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Documentation Grafana documentation Administration Provision Grafana

Provision Grafana

In previous versions of Grafana, you could only use the API for provisioning data sources and dashboards. But that required the service to be running before you started creating dashboards and you also needed to set up credentials for the HTTP API. In v5.0 we decided to improve this experience by adding a new active provisioning system that uses config files. This will make GitOps more natural as data sources and dashboards can be defined via files that can be version controlled. We hope to extend this system to later add support for users, orgs and alerts as well.

Config File

See Configuration for more information on what you can configure in grafana.ini.

Config File Locations

• Default configuration from $WORKING_DIR/conf/defaults.ini
• Custom configuration from $WORKING_DIR/conf/custom.ini
• The custom configuration file path can be overridden using the --config parameter

Note: If you have installed Grafana using the deb or rpm packages, then your configuration file is located at /etc/grafana/grafana.ini. This path is specified in the Grafana init.d script using --config file parameter.

Using Environment Variables

It is possible to use environment variable interpolation in all 3 provisioning configuration types. Allowed syntax is either $ENV_VAR_NAME or ${ENV_VAR_NAME} and can be used only for values not for keys or bigger parts of the configurations. It is not available in the dashboard’s definition files just the dashboard provisioning configuration. Example:

yaml Copy

datasources:
  - name: Graphite
    url: http://localhost:$PORT
    user: $USER
    secureJsonData:
      password: $PASSWORD

If you have a literal $ in your value and want to avoid interpolation, $$ can be used.

Configuration Management Tools

Currently we do not provide any scripts/manifests for configuring Grafana. Rather than spending time learning and creating scripts/manifests for each tool, we think our time is better spent making Grafana easier to provision. Therefore, we heavily rely on the expertise of the community.

Data sources

Note: Available in Grafana v5.0 and higher.

You can manage data sources in Grafana by adding YAML configuration files in the provisioning/datasources directory. Each config file can contain a list of datasources to add or update during startup. If the data source already exists, Grafana reconfigures it to match the provisioned configuration file.

The configuration file can also list data sources to automatically delete, called deleteDatasources. Grafana deletes the data sources listed in deleteDatasources before adding or updating those in the datasources list.

Running multiple Grafana instances

If you run multiple instances of Grafana, add a version number to each data source in the configuration and increase it when you update the configuration. Grafana updates only data sources with the same or lower version number than specified in the config. This prevents old configurations from overwriting newer ones if you have different versions of the datasource.yaml file that don’t define version numbers, and then restart instances at the same time.

Example data source config file

This example provisions a Graphite data source:

yaml Copy

# Configuration file version
apiVersion: 1

# List of data sources to delete from the database.
deleteDatasources:
  - name: Graphite
    orgId: 1

# List of data sources to insert/update depending on what's
# available in the database.
datasources:
  # <string, required> Sets the name you use to refer to
  # the data source in panels and queries.
  - name: Graphite
    # <string, required> Sets the data source type.
    type: graphite
    # <string, required> Sets the access mode, either
    # proxy or direct (Server or Browser in the UI).
    # Some data sources are incompatible with any setting
    # but proxy (Server).
    access: proxy
    # <int> Sets the organization id. Defaults to orgId 1.
    orgId: 1
    # <string> Sets a custom UID to reference this
    # data source in other parts of the configuration.
    # If not specified, Grafana generates one.
    uid: my_unique_uid
    # <string> Sets the data source's URL, including the
    # port.
    url: http://localhost:8080
    # <string> Sets the database user, if necessary.
    user:
    # <string> Sets the database name, if necessary.
    database:
    # <bool> Enables basic authorization.
    basicAuth:
    # <string> Sets the basic authorization username.
    basicAuthUser:
    # <bool> Enables credential headers.
    withCredentials:
    # <bool> Toggles whether the data source is pre-selected
    # for new panels. You can set only one default
    # data source per organization.
    isDefault:
    # <map> Fields to convert to JSON and store in jsonData.
    jsonData:
      # <string> Defines the Graphite service's version.
      graphiteVersion: '1.1'
      # <bool> Enables TLS authentication using a client
      # certificate configured in secureJsonData.
      tlsAuth: true
      # <bool> Enables TLS authentication using a CA
      # certificate.
      tlsAuthWithCACert: true
    # <map> Fields to encrypt before storing in jsonData.
    secureJsonData:
      # <string> Defines the CA cert, client cert, and
      # client key for encrypted authentication.
      tlsCACert: '...'
      tlsClientCert: '...'
      tlsClientKey: '...'
      # <string> Sets the database password, if necessary.
      password:
      # <string> Sets the basic authorization password.
      basicAuthPassword:
    version: 1
    # <bool> Allows users to edit data sources from the
    # Grafana UI.
    editable: false

For provisioning examples of specific data sources, refer to that data source’s documentation.

