---
title: "database_observability.mysql | Grafana Alloy documentation"
description: "Learn about database_observability.mysql"
---

> For a curated documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). For the complete documentation index, see [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt).

# `database_observability.mysql`

`database_observability.mysql` connects to a MySQL database and collects observability data from the `performance_schema` and `information_schema`. The component collects query details, schema information, explain plans, query samples, and lock information. It forwards this data as log entries to Loki receivers and exports targets for Prometheus scraping.

## Usage

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```alloy
database_observability.mysql "<LABEL>" {
  data_source_name = <DATA_SOURCE_NAME>
  forward_to       = [<LOKI_RECEIVERS>]
}
```

## Arguments

You can use the following arguments with `database_observability.mysql`:

Expand table

| Name                                       | Type                 | Description                                                                                                                                                                  | Default                                                                                              | Required |
|--------------------------------------------|----------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------|
| `data_source_name`                         | `secret`             | [Data Source Name](https://github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql#dsn-data-source-name) for the MySQL server to connect to. Required when no `database_instance` blocks are defined. |                                                                                                      | no       |
| `forward_to`                               | `list(LogsReceiver)` | Where to forward log entries after processing.                                                                                                                               |                                                                                                      | yes      |
| `targets`                                  | `list(map(string))`  | List of external targets to scrape.                                                                                                                                          |                                                                                                      | no       |
| `disable_collectors`                       | `list(string)`       | A list of collectors to disable from the default set.                                                                                                                        |                                                                                                      | no       |
| `enable_collectors`                        | `list(string)`       | A list of collectors to enable on top of the default set.                                                                                                                    |                                                                                                      | no       |
| `exclude_schemas`                          | `list(string)`       | A list of schemas to exclude from monitoring.                                                                                                                                | `["alloydbadmin", "alloydbmetadata", "azure_maintenance", "azure_sys", "cloudsqladmin", "rdsadmin"]` | no       |
| `allow_update_performance_schema_settings` | `boolean`            | Whether to allow updates to `performance_schema` settings in any collector. Enable this in conjunction with other collector-specific settings where required.                | `false`                                                                                              | no       |

The following collectors are configurable:

Expand table

| Name              | Description                                                  | Enabled by default |
|-------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------|
| `query_details`   | Collect queries information.                                 | yes                |
| `schema_details`  | Collect schemas and tables from `information_schema`.        | yes                |
| `query_samples`   | Collect query samples.                                       | yes                |
| `setup_consumers` | Collect enabled `performance_schema.setup_consumers`.        | yes                |
| `setup_actors`    | Check and update `performance_schema.setup_actors` settings. | yes                |
| `locks`           | Collect queries that are waiting/blocking other queries.     | no                 |
| `explain_plans`   | Collect explain plans information.                           | yes                |

## Blocks

You can use the following blocks with `database_observability.mysql`:

No valid configuration blocks found.

### `cloud_provider`

The `cloud_provider` block has no attributes. It contains zero or one of the [`aws`](#aws), [`azure`](#azure), or [`gcp`](#gcp) blocks. You use the `cloud_provider` block to provide information related to the cloud provider that hosts the database under observation. This information is appended as labels to the collected metrics. The labels make it easier for you to filter and group your metrics.

### `aws`

The `aws` block supplies the [ARN](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/reference-arns.html) identifier for the database being monitored.

Expand table

| Name  | Type     | Description                                             | Default | Required |
|-------|----------|---------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `arn` | `string` | The ARN associated with the database under observation. |         | yes      |

### `azure`

The `azure` block supplies the identifying information for the database being monitored.

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| Name              | Type     | Description                                                                                          | Default | Required |
|-------------------|----------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `subscription_id` | `string` | The Subscription ID for your Azure account.                                                          |         | yes      |
| `resource_group`  | `string` | The Resource Group that holds the database resource.                                                 |         | yes      |
| `server_name`     | `string` | The database server name, for example `orders-db` for the host `orders-db.mysql.database.azure.com`. |         | no       |

### `gcp`

The `gcp` block supplies the identifying information for the GCP Cloud SQL database being monitored.

Expand table

| Name              | Type     | Description                                                                                                                 | Default | Required |
|-------------------|----------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `connection_name` | `string` | The Cloud SQL instance connection name in the format `project:region:instance`, for example `my-project:us-central1:my-db`. |         | yes      |

### `database_instance`

The `database_instance` block defines one database server to monitor. Repeat the block to monitor several databases with a single component. The block label must be unique across `database_instance` blocks and identifies the database in the component’s metrics endpoint path. Each `database_instance` block must also point to a distinct server: two blocks that resolve to the same host, port, and database name are rejected.

Expand table

| Name               | Type     | Description                                                                                                         | Default | Required |
|--------------------|----------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `data_source_name` | `secret` | [Data Source Name](https://github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql#dsn-data-source-name) for the MySQL server to connect to. |         | yes      |

Each `database_instance` block can also contain a \[`cloud_provider`]\[cloud\_provider] block that applies to that database only.

The component always embeds a `mysqld_exporter` for each `database_instance` block and serves its metrics on the block’s metrics path. Use the \[`prometheus_exporter`]\[prometheus\_exporter] block to configure it. External exporter targets are only supported in the top-level single-DSN form.

When you define `database_instance` blocks, don’t set the top-level `data_source_name`, `targets`, and `cloud_provider` arguments. They’re mutually exclusive with `database_instance` blocks. All other arguments and blocks, such as collector settings and `prometheus_exporter`, apply to every configured database.

The metrics for each database are served on a separate `/db/<LABEL>/metrics` path under the component’s HTTP endpoint, and the exported targets point to the corresponding path. When you don’t define `database_instance` blocks, the component serves metrics on its historical `/metrics` path. The metrics endpoints are served exactly at those paths: requests to any other path under the component’s HTTP endpoint return HTTP 404.

For example:

Alloy ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy

```alloy
database_observability.mysql "pool" {
  forward_to = [loki.write.logs_service.receiver]

  database_instance "orders" {
    data_source_name = sys.env("ORDERS_DSN")

    cloud_provider {
      aws {
        arn = "orders-rds-db-arn"
      }
    }
  }

  database_instance "billing" {
    data_source_name = sys.env("BILLING_DSN")
  }
}
```

### `clustering`

Expand table

| Name      | Type   | Description                                              | Default | Required |
|-----------|--------|----------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `enabled` | `bool` | Enables distributing databases with other cluster nodes. | `false` | yes      |

When Alloy is [using clustering](../../../../get-started/clustering/), and `enabled` is set to true, then this `database_observability.mysql` component instance opts-in to distributing its configured databases between all cluster nodes.

Clustering assumes that all cluster nodes are running with the same configuration file. All component instances opting in to clustering use the instance key of each configured database, `<network>(<host>:<port>)/<dbname>`, and a consistent hashing algorithm to determine ownership of each database between the cluster peers. Each peer then only collects from the subset of databases it’s responsible for, and only exports the targets of those databases, so `prometheus.scrape` components on the same node scrape exactly the databases the node owns. When a node joins or leaves the cluster, every peer recalculates ownership: expect a short gap or a brief duplicate collection for a database while its ownership moves. This includes the collectors that update `performance_schema` settings, such as `setup_actors` and `setup_consumers`, which can briefly run from two nodes during the move: their updates are idempotent. While the cluster isn’t yet ready to admit traffic, for example while it’s still forming and waiting for the minimum cluster size, the component doesn’t collect from any database.

Clustering is also useful with a single database: when several cluster nodes run an identical configuration, exactly one node collects from the database at a time, which gives you a highly available setup without duplicate collection.

If Alloy is *not* running in clustered mode, then the block is a no-op and `database_observability.mysql` collects from every configured database.

### `setup_consumers`

Expand table

| Name               | Type       | Description                                                                                   | Default | Required |
|--------------------|------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `collect_interval` | `duration` | How frequently to collect `performance_schema.setup_consumers` information from the database. | `"1h"`  | no       |

### `query_details`

Expand table

| Name               | Type       | Description                                          | Default | Required |
|--------------------|------------|------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `collect_interval` | `duration` | How frequently to collect information from database. | `"1m"`  | no       |
| `statements_limit` | `integer`  | Max number of recent queries to collect details for. | `250`   | no       |

### `schema_details`

Expand table

| Name               | Type       | Description                                                 | Default | Required |
|--------------------|------------|-------------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `collect_interval` | `duration` | How frequently to collect information from database.        | `"1m"`  | no       |
| `cache_enabled`    | `boolean`  | Deprecated. Whether to enable caching of table definitions. | `true`  | no       |
| `cache_size`       | `integer`  | Deprecated. Cache size.                                     | `256`   | no       |
| `cache_ttl`        | `duration` | Deprecated. Cache TTL.                                      | `"10m"` | no       |

The `cache_enabled`, `cache_size`, and `cache_ttl` settings are deprecated: they are accepted for backward compatibility, but ignored.

### `explain_plans`

Expand table

| Name                | Type       | Description                                                                     | Default | Required |
|---------------------|------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `collect_interval`  | `duration` | How frequently to collect information from database.                            | `"1m"`  | no       |
| `initial_lookback`  | `duration` | How far back to look for explain plan queries on the first collection interval. | `"24h"` | no       |
| `per_collect_ratio` | `float`    | Ratio of explain plan queries to collect per collect interval.                  | `1.0`   | no       |

### `locks`

Expand table

| Name               | Type       | Description                                                                            | Default | Required |
|--------------------|------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `collect_interval` | `duration` | How frequently to collect information from database.                                   | `"30s"` | no       |
| `threshold`        | `duration` | Threshold for locks to be considered slow. Locks that exceed this duration are logged. | `"1s"`  | no       |

### `query_samples`

Expand table

| Name                                | Type       | Description                                                                                                                                   | Default | Required |
|-------------------------------------|------------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `collect_interval`                  | `duration` | How frequently to collect information from database.                                                                                          | `"10s"` | no       |
| `disable_query_redaction`           | `bool`     | Collect unredacted SQL query text (including query parameters) and query error messages.                                                      | `false` | no       |
| `auto_enable_setup_consumers`       | `boolean`  | Enables specific `performance_schema.setup_consumers` options. You must also enable `allow_update_performance_schema_settings`.               | `false` | no       |
| `setup_consumers_check_interval`    | `duration` | How frequently to check if `setup_consumers` are correctly enabled.                                                                           | `"1h"`  | no       |
| `sample_min_duration`               | `duration` | Minimum duration for query samples to be collected. Set to “0s” to disable filtering and collect all samples regardless of their duration.    | `"0s"`  | no       |
| `wait_event_min_duration`           | `duration` | Minimum duration for a wait event to be collected. Set to “0s” to disable filtering and collect all wait events regardless of their duration. | `"1us"` | no       |
| `enable_pre_classified_wait_events` | `boolean`  | When `true`, emits telemetry data with pre-classified wait event information.                                                                 | `false` | no       |

### `setup_actors`

Expand table

| Name                       | Type       | Description                                                                                                                     | Default | Required |
|----------------------------|------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `auto_update_setup_actors` | `boolean`  | Enables updates to `performance_schema.setup_actors` settings. You must also enable `allow_update_performance_schema_settings`. | `false` | no       |
| `collect_interval`         | `duration` | How frequently to check if `setup_actors` are configured correctly.                                                             | `"1h"`  | no       |

### `health_check`

Expand table

| Name               | Type       | Description                          | Default | Required |
|--------------------|------------|--------------------------------------|---------|----------|
| `collect_interval` | `duration` | How frequently to run health checks. | `"1h"`  | no       |

### `prometheus_exporter`

The `prometheus_exporter` block configures the embedded mysqld\_exporter scrapers. The `data_source_name` is inherited from the parent block.

Refer to [`prometheus.exporter.mysql`](../../prometheus/prometheus.exporter.mysql/) docs for the full list of supported arguments and sub-blocks.

## Example

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```alloy
database_observability.mysql "orders_db" {
  data_source_name = "user:pass@tcp(mysql:3306)/"
  forward_to       = [loki.relabel.orders_db.receiver]
  targets          = prometheus.exporter.mysql.orders_db.targets

  enable_collectors = ["query_samples", "explain_plans"]

  cloud_provider {
    aws {
      arn = "your-rds-db-arn"
    }
  }
}

prometheus.exporter.mysql "orders_db" {
  data_source_name  = "user:pass@tcp(mysql:3306)/"
  enable_collectors = ["perf_schema.eventsstatements"]
}

loki.relabel "orders_db" {
  forward_to = [loki.write.logs_service.receiver]
  rule {
    target_label = "job"
    replacement  = "integrations/db-o11y"
  }
  rule {
    target_label = "instance"
    replacement  = "orders_db"
  }
}

discovery.relabel "orders_db" {
  targets = database_observability.mysql.orders_db.targets

  rule {
    target_label = "job"
    replacement  = "integrations/db-o11y"
  }
  rule {
    target_label = "instance"
    replacement  = "orders_db"
  }
}

prometheus.scrape "orders_db" {
  targets    = discovery.relabel.orders_db.targets
  job_name   = "integrations/db-o11y"
  forward_to = [prometheus.remote_write.metrics_service.receiver]
}

prometheus.remote_write "metrics_service" {
  endpoint {
    url = sys.env("<GRAFANA_CLOUD_HOSTED_METRICS_URL>")
    basic_auth {
      username = sys.env("<GRAFANA_CLOUD_HOSTED_METRICS_ID>")
      password = sys.env("<GRAFANA_CLOUD_RW_API_KEY>")
    }
  }
}

loki.write "logs_service" {
  endpoint {
    url = sys.env("<GRAFANA_CLOUD_HOSTED_LOGS_URL>")
    basic_auth {
      username = sys.env("<GRAFANA_CLOUD_HOSTED_LOGS_ID>")
      password = sys.env("<GRAFANA_CLOUD_RW_API_KEY>")
    }
  }
}
```

Replace the following:

- *`<GRAFANA_CLOUD_HOSTED_METRICS_URL>`* : The URL for your Grafana Cloud hosted metrics.
- *`<GRAFANA_CLOUD_HOSTED_METRICS_ID>`* : The user ID for your Grafana Cloud hosted metrics.
- *`<GRAFANA_CLOUD_RW_API_KEY>`* : Your Grafana Cloud API key.
- *`<GRAFANA_CLOUD_HOSTED_LOGS_URL>`* : The URL for your Grafana Cloud hosted logs.
- *`<GRAFANA_CLOUD_HOSTED_LOGS_ID>`* : The user ID for your Grafana Cloud hosted logs.

## Compatible components

`database_observability.mysql` can accept arguments from the following components:

- Components that export [Targets](../../../compatibility/#targets-exporters)
- Components that export [Loki `LogsReceiver`](../../../compatibility/#loki-logsreceiver-exporters)

`database_observability.mysql` has exports that can be consumed by the following components:

- Components that consume [Targets](../../../compatibility/#targets-consumers)

> Note
> 
> Connecting some components may not be sensible or components may require further configuration to make the connection work correctly. Refer to the linked documentation for more details.