Database monitoring overview
Database monitoring gives you a full picture of your databases. You set it up through a wizard, not hand-written configuration. It works alongside the automatic eBPF view of your queries.
Two views of your databases
Section titled “Two views of your databases”The agent shows your databases in two ways that work together:
- From eBPF, automatically and with no credentials. Database Activity Monitoring (DAM) shows the queries your applications run against the database, with their timing. These appear as part of your distributed traces and the service map. This turns on by default. See eBPF observability.
- From the database, when you opt in. Database monitoring reads the database’s own health metrics (connections, cache hit ratio, replication lag, and more), query performance, and logs. This needs a monitoring user’s credentials.
The two views line up on a shared database identity, so a slow query you see in a trace matches the server’s health metrics for the same database. See Telemetry identity.
Coverages
Section titled “Coverages”You choose what to monitor for a database as a set of coverages, such as standard metrics, query performance, locks, or logs. You pick the coverages you want, and the agent sets up the collection. See Engines and coverages for what each engine supports.
The wizard
Section titled “The wizard”You set up monitoring for a database through a wizard, usually starting from a database the agent already found:
- Pick the engine. The agent lists databases it discovered, so the engine and endpoint are often prefilled.
- Choose coverages. Turn on the coverage areas you want, such as standard metrics, query performance, or locks.
- Provide credentials. Enter the monitoring user and its secret. By default, the secret is stored as a reference and never leaves the host. See Database credentials.
- Follow the setup steps. The wizard shows the exact grants and prerequisites each coverage needs, ready to copy.
- Review and apply. The wizard previews what will be collected, and on save the agent starts collecting.
Safe to apply
Section titled “Safe to apply”The agent validates the setup before applying it. It handles each database on its own, so one bad database setting cannot affect the others or your other telemetry.