Documentation Plugins Looker data source Installation

Install the Looker data source plugin

This document covers how to install, upgrade, and verify the Looker data source plugin across different Grafana deployment environments. After you install the plugin, refer to Configure the Looker data source to set up a connection.

Before you begin

Verify the following requirements before installing:

Activate the Enterprise plugin

The Looker data source is a Grafana Enterprise plugin. Before you can install it, the plugin must be licensed and activated for your environment. If the plugin isn’t activated, the Install button doesn’t appear, and Save & test returns a generic Plugin health check failed error.

Grafana Cloud

To confirm the plugin is available on Grafana Cloud:

1. Go to the Grafana Cloud portal and sign in.
2. Select your organization and open the Plugins tab to verify the plugin is activated.
3. If it isn’t listed, confirm your Cloud plan is Pro or Advanced, and contact your Grafana account team to add it.

Self-managed Grafana Enterprise

To activate the plugin on self-managed Grafana Enterprise:

1. Confirm your Grafana Enterprise license includes the plugin.
2. Provide the license using the GF_ENTERPRISE_LICENSE_TEXT environment variable or a path to a license file. Refer to Activate an Enterprise license.
3. Restart Grafana and confirm the license is active under Administration > General > Stats and license.

Install the plugin

Choose the installation method that matches your Grafana deployment.

Grafana Cloud

To install on Grafana Cloud:

1. Navigate to Administration > Plugins and data > Plugins.
2. Search for Looker and click Install.

Self-managed Grafana (CLI)

Install the plugin with the Grafana CLI:

Bash Copy

grafana cli plugins install grafana-looker-datasource

Restart Grafana after installation.

Docker

Set the GF_INSTALL_PLUGINS environment variable and provide the Enterprise license with GF_ENTERPRISE_LICENSE_TEXT:

Bash Copy

docker run -d \
  -p 3000:3000 \
  -e "GF_INSTALL_PLUGINS=grafana-looker-datasource" \
  -e "GF_ENTERPRISE_LICENSE_TEXT=<YOUR_LICENSE_TEXT>" \
  grafana/grafana-enterprise

Kubernetes

Add the plugin to your Helm values or the GF_INSTALL_PLUGINS environment variable. If you don’t control the Helm chart, use an init container to download and extract the plugin into the plugins volume.

Air-gapped (offline) installation

To install without internet access on the Grafana server:

1. Download the plugin archive on a machine with internet access from the plugin catalog.
2. Transfer the archive to the Grafana server and extract it into the plugins directory.
3. Confirm the extracted folder is named grafana-looker-datasource and contains the complete, unmodified archive contents.
4. Set ownership on the extracted files and restart Grafana.

Grafana signs the Looker plugin, so it loads without extra configuration. If Grafana reports a signature error after a manual extraction, the cause is usually an incomplete extraction or a renamed folder. Re-download the archive from the catalog, confirm the folder is named grafana-looker-datasource, and extract the complete, unmodified contents. Don’t enable allow_loading_unsigned_plugins, because Grafana signs the plugin and a signature error indicates a packaging problem to fix rather than a plugin to force-load.

Verify the installation

To confirm the plugin installed successfully:

1. Navigate to Administration > Plugins and data > Plugins.
2. Search for Looker and verify it shows a status of Installed.

Upgrade the plugin

To upgrade on self-managed Grafana:

1. Navigate to Administration > Plugins and data > Plugins.
2. Search for Looker and open its page.
3. If an update is available, click Update, then restart Grafana.

To install a specific version with the CLI, append the version to the plugin ID:

Bash Copy

grafana cli plugins install grafana-looker-datasource <VERSION>

To roll back to a previous version, install the earlier version with the CLI and restart Grafana. Existing data source configurations are preserved.

Uninstall the plugin

To remove the plugin with the Grafana CLI:

Bash Copy

grafana cli plugins remove grafana-looker-datasource

Restart Grafana after removal. For Docker and Kubernetes, remove the plugin ID from GF_INSTALL_PLUGINS or the Helm values, and redeploy. Existing data source configurations remain in the Grafana database but become non-functional until you reinstall the plugin.

Troubleshoot installation issues

The following are common installation issues and their causes:

• Plugin doesn’t appear in the catalog. The plugin isn’t activated for your license or Cloud plan. Refer to Activate the Enterprise plugin.
• Install button is missing. You don’t have the Organization administrator role, or the plugin isn’t licensed.
• License key errors. The Enterprise license doesn’t include grafana-looker-datasource. Contact your Grafana account team.
• Signature errors after a manual extraction. Grafana signs the plugin, so this usually means an incomplete extraction or a renamed folder. Confirm the folder is named grafana-looker-datasource and contains the complete archive contents.

For more help, refer to Troubleshoot Looker data source issues.