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Installation Overview

Grafana is a monitoring and observability platform available in two editions: Grafana Enterprise and Grafana Open Source. This guide covers multiple installation methods to help you deploy Grafana in your environment.

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Editions

Grafana is available in two editions:
  • Grafana Enterprise: The recommended and default edition. It is available for free and includes all the features of the OSS edition. You can upgrade to the full Enterprise feature set, which includes support for Enterprise plugins.
  • Grafana Open Source (OSS): Functionally identical to the Enterprise version, but you will need to download the Enterprise version if you want Enterprise features.

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Installation Methods

Choose the installation method that best suits your infrastructure:
  • Docker: Run Grafana in containers using Docker CLI or Docker Compose
  • Kubernetes: Deploy Grafana on Kubernetes using manifests or Helm charts
  • Debian/Ubuntu: Install on Debian-based systems using APT repository or DEB packages
  • RPM-based Systems: Install on RHEL, Fedora, CentOS using YUM/DNF repository or RPM packages

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System Requirements

Before you begin, ensure your system meets the minimum requirements.

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Hardware Requirements

Minimum resources:
  • Memory: 512 MB
  • CPU: 1 core
  • Disk space: 1 GB
Recommended for production (Small tier):
  • Memory: 2-4 GB
  • CPU: 2 cores
  • Disk space: 10-20 GB SSD

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Deployment Tiers

TierConcurrent UsersAlert RulesData SourcesDashboardsCPU CoresMemory
Small< 25< 100< 5< 20022-4 GB
Medium25-200100-1,0005-25200-2,0004-88-16 GB
Large200+1,000+25+2,000+8-16+16-32+ GB

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Supported Databases

Grafana supports the following databases for storing configuration data:
  • SQLite 3 (default, not recommended for production)
  • MySQL 8.0+
  • PostgreSQL 12+
SQLite works well for local development and small evaluation instances, but it doesn’t scale for production workloads. For production deployments, use MySQL or PostgreSQL.

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Supported Operating Systems

  • Debian 9 or later
  • Ubuntu 18.04 LTS or later
  • RHEL 8 or later
  • Fedora 34 or later
  • CentOS 8 or later
  • Alpine Linux 3.23+
  • macOS
  • Windows

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Supported Web Browsers

Grafana supports the current version of:
  • Chrome/Chromium
  • Firefox
  • Safari
  • Microsoft Edge
JavaScript must be enabled in your browser. Running Grafana without JavaScript is not supported.

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Default Configuration

After installation, Grafana runs with the following defaults:
  • Port: 3000 (HTTP)
  • Default credentials: Username admin, password admin (change on first login)
  • Configuration file: /etc/grafana/grafana.ini
  • Data directory: /var/lib/grafana
  • Logs directory: /var/log/grafana
  • Plugins directory: /var/lib/grafana/plugins
  • Provisioning directory: /etc/grafana/provisioning

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Next Steps

Select an installation method: