Grafana Loki Forwarder – Log Push from Apica

This document describes how to configure Apica to forward logs to Grafana Cloud Loki using the Loki HTTP Push API (/loki/api/v1/push).

Prerequisite: Create Grafana Cloud Loki HTTP Connection & Access Policy Token

Before configuring the Grafana Cloud Loki Forwarder in Apica, you must create an HTTP Logs connection in Grafana Cloud and generate an Access Policy Token with permission to push logs.

Step 1: Log in to Grafana Cloud

1. Open the Grafana Cloud Portal

2. Log in using your Grafana Cloud credentials

Step 2: Navigate to Connections

1. Select Add new Connections

2. Select Custom data

3. Choose Logs HTTP

4. Click Configure sending logs via HTTP

Step 3: Configure Logs HTTP Connection

1. Under Select format, choose:

   • Via HTTP

2. Review the Loki HTTP push endpoint shown (this will be used by the forwarder later)

Step 4: Generate an Access Policy Token

1. Enter the following details:

   • Token name Example: loki-http-forwarder-token

   • Expiration date Choose based on your security policy

2. Create the token

3. Copy and securely store the token

   ⚠️ The token will not be shown again

Required Permissions

Ensure the selected Access Policy includes the following scopes:

• ✅ logs:write If this is not enabled, log forwarding to Grafana Loki will fail.

• ✅ logs:read This must be enabled to query and view logs in Grafana Cloud.

Step 5: Loki HTTP Endpoint Details

You will need the following values for the forwarder configuration:

• Loki Push Endpoint

https://logs-prod-XXXX.grafana.net/loki/api/v1/push

• Authorization Header Format

Authorization: Bearer <instance_id>:<access_policy_token>

Step 6: Sample Curl Command (Validation)

Use the following curl command to validate that the token and endpoint are working correctly:

curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -H "Authorization: Bearer <instance_id>:your-api-key" -d '{"streams": [{"stream": {"Language": "Curl", "source": "Shell"},"values": [["'"$(($(date +%s)*1000000000))"'", "This is my log line"]]}]}' https://logs-prod-XXXX.grafana.net/loki/api/v1/push

Step 7: Create New Grafana Loki Forwarder In Ascent

1. Login to Apica Ascent

2. Click on integrations menu item

3. Click on Forwarders tab

4. Click on Add Forwarders button

5. From the modal select Grafana Forwarder

6. Enter the required details click Create to create the forwarder

Step 8: Map the Forwarder

After creating the Grafana Forwarder, associate it with a data flow to forward logs to Grafana Loki.

1. Navigate to Logs & Insights

2. Select the tab called Data

3. Select the data flow using the check box

4. Click on 3 dots, and select Map Forwarder

5. From the Create forwarder mapping modal, select the Grafana Forwarder and click OK

6. After successful mapping, the data will start flowing...

Step 9: Verify the Logs in Grafana Logs

After sending logs successfully to Grafana Cloud Loki, verify that the logs are visible in Grafana.

1. Open the Grafana Cloud stack

2. In the left sidebar, click Explore

3. Select Logs as the data source

4. Ensure the correct Loki data source is selected

5. Use LogQL to query logs, for example:

{service_name="ascent-logs"}

1. Adjust the time range to Last 5 minutes or Last 15 minutes

2. Confirm that the log entries forwarded via ascent is visible