Grafana Cloud
Connect to data sources
Data sources
Amazon CloudWatch
Template variablesCloudWatch template variables
Instead of hard-coding details such as server, application, and sensor names in metric queries, you can use variables. Grafana lists these variables in drop-down select boxes at the top of the dashboard to help you change the data displayed in your dashboard. Grafana refers to such variables as template variables.
For an introduction to templating and template variables, refer to Templating and Add and manage variables.
Use query variables
You can specify these CloudWatch data source queries in the Variable edit view’s Query type field.
Use them to fill a variable’s options list with values like regions, namespaces, metric names, and dimension keys/values.
When cross-account observability is enabled, the Metrics, Dimension Keys, Dimension Values, and Log Groups query types also show an optional Account field. Use it to target a specific linked monitoring account, or leave it unset to query all linked accounts. For more information, refer to Cross-account observability.
For details on the available dimensions, refer to the CloudWatch Metrics and Dimensions Reference.
For details about the metrics CloudWatch provides, refer to the CloudWatch documentation.
Use variables in queries
Use the Grafana variable syntax to include variables in queries. A query variable dynamically retrieves values from your data source using a query. For details, refer to the variable syntax documentation.
CloudWatch metric queries support variables in the Region, Namespace, Metric name, dimension key, and dimension value fields.
For example, if you create a variable named region with the Regions query type and a variable named instance with the EC2 Instance Attributes query type, you can reference them in a metric query by setting the query editor Region to $region and a dimension value to $instance. The dashboard then updates as you change the selected region and instance.
Query EC2 instance attributes
The EC2 Instance Attributes query type retrieves instance metadata using the AWS ec2:DescribeInstances API. Configure it with the following fields in the variable editor:
- Region: The AWS region to query.
- Attribute name: The instance attribute to return for each matching instance.
- Filters: Optional. Filters that limit which instances are returned.
Note
The earlier
ec2_instance_attribute(region, attributeName, filters)query syntax is still supported. Grafana automatically migrates existing variables that use it to the EC2 Instance Attributes query type.
Filters
Each filter has a key and a comma-separated list of matching values. Use the filters supported by ec2:DescribeInstances, such as instance properties. To filter by tag, use a key in the form tag:<name>, for example tag:Environment.
Select attributes
A query returns one attribute per instance. You can select any attribute that has a single value and isn’t an object or array, also known as a flat attribute. These attributes mirror the fields of the AWS EC2 Instance object, where you can find a definition of each one. Because the available attributes track the AWS API, the following list might not be exhaustive:
AmiLaunchIndexArchitectureClientTokenEbsOptimizedEnaSupportHypervisorImageIdInstanceIdInstanceLifecycleInstanceTypeKernelIdKeyNameLaunchTimePlatformPrivateDnsNamePrivateIpAddressPublicDnsNamePublicIpAddressRamdiskIdRootDeviceNameRootDeviceTypeSourceDestCheckSpotInstanceRequestIdSriovNetSupportSubnetIdVirtualizationTypeVpcId
Some attributes are objects rather than flat values. To select a nested value, use dot notation, for example IamInstanceProfile.Arn.
To select a tag value, prepend the tag name with Tags.. For example, select the Name tag by using Tags.Name.
