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Grafana

References

Adding InfluxDB datasource

When you have logged into Grafana (default user/pass: admin/admin), you have to add a data source to be used for the graphs.

Select Data Sources -> Add data source -> InfluxDB.

Set options:

  • HTTP / URL: http://influxdb:8086
  • InfluxDB Details / Database: telegraf
  • InfluxDB Details / User: nodered
  • InfluxDB Details / Password: nodered

Overriding configuration variables

Grafana documentation contains a list of settings. Settings are described in terms of how they appear in ".ini" files.

Grafana configuration is usually done in grafana.ini, but when used via docker as the IOTstack does, it should be configured using environment variables.

Edit docker-compose.yml and find grafana: and under it environment: this is where you can place the ini-options, but formatted as: 

    - GF_<SectionName>_<KeyName>=<value>
If you are using old-menu edit ~/IOTstack/services/grafana/grafana.env instead and add the lines directly there, but without the leading dash: GF_<SectionName>_<KeyName>=<value>

For any changes to take effect you need recreate the Grafana container:

$ docker-compose up -d grafana

Setting your time-zone

Change the right hand side to your own timezone:

    - TZ=Etc/UTC

Anonymous login

To allow anonymous logins add:

    - GF_AUTH_ANONYMOUS_ENABLED=true

If you do not change anything then, when you bring up the stack and use a browser to connect to your Raspberry Pi on port 3000, Grafana will:

  • Expect you to login as user "admin" with password "admin"; and then
  • Force you to change the default password to something else.

Thereafter, you will login as "admin" with whatever password you chose. You can change the administrator's password as often as you like via the web UI (profile button, change password tab).

This default operation can be changed by configuration options. They will have any effect only if Grafana has just been added to the stack, but has never been launched. Thus, if the folder ~/IOTstack/volumes/grafana exists, Grafana has already been started, and adding and changing these options will not have any effect.

To customize, editing the file as describe above, add the following lines under the environment:-section. The default configuration is:

    - GF_SECURITY_ADMIN_USER=admin
    - GF_SECURITY_ADMIN_PASSWORD=admin

If you change the default password, Grafana will not force you to change the password on first login but you will still be able to change it via the web UI.

As a summary, these work only before Grafana is launched for the first time:

  • GF_SECURITY_ADMIN_USER has a default value of "admin". You can explicitly set it to "admin" or some other value. Whatever option you choose then that's the account name of Grafana's administrative user. But choosing any value other than "admin" is probably a bad idea.
  • GF_SECURITY_ADMIN_PASSWORD has a default value of "admin". You can explicitly set it to "admin" or some other value. If its value is "admin" then you will be forced to change it the first time you login to Grafana. If its value is something other than "admin" then that will be the password until you change it via the web UI.

Options with spaces

To set an options with a space, you must enclose the whole value in quotes:

    - "GF_AUTH_ANONYMOUS_ORG_NAME=Main Org."

HELP – I forgot my Grafana admin password!

Assuming Grafana is started and, run:

$ docker-compose exec grafana grafana-cli --homepath "/usr/share/grafana" admin reset-admin-password "admin"

Then, use a browser to connect to your Raspberry Pi on port 3000. Grafana will:

  • Expect you login as user "admin" with password "admin"; and then
  • Force you to change the default password to something else.

Note: If you have customized GF_SECURITY_ADMIN_USER, you'll need to use it as the user instead.

HELP - Resetting to a clean slate

"I made a bit of a mess with Grafana. First time user. Steep learning curve. False starts, many. Mistakes, unavoidable. Been there, done that. But now I really need to start from a clean slate. And, yes, I understand there is no undo for this."

Begin by stopping Grafana:

$ cd ~/IOTstack
$ docker-compose stop grafana

You have two options:

  1. Destroy your settings and dashboards but retain any plugins you may have installed:

    $ sudo rm ~/IOTstack/volumes/grafana/data/grafana.db

  2. Nuke everything (triple-check this command before you hit return):

    $ sudo rm -rf ~/IOTstack/volumes/grafana/data

This is where you should edit docker-compose.yml or ~/IOTstack/services/grafana/grafana.env to correct any problems (such as choosing an administrative username other than "admin").

When you are ready, bring Grafana back up again:

$ cd ~/IOTstack
$ docker-compose up -d

Grafana will automatically recreate everything it needs. You will be able to login as "admin/admin".