Connect Grafana to the data you already have

Your data already lives somewhere: a metrics store, a database, a cloud service, an API. Data sources connect Grafana to those systems so you can query, visualize, and alert on your data without moving it.

What you’ll learn

This journey covers:

What a data source is: a connection that lets you query your data where it already lives
Common data sources and what each is good for
How connecting to data differs from sending it to Grafana Cloud, like with integrations
How to connect a data source with a guided path
What to do next after your data is flowing: query, visualize, and alert

Journey duration

20 minutes

Data sources covered

Prometheus • InfluxDB • Loki • Elasticsearch • CloudWatch • MySQL • PostgreSQL • Infinity • Google Sheets

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Script

Grafana can connect to almost anything. But with more than 150 data source options, where do you start?

That’s what this journey is about. We’ll walk through a range of common data sources, help you understand what each one is good for, and how connecting to data differs from sending it to Grafana Cloud, like with integrations.

Then you’ll connect one with a guided path and put it to work: query your data, build a dashboard, and set up alerts.

By the end, you’ll know how to connect Grafana to your data, what data sources are good for, and what to do after your data is flowing.

Connect Grafana to the data you already have

What you’ll learn

Journey duration

Data sources covered

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