometheus.scrape "metrics_test_local_agent" {
    targets = [{
        __address__ = "127.0.0.1:12345",
        cluster     = "localhost",
    }]
    forward_to      = [prometheus.remote_write.metrics_test.receiver]
    job_name        = "local-agent"
    scrape_interval = "15s"
}

prometheus.remote_write "metrics_test" {
    endpoint {
        name = "test-4dec64"
        url  = "https://prometheus-us-central1.grafana.net/api/prom/push"

        basic_auth {
            username = "<USERNAME>"
            password = "<PASSWORD>"
        }

        queue_config { }

        metadata_config { }
    }
}

local.file_match "logs_varlogs_varlogs" {
    path_targets = [{
        __address__ = "localhost",
        __path__    = "/var/log/*.log",
        host        = "mylocalhost",
        job         = "varlogs",
    }]
}

loki.process "logs_varlogs_varlogs" {
    forward_to = [loki.write.logs_varlogs.receiver]

    stage.match {
        selector = "{filename=\"/var/log/*.log\"}"

        stage.drop {
            expression = "^[^0-9]{4}"
        }

        stage.regex {
            expression = "^(?P<timestamp>\\d{4}/\\d{2}/\\d{2} \\d{2}:\\d{2}:\\d{2}) \\[(?P<level>[[:alpha:]]+)\\] (?:\\d+)\\#(?:\\d+): \\*(?:\\d+) (?P<message>.+)$"
        }

        stage.pack {
            labels           = ["level"]
            ingest_timestamp = false
        }
    }
}

loki.source.file "logs_varlogs_varlogs" {
    targets    = local.file_match.logs_varlogs_varlogs.targets
    forward_to = [loki.process.logs_varlogs_varlogs.receiver]

    file_watch {
        min_poll_frequency = "1s"
        max_poll_frequency = "5s"
    }
    legacy_positions_file = "/var/lib/agent/data-agent/varlogs.yml"
}

loki.write "logs_varlogs" {
    endpoint {
        url = "https://USER_ID:API_KEY@logs-prod3.grafana.net/loki/api/v1/push"
    }
    external_labels = {}
}

otelcol.receiver.otlp "default" {
    grpc {
        include_metadata = true
    }

    http {
        include_metadata = true
    }

    output {
        metrics = []
        logs    = []
        traces  = [otelcol.processor.batch.default.input]
    }
}

otelcol.processor.batch "default" {
    timeout         = "20s"
    send_batch_size = 10000

    output {
        metrics = []
        logs    = []
        traces  = [otelcol.exporter.otlp.default_0.input]
    }
}

otelcol.exporter.otlp "default_0" {
    retry_on_failure {
        max_elapsed_time = "1m0s"
    }

    client {
        endpoint = "tempo-us-central1.grafana.net:443"
        headers  = {
            authorization = "Basic VVNFUk5BTUU6UEFTU1dPUkQ=",
        }
    }
}

Integrations Next

You can convert integrations next configurations by adding the extra-args flag for convert or config.extra-args for run.

shell 
alloy convert --source-format=static --extra-args="-enable-features=integrations-next" --output=<OUTPUT_CONFIG_PATH> <INPUT_CONFIG_PATH>

Replace the following:

  • <INPUT_CONFIG_PATH>: The full path to the configuration file for Grafana Agent Static.
  • <OUTPUT_CONFIG_PATH>: The full path to output the Alloy configuration.

Environment variables

You can use the -config.expand-env command line flag to interpret environment variables in your Grafana Agent Static configuration. You can pass these flags to convert with --extra-args="-config.expand-env" or to run with --config.extra-args="-config.expand-env".

It’s possible to combine integrations-next with expand-env. For convert, you can use --extra-args="-enable-features=integrations-next -config.expand-env"

Limitations

Configuration conversion is done on a best-effort basis. Alloy issues warnings or errors if the conversion can’t be done.

After the configuration is converted, review the Alloy configuration file and verify that it’s correct before starting to use it in a production environment.

The following list is specific to the convert command and not Alloy:

  • The Agent Management configuration options can’t be automatically converted to Alloy. Any additional unsupported features are returned as errors during conversion.
  • There is no gRPC server to configure for Alloy. Any non-default configuration shows as unsupported during the conversion.
  • Check if you are using any extra command line arguments with Grafana Agent Static that aren’t present in your configuration file. For example, -server.http.address.
  • Check if you are using any environment variables in your Grafana Agent Static configuration. These are evaluated during conversion, and you may want to replace them with the Alloy Standard library env function after conversion.
  • Review additional Prometheus Limitations for limitations specific to your Metrics configuration.
  • Review additional Promtail Limitations for limitations specific to your Logs configuration.
  • The logs produced by Alloy differ from those produced by Grafana Agent Static.
  • Alloy exposes the Alloy UI.

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