# Enabling metrics and graphs for Postgres (optional)

Expanding on the metrics exposed by the [synapse exporter and the node exporter](configuring-playbook-prometheus-grafana.md), the playbook enables the [postgres exporter](https://github.com/prometheus-community/postgres_exporter) that exposes more detailed information about what's happening on your postgres database.

## Adjusting the playbook configuration

To enable the postgres exporter, add the following configuration to your `inventory/host_vars/matrix.example.com/vars.yml` file:

```yaml
prometheus_postgres_exporter_enabled: true
```

## Installing

After configuring the playbook, run it with [playbook tags](playbook-tags.md) as below:

<!-- NOTE: let this conservative command run (instead of install-all) to make it clear that failure of the command means something is clearly broken. -->
```sh
ansible-playbook -i inventory/hosts setup.yml --tags=setup-all,start
```

The shortcut commands with the [`just` program](just.md) are also available: `just install-all` or `just setup-all`

`just install-all` is useful for maintaining your setup quickly ([2x-5x faster](../CHANGELOG.md#2x-5x-performance-improvements-in-playbook-runtime) than `just setup-all`) when its components remain unchanged. If you adjust your `vars.yml` to remove other components, you'd need to run `just setup-all`, or these components will still remain installed. Note these shortcuts run the `ensure-matrix-users-created` tag too.

## What does it do?

Name | Description
-----|----------
`prometheus_postgres_exporter_enabled`|Enable the postgres prometheus exporter. This sets up the docker container, connects it to the database and adds a 'job' to the prometheus config which tells prometheus about this new exporter. The default is 'false'
`prometheus_postgres_exporter_database_username`| The 'username' for the user that the exporter uses to connect to the database. The default is 'matrix_prometheus_postgres_exporter'
`prometheus_postgres_exporter_database_password`| The 'password' for the user that the exporter uses to connect to the database. By default, this is auto-generated by the playbook
`prometheus_postgres_exporter_container_labels_traefik_enabled`|If set to `true`, exposes the Postgres exporter metrics on `https://matrix.example.com/metrics/postgres-exporter` for usage with an [external Prometheus server](configuring-playbook-prometheus-grafana.md#collecting-metrics-to-an-external-prometheus-server). To password-protect the metrics, see `matrix_metrics_exposure_http_basic_auth_users` on that other documentation page.

## More information

- [The PostgresSQL dashboard](https://grafana.com/grafana/dashboards/9628) (generic postgres dashboard)