--- title: "Enable external access to Grafana Mimir | Grafana Labs Helm charts documentation" description: "Learn how to enable external access to Grafana Mimir from outside the Kubernetes cluster." --- > For a curated documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). For the complete documentation index, see [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt). # Enable external access to Grafana Mimir Set up external access to Grafana Mimir to allow writing and quering metrics from outside the Kubernetes cluster. You can set up an [ingress](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/services-networking/ingress/) that enables you to externally access a Kubernetes cluster. ## Before you begin Verify that an ingress controller is set up in the Kubernetes cluster, for example [ingress-nginx](https://kubernetes.github.io/ingress-nginx/) ## Set up ingress 1. Configure an ingress: b. Add the following to your `custom.yaml` Helm values file: YAML ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy ```yaml nginx: ingress: enabled: true ingressClassName: nginx hosts: - host: paths: - path: / pathType: Prefix tls: # empty, disabled. ``` Replace *``* with a suitable hostname that DNS can resolve to the external IP address of the Kubernetes cluster. For more information, refer to [Ingress](https://kubernetes.io/docs/concepts/services-networking/ingress/). > **Note:** On Linux systems, and if it is not possible for you set up local DNS resolution, you can use the `--add-host=:` command-line flag to define the *``* local address for the `docker` commands in the examples that follow. > **Note:** To see all of the configurable parameters for a Helm chart installation, use `helm show values grafana/mimir-distributed`. 2. Upgrade Grafana Mimir by using the `helm` command: Bash ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy ```bash helm -n mimir-test upgrade mimir grafana/mimir-distributed -f custom.yaml ``` The output of the command should contain the URL to use for querying Grafana Mimir from the outside, for example: Bash ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy ```bash From outside the cluster via ingress: http://myhost.mynetwork/prometheus ``` ## Configure Prometheus to write to Grafana Mimir You can either configure Prometheus to write to Grafana Mimir or [configure Grafana Alloy to write to Mimir](#configure-grafana-alloy-to-write-to-grafana-mimir). Although you can configure both, you don’t need to. Make a choice based on whether or not you already have a Prometheus server set up: - For an existing Prometheus server: 1. Add the following YAML snippet to your Prometheus configuration file: YAML ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy ```yaml remote_write: - url: http:///api/v1/push ``` In this case, your Prometheus server writes metrics to Grafana Mimir, based on what is defined in the existing `scrape_configs` configuration. 2. Restart the Prometheus server. - For a Prometheus server that does not exist yet: 1. Write the following configuration to a `prometheus.yml` file: YAML ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy ```yaml remote_write: - url: http:///api/v1/push scrape_configs: - job_name: prometheus honor_labels: true static_configs: - targets: ["localhost:9090"] ``` In this case, your Prometheus server writes metrics to Grafana Mimir that it scrapes from itself. 2. Start a Prometheus server by using Docker: Bash ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy ```bash docker run -p 9090:9090 -v /prometheus.yml:/etc/prometheus/prometheus.yml prom/prometheus ``` > **Note:** On Linux systems, if <ingress-host> cannot be resolved by the Prometheus server, use the additional command-line flag `--add-host=:` to set it up. ## Configure Grafana Alloy to write to Grafana Mimir You can either configure Grafana Alloy to write to Grafana Mimir or [configure Prometheus to write to Mimir](#configure-prometheus-to-write-to-grafana-mimir). Although you can configure both, you don’t need to. Make a choice based on whether you already have Alloy set up: - For an existing Alloy: 1. Add the following configuration snippet for the `prometheus.remote_write` component to your Alloy configuration file: ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy ```none prometheus.remote_write "LABEL" { endpoint { url = http:///api/v1/push } } ``` 2. Add `forward_to = [prometheus.remote_write.LABEL.receiver]` to an existing pipeline. 3. Restart Alloy. - For a new Alloy: 1. Write the following configuration to a `config.alloy` file: ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy ```none prometheus.exporter.self "self_metrics" { } prometheus.scrape "self_scrape" { targets = prometheus.exporter.self.self_metrics.targets forward_to = [prometheus.remote_write.mimir.receiver] } prometheus.remote_write "mimir" { endpoint { url = "http:///api/v1/push" } } ``` 2. Start Alloy by using Docker: Bash ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy ```bash docker run -v /config.alloy:/etc/alloy/config.alloy -p 12345:12345 grafana/alloy:latest run --server.http.listen-addr=0.0.0.0:12345 --storage.path=/var/lib/alloy/data /etc/alloy/config.alloy ``` > **Note:** On Linux systems, if <ingress-host> cannot be resolved by Alloy, use the additional command-line flag `--add-host=:` to set it up. For more information about the `prometheus.remote_write` component, refer to [prometheus.remote\_write](/docs/alloy/latest/reference/components/prometheus/prometheus.remote_write) in the Grafana Alloy documentation. ## Query metrics in Grafana You can use the Grafana installed in Kubernetes in the [Start Grafana in Kubernetes and query metrics](/docs/helm-charts/mimir-distributed/v5.8.x/get-started-helm-charts/#start-grafana-in-kubernetes-and-query-metrics) documentation, or follow the instructions below. > **Note:** If you have the port-forward running for Grafana from an earlier step, stop it. First install Grafana, and then add Mimir as a Prometheus data source. 1. Start Grafana by using Docker: Bash ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy ```bash docker run --rm --name=grafana -p 3000:3000 grafana/grafana ``` > **Note:** On Linux systems, if <ingress-host> cannot be resolved by Grafana, use the additional command-line flag `--add-host=:` to set it up. 2. In a browser, go to the Grafana server at [http://localhost:3000](http://localhost:3000). 3. Sign in using the default username `admin` and password `admin`. 4. On the left-hand side, go to **Configuration** > **Data sources**. 5. Configure a new Prometheus data source to query the local Grafana Mimir cluster, by using the following settings: Expand table | Field | Value | |-------|----------------------------------------| | Name | Mimir | | URL | http://<ingress-host>/prometheus | To add a data source, refer to [Add a data source](/docs/grafana/latest/datasources/add-a-data-source/). 6. Verify success: You should be able to query metrics in [Grafana Explore](http://localhost:3000/explore), as well as create dashboard panels by using your newly configured `Mimir` data source. For more information, refer to [Monitor Grafana Mimir](/docs/mimir/next/manage/monitor-grafana-mimir/monitor-system-health/).