Do I need a domain name for GreptimeDB?

Yes. Your servers send their metrics, logs and traces to it, and Grafana queries it: GreptimeDB must answer over HTTPS on a stable name. No need to buy one: every ServOrbit VPS comes with a free subdomain (greptimedb.{dns_slug}.servorbit-dns.com) with an HTTPS certificate. You can also use a subdomain of one of your domains.

How do I log in for the first time?

Open https://your-domain/dashboard/ and enter the admin user and the password shown in your client area in the connection settings. These credentials also protect the SQL API, the Prometheus API and ingestion: your agents and Grafana use them as basic authentication.

How long is my data kept?

Out of the box, nothing expires. Set retention in SQL from the dashboard, for example ALTER DATABASE public SET 'ttl'='90d' for the whole database, or a ttl option when creating a table. Size the disk accordingly: logs and traces take far more space than metrics.

Spin up a data platform quickly.

GreptimeDB

GreptimeDB — metrics, logs and traces in one database: SQL, PromQL, remote_write, OpenTelemetry and Grafana, on your VPS.

2 GB minimum RAM 1 vCPU Port 8110 In validation

In validation

Automatic installation for this solution is ready and currently going through our tests on a real server. Ordering will open as soon as validation is complete.

Source code

Tech stack

DockerRustGreptimeDB

Minimum RAM2 GB minimum

Minimum CPU1 vCPU

Default port8110

Compatible OSChoice of Linux distributions

GreptimeDB is an open-source observability database (Apache-2.0 licensed) written in Rust. Where you would usually stack one store for metrics, another for logs and a third for traces, it keeps all three in a single columnar engine, and lets you query them with two languages you already know: SQL and PromQL.

It speaks the ecosystem's protocols: Prometheus `remote_write`, OpenTelemetry (OTLP/HTTP) for metrics, logs and traces, the Loki push API, the InfluxDB line protocol and an SQL API over HTTP. Grafana queries it as a Prometheus data source. It ships with a web dashboard to write SQL or PromQL queries and explore tables, and its retention is set per database or per table with a single SQL statement.

Key features

Metrics, logs and traces — one columnar engine instead of three stores to maintain.

SQL and PromQL — joins, aggregates and windows in SQL; your existing PromQL queries work.

Prometheus-compatible — remote_write target and Prometheus query API, Grafana data source with no plugin.

Native OpenTelemetry — OTLP/HTTP ingestion of metrics, logs and traces; Loki push API and InfluxDB line protocol.

Built-in dashboard — SQL and PromQL editor, table exploration, charts of the results.

Protected access — admin user and generated password, required on the whole HTTP API: queries and ingestion alike.

When to use this solution?

1

One database for your observability

Send your services' metrics, logs and traces over OpenTelemetry to a single instance, and cross them in SQL: a route's errors, its latency and its traces in the same query.

2

Long-term storage for your Prometheus

Keep Prometheus for scraping and add a remote_write line pointing to GreptimeDB: Grafana queries months of history, and you can also analyse it in SQL.

3

Application events you can analyse in SQL

Push business counters or events (orders, sign-ups, response times) in InfluxDB or OTLP format, then analyse them in SQL from the dashboard or your code.

Deploy GreptimeDB on your VPS

Guide optimized for ServOrbit Cloud VPS.

01

Create the VPS and choose the address

Order an Ubuntu 24.04 VPS with 2 GB of RAM (4 GB and more disk if you centralise many services). GreptimeDB requires a domain: your servers send their data to it and Grafana queries it, so it must answer over HTTPS on a stable name. It opens on a subdomain of one of your domains, or on the VPS's free subdomain (greptimedb.{dns_slug}.servorbit-dns.com), HTTPS included. No need to buy a domain name.

02

Install GreptimeDB from the Marketplace

In your client area, select GreptimeDB, choose the address and click Install. The script deploys the official container in standalone mode, generates the admin user's password, enables authentication on the whole HTTP API, turns off the anonymous usage report and configures the nginx reverse proxy over HTTPS.

03

Log in for the first time

Open https://your-domain/dashboard/, then enter the admin user and the password shown in your client area in the dashboard's connection settings. Run SHOW TABLES; in the SQL editor to check access.

04

Send your data

For Prometheus, add a remote_write block pointing to https://your-domain/v1/prometheus/write?db=public with basic_auth. For OpenTelemetry, point the OTLP/HTTP exporter to https://your-domain/v1/otlp with an Authorization: Basic header; traces also require X-Greptime-Pipeline-Name: greptime_trace_v1, on a separate exporter. The same credentials work everywhere.

05

Connect Grafana

In Grafana, add a Prometheus-type data source with the URL https://your-domain/v1/prometheus, enable basic authentication and enter the same credentials. Your PromQL dashboards work unchanged.

Frequently asked questions

VictoriaMetrics specialises in metrics and PromQL. GreptimeDB also covers logs and traces, and adds SQL: you can join, aggregate and filter your observability data as in a relational database. For Prometheus metrics storage alone, VictoriaMetrics is enough; to bring the three signals together in one database, GreptimeDB is the better choice.

Complementary solutions

Monitoring & Observability

GreptimeDB isn't orderable yet.