Creating and managing a Grafana Cloud stack using Ansible
Learn how to add a data source, a dashboard, and a folder to a Grafana Cloud stack using Ansible.
Prerequisites
Before you begin, you should have the following available:
- A Grafana Cloud account.
- Ansible installed on your machine
Create a Cloud stack
Create a Grafana Cloud API key. You’ll need this for the Ansible playbook to be able to create a Grafana Cloud stack. See Create a Grafana Cloud API key.
Create an Ansible playbook file.
This Ansible playbook will create a Grafana Cloud stack by calling the Cloud stack API using the Ansible’s builtin uri module.
Create a file named
cloud-stack.yml
and add the following:- name: Create Grafana Cloud stack connection: local hosts: localhost vars: cloud_api_key: "<cloud-API-Key>" stacks: [ { name: "<stack-name>", region: "<region>" }, ] org_name: "<org-name>" tasks: - name: List all existing stacks uri: url: "https://grafana.com/api/orgs/{{ org_name }}/instances" method: GET headers: Authorization: Bearer {{ cloud_api_key }} register: check_stacks - name: Extract existing Grafana Cloud stack names set_fact: existing_stack_names: "{{ existing_stack_names | default ([]) + [item.value] }}" with_items: "{{ lookup('ansible.builtin.dict', check_stacks.json) }}" when: "'items' in item.key" no_log: true - name: Create a list of Grafana Cloud existing stacks set_fact: existing_stacks: "{{ existing_stacks | default ([]) + [item.slug] }}" with_items: "{{ existing_stack_names }}" no_log: true - name: Create Grafana Cloud stack uri: url: https://grafana.com/api/instances method: POST body_format: json body: { name: "{{ item.name }}", slug: "{{ item.name }}", region: "{{ item.region | default('us') }}" } headers: Authorization: Bearer {{ cloud_api_key }} when: item.name is not in (existing_stacks | default ([])) loop: "{{ stacks }}"
Replace the following field values:
<cloud-API-Key>
with the API key you created in the Grafana Cloud portal.<stack-name>
with the name of your stack.<region>
with the region in which you want to create the stack. For exampleus
,eu
.<org-name>
with the name of the organization in Grafana Cloud.
Create an API key in the Grafana stack
Create an API key in the Grafana stack. You’ll need this key to configure Ansible to be able to create data source, folders, and dashboards.
- Log into your Grafana Cloud instance.
- Open settings(Gear icon) and select the
API Keys
option. - Click Add API Key.
- In Key Name, enter a name for your API key.
- In Role, select the
Admin
orEditor
role to associate with this API key. - Click Copy to save it for later use.
Add a data source
This guide uses the InfluxDB data source. The required arguments vary depending on the type of data source you select.
Create a file named
data-source.yml
and add the following:- name: Add/Update data source connection: local hosts: localhost vars: data_sources: [ { name: "<data-source-name>", type: "influxdb", url: "<data-source-url>", user: "<username>", secureJsonData: { password: "<password>" }, database: "<db-name>", id: <id>, uid: "<uid>", access: "proxy" } ] grafana_url: <grafana-url> api_key: <API-key> tasks: - name: List all existing data sources uri: url: "{{ grafana_url }}/api/datasources" method: GET headers: Authorization: Bearer {{ api_key }} register: check_data_sources no_log: True - name: Create list of existing data sources set_fact: existing_data_sources: "{{ existing_data_sources | default ([]) + [item.name] }}" loop: "{{ check_data_sources.json }}" no_log: True - name: Update data sources uri: url: "{{ grafana_url }}/api/datasources/uid/{{ item.uid }}" method: PUT body_format: json body: "{{ item }}" headers: Authorization: Bearer {{ api_key }} when: item.name is in (existing_data_sources | default ([])) loop: "{{ data_sources }}" - name: Add data sources uri: url: "{{ grafana_url }}/api/datasources" method: POST body_format: json body: "{{ item }}" headers: Authorization: Bearer {{ api_key }} when: item.name is not in (existing_data_sources | default ([])) loop: "{{ data_sources }}"
Replace the following field values:
<data-source-name>
with the name of the data source to be added in Grafana.<data-source-url>
with URL of your data source.<username>
with the username for authenticating with your data source.<password>
with the password for authenticating with your data source.<db-name>
with name of your database.<id>
with the ID for your data source in Grafana.<uid>
wth the UID for your data source in Grafana.<grafana-url>
with the URL of your Grafana instance. For examplehttps://ishan-demo.grafana.net/
.<API-key>
with the API key created in the Grafana instance.
Add a folder
This Ansible playbook creates a folder in your Grafana instance by calling the Folder API using the Ansible’s builtin uri module.
Create a file named
folder.yml
and add the following:- name: Add/Update Folders connection: local hosts: localhost vars: folders: [ { title: "<folder-name>", uid: "<uid>", id: <id>, overwrite: true } ] grafana_url: <grafana-url> api_key: <API-key> tasks: - name: List all existing folders uri: url: "{{ grafana_url }}/api/folders" method: GET headers: Authorization: Bearer {{ api_key }} register: check_folders no_log: True - name: Create list of existing folders set_fact: existing_folders: "{{ existing_folders | default ([]) + [item.title] }}" loop: "{{ check_folders.json }}" no_log: True - name: Update folders uri: url: "{{ grafana_url }}/api/folders/{{ item.uid }}" method: PUT body_format: json body: "{{ item }}" headers: Authorization: Bearer {{ api_key }} register: update_folder when: item.title in (existing_folders | default ([])) loop: "{{ folders }}" - name: Add folders uri: url: "{{ grafana_url }}/api/folders" method: POST body_format: json body: "{{ item }}" headers: Authorization: Bearer {{ api_key }} when: item.title not in (existing_folders | default ([])) loop: "{{ folders }}"
Replace the following field values:
<folder-name>
with the name of the folder to be added in Grafana.<id>
with the ID for your folder in Grafana.<uid>
with the UID for your folder in Grafana.<grafana-url>
with the URL of your Grafana instance. For examplehttps://ishan-demo.grafana.net/
.<API-key>
with the API key created in the Grafana instance.
Add a dashboard to the folder
This Ansible playbook iterates through the dashboard JSON source code files in the folder referenced in dashboards_path
and adds them in the Grafana instance by calling the Dashboard API using the Ansible’s builtin uri module.
Create a file named
dashboard.yml
and add the following:- name: Add/Update Dashboards connection: local hosts: localhost vars: dashboards_path: <path-to-dashboard-files> # Example "./dashboards" grafana_url: <grafana-url> api_key: <API-key> tasks: - name: Find dashboard files find: paths: "{{ dashboards_path }}" file_type: file recurse: Yes patterns: "*.json" register: files_matched no_log: True - name: Create list of dashboard file names set_fact: dashboard_file_names: "{{ dashboard_file_names | default ([]) + [item.path] }}" loop: "{{ files_matched.files }}" no_log: True - name: Add/Update dashboard uri: url: "{{ grafana_url }}/api/dashboards/db" method: POST body_format: json body: "{{ lookup('ansible.builtin.file','{{ item }}' ) }}" headers: Authorization: Bearer {{ api_key }} loop: "{{ dashboard_file_names }}"
Replace the following field values:
<path-to-dashboard-files>
with the path to the folder containing dashboard JSON source code files.<grafana-url>
with the URL of your Grafana instance. For examplehttps://ishan-demo.grafana.net/
.<API-key>
with the API key created in the Grafana instance.
Run the Ansible playbooks
In a terminal, run the following commands from the directory where all of the Ansible playbooks are located.
To create the Grafana Cloud stack.
ansible-playbook cloud-stack.yml
To add a data source to the Grafana stack.
ansible-playbook data-source.yml
To add a folder to the Grafana stack
ansible-playbook folder.yml
To add a dashboard to the folder in your Grafana stack.
ansible-playbook dashboard.yml
Validation
Once you run the Ansible playbooks, you should be able to verify the following:
The new Grafana stack is created and visible in the Cloud Portal.
A new data source (InfluxDB in this example) is visible in the Grafana stack.
A new folder in Grafana. In the following image, a folder named
Demos
was added.A new dashboard in the Grafana stack. In the following image a dashboard named
InfluxDB Cloud Demos
was created inside the “Demos” folder.
Conclusion
In this guide, you created a Grafana Cloud stack along with a data source, folder, and dashboard imported from a JSON file using Ansible.
To learn more about managing Grafana using Infrastructure as Code, see Provisioning Grafana Cloud with infrastructure as code.
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