Demo Loki Installation

This guide shows how to install a standalone Loki instance and configure Grafana to query logs from it. The demo uses two Ubuntu nodes:

node01 — runs Grafana (already installed) and will host Loki in this tutorial.
node02 — a separate Ubuntu node from which we will collect logs using an agent.

Note: Installing Grafana and Loki on the same machine is purely for demo convenience. In production, run them on separate hosts or in a distributed setup.

This lesson demonstrates a manual Loki installation using the binary download. You can also install Loki via your package manager (apt/dnf) or follow the installation options or run it in Kubernetes.

Prerequisites

SSH access to node01 and node02.
Example: SSH from node01 to node02:

bob@node01:~$ ssh node02
Welcome to Ubuntu 20.04.3 LTS (GNU/Linux 6.8.0-124-generic x86_64)

 * Documentation:  https://help.ubuntu.com
 * Management:     https://landscape.canonical.com
 * Support:        https://ubuntu.com/advantage

Last login: Sun Jul 26 13:59:37 2026 from 10.244.51.183

bob@node02:~$

Quick reference — default ports and paths

Component	Default port / path	Notes
Loki HTTP API	`3100`	API & Grafana queries
Loki gRPC	`9096`	Used by some clients
Local TSDB path in example	`/tmp/loki`	Demo-only filesystem storage
Promtail push endpoint	`http://node01:3100/loki/api/v1/push`	Used by promtail on node02

Downloading the Loki release (manual install)

Browse the Loki releases and pick the Linux AMD64 asset for your desired version. On the release page select the loki-linux-amd64.zip file and copy its download URL.

A dark-themed screenshot of a software "Release list" page showing version entries on the left and a list of downloadable build assets (zip/exe files) on the right with SHA256 hashes, file sizes, and recent timestamps.

On node01, download the zip, unzip it, and make the binary executable:

# download (example URL)
bob@node01:~$ wget https://github.com/grafana/loki/releases/download/v3.6.13/loki-linux-amd64.zip

# list and unzip
bob@node01:~$ ls
loki-linux-amd64.zip

bob@node01:~$ unzip loki-linux-amd64.zip
Archive:  loki-linux-amd64.zip
  inflating: loki-linux-amd64

bob@node01:~$ ls
loki-linux-amd64  loki-linux-amd64.zip

# make executable
bob@node01:~$ chmod +x loki-linux-amd64

Tip: Optionally move the binary to a system path, for example /usr/local/bin, so you can run loki-linux-amd64 from any directory. Download and review a sample configuration Loki ships a sample local configuration you can use to get started:

bob@node01:~$ wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/grafana/loki/main/cmd/loki/loki-local-config.yaml

Open the sample config to review or edit. A trimmed excerpt showing important sections:

server:
  http_listen_port: 3100
  grpc_listen_port: 9096
  log_level: debug
  grpc_server_max_concurrent_streams: 1000

common:
  instance_addr: 127.0.0.1
  path_prefix: /tmp/loki
  storage:
    filesystem:
      chunks_directory: /tmp/loki/chunks
      rules_directory: /tmp/loki/rules
  replication_factor: 1
  ring:
    kvstore:
      store: inmemory

query_range:
  results_cache:
    cache:
      embedded_cache:
        enabled: true
        max_size_mb: 100

limits_config:
  metric_aggregation_enabled: true
  enable_multi_variant_queries: true

schema_config:
  configs:
    - from: 2020-10-24
      store: tsdb
      object_store: filesystem
      schema: v13
      index:
        prefix: index_
        period: 24h

ruler:
  alertmanager_url: http://localhost:9093

frontend:
  encoding: protobuf

This sample binds the HTTP API on port 3100 and gRPC on 9096, stores data under /tmp/loki, and uses the filesystem TSDB — appropriate only for demos and evaluation. Start Loki with the config file Run Loki and point it to the downloaded configuration file:

bob@node01:~$ ./loki-linux-amd64 --config.file=loki-local-config.yaml

If you want to run Loki in the background or as a service, create a systemd unit or use a process manager (not covered in detail here). Using systemd is recommended for production-style deployments. Verify Loki is running Loki exposes Prometheus-style metrics at /metrics. From node01 check:

bob@node01:~$ curl -s http://localhost:3100/metrics | head -n 20
# HELP deprecated_flags_inuse_total The number of deprecated flags currently set.
# TYPE deprecated_flags_inuse_total counter
deprecated_flags_inuse_total 0
# HELP go_cgo_go_to_c_calls_calls_total Count of calls made from Go to C by the current process. Sourced from /cgo/go-to-c-calls:calls.
# TYPE go_cgo_go_to_c_calls_calls_total counter
go_cgo_go_to_c_calls_calls_total 0
# HELP go_cpu_classes_gc_mark_assist_cpu_seconds_total Estimated total CPU time goroutines spent performing GC tasks to assist the GC and prevent it from falling behind the application.
# TYPE go_cpu_classes_gc_mark_assist_cpu_seconds_total counter
go_cpu_classes_gc_mark_assist_cpu_seconds_total 0.000561987

If you see similar output, Loki is running and responding on http://localhost:3100. Connect Grafana to Loki

In Grafana (running on node01 in this demo), add a new data source of type “Loki” — see the official docs: Grafana Loki datasource.
Set the URL to http://localhost:3100 and click “Save & Test”. Grafana should report a successful connection.
Open Explore, select the Loki data source, and start running log queries.

A dark-themed Grafana Explore screen using the Loki datasource, showing a query builder with label filters and a large "No data" panel. The left sidebar displays navigation items like Home, Dashboards, Explore, and Connections.

Collecting logs from node02 (install an agent) Grafana can query Loki now, but Loki has no log streams yet. To forward logs from node02 to node01, install a log shipper such as Promtail on node02. A minimal promtail configuration that pushes logs to the Loki HTTP endpoint:

server:
  http_listen_port: 9080

clients:
  - url: http://node01:3100/loki/api/v1/push

scrape_configs:
  - job_name: system
    static_configs:
      - targets:
          - localhost
        labels:
          job: varlogs
          __path__: /var/log/*.log

Steps to install Promtail on node02:

Download the matching Promtail release (from the official releases), unzip, and make the binary executable.
Save the YAML config above as promtail-config.yaml on node02.
Start promtail pointing to the config file, for example:

bob@node02:~$ ./promtail-linux-amd64 -config.file=promtail-config.yaml

Promtail will tail /var/log/*.log (or any paths you configure) and push log streams to http://node01:3100/loki/api/v1/push. Once promtail is running and sending logs, refresh Grafana Explore — log labels and messages should appear. Closing notes and production considerations

For production, use durable object stores such as S3 or GCS instead of the local filesystem and configure retention, replication, and authentication accordingly.
To scale Loki and make it discoverable or load-balanced across instances, review Loki’s storage and ring configuration in the official docs.
You can point Loki at multiple configuration files by passing a comma-separated list to --config.file. Use --verify-config to validate configuration before starting.

Example flags:

bob@node01:~$ ./loki-linux-amd64 --help | grep config
--config.file string       configuration file to load, can be a comma separated list of paths, first existing file will be used (default "config.yaml,config/config.yaml")
--runtime-config.file value Comma separated list of yaml files with the configuration that can be updated at runtime.
--schema-config-file string Path to the schema config file.
--verify-config             Verify config file and exit

This tutorial uses local filesystem storage and runs components on the same host for simplicity. Do not use this setup for production workloads — configure durable object storage, secure networking, and proper service management.

Links and references

Grafana Loki documentation — https://grafana.com/docs/loki/latest/
Promtail (Loki client) docs — https://grafana.com/docs/loki/latest/clients/promtail/
Loki releases — https://github.com/grafana/loki/releases

That completes the basic manual installation and Grafana integration steps for Loki.

Course Introduction

Grafana Loki Essentials

Grafana Loki on Kubernetes

Demo Loki Installation

Watch Video