Grafana Cloud updates: k6 browser checks in Synthetic Monitoring, an easier way to share dashboards, and more

We consistently roll out helpful updates and fun features in Grafana Cloud, our fully managed observability platform powered by the open source Grafana LGTM Stack (Loki for logs, Grafana for visualization, Tempo for traces, and Mimir for metrics).

In case you missed it, here’s a roundup of the latest and greatest updates for Grafana Cloud this month. You can also read about all the features we add to Grafana Cloud in our What’s New in Grafana Cloud documentation.

And if you’re not a Grafana Cloud user yet, sign up for an account today! You can try any of these features (and more) for free with our generous Cloud Free plan.

New testing capabilities in Grafana Cloud Synthetic Monitoring

Earlier this year, we introduced a revamped version of Grafana Cloud Synthetic Monitoring, powered by Grafana k6, to help you simulate even the most complex transactions and user journeys. This month, we’re sharing two more exciting updates related to the synthetic monitoring experience in Grafana Cloud.

k6 browser checks

k6 browser checks in Synthetic Monitoring, now in public preview, enable you to control a headless Chrome browser using a k6 script to ensure optimal end-user experiences.

Powered by the k6 browser module, browser checks collect frontend Web Vitals metrics, capture custom performance metrics, and simulate user actions like clicking buttons or completing forms. Any scripts you create are also portable between Synthetic Monitoring and Grafana Cloud k6, allowing you to reuse your monitoring scripts for performance testing and vice versa.

k6 scripted checks

k6 scripted checks in Synthetic Monitoring — which allow you to define your workflow tests in JavaScript, using the k6 API to efficiently author tests — are now generally available. You can use scripted checks to:

• Test services and applications that require complex logic.
• Manipulate request/response data and pass data from one request to the next.
• Test HTTP/S and WebSocket services.
• Reuse the same k6 script for distinct testing goals.

To learn more about Grafana Cloud Synthetic Monitoring, check out our technical docs.

Data visualization improvements

This month, we’re introducing a new experience for sharing dashboards, along with the ability to add actions to various visualization types.

A more intuitive way to share dashboards

Just built a beautiful dashboard that you want to share with your team? Well, now that process is easier than ever.

Previously, the dashboard-sharing process was somewhat confusing, with various options like Link, Snapshot, Export, PDF, Report, and Public Dashboard all in one dialog box. This approach didn’t account for users’ specific sharing needs, and overall, led to a suboptimal user experience.

Now, these options are categorized in a more user-friendly and intuitive way. The redesigned dashboard-sharing experience features:

• A prominent call to action: A more visible and accessible Share button encourages more frequent use, and replaces the small (and easily overlooked) icon that was previously there.
• A simplified sharing workflow: Sharing options are now grouped and presented based on common user needs. Rather than having all options share a common dialog box, they’re organized into Export and Share drop-down lists.

• Updated panel sharing: As part of this update, we’ve also redesigned the experience for sharing a panel. Now, when you open the panel actions menu, there are three distinct sharing options: Share a link, for internal sharing with users in your organization; Share an embed, for sharing a panel embedded as an iframe; and Share a snapshot, for sharing an interactive panel publicly, with sensitive data removed.

To learn more about sharing dashboards and panels, you can visit our documentation.

Adding actions to visualizations

Several of our data visualization types now allow you to add actions, which you can configure to call API endpoints. These visualization types include:

• Bar chart
• Candlestick
• Heatmap
• State timeline
• Status history
• Time series
• Trend
• XY chart

To add an action, navigate to the Data links and actions section on the panel configuration and click Add action. You can also control the order in which actions are displayed in the tooltip by dragging and dropping them.

To try out this experimental feature, enable the vizActions feature toggle.

Authentication and authorization updates

Speaking of ease-of-use improvements, we’ve also streamlined certain authentication and authorization processes in Grafana Cloud, including setting up Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and generating Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) certificates.

Setting up LDAP through the UI

The new user interface for setting up your LDAP server as an Identity Provider is easier to navigate and offers more transparency in terms of configuration options. Also, you no longer need to restart your Grafana instance for the new settings to take effect. This feature is available in public preview by enabling the feature toggle ssoSettingsLDAP.

Generating SAML certificates and private keys

You can now generate a new certificate and private key for SAML directly from the UI form. Simply click on the Generate key and certificate button from the Sign requests tab in the SAML form and then fill in the information you want to be embedded in your generated certificate.

A new escalation step in Grafana OnCall

When an incident occurs, every second counts. And now, you can declare an incident automatically with a new escalation step in Grafana OnCall.

To help ensure timely action during critical situations, you can configure your escalation chains to automatically create an incident in Grafana Incident with a specified severity. If a critical alert group is identified (outside of the default route), and earlier steps in the escalation chain don’t resolve the issue, the chain will now declare an incident as part of the response process.

You can learn more about escalation chains and routes in our Grafana OnCall docs.

Updates to Grafana Cloud data source plugins

Lastly, here’s a look at some of the new ways we’re making it easier for Grafana Cloud users to tap into external data sources.

Managed plugins

Grafana Cloud offers a fully managed experience for Grafana. However, for external plugins, users traditionally had to manage plugin version updates themselves, a step that created extra maintenance overhead.

Now, with our new managed plugins feature, your plugin versions will update automatically. This feature is available for a growing set of Grafana Labs-created data source plugins, which can be installed from the plugin catalog. (Note: plugins built into Grafana already update as part of Grafana server upgrades).

Managed plugins will gradually roll out to all Grafana Cloud users with no action required. To request early access, please contact support.

GitHub App authentication for the GitHub data source

You can now authenticate the GitHub data source using a GitHub App, providing an alternative to personal access tokens (PATs). GitHub App authentication offers enhanced security by granting more granular permissions and reducing the risk of over-permissioning.

Our documentation contains more info about how to set up the GitHub App authentication.

Grafana Cloud is the easiest way to get started with metrics, logs, traces, dashboards, and more. We have a generous forever-free tier and plans for every use case. Sign up for free now!