JSON Data

Since not all data sources have the same configuration settings, we include only the most common ones as fields. To provision the rest of a data source’s settings, include them as a JSON blob in the jsonData field.

Common settings in the built-in core data sources include:

Note: Data sources tagged with HTTP* communicate using the HTTP protocol, which includes all core data source plugins except MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MSSQL.

For examples of specific data sources’ JSON data, refer to that data source’s documentation.

Secure JSON Data

Secure JSON data is a map of settings that will be encrypted with secret key from the Grafana config. The purpose of this is only to hide content from the users of the application. This should be used for storing TLS Cert and password that Grafana will append to the request on the server side. All of these settings are optional.

Note: The HTTP* tag denotes data sources that communicate using the HTTP protocol, including all core data source plugins except MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MSSQL.

Custom HTTP headers for data sources

Data sources managed by Grafanas provisioning can be configured to add HTTP headers to all requests going to that data source. The header name is configured in the jsonData field and the header value should be configured in secureJsonData.

yaml Copy

apiVersion: 1

datasources:
  - name: Graphite
    jsonData:
      httpHeaderName1: 'HeaderName'
      httpHeaderName2: 'Authorization'
    secureJsonData:
      httpHeaderValue1: 'HeaderValue'
      httpHeaderValue2: 'Bearer XXXXXXXXX'

Plugins

Note: Available in Grafana v7.1 and higher.

You can manage plugin applications in Grafana by adding one or more YAML config files in the provisioning/plugins directory. Each config file can contain a list of apps that will be updated during start up. Grafana updates each app to match the configuration file.

Note: This feature enables you to provision plugin configurations, not the plugins themselves. The plugins must already be installed on the Grafana instance.

Example plugin configuration file

yaml Copy

apiVersion: 1

apps:
  # <string> the type of app, plugin identifier. Required
  - type: raintank-worldping-app
    # <int> Org ID. Default to 1, unless org_name is specified
    org_id: 1
    # <string> Org name. Overrides org_id unless org_id not specified
    org_name: Main Org.
    # <bool> disable the app. Default to false.
    disabled: false
    # <map> fields that will be converted to json and stored in jsonData. Custom per app.
    jsonData:
      # key/value pairs of string to object
      key: value
    # <map> fields that will be converted to json, encrypted and stored in secureJsonData. Custom per app.
    secureJsonData:
      # key/value pairs of string to string
      key: value

Dashboards

You can manage dashboards in Grafana by adding one or more YAML config files in the provisioning/dashboards directory. Each config file can contain a list of dashboards providers that load dashboards into Grafana from the local filesystem.

The dashboard provider config file looks somewhat like this:

yaml Copy

apiVersion: 1

providers:
  # <string> an unique provider name. Required
  - name: 'a unique provider name'
    # <int> Org id. Default to 1
    orgId: 1
    # <string> name of the dashboard folder.
    folder: ''
    # <string> folder UID. will be automatically generated if not specified
    folderUid: ''
    # <string> provider type. Default to 'file'
    type: file
    # <bool> disable dashboard deletion
    disableDeletion: false
    # <int> how often Grafana will scan for changed dashboards
    updateIntervalSeconds: 10
    # <bool> allow updating provisioned dashboards from the UI
    allowUiUpdates: false
    options:
      # <string, required> path to dashboard files on disk. Required when using the 'file' type
      path: /var/lib/grafana/dashboards
      # <bool> use folder names from filesystem to create folders in Grafana
      foldersFromFilesStructure: true

When Grafana starts, it will update/insert all dashboards available in the configured path. Then later on poll that path every updateIntervalSeconds and look for updated json files and update/insert those into the database.

Note: Dashboards are provisioned to the General folder if the folder option is missing or empty.

Making changes to a provisioned dashboard

It’s possible to make changes to a provisioned dashboard in the Grafana UI. However, it is not possible to automatically save the changes back to the provisioning source. If allowUiUpdates is set to true and you make changes to a provisioned dashboard, you can Save the dashboard then changes will be persisted to the Grafana database.

Note: If a provisioned dashboard is saved from the UI and then later updated from the source, the dashboard stored in the database will always be overwritten. The version property in the JSON file will not affect this, even if it is lower than the existing dashboard.

If a provisioned dashboard is saved from the UI and the source is removed, the dashboard stored in the database will be deleted unless the configuration option disableDeletion is set to true.

If allowUiUpdates is configured to false, you are not able to make changes to a provisioned dashboard. When you click Save, Grafana brings up a Cannot save provisioned dashboard dialog. The screenshot below illustrates this behavior.

Grafana offers options to export the JSON definition of a dashboard. Either Copy JSON to Clipboard or Save JSON to file can help you synchronize your dashboard changes back to the provisioning source.

