Observability Stack

Monitor your mail server from your local machine using Prometheus + Grafana.

Setup

1. Configure Environment

Using the .env.example file as a template, create a .env file in the observability directory:

2. Start Services

docker-compose up -d

3. Access Dashboards

• Grafana: http://localhost:3000 (username/password from .env)
• Prometheus: http://localhost:9090

Server Setup

On your mail server, open firewall ports:

# Allow your local machine IP
sudo ufw allow from YOUR_LOCAL_IP

# Or allow specific ports
sudo ufw allow from YOUR_LOCAL_IP to any port 9100
sudo ufw allow from YOUR_LOCAL_IP to any port 8080
sudo ufw allow from YOUR_LOCAL_IP to any port 9154
sudo ufw allow from YOUR_LOCAL_IP to any port 9810
sudo ufw allow from YOUR_LOCAL_IP to any port 11334

Commands

# Start
docker compose up -d

# Stop
docker compose down

# Restart
docker compose restart

# View logs
docker compose logs -f

# Check status
docker compose ps

Verify

1. Check Prometheus targets: http://localhost:9090/targets

   • All targets should show UP (green)

2. Open Grafana: http://localhost:3000

   • Go to Dashboards → Browse → Mail Server
   • All dashboards should show data

Troubleshooting

No data in Grafana?

• Check Prometheus targets are UP
• Verify firewall on mail server
• Test connection: curl http://YOUR_SERVER_IP:9100/metrics

Can't access Grafana?

• Check if running: docker compose ps
• View logs: docker compose logs grafana

Change configuration?

• Edit .env
• Restart: docker compose down && docker compose up -d