> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/tutorials/databases/mariadb/monitor-mariadb-databases.md).
# Monitor MariaDB v2 Clusters Using Grafana
Learn how to configure observability for MariaDB v2 clusters on IONOS CLOUD. Enable the Logging and Monitoring services, stream metrics and logs to Grafana, and set \`PromQL\` alert thresholds.
## Overview
This tutorial demonstrates how to configure observability for [MariaDB v2](https://api.ionos.com/docs/mariadb/v2/) clusters on space.vars.ionos\_cloud using the [Logging Service](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/observability/logging-service) and [Monitoring Service](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/observability/monitoring-service). Once both services are activated at the contract level and the cluster level, metrics and logs stream to a regional Grafana endpoint where you can search and visualize MariaDB health metrics.
```mermaid
flowchart LR
subgraph Contract["Contract level, per region"]
LOG["Logging Service\nenabled: true/false"]
MON["Monitoring Service\nenabled: true/false"]
end
subgraph Cluster["Cluster level"]
MDB["MariaDB v2 cluster\nlogsEnabled / metricsEnabled"]
end
GATE{"Both layers true?"}
GRAF["Grafana dashboard"]
LOG --> GATE
MON --> GATE
MDB --> GATE
GATE -->|"yes"| GRAF
GATE -->|"no"| NODATA["No data visible"]
style Contract fill:#CCE4F6,stroke:#003D8F,color:#003D8F
style Cluster fill:#CCE4F6,stroke:#003D8F,color:#003D8F
```
MariaDB v2 on space.vars.ionos\_cloud provides two categories of observable metrics:
* **Infrastructure metrics**, collected by `node_exporter`, covering CPU, memory, disk I/O, filesystem capacity, and network throughput at the operating-system level.
* **Database health metrics**, sourced from `mysqld_exporter`, covering connection counts, query throughput, InnoDB buffer pool performance, locking, and replication status.
MariaDB v2 metrics provide actionable insight into cluster performance, enabling reliable operations, faster incident resolution, and data-driven capacity planning for production deployments. For the complete list of available metrics, see [Metrics](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/databases/mariadb/overview/metrics).
## Target audience
This tutorial targets database administrators, DevOps engineers, and platform engineers who manage MariaDB workloads on space.vars.ionos\_cloud. Readers benefit from prior experience with REST APIs, Bearer token authentication, and basic `PromQL` or Grafana dashboard concepts.
## What you will learn
By following this tutorial, you will learn how to:
* Activate observability services and allow log and metric collection on a MariaDB v2 cluster.
* Access the regional Grafana endpoint and search for MariaDB metrics.
* Apply recommended alert thresholds for CPU, memory, disk, connections, and replication metrics.
## Prerequisites
Ensure you have:
* An active space.vars.ionos\_cloud contract with permissions to manage observability and database resources.
* A valid space.vars.ionos\_cloud API token exported as `IONOS_TOKEN`.
* A MariaDB v2 cluster, or permission to create one. For more information, see [MariaDB v2 API specification](https://api.ionos.com/docs/mariadb/v2/).
* `curl` or any HTTP client for API calls.
* A web browser to use Grafana.
## Cost considerations
The following resources are billable and incur costs when you use them:
* **Logging and Monitoring services:** Charges apply per region after activation.
* **MariaDB v2 clusters:** Compute, storage, and Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR) backup charges apply independent of observability settings.
{% hint style="info" %}
**Note:** Delete clusters and make observability services inactive if not in use to avoid ongoing charges.
{% endhint %}
## Procedure
The activation flow has two independent layers. You activate the Logging and Monitoring services once per region at the contract level, and you toggle log and metric collection per cluster. Both layers must show `true` before data appears in Grafana.
Use the following procedure to configure observability for a MariaDB v2 cluster:
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
### Activate the Logging Service for a region
Send a request to the regional Logging API endpoint with `enabled` set to `true`. The Logging Service activates for the contract in that region.
Refer to the full schema in the [Logging API v1 documentation](https://api.ionos.com/docs/logging/v1/).
{% hint style="info" %}
**Note:** You can also allow Central Logging through the DCD. For more information, see [Send Logs to the Platform](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/observability/logging-service/quick-start/send-logs-to-platform).
{% endhint %}
```bash
curl --request PUT \
--url 'https://logging.de-fra.ionos.com/central' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer $IONOS_TOKEN' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
"properties": {
"enabled": true
}
}'
```
The response returns a resource that includes the `grafanaEndpoint` URL and the `enabled: true` property. The `grafanaEndpoint` value is identical for all customers in that region.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Activate the Monitoring Service for the same region
Repeat the activation against the Monitoring API endpoint. The Monitoring Service activates separately from Logging.
Refer to the full schema in the [Monitoring API v1 documentation](https://api.ionos.com/docs/observability-monitoring/v1/).
```bash
curl --request PUT \
--url 'https://monitoring.de-fra.ionos.com/central' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer $IONOS_TOKEN' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--data '{
"properties": {
"enabled": true
}
}'
```
{% hint style="info" %}
**Note:**
* Activation is regional. You can activate Logging and Monitoring in every region where MariaDB clusters run. MariaDB v2 is available in nine regions: `de-txl`, `de-fra`, `fr-par`, `es-vit`, `gb-lhr`, `gb-bhx`, `us-las`, `us-mci`, and `us-ewr`. The `grafanaEndpoint` returned by both services resolves to the same Grafana instance per region, for example `https://grafana.logging.de-fra.ionos.com`.
* You can perform activation using the DCD. To do so, refer to the full schema in the [Define logging pipeline properties](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/observability/logging-service/dcd-how-tos/create-logging-service-pipeline#define-logging-pipeline-properties) and [Send Metrics to the Platform](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/observability/monitoring-service/quick-start/send-metrics-to-platform).
{% endhint %}
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Allow logs and metrics on a MariaDB cluster
Set `logsEnabled` and `metricsEnabled` to `true` in the cluster `properties` block. Apply the setting in one of two ways:
* `POST /clusters` to create a new cluster with observability activated.
* `PUT /clusters/{clusterId}` to update an existing cluster. `PUT` replaces the entire resource. Include all required fields in the request body, even if you are not changing their values. Any field omitted is set to its schema default or cleared to empty.
No separate activation endpoint exists for the cluster-level toggles.
```json
{
"properties": {
"name": "my-mariadb-cluster",
"version": "10.11",
"instances": {
"count": 1,
"ram": 4,
"cores": 2,
"storageSize": 20
},
"connection": {
"datacenterId": "b2e87f8a-0d6d-4b6e-9c1a-3f5e7d9a1c2e",
"lanId": "1",
"primaryInstanceAddress": "192.168.1.100/24"
},
"maintenanceWindow": {
"dayOfTheWeek": "Sunday",
"time": "02:00:00"
},
"backup": {
"location": "eu-central-3",
"retentionDays": 7
},
"credentials": {
"username": "dbadmin",
"password": "S3cure!Pass",
"database": "mydb"
},
"logsEnabled": true,
"metricsEnabled": true
}
}
```
Each cluster manages logs and metrics independently. Use it to keep test clusters quiet while production clusters stream full telemetry.
{% hint style="warning" %}
**Warning:**
* If you set `logsEnabled` or `metricsEnabled` to `true` while the contract-level Logging or Monitoring Service is inactive, the API accepts the request without error.
* No data flows to Grafana until you activate the corresponding service in that region.
{% endhint %}
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Verify the activation matrix
Both layers must report `true` for data to appear in Grafana. The following matrix summarizes every combination.
| **Logging or Monitoring Service activated** | **MariaDB cluster logs or metrics activated** | **Visibility result** |
| ------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------- |
| `true` | `true` | Logs visible, metrics visible |
| `true` | `false` | Not visible |
| `false` | `true` | Not visible |
| `false` | `false` | Not visible |
| {% endstep %} | | |
{% step %}
### Access the Grafana dashboard
1\. Open the regional Grafana URL returned by the activation response. The URL follows the pattern `https://grafana.logging.{region}.ionos.com`, for example:
```
https://grafana.logging.de-fra.ionos.com
```
{% hint style="warning" %}
**Important:** Metric collection starts when you provision a cluster. The first metrics appear in Grafana or through the API within 10 to 60 minutes.
{% endhint %}
2\. Sign in with your space.vars.ionos\_cloud contract user credentials. Administrator users and users with observability access can sign in.
{% hint style="info" %}
**Note:** If you have not previously used the observability product, you cannot sign in to Grafana until your permissions propagate.
{% endhint %}
3\. On the left-hand menu, go to **Connections** > **Data sources**, then select **Drilldown** > **Metrics** and choose the **Mimir** data source.
4\. In **Search metric**, search for a MariaDB metric name, such as `mysql_up`, `mysql_global_status_threads_connected`, `mysql_global_status_slow_queries`, or `mysql_slave_status_seconds_behind_master`, to plot it as its own panel. Infrastructure metrics such as `node_memory_MemAvailable_bytes` and `node_disk_io_time_seconds_total` are also available from the same data source.
5\. Review the curated metric catalog in [Metrics](https://docs.ionos.com/cloud/databases/mariadb/overview/metrics), which lists infrastructure metrics (collected by `node_exporter`) and database health metrics (sourced from `mysqld_exporter`), and view the corresponding metrics in Grafana.
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
### Apply recommended alert thresholds
Configure the following alert rules in Grafana to detect the most common MariaDB failure modes early:
| **Alert** | **Threshold** | **What it indicates** |
| ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Instance reachability | `mysql_up` equal to `0` | The instance is unreachable; alert immediately. |
| Connection saturation | `mysql_global_status_threads_connected` approaching `mysql_global_variables_max_connections` | Client connections nearing the configured limit; alert before `mysql_global_status_aborted_connects` starts increasing. |
| Slow queries | `mysql_global_status_slow_queries` increasing | Queries exceeding the configured time threshold; alert on any sustained increase. |
| InnoDB buffer pool efficiency | Rising `mysql_global_status_innodb_buffer_pool_reads` relative to `mysql_global_status_innodb_buffer_pool_read_requests` | Increasing disk reads instead of buffer pool hits, indicating an undersized buffer pool. |
| Replication lag | `mysql_slave_status_seconds_behind_master` above an acceptable threshold for your workload | A secondary instance falling behind the primary. |
| Replication thread state | `mysql_slave_status_slave_io_running` or `mysql_slave_status_slave_sql_running` equal to `0` | A replication thread has stopped; alert immediately. |
| Available memory | Below `10%` of `node_memory_MemTotal_bytes` | Node-level memory pressure that can affect the instance. |
| Filesystem free space | Below `15%` of `node_filesystem_size_bytes` | Risk of write failures on data or log volumes. |
| Disk I/O saturation | `rate(node_disk_io_time_seconds_total[5m])` above `0.9` | I/O saturation that can affect InnoDB redo log flushing and checkpoint completion. |
Example `PromQL` for the InnoDB buffer pool efficiency alert:
```promql
rate(mysql_global_status_innodb_buffer_pool_reads[5m])
/
rate(mysql_global_status_innodb_buffer_pool_read_requests[5m])
```
Example `PromQL` for the available memory alert:
```promql
(node_memory_MemAvailable_bytes / node_memory_MemTotal_bytes) * 100 < 10
```
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
{% hint style="success" %}
**Result:** The metrics and logs for MariaDB v2 clusters are successfully available in the Grafana dashboard.
{% endhint %}
## Troubleshooting
## No data appears in Grafana after activation
Both layers must report `true` before data flows. Verify that the contract-level Logging and Monitoring services are active for the region and that the cluster `properties` block shows `logsEnabled: true` and `metricsEnabled: true`. If either layer is `false`, no data flows regardless of the other layer's state.
## API accepts `logsEnabled: true` but no data flows
This is an expected behaviour. If you set `logsEnabled` or `metricsEnabled` to `true` while the contract-level service is inactive, the API accepts the request without error. Activate the corresponding Logging or Monitoring Service for the region first, then verify that the cluster property is still set to `true`.
## Grafana sign-in fails or shows a permission error
Only administrator users and users who have been explicitly granted access to the observability product can sign in. If you have never previously interacted with the observability product, your permissions may not have propagated yet. Wait a few minutes and try again, or ask your contract administrator to confirm that observability access has been granted.
## Activation response does not include a `grafanaEndpoint`
A missing `grafanaEndpoint` in the activation response indicates that the request body was malformed or that the service was not activated successfully. Confirm that the request body includes `"enabled": true` inside a valid `properties` object and that the `Content-Type: application/json` header is present. Re-send the request and check the response for an `enabled: true` field alongside the endpoint URL.
### Searching for a metric name returns no results
MariaDB v2 database health metrics use the `mysql_` prefix (for example, `mysql_up`, `mysql_global_status_threads_connected`). If a metric name returns no results, confirm you are searching for a `mysql_`-prefixed name. Infrastructure metrics use the `node_` prefix.
## Conclusion
You configured end-to-end observability for a MariaDB v2 cluster on space.vars.ionos\_cloud. The two-layer activation model gives you contract-level control over billing and per-cluster control over telemetry granularity. The curated metric catalog and recommended thresholds provide a starting point for production-grade alerting.
## Next steps
* Extend the default dashboards with custom `PromQL` panels for query latency and lock contention.
* Explore the [MariaDB v2 API specification](https://api.ionos.com/docs/mariadb/v2/) for more cluster properties such as backup location management and Point-in-Time Recovery (PITR).
---
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