Note: The JSON definition in the input field when using Copy JSON to Clipboard or Save JSON to file will have the id field automatically removed to aid the provisioning workflow.

Reusable Dashboard URLs

If the dashboard in the JSON file contains an UID, Grafana forces insert/update on that UID. This allows you to migrate dashboards between Grafana instances and provisioning Grafana from configuration without breaking the URLs given because the new dashboard URL uses the UID as identifier. When Grafana starts, it updates/inserts all dashboards available in the configured folders. If you modify the file, then the dashboard is also updated. By default, Grafana deletes dashboards in the database if the file is removed. You can disable this behavior using the disableDeletion setting.

Note: Provisioning allows you to overwrite existing dashboards which leads to problems if you re-use settings that are supposed to be unique. Be careful not to re-use the same title multiple times within a folder or uid within the same installation as this will cause weird behaviors.

Provision folders structure from filesystem to Grafana

If you already store your dashboards using folders in a git repo or on a filesystem, and also you want to have the same folder names in the Grafana menu, you can use foldersFromFilesStructure option.

For example, to replicate these dashboards structure from the filesystem to Grafana,

Copy

/etc/dashboards
├── /server
│   ├── /common_dashboard.json
│   └── /network_dashboard.json
└── /application
    ├── /requests_dashboard.json
    └── /resources_dashboard.json

you need to specify just this short provision configuration file.

yaml Copy

apiVersion: 1

providers:
  - name: dashboards
    type: file
    updateIntervalSeconds: 30
    options:
      path: /etc/dashboards
      foldersFromFilesStructure: true

server and application will become new folders in Grafana menu.

Note: folder and folderUid options should be empty or missing to make foldersFromFilesStructure work.

Note: To provision dashboards to the General folder, store them in the root of your path.

Alerting

For information on provisioning Grafana Alerting, refer to Provision Grafana Alerting resources.

Alert Notification Channels

Note: Alert Notification Channels are part of legacy alerting, which is deprecated and will be removed in Grafana 10. Use the Provision contact points section in Create and manage alerting resources using file provisioning.

Alert Notification Channels can be provisioned by adding one or more YAML config files in the provisioning/notifiers directory.

Each config file can contain the following top-level fields:

• notifiers, a list of alert notifications that will be added or updated during start up. If the notification channel already exists, Grafana will update it to match the configuration file.
• delete_notifiers, a list of alert notifications to be deleted before inserting/updating those in the notifiers list.

Provisioning looks up alert notifications by uid, and will update any existing notification with the provided uid.

By default, exporting a dashboard as JSON will use a sequential identifier to refer to alert notifications. The field uid can be optionally specified to specify a string identifier for the alert name.

json Copy

{
  ...
      "alert": {
        ...,
        "conditions": [...],
        "frequency": "24h",
        "noDataState": "ok",
        "notifications": [
           {"uid": "notifier1"},
           {"uid": "notifier2"},
        ]
      }
  ...
}

Example Alert Notification Channels Config File

yaml Copy

notifiers:
  - name: notification-channel-1
    type: slack
    uid: notifier1
    # either
    org_id: 2
    # or
    org_name: Main Org.
    is_default: true
    send_reminder: true
    frequency: 1h
    disable_resolve_message: false
    # See `Supported Settings` section for settings supported for each
    # alert notification type.
    settings:
      recipient: 'XXX'
      uploadImage: true
      token: 'xoxb' # legacy setting since Grafana v7.2 (stored non-encrypted)
      url: https://slack.com # legacy setting since Grafana v7.2 (stored non-encrypted)
    # Secure settings that will be encrypted in the database (supported since Grafana v7.2). See `Supported Settings` section for secure settings supported for each notifier.
    secure_settings:
      token: 'xoxb'
      url: https://slack.com

delete_notifiers:
  - name: notification-channel-1
    uid: notifier1
    # either
    org_id: 2
    # or
    org_name: Main Org.
  - name: notification-channel-2
    # default org_id: 1

Supported Settings

The following sections detail the supported settings and secure settings for each alert notification type. Secure settings are stored encrypted in the database and you add them to secure_settings in the YAML file instead of settings.

Note: Secure settings is supported since Grafana v7.2.

Alert notification pushover

Alert notification discord

Alert notification slack

Alert notification victorops

Alert notification kafka

Alert notification LINE

Alert notification pagerduty

Alert notification sensu

Alert notification sensugo

Alert notification prometheus-alertmanager

Alert notification teams

Alert notification dingding

Alert notification email

Alert notification hipchat

Alert notification opsgenie

Alert notification telegram

Alert notification threema

Alert notification webhook

Alert notification googlechat

Alert notification Cisco Webex Teams

Grafana Enterprise

Grafana Enterprise supports:

• Provisioning role-based access control with Grafana
• Provisioning role-based access control with Terraform