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Grafana configuration

Configuration for Grafana dashboards and visualization.

Authentication​

Default credentials​

Default admin credentials for local installation:

Username: admin
Password: admin
warning

Change the default password immediately after first login.

Disable anonymous access​

GF_AUTH_ANONYMOUS_ENABLED=false

LDAP/Active Directory​

# grafana.ini
[auth.ldap]
enabled = true
config_file = /etc/grafana/ldap.toml

OAuth/OIDC​

[auth.generic_oauth]
enabled = true
name = OAuth
client_id = your-client-id
client_secret = your-client-secret
scopes = openid profile email
auth_url = https://auth.example.com/authorize
token_url = