Export telemetry to Grafana Cloud

This tutorial shows you how to export metrics from your Datum platform to Grafana Cloud using an ExportPolicy and Secret.

Before you begin

This tutorial assumes you have already:

• Registered a Datum account
• Installed and configured the necessary tools
• Created a Datum project
• [Configured a kubeconfig context for your project]( “create-project#add-a-kubeconfig-context-for-your-project” >}} )
• A Grafana Cloud account with an active instance

Overview

You will configure metric export by:

1. Accessing your Grafana Cloud instance
2. Generating Prometheus remote write configuration
3. Creating Datum Secret and ExportPolicy resources

The process extracts connection details from Grafana Cloud’s generated configuration and creates the necessary Datum resources automatically.

Step 1: Access your Grafana Cloud instance

If you don’t have a Grafana Cloud account, create one at grafana.com.

1. Sign in to Grafana Cloud
2. Navigate to your desired instance
3. Copy your instance URL (for example: https://play.grafana.net)

Step 2: Generate connection URL

Use this form to generate the Grafana Cloud connection URL:

Grafana Cloud Connection URL Generator

Grafana Cloud Instance URL:

Connection URL (for Step 3):

Step 3: Get Prometheus configuration

1. Click the generated connection URL above
2. Choose whether to create a new API token or use an existing one
3. Complete the form and submit it
4. Copy the generated Prometheus configuration YAML

The configuration looks similar to this:

remote_write:
  - url: https://prometheus-prod-56-prod-us-east-2.grafana.net/api/prom/push
    basic_auth:
      username: 123456
      password: glc_eyJvIjoiNzA2...

Step 4: Generate and apply Datum resources

Paste your Prometheus configuration below to generate the Secret and ExportPolicy. Use the tabs to choose between applying from stdin or saving to files:

Datum Resource Generator

Prometheus Configuration YAML:

Secret

Name:

Provide your Prometheus configuration above to generate the Secret manifest

ExportPolicy

Name:

Secret Manifest

Apply from stdin Apply from file

ExportPolicy Manifest

Apply from stdin Apply from file

Provide your Prometheus configuration above to generate the Secret manifest

Provide your Prometheus configuration above to generate the ExportPolicy manifest

Step 5: Verify the configuration

Check that your resources were created successfully using the names you specified:

Verify the Secret:

kubectl get secret grafana-cloud-credentials

Verify the ExportPolicy:

kubectl get exportpolicy export-datum-telemetry

Step 6: View metrics in Grafana Cloud

1. Return to your Grafana Cloud instance
2. Navigate to Explore in the left sidebar
3. Select your Prometheus data source
4. Run a query like {service_name="telemetry.miloapis.com"} to see your metrics

Troubleshooting

If you encounter issues:

1. Check Secret encoding: Ensure username and password are correctly base64 encoded
2. Verify endpoint URL: Confirm the Prometheus remote write endpoint is accessible
3. Review ExportPolicy: Check that the metricsql selector matches your services
4. Check authentication: Verify your API token has write permissions for Prometheus

For additional help, consult the Grafana Cloud documentation.