---
title: "Configure the Loki data source | Grafana documentation"
description: "Configure the Loki data source"
---

# Loki data source

Grafana ships with built-in support for [Loki](/docs/loki/latest/), an open-source log aggregation system by Grafana Labs. If you are new to Loki the following documentation will help you get started:

- [Getting started](/docs/loki/latest/get-started/)
- [Best practices](/docs/loki/latest/best-practices/#best-practices)

## Configure the Loki data source

To add the Loki data source, complete the following steps:

1. Click **Connections** in the left-side menu.
2. Under **Connections**, click **Add new connection**.
3. Enter `Loki` in the search bar.
4. Select **Loki data source**.
5. Click **Create a Loki data source** in the upper right.

You will be taken to the **Settings** tab where you will set up your Loki configuration.

## Configuration options

The following is a list of configuration options for Loki.

The first option to configure is the name of your connection:

- **Name** - The data source name. This is how you refer to the data source in panels and queries. Examples: loki-1, loki\_logs.
- **Default** - Toggle to select as the default name in dashboard panels. When you go to a dashboard panel this will be the default selected data source.

### HTTP section

- **URL** - The URL of your Loki server. Loki uses port 3100. If your Loki server is local, use `http://localhost:3100`. If it is on a server within a network, this is the URL with port where you are running Loki. Example: `http://loki.example.orgname:3100`.
- **Allowed cookies** - Specify cookies by name that should be forwarded to the data source. The Grafana proxy deletes all forwarded cookies by default.
- **Timeout** - The HTTP request timeout. This must be in seconds. There is no default, so this setting is up to you.

### Auth section

There are several authentication methods you can choose in the Authentication section.

> Note
> 
> Use TLS (Transport Layer Security) for an additional layer of security when working with Loki. For information on setting up TLS encryption with Loki see [Grafana Loki configuration parameters](/docs/loki/latest/configuration/).

- **Basic authentication** - The most common authentication method. Use your `data source` user name and `data source` password to connect.
- **With credentials** - Toggle on to enable credentials such as cookies or auth headers to be sent with cross-site requests.
- **TLS client authentication** - Toggle on to use client authentication. When enabled, add the `Server name`, `Client cert` and `Client key`. The client provides a certificate that is validated by the server to establish the client’s trusted identity. The client key encrypts the data between client and server.
- **With CA cert** - Authenticate with a CA certificate. Follow the instructions of the CA (Certificate Authority) to download the certificate file.
- **Skip TLS verify** - Toggle on to bypass TLS certificate validation.
- **Forward OAuth identity** - Forward the OAuth access token (and also the OIDC ID token if available) of the user querying the data source.

### Custom HTTP headers

- **Header** - Add a custom header. This allows custom headers to be passed based on the needs of your Loki instance.
- **Value** - The value of the header.

### Alerting

- **Manage alert rules in Alerting UI** - Toggle on to manage alert rules for the Loki data source. To manage other alerting resources add an `Alertmanager` data source.

### Queries

- **Maximum lines** - Sets the maximum number of log lines returned by Loki. Increase the limit to have a bigger results set for ad-hoc analysis. Decrease the limit if your browser is sluggish when displaying log results. The default is `1000`.

### Derived fields

Derived Fields are used to extract new fields from your logs and create a link from the value of the field.

For example, you can link to your tracing backend directly from your logs, or link to a user profile page if the log line contains a corresponding `userId`. These links appear in the [log details](/docs/grafana/latest/explore/logs-integration/#labels-and-detected-fields).

You can add multiple derived fields.

> Note
> 
> If you use Grafana Cloud, you can request modifications to this feature by clicking **Open a Support Ticket** from the Grafana Cloud Portal.

Each derived field consists of the following:

- **Name** - Sets the field name. Displayed as a label in the log details.
- **Type** - Defines the type of the derived field. It can be either:

> Caution
> 
> Using complex regular expressions in either type can impact browser performance when processing large volumes of logs. Consider using simpler patterns when possible.

- **Regex**: A regular expression to parse a part of the log message and capture it as the value of the new field. Can contain only one capture group.
- **Label**: A label from the selected log line. This can be any type of label - indexed, parsed or structured metadata. When using this type, the input will match as a regular expression against label keys, allowing you to match variations like `traceid` and `trace_id` with a single regex pattern like `trace[_]?id`. The value of the matched label will be used as the value of the derived field.
- **URL/query** Sets the full link URL if the link is external, or a query for the target data source if the link is internal. You can interpolate the value from the field with the `${__value.raw}` macro.
- **URL Label** - Sets a custom display label for the link. This setting overrides the link label, which defaults to the full external URL or name of the linked internal data source.
- **Internal link** - Toggle on to define an internal link. For internal links, you can select the target data source from a selector. This supports only tracing data sources.
- **Open in new tab** - Toggle on to open the link in a new tab or window.
- **Show example log message** - Click to paste an example log line to test the regular expression of your derived fields.

Click **Save & test** to test your connection.

#### Troubleshoot interpolation

You can use a debug section to see what your fields extract and how the URL is interpolated. Select **Show example log message** to display a text area where you can enter a log message.

[Screenshot of the derived fields debugging](/static/img/docs/v75/loki_derived_fields_settings.png)

The new field with the link shown in log details:

[Data link in Explore](/static/img/docs/explore/data-link-9-4.png)