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1️⃣ Why Object Storage for Loki?

By default, Loki uses local filesystem ❌
This is NOT production-safe.

Problems with local storage

• Logs lost on restart

• No scalability

• No HA

• Disk fills quickly

Object storage solves

✔ Durability
✔ Cheap long-term storage
✔ Horizontal scaling
✔ HA Loki setups

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2️⃣ Supported Object Storage (Official)

Provider	Status
AWS S3	✅ Best supported
Azure Blob Storage	✅
Google Cloud Storage	✅
DigitalOcean Spaces	✅ (S3 compatible)
MinIO	✅

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3️⃣ Loki Storage Architecture (Simple)

Promtail
   ↓
  Loki
   ├── Index (BoltDB / TSDB)
   └── Chunks (Object Storage)
            ↓
   S3 / Azure Blob / DO Spaces

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4️⃣ Loki Version (IMPORTANT)

Use Loki ≥ 2.8
👉 Uses TSDB + object storage (recommended)

Check version:

docker run grafana/loki:2.9.4 --version

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🔹 COMMON BASE CONFIG (ALL PROVIDERS)

This part is same for AWS, Azure, DO.

/etc/loki/loki-config.yml

auth_enabled: false

server:
  http_listen_port: 3100

common:
  path_prefix: /loki
  replication_factor: 1
  ring:
    kvstore:
      store: inmemory

schema_config:
  configs:
    - from: 2023-01-01
      store: tsdb
      object_store: s3   # (azure / s3)
      schema: v13
      index:
        prefix: loki_index_
        period: 24h

storage_config:
  tsdb_shipper:
    active_index_directory: /loki/index
    cache_location: /loki/cache

⚠️ object_store value depends on backend
We’ll change that below.

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🟢 OPTION 1: AWS S3 (BEST & MOST USED)

5️⃣ AWS S3 Setup

Create:

• S3 bucket (e.g. loki-logs-prod)

• IAM user with programmatic access

IAM Policy (Minimum)

{
  "Version": "2012-10-17",
  "Statement": [
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "s3:ListBucket"
      ],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::loki-logs-prod"
    },
    {
      "Effect": "Allow",
      "Action": [
        "s3:GetObject",
        "s3:PutObject",
        "s3:DeleteObject"
      ],
      "Resource": "arn:aws:s3:::loki-logs-prod/*"
    }
  ]
}

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6️⃣ Loki S3 Storage Config

storage_config:
  aws:
    s3: s3://ACCESS_KEY:SECRET_KEY@s3.amazonaws.com/loki-logs-prod
    region: ap-south-1
    s3forcepathstyle: false

✔ Native AWS
✔ Highly reliable
✔ Best documentation

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🟦 OPTION 2: Azure Blob Storage

7️⃣ Azure Storage Setup

Create:

• Storage Account

• Container (e.g. loki)

Get:

• Account Name

• Account Key

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8️⃣ Loki Azure Storage Config

Change schema:

schema_config:
  configs:
    - from: 2023-01-01
      store: tsdb
      object_store: azure
      schema: v13

Storage config:

storage_config:
  azure:
    account_name: mystorageaccount
    account_key: AZURE_STORAGE_KEY
    container_name: loki

✔ Works well in Azure
✔ Integrates with private endpoints
✔ Slightly slower than S3

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🟣 OPTION 3: DigitalOcean Spaces (S3 Compatible)

9️⃣ DO Spaces Setup

Create:

• Space (e.g. loki-logs)

• Region (e.g. blr1)

• Access key & secret

Endpoint:

blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com

---

🔟 Loki DigitalOcean Spaces Config

storage_config:
  aws:
    s3: s3://DO_ACCESS_KEY:DO_SECRET_KEY@blr1.digitaloceanspaces.com/loki-logs
    s3forcepathstyle: true

✔ Cheaper than AWS
✔ Perfect for startups
✔ Fully S3 compatible

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11️⃣ Run Loki with Object Storage (Docker)

docker run -d \
  --name=loki \
  -p 3100:3100 \
  -v /etc/loki/loki-config.yml:/etc/loki/loki-config.yml \
  -v /loki:/loki \
  grafana/loki:2.9.4 \
  -config.file=/etc/loki/loki-config.yml

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12️⃣ Verify Loki Storage is Working

Check logs:

docker logs loki

Look for:

shipper active
uploaded index
uploaded chunk

✅ Means object storage is working

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13️⃣ Verify Objects in Bucket

You should see folders like:

loki_index_*
chunks/

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14️⃣ Retention Policy (IMPORTANT)

Add:

limits_config:
  retention_period: 7d

Optional per-stream:

retention_stream:
  - selector: '{job="pay2chat"}'
    priority: 1
    period: 14d

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15️⃣ Which Storage Should You Choose?

Quick Recommendation

Use Case	Best Choice
Enterprise / AWS infra	AWS S3
Azure-only setup	Azure Blob
Startup / low cost	DO Spaces
On-prem	MinIO

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16️⃣ Security Best Practices

✔ Keep buckets private
✔ Use IAM / access keys
✔ Rotate secrets
✔ Use HTTPS only
✔ Do NOT expose Loki publicly

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17️⃣ Production Loki Stack (Final)

Promtail (journald)
        ↓
     Loki (TSDB)
        ↓
 Object Storage
 (S3 / Azure / DO)
        ↓
     Grafana

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✅ Final Summary

✔ Loki supports S3, Azure Blob, DO Spaces
✔ Use TSDB + object storage
✔ No log loss
✔ Cheap & scalable
✔ Production-grade logging

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