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Last reviewed: August 11, 2026

OpenTSDB data source

OpenTSDB is an open source time series database built on top of HBase. Use the OpenTSDB data source to visualize metrics, create alerts, and build dashboards from your time series data.

Grafana ships with OpenTSDB preinstalled in both Grafana OSS and Enterprise, so there’s nothing for you to install. The data source is now packaged as a standalone plugin that updates independently of Grafana releases. For details, refer to Plugin updates.

Supported features

The OpenTSDB data source supports the following features:

FeatureSupportedNotes
Metrics queriesYesQuery time series data with aggregation, downsampling, and filtering
AlertingYesCreate alert rules based on OpenTSDB queries
AnnotationsYesOverlay events on graphs using metric-specific or global annotations
Template variablesYesUse dynamic variables in queries
ExploreYesAd-hoc data exploration without dashboards

Supported OpenTSDB versions

The data source supports OpenTSDB versions 2.1 through 2.4. Some features are version-specific:

FeatureMinimum version
Filters2.2
Fill policies2.2
Explicit tags2.3

Get started

The following documents help you get started with the OpenTSDB data source:

Plugin updates

Starting with Grafana v13.2, the OpenTSDB data source is a standalone plugin, preinstalled in both Grafana OSS and Enterprise. This enables more frequent updates independent of Grafana releases. Grafana automatically checks the plugin catalog and installs the latest version on each server restart.

To adjust this behavior:

  • Opt out of auto-updates: Set preinstall_auto_update to false in your configuration file.
  • Update manually: Update at any time from the Administration > Plugins page without restarting Grafana.

The standalone plugin requires Grafana 12.3.0 or later. The OpenTSDB data source bundled with Grafana 12.2 and earlier continues to work as before. These versions are unaffected by the externalization.

Users running Grafana 12.3.x through 13.1.x can install the standalone plugin from the plugin catalog if they want the latest features before upgrading to Grafana 13.2. To use the standalone plugin with these versions, add the following to your configuration file:

ini 
[plugin.opentsdb]
as_external = true

[plugins]
; Install the latest version on startup:
preinstall_sync = opentsdb
; Or install a specific version:
; preinstall_sync = opentsdb@<version>

Additional features

After you have configured the OpenTSDB data source, you can:

  • Add Annotations to overlay OpenTSDB events on your graphs.
  • Configure and use Template variables for dynamic dashboards.
  • Set up Alerting rules based on your time series queries.
  • Use Explore to investigate your OpenTSDB data without building a dashboard.