Loki Kafka Development Setup

This directory contains the development environment for testing Loki with Kafka integration. The setup provides supporting services (Kafka, Grafana, and a log generator) via docker-compose, while Loki itself needs to be run manually from source code for development purposes.

Quick Start

1. Start the supporting services (Kafka, Grafana, Log Generator):

   bashCopy

   docker-compose up -d
   

2. Run Loki manually with Kafka configuration:

   bashCopy

   # From the root of the Loki repository
   go run ./cmd/loki/main.go --config.file=tools/dev/kafka/loki-local-config.debug.yaml --log.level=debug -target=all
   

   Note: Loki is not included in docker-compose as it's intended to be run directly from source code for development.

Services

Kafka

• Broker accessible at localhost:9092
• Uses KRaft (no ZooKeeper required)
• Single broker setup for development
• Topic loki is used for log ingestion

Kafka UI

• Web interface available at http://localhost:8080
• Monitor topics, messages, and consumer groups
• No authentication required

Grafana

• Available at http://localhost:3000
• Anonymous access enabled (Admin privileges)
• Pre-configured with Loki data source
• Features enabled:
  • Loki logs dataplane
  • Explore logs shard splitting
  • Loki explore app

Log Generator

• Automatically sends sample logs to Loki
• Useful for testing and development
• Configured to push logs directly to Loki's HTTP endpoint

Configuration Files

• docker-compose.yaml: Service definitions and configuration
• loki-local-config.debug.yaml: Loki configuration with Kafka enabled
  • Kafka ingestion enabled
  • Local storage in /tmp/loki
  • Debug logging enabled

Debugging

VSCode Configuration

Create .vscode/launch.json in the root directory:

{
    "version": "0.2.0",
    "configurations": [
        {
            "name": "Launch Loki (Kafka)",
            "type": "go",
            "request": "launch",
            "mode": "auto",
            "program": "${workspaceFolder}/cmd/loki/main.go",
            "args": [
                "--config.file=../../tools/dev/kafka/loki-local-config.debug.yaml",
                "--log.level=debug",
                "-target=all"
            ],
            "buildFlags": "-mod vendor"
        }
    ]
}

Common Tasks

View Logs

# All services
docker-compose logs -f

# Specific service
docker-compose logs -f kafka
docker-compose logs -f grafana

Reset Environment

# Stop and remove containers
docker-compose down

# Remove local Loki data
rm -rf /tmp/loki

# Start fresh
docker-compose up -d

Verify Setup

1. Check Kafka UI (http://localhost:8080) for:

   • Broker health
   • Topic creation
   • Message flow

2. Check Grafana (http://localhost:3000):

   • Navigate to Explore
   • Select Loki data source
   • Query logs using LogQL

Troubleshooting

• Loki fails to start: Check if port 3100 is available
• No logs in Grafana:
  • Verify Kafka topics are created
  • Check log generator is running
  • Verify Loki is receiving data through Kafka UI
• Kafka connection issues:
  • Ensure broker is running (docker-compose ps)
  • Check broker logs (docker-compose logs broker)