Prerequisites

Ensure Docker and Docker Compose are properly instaled and configured on your host machine before proceeding.

1. Configuring PMM Server via Docker Compose

Create a docker-compose.yaml file to define the PMM server service. The configuration below sets up persistent storage, necessary privileges, and exposes the required ports for web access, metrics, and database connectivity.

version: '3.8'

services:
  pmm_core:
    image: percona/pmm-server:2
    container_name: pmm_server_instance
    cap_add:
      - SYS_PTRACE
    security_opt:
      - seccomp:unconfined
    ulimits:
      memlock: 67108864
    ports:
      - "80:80"
      - "443:443"
      - "2345:2345"
      - "15432:5432"
      - "9090:9090"
      - "11000:9000"
      - "11123:8123"
    volumes:
      - ./pmm_storage:/srv
    networks:
      - monitor_net
    restart: always

networks:
  monitor_net:
    external: true

2. Launching and Verifying the Server

Start the PMM server container in detached mode:

docker compose up -d

Confirm that the container is running correctly:

docker compose ps

3. Accessing the Web Interface

Navigate to the PMM dashboard using your browser:

URL: https://your_server_ip/
Default Credentials: admin / admin

4. Installing the PMM Client

On the database server you wish to monitor, download and install the PMM client package. For example, on an RHEL-based system, you can install it locally:

dnf localinstall pmm2-client-2.41.0-6.el9.x86_64.rpm -y

5. Registering the Client with the Server

Configure the local PMM agent to communicate with the PMM server using TLS:

pmm-admin config --server-insecure-tls --server-url=https://admin:admin@your_server_ip/

A successful registration will output:

Checking local pmm-agent status...
pmm-agent is running.
Registering pmm-agent on PMM Server...
Registered.
Configuration file /usr/local/percona/pmm2/config/pmm-agent.yaml updated.
Reloading pmm-agent configuration...
Configuration reloaded.

6. Preparing the MySQL Monitoring User

Log into your MySQL instance and create a dedicated user for metrics collection with the appropriate permissions:

CREATE USER 'pmm_monitor'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'secure_pass_123';
GRANT SELECT, PROCESS, SUPER, REPLICATION CLIENT, RELOAD ON *.* TO 'pmm_monitor'@'localhost';

7. Adding the MySQL Instance to PMM

Link the MySQL database to the monitoring system using the newly created credentials:

pmm-admin add mysql --username pmm_monitor --password 'secure_pass_123' production_db localhost:3306

You should receive confirmation that the service was added:

MySQL Service added.
Service ID  : /service_id/abc123-456-def
Service name: production_db

8. Verifying Monitored Services

Check the status of all registered services and agents on the client machine:

pmm-admin list

This command displays the service names, addresses, and agent statuses (such as node_exporter, mysqld_exporter, and vmagent), confirming that metrics are being actively pushed to the PMM server.