Prometheus and Grafana Installation Using Helm Charts

This guide explains how to install Prometheus and Grafana in a Kubernetes cluster using Helm charts.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure the following:

1. A running Kubernetes cluster.
2. kubectl CLI installed and configured.
3. Helm CLI installed (version 3 or later).

Step 1: Add Helm Repositories

Add the Prometheus and Grafana Helm chart repositories:

helm repo add prometheus-community https://prometheus-community.github.io/helm-charts
helm repo add grafana https://grafana.github.io/helm-charts
helm repo update

Step 2: Install Prometheus

1. Create a dedicated namespace for monitoring components:

   kubectl create namespace monitoring

2. Install Prometheus using the kube-prometheus-stack Helm chart:

   helm install prometheus prometheus-community/kube-prometheus-stack \
     --namespace monitoring

3. Verify the Prometheus installation:

   kubectl get pods -n monitoring

Step 3: Install Grafana

1. Install Grafana in the same namespace:

   helm install grafana grafana/grafana \
     --namespace monitoring

2. Verify the Grafana installation:

   kubectl get pods -n monitoring

3. Retrieve the Grafana admin password:

   kubectl get secret grafana -n monitoring -o jsonpath="{.data.admin-password}" | base64 --decode

   The default username is admin.

Step 4: Access Prometheus and Grafana

1. Prometheus:

   • Forward the Prometheus service port:

     kubectl port-forward svc/prometheus-kube-prometheus-prometheus -n monitoring 9090:9090

   • Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:9090.

2. Grafana:

   • Forward the Grafana service port:

     kubectl port-forward svc/grafana -n monitoring 3000:80

   • Open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:3000.

Step 5: Configure Grafana

1. Login to Grafana using the admin credentials retrieved earlier.

2. Add Prometheus as a data source:

   • Navigate to Configuration → Data Sources → Add Data Source.
   • Select Prometheus.
   • Set the URL to http://prometheus-kube-prometheus-prometheus.monitoring.svc.cluster.local:9090.
   • Click Save & Test.

3. Import Prebuilt Dashboards:

   • Go to Create → Import.
   • Enter the Dashboard ID from Grafana's Dashboard Library.
   • Example: Use Dashboard ID 315 for Kubernetes cluster monitoring.

Step 6: Uninstall (Optional)

To uninstall Prometheus and Grafana:

1. Uninstall Prometheus:

   helm uninstall prometheus -n monitoring

2. Uninstall Grafana:

   helm uninstall grafana -n monitoring

3. Delete the monitoring namespace:

   kubectl delete namespace monitoring

Notes

• Ensure sufficient resources are allocated to your Kubernetes cluster for running Prometheus and Grafana.
• Use PersistentVolumes if you need long-term data storage for Prometheus or Grafana configurations.
• Secure Grafana with Single Sign-On (SSO) or by enabling HTTPS for production use.