Grafana + Loki + Promtail + Node Exporter Setup with Docker Compose

Grafana + Loki + Promtail + Node Exporter Setup with Docker Compose - Printable Version

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Grafana + Loki + Promtail + Node Exporter Setup with Docker Compose - santosh - 04-07-2026

Grafana + Loki + Promtail + Node Exporter Setup with Docker Compose

Overview
This guide covers setting up a complete monitoring and logging stack using Grafana, Loki, Promtail and Node Exporter inside Docker with Docker Compose.

Stack Components

Grafana - Visualization and dashboards (Port 3000)
Loki - Log aggregation (Port 3100)
Promtail - Log collector and shipper
Node Exporter - System metrics (Port 9100)

Step 1 - Prerequisites
Run on: Monitoring Server

Install Docker:

Code:
curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | sh

docker --version

Install Docker Compose:

Code:
sudo apt install docker-compose -y

docker-compose --version

Step 2 - Directory Structure
Run on: Monitoring Server

Create the monitoring directory:

Code:
mkdir -p /root/24x7/monitoring/grafana-lok

cd /root/24x7/monitoring/grafana-lok

Directory structure:

Code:
grafana-lok/

├── docker-compose.yml

├── loki-config.yml

├── promtail-config.yml

Step 3 - Create Docker Compose File
Run on: Monitoring Server

Code:
nano docker-compose.yml

Add the following content:

Code:
version: '3.8'

networks:

  monitoring_network:

    driver: bridge

services:

  loki:

    image: grafana/loki:latest

    container_name: loki

    ports:

      - "3100:3100"

    volumes:

      - ./loki-config.yml:/etc/loki/local-config.yaml

    command: -config.file=/etc/loki/local-config.yaml

    networks:

      - monitoring_network

    restart: unless-stopped

  promtail:

    image: grafana/promtail:latest

    container_name: promtail

    volumes:

      - /var/log:/var/log

      - ./promtail-config.yml:/etc/promtail/config.yml

    command: -config.file=/etc/promtail/config.yml

    networks:

      - monitoring_network

    restart: unless-stopped

  grafana:

    image: grafana/grafana:latest

    container_name: grafana

    ports:

      - "3000:3000"

    environment:

      - GF_SECURITY_ADMIN_USER=admin

      - GF_SECURITY_ADMIN_PASSWORD=YOUR_GRAFANA_PASSWORD

    volumes:

      - grafana_data:/var/lib/grafana

    networks:

      - monitoring_network

    restart: unless-stopped

  node_exporter:

    image: prom/node-exporter:latest

    container_name: node_exporter

    ports:

      - "9100:9100"

    networks:

      - monitoring_network

    restart: unless-stopped

volumes:

  grafana_data:

Step 4 - Create Loki Configuration
Run on: Monitoring Server

Code:
nano loki-config.yml

Add the following content:

Code:
auth_enabled: false

server:

  http_listen_port: 3100

ingester:

  lifecycler:

    address: 127.0.0.1

    ring:

      kvstore:

        store: inmemory

      replication_factor: 1

    final_sleep: 0s

  chunk_idle_period: 5m

  chunk_retain_period: 30s

  max_transfer_retries: 0

schema_config:

  configs:

    - from: 2020-10-24

      store: boltdb-shipper

      object_store: filesystem

      schema: v11

      index:

        prefix: index_

        period: 24h

storage_config:

  boltdb_shipper:

    active_index_directory: /tmp/loki/index

    cache_location: /tmp/loki/index_cache

    shared_store: filesystem

  filesystem:

    directory: /tmp/loki/chunks

limits_config:

  enforce_metric_name: false

  reject_old_samples: true

  reject_old_samples_max_age: 168h

  ingestion_rate_mb: 50

  ingestion_burst_size_mb: 100

compactor:

  working_directory: /tmp/loki/compactor

  shared_store: filesystem

  compaction_interval: 10m

Step 5 - Create Promtail Configuration
Run on: Monitoring Server

Code:
nano promtail-config.yml

Add the following content:

Code:
server:

  http_listen_port: 9080

  grpc_listen_port: 0

positions:

  filename: /tmp/positions.yaml

clients:

  - url: http://loki:3100/loki/api/v1/push

scrape_configs:

  - job_name: varlogs

    static_configs:

      - targets:

          - localhost

        labels:

          job: varlogs

          __path__: /var/log/**/*.log

Step 6 - Start All Services
Run on: Monitoring Server

Start the stack:

Code:
docker-compose up -d

Verify containers are running:

Code:
docker ps

Check logs:

Code:
docker-compose logs -f grafana

docker-compose logs -f loki

docker-compose logs -f promtail

docker-compose logs -f node_exporter

Step 7 - Access Grafana

Open browser and go to: http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:3000
Login with username: admin
Login with your configured password

Step 8 - Add Loki as Data Source

Login to Grafana
Go to Settings > Data Sources
Click Add Data Source
Select Loki
Set URL to: http://loki:3100
Click Save & Test

Step 9 - Add Node Exporter Metrics

Go to Settings > Data Sources
Click Add Data Source
Select Prometheus
Set URL to: http://node_exporter:9100
Click Save & Test

Step 10 - Managing Services
Run on: Monitoring Server

Restart all services:

Code:
docker-compose restart

Stop all services:

Code:
docker-compose down

Port Reference

Grafana: Port 3000
Loki: Port 3100
Promtail: Port 9080
Node Exporter: Port 9100

Summary

Grafana, Loki, Promtail and Node Exporter running inside Docker
All services connected via monitoring_network bridge
Loki and Promtail handle log collection and aggregation
Node Exporter provides system metrics to Grafana
Grafana accessible at http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:3000
Always use strong passwords for Grafana admin account
Consider adding Nginx reverse proxy with SSL for production