---
title: "Restart Grafana Alloy and test the connection | Grafana Labs"
description: "Learn how to verify that Grafana Alloy is installed and configured correctly"
---

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

# Restart Grafana Alloy and test the connection

By now, you’ve installed and configured Grafana Alloy. Congratulations! In this step, you’ll restart Grafana Alloy and test that Grafana Cloud is collecting data from your Windows system.

To restart Alloy and test the connection, complete the following steps:

1. On your Windows system, open Command Prompt as Administrator.
2. Restart the Alloy service:
   
   cmd ![Copy code to clipboard](/media/images/icons/icon-copy-small-2.svg) Copy
   
   ```cmd
   sc stop "Alloy" 
   sc start "Alloy" 
   sc query "Alloy" | find "STATE"
   ```
   
   > **Tip:** You will see output indicating the service is stopping and starting.
3. In Grafana Cloud, click **Test connection**.
   
   It might take up to a few minutes for the system to verify the connection.
   
   You’ll know the connection is working when you see `Integration is collecting data and sending it to Grafana Cloud`.

In the next milestone, you’ll install pre-configured dashboards and alerts.

* * *

### Troubleshooting

Explore the following troubleshooting topics if you need help:

- [Failed to install Alloy for Windows](/docs/grafana-cloud/monitor-infrastructure/integrations/troubleshoot/install-troubleshooting-windows-alloy/#error-failed-to-install-alloy-for-windows)
- [The script needs to be run with Administrator privileges](/docs/grafana-cloud/monitor-infrastructure/integrations/troubleshoot/install-troubleshooting-windows-alloy/#error-the-script-needs-to-be-run-with-administrator-privileges)