Displaying Total HTTP Requests in Grafana

To visualize the total number of HTTP requests in Grafana, you can utilize the Prometheus http_requests_total counter metric. This guide will help you construct a query that calculates the total requests over a defined time interval, such as the last 24 hours.

Step-by-Step Guide

  1. Open Grafana: Navigate to your Grafana dashboard where you want to add the panel.

  2. Add a New Panel: Click on the "Add Panel" button to create a new visualization.

  3. Select the Query Type: In the query editor, select Prometheus as your data source.

  4. Construct the Query: Use the following PromQL query to calculate the total number of requests over the last 24 hours:

    sum(increase(http_requests_total[24h]))

    This query uses the increase() function, which computes the difference in the counter values at the start and end of the specified time range. The sum() function aggregates the results if you have multiple instances of the counter.

  5. Configure the Panel: Choose the visualization type that best represents your data (e.g., Stat, Graph). Adjust the panel settings to display the total request count clearly.

  6. Save Your Dashboard: Once you are satisfied with the configuration, save your dashboard to retain the changes.

Important Notes

  • The increase() function is designed to handle counter resets, ensuring accurate calculations even if the counter resets during the specified interval.
  • Ensure that your Prometheus server is correctly scraping the http_requests_total metric from your application.

By following these steps, you will successfully create a Grafana panel that dynamically displays the total number of HTTP requests based on the time range selected in the upper right corner of the dashboard.