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Docker Driver Client

The Docker plugin for Grafana Loki enables you to send logs from Docker containers to Loki or Grafana Cloud.

Important

Docker plugins are not supported on Windows. Refer to the Docker Engine managed plugin system for more details.

For detailed configuration, see the Loki Docker Driver documentation. If you encounter issues, open an issue in the Loki GitHub repository.

Installation​

To install the Docker plugin on each Docker host, use the following command (replace the version and architecture as needed):

docker plugin install grafana/loki-docker-driver:3.3.2-arm64 --alias loki --grant-all-permissions
Important

For ARM64 hosts, append -arm64 to the version.

To verify the plugin installation, run:

docker plugin ls

Expected output:

ID                  NAME         DESCRIPTION           ENABLED
ac720b8fcfdb        loki         Loki Logging Driver   true

Once installed, configure the plugin.

Upgrade Process​

Follow these steps to upgrade the Docker driver:

docker plugin disable loki --force
docker plugin upgrade loki grafana/loki-docker-driver:3.3.2-arm64 --grant-all-permissions
docker plugin enable loki
systemctl restart docker

Note
Update the version number as required.

Uninstallation​

To uninstall the Docker plugin, run:

docker plugin disable loki --force
docker plugin rm loki

Known Issue: Deadlocked Docker Daemon​

If Loki is unreachable and max_retries is exceeded, logs are dropped. To avoid this:

  1. Set max_retries=0 to allow unlimited retries.
  2. Adjust settings to reduce daemon lock time:
    • loki-retries=2
    • loki-max-backoff=800ms
    • loki-timeout=1s
    • keep-file=true

Use the Promtail Docker target or Docker service discovery to bypass this issue.

Workflow Diagram​

Upgrade Workflow​