# GitLab self monitoring project

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/32351) behind a disabled feature flag (`self_monitoring_project`) in GitLab 12.7.
> - The feature flag was removed and the Self Monitoring Project was [made generally available](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/issues/198511) in GitLab 12.8.

GitLab has been adding the ability for administrators to see insights into the health of
their GitLab instance. In order to surface this experience in a native way, similar to how
you would interact with an application deployed via GitLab, a base project called
"GitLab self monitoring" with
[internal visibility](../../../public_access/public_access.md#internal-projects) will be
added under a group called "GitLab Instance Administrators" specifically created for
visualizing and configuring the monitoring of your GitLab instance.

All administrators at the time of creation of the project and group will be added
as maintainers of the group and project, and as an admin, you'll be able to add new
members to the group in order to give them maintainer access to the project.

This project will be used for self monitoring your GitLab instance.

## Activating the self monitoring project

1. Navigate to **Admin Area > Settings > Metrics and profiling**, and expand the **Self monitoring** section.
1. Toggle the **Create Project** button on.
1. It can take a few seconds for the project to be created. After the project is
created, GitLab displays a message with a link to the project. The project
will also be linked in the help text above the **Create Project** button. You can also
find the project under **Projects > Your projects**.

## Deactivating the self monitoring project

CAUTION: **Warning:**
If you deactivate the self monitoring project, it will be permanently deleted.

1. Navigate to **Admin Area > Settings > Metrics and profiling**, and expand the **Self monitoring** section.
1. Toggle the **Create Project** button off.
1. In the confirmation dialog that opens, click **Delete project**.
   It can take a few seconds for it to be deleted.
1. After the project is deleted, GitLab displays a message confirming your action.

## Connection to Prometheus

The project will be automatically configured to connect to the
[internal Prometheus](../prometheus/index.md) instance if the Prometheus
instance is present (should be the case if GitLab was installed via Omnibus
and you haven't disabled it).

If that's not the case or if you have an external Prometheus instance or an HA setup,
you should
[configure it manually](../../../user/project/integrations/prometheus.md#manual-configuration-of-prometheus).

## Taking action on Prometheus alerts **(ULTIMATE)**

You can [add a webhook](../../../user/project/integrations/prometheus.md#external-prometheus-instances)
to the Prometheus config in order for GitLab to receive notifications of any alerts.

Once the webhook is setup, you can
[take action on incoming alerts](../../../user/project/integrations/prometheus.md#taking-action-on-incidents-ultimate).

## Adding custom metrics to the self monitoring project

You can add custom metrics in the self monitoring project by:

1. [Duplicating](../../../user/project/integrations/prometheus.md#duplicating-a-gitlab-defined-dashboard) the default dashboard.
1. [Editing](../../../user/project/integrations/prometheus.md#view-and-edit-the-source-file-of-a-custom-dashboard) the newly created dashboard file and configuring it with [dashboard YAML properties](../../../user/project/integrations/prometheus.md#dashboard-yaml-properties).
