MySQL with Database Observability

Database Observability gives you deep visibility into MySQL query performance, whether your database is self-managed or running on a managed cloud service.


What it monitors	Query performance, wait events, connections, replication, InnoDB health
How it works	Grafana Alloy reads from MySQL Performance Schema (enabled by default in 8.0+)
What you see	Top queries by duration, explain plans with cost highlighting, wait events, query samples
Supported variants	Self-managed MySQL 8.0+, Amazon RDS, Amazon Aurora, Google Cloud SQL, Azure Database

What you’ll get

Queries Overview dashboard showing RED metrics for every query
Explain plans revealing full table scans, missing indexes, and expensive joins
Wait events showing lock contention, I/O bottlenecks, and resource waits
Query samples with individual execution timing
Table schemas highlighting index coverage and constraints

Trade-offs

Strengths	Considerations
Deepest MySQL visibility available in Grafana Cloud	Requires MySQL 8.0+ (MariaDB not supported)
Query-level explain plans and wait events	Requires a monitoring user with specific privileges
Managed database support (RDS, Aurora, CloudSQL, Azure)	First-time setup takes 30-60 minutes
AI-powered optimization suggestions	Uses Grafana Alloy as collection agent

Learning path

MySQL Database Observability

Set up Grafana Cloud Database Observability for MySQL to monitor query performance, explain plans, wait events, and query samples.

13 min

Intermediate

Docs & blog posts

Open in Grafana Cloud

Complete this learning path directly in your Grafana Cloud stack, or in the Grafana Play stack, with an interactive learning experience.

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Path completed

If you’re running MySQL, this is where you can set it up. Database Observability reads from MySQL Performance Schema, which is enabled by default in MySQL 8.0 and later. It works with self-managed MySQL, Amazon RDS, Aurora, Google Cloud SQL, and Azure Database.

You’ll get the full suite: a Queries Overview dashboard with RED metrics, explain plans that highlight full table scans and expensive joins, wait events showing lock contention and I/O bottlenecks, and query samples with individual execution timing.

There are a few trade-offs to consider. MySQL 8.0 or later is required, and MariaDB is not supported. You’ll need a monitoring user with specific privileges, and first-time setup typically takes 30 to 60 minutes. But once it’s running, you have the deepest MySQL visibility available in Grafana Cloud.

When you’re ready, the learning path below walks you through the setup step by step.

MySQL with Database Observability