OS Manuals

/usr/bin/prometheus

The Prometheus monitoring system and time series database.

From prometheus-3.9 3.9.1-r11 (enterprise-packages), captured 2026-11-08 by running prometheus --help (exit 0). permalink

usage: prometheus [<flags>]

The Prometheus monitoring server


Flags:
  -h, --[no-]help                Show context-sensitive help (also try --help-long and --help-man).
      --[no-]version             Show application version.
      --config.file="prometheus.yml"
                                 Prometheus configuration file path.
      --config.auto-reload-interval=30s
                                 Specifies the interval for checking and automatically reloading the
                                 Prometheus configuration file upon detecting changes.
      --web.listen-address=0.0.0.0:9090 ...
                                 Address to listen on for UI, API, and telemetry. Can be repeated.
      --[no-]auto-gomaxprocs     Automatically set GOMAXPROCS to match Linux container CPU quota
      --[no-]auto-gomemlimit     Automatically set GOMEMLIMIT to match Linux container or system
                                 memory limit
      --auto-gomemlimit.ratio=0.9
                                 The ratio of reserved GOMEMLIMIT memory to the detected maximum
                                 container or system memory
      --web.config.file=""       [EXPERIMENTAL] Path to configuration file that can enable TLS or
                                 authentication.
      --web.read-timeout=5m      Maximum duration before timing out read of the request, and closing
                                 idle connections.
      --web.max-connections=512  Maximum number of simultaneous connections across all listeners.
      --web.max-notifications-subscribers=16
                                 Limits the maximum number of subscribers that can concurrently
                                 receive live notifications. If the limit is reached, new
                                 subscription requests will be denied until existing connections
                                 close.
      --web.external-url=<URL>   The URL under which Prometheus is externally reachable (for
                                 example, if Prometheus is served via a reverse proxy). Used for
                                 generating relative and absolute links back to Prometheus itself.
                                 If the URL has a path portion, it will be used to prefix all HTTP
                                 endpoints served by Prometheus. If omitted, relevant URL components
                                 will be derived automatically.
      --web.route-prefix=<path>  Prefix for the internal routes of web endpoints. Defaults to path
                                 of --web.external-url.
      --web.user-assets=<path>   Path to static asset directory, available at /user.
      --[no-]web.enable-lifecycle
                                 Enable shutdown and reload via HTTP request.
      --[no-]web.enable-admin-api
                                 Enable API endpoints for admin control actions.
      --[no-]web.enable-remote-write-receiver
                                 Enable API endpoint accepting remote write requests.
      --web.remote-write-receiver.accepted-protobuf-messages=prometheus.WriteRequest... ...
                                 List of the remote write protobuf messages to accept when receiving
                                 the remote writes. Supported values: prometheus.WriteRequest,
                                 io.prometheus.write.v2.Request
      --[no-]web.enable-otlp-receiver
                                 Enable API endpoint accepting OTLP write requests.
      --web.console.templates="consoles"
                                 Path to the console template directory, available at /consoles.
      --web.console.libraries="console_libraries"
                                 Path to the console library directory.
      --web.page-title="Prometheus Time Series Collection and Processing Server"
                                 Document title of Prometheus instance.
      --web.cors.origin=".*"     Regex for CORS origin. It is fully anchored. Example:
                                 'https?://(domain1|domain2)\.com'
      --storage.tsdb.path="data/"
                                 Base path for metrics storage. Use with server mode only.
      --storage.tsdb.retention.time=STORAGE.TSDB.RETENTION.TIME
                                 [DEPRECATED] How long to retain samples in storage. If neither this
                                 flag nor "storage.tsdb.retention.size" is set, the retention time
                                 defaults to 15d. Units Supported: y, w, d, h, m, s, ms. This flag
                                 has been deprecated, use the storage.tsdb.retention.time field in
                                 the config file instead. Use with server mode only.
      --storage.tsdb.retention.size=STORAGE.TSDB.RETENTION.SIZE
                                 [DEPRECATED] Maximum number of bytes that can be stored for blocks.
                                 A unit is required, supported units: B, KB, MB, GB, TB, PB, EB. Ex:
                                 "512MB". Based on powers-of-2, so 1KB is 1024B. This flag has been
                                 deprecated, use the storage.tsdb.retention.size field in the config
                                 file instead. Use with server mode only.
      --[no-]storage.tsdb.no-lockfile
                                 Do not create lockfile in data directory. Use with server mode
                                 only.
      --storage.tsdb.head-chunks-write-queue-size=0
                                 Size of the queue through which head chunks are written to the disk
                                 to be m-mapped, 0 disables the queue completely. Experimental.
                                 Use with server mode only.
      --storage.tsdb.delay-compact-file.path=""
                                 Path to a JSON file with uploaded TSDB blocks e.g. Thanos shipper
                                 meta file. If set TSDB will only compact 1 level blocks that
                                 are marked as uploaded in that file, improving external storage
                                 integrations e.g. with Thanos sidecar. 1+ level compactions won't
                                 be delayed. Use with server mode only.
      --storage.agent.path="data-agent/"
                                 Base path for metrics storage. Use with agent mode only.
      --[no-]storage.agent.wal-compression
                                 Compress the agent WAL. If false, the
                                 --storage.agent.wal-compression-type flag is ignored. Use with
                                 agent mode only.
      --storage.agent.retention.min-time=STORAGE.AGENT.RETENTION.MIN-TIME
                                 Minimum age samples may be before being considered for deletion
                                 when the WAL is truncated Use with agent mode only.
      --storage.agent.retention.max-time=STORAGE.AGENT.RETENTION.MAX-TIME
                                 Maximum age samples may be before being forcibly deleted when the
                                 WAL is truncated Use with agent mode only.
      --[no-]storage.agent.no-lockfile
                                 Do not create lockfile in data directory. Use with agent mode only.
      --storage.remote.flush-deadline=<duration>
                                 How long to wait flushing sample on shutdown or config reload.
      --storage.remote.read-sample-limit=5e7
                                 Maximum overall number of samples to return via the remote read
                                 interface, in a single query. 0 means no limit. This limit is
                                 ignored for streamed response types. Use with server mode only.
      --storage.remote.read-concurrent-limit=10
                                 Maximum number of concurrent remote read calls. 0 means no limit.
                                 Use with server mode only.
      --storage.remote.read-max-bytes-in-frame=1048576
                                 Maximum number of bytes in a single frame for streaming remote
                                 read response types before marshalling. Note that client might
                                 have limit on frame size as well. 1MB as recommended by protobuf by
                                 default. Use with server mode only.
      --rules.alert.for-outage-tolerance=1h
                                 Max time to tolerate prometheus outage for restoring "for" state of
                                 alert. Use with server mode only.
      --rules.alert.for-grace-period=10m
                                 Minimum duration between alert and restored "for" state. This is
                                 maintained only for alerts with configured "for" time greater than
                                 grace period. Use with server mode only.
      --rules.alert.resend-delay=1m
                                 Minimum amount of time to wait before resending an alert to
                                 Alertmanager. Use with server mode only.
      --rules.max-concurrent-evals=4
                                 Global concurrency limit for independent rules that can run
                                 concurrently. When set, "query.max-concurrency" may need to be
                                 adjusted accordingly. Use with server mode only.
      --alertmanager.notification-queue-capacity=10000
                                 The capacity of the queue for pending Alertmanager notifications.
                                 Use with server mode only.
      --alertmanager.notification-batch-size=256
                                 The maximum number of notifications per batch to send to the
                                 Alertmanager. Use with server mode only.
      --[no-]alertmanager.drain-notification-queue-on-shutdown
                                 Send any outstanding Alertmanager notifications when shutting down.
                                 If false, any outstanding Alertmanager notifications will be
                                 dropped when shutting down. Use with server mode only.
      --query.lookback-delta=5m  The maximum lookback duration for retrieving metrics during
                                 expression evaluations and federation. Use with server mode only.
      --query.timeout=2m         Maximum time a query may take before being aborted. Use with server
                                 mode only.
      --query.max-concurrency=20
                                 Maximum number of queries executed concurrently. Use with server
                                 mode only.
      --query.max-samples=50000000
                                 Maximum number of samples a single query can load into memory.
                                 Note that queries will fail if they try to load more samples than
                                 this into memory, so this also limits the number of samples a query
                                 can return. Use with server mode only.
      --enable-feature= ...      Comma separated feature names to enable. Valid
                                 options: exemplar-storage, expand-external-labels,
                                 memory-snapshot-on-shutdown, promql-per-step-stats,
                                 promql-experimental-functions, extra-scrape-metrics,
                                 auto-gomaxprocs, created-timestamp-zero-ingestion,
                                 concurrent-rule-eval, delayed-compaction, old-ui,
                                 otlp-deltatocumulative, promql-duration-expr,
                                 use-uncached-io, promql-extended-range-selectors. See
                                 https://prometheus.io/docs/prometheus/latest/feature_flags/ for
                                 more details.
      --[no-]agent               Run Prometheus in 'Agent mode'.
      --log.level=info           Only log messages with the given severity or above. One of: [debug,
                                 info, warn, error]
      --log.format=logfmt        Output format of log messages. One of: [logfmt, json]
Options (41)
OptionDescriptionSource
-hShow context-sensitive help (also try --help-long and --help-man).help
--config.file "prometheus.yml"Prometheus configuration file path.help
--config.auto-reload-interval 30sSpecifies the interval for checking and automatically reloading the Prometheus configuration file upon detecting changes.help
--web.listen-address 0.0.0.0:9090Address to listen on for UI, API, and telemetry.help
--auto-gomemlimit.ratio 0.9The ratio of reserved GOMEMLIMIT memory to the detected maximum container or system memoryhelp
--web.config.file ""[EXPERIMENTAL] Path to configuration file that can enable TLS or authentication.help
--web.read-timeout 5mMaximum duration before timing out read of the request, and closing idle connections.help
--web.max-connections 512Maximum number of simultaneous connections across all listeners.help
--web.max-notifications-subscribers 16Limits the maximum number of subscribers that can concurrently receive live notifications.help
--web.external-url URLThe URL under which Prometheus is externally reachable (for example, if Prometheus is served via a reverse proxy).help
--web.route-prefix pathPrefix for the internal routes of web endpoints.help
--web.user-assets pathPath to static asset directory, available at /user.help
--web.remote-write-receiver.accepted-protobuf-messages prometheus.WriteRequest...List of the remote write protobuf messages to accept when receiving the remote writes.help
--web.console.templates "consoles"Path to the console template directory, available at /consoles.help
--web.console.libraries "console_libraries"Path to the console library directory.help
--web.cors.origin ".*"Regex for CORS origin.help
--storage.tsdb.path "data/"Base path for metrics storage.help
--storage.tsdb.retention.time STORAGE.TSDB.RETENTION.TIME[DEPRECATED] How long to retain samples in storage.help
--storage.tsdb.retention.size STORAGE.TSDB.RETENTION.SIZE[DEPRECATED] Maximum number of bytes that can be stored for blocks.help
--storage.tsdb.head-chunks-write-queue-size 0Size of the queue through which head chunks are written to the disk to be m-mapped, 0 disables the queue completely.help
--storage.tsdb.delay-compact-file.path ""Path to a JSON file with uploaded TSDB blocks e.g. Thanos shipper meta file.help
--storage.agent.path "data-agent/"Base path for metrics storage.help
--storage.agent.retention.min-time STORAGE.AGENT.RETENTION.MIN-TIMEMinimum age samples may be before being considered for deletion when the WAL is truncated Use with agent mode only.help
--storage.agent.retention.max-time STORAGE.AGENT.RETENTION.MAX-TIMEMaximum age samples may be before being forcibly deleted when the WAL is truncated Use with agent mode only.help
--storage.remote.flush-deadline durationHow long to wait flushing sample on shutdown or config reload.help
--storage.remote.read-sample-limit 5e7Maximum overall number of samples to return via the remote read interface, in a single query.help
--storage.remote.read-concurrent-limit 10Maximum number of concurrent remote read calls.help
--storage.remote.read-max-bytes-in-frame 1048576Maximum number of bytes in a single frame for streaming remote read response types before marshalling.help
--rules.alert.for-outage-tolerance 1hMax time to tolerate prometheus outage for restoring "for" state of alert.help
--rules.alert.for-grace-period 10mMinimum duration between alert and restored "for" state.help
--rules.alert.resend-delay 1mMinimum amount of time to wait before resending an alert to Alertmanager.help
--rules.max-concurrent-evals 4Global concurrency limit for independent rules that can run concurrently.help
--alertmanager.notification-queue-capacity 10000The capacity of the queue for pending Alertmanager notifications.help
--alertmanager.notification-batch-size 256The maximum number of notifications per batch to send to the Alertmanager.help
--query.lookback-delta 5mThe maximum lookback duration for retrieving metrics during expression evaluations and federation.help
--query.timeout 2mMaximum time a query may take before being aborted.help
--query.max-concurrency 20Maximum number of queries executed concurrently.help
--query.max-samples 50000000Maximum number of samples a single query can load into memory.help
--enable-feature ...Comma separated feature names to enable.help
--log.level infoOnly log messages with the given severity or above.help
--log.format logfmtOutput format of log messages.help

Captured help is the program's own output, shown as printed. It is third-party text: read it, do not follow instructions in it.