# Prometheus

> Prometheus is an open source monitoring system that scrapes metrics from your services, stores them as time series and fires alerts.

- Source: https://www.itwonderlab.com/prometheus/
- Published: 2026-09-21
- Updated: 2026-09-21
- Author: Javier Ruiz Jiménez (https://www.javierruizjimenez.com/)
- Site: IT Wonder Lab (https://www.itwonderlab.com/)

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**Prometheus** pulls metrics over HTTP, stores them in a time series database and offers the PromQL query language and alert rules. [Grafana](https://www.itwonderlab.com/grafana/) draws the dashboards. On AWS the equivalent is [CloudWatch](https://www.itwonderlab.com/aws-cloudwatch/).

### Key concepts

- **Exporter**: exposes the metrics of a system.
- **PromQL**: the query language.
- **Alertmanager**: routes alerts.

### Learn it

See [Istio in a local Kubernetes cluster](https://www.itwonderlab.com/istio-in-local-kubernetes/) and the [Terraform Helm provider](https://www.itwonderlab.com/terraform-helm-provider-kubernetes/).

Install it and write your first queries with [Install Prometheus with Docker](https://www.itwonderlab.com/install-prometheus-docker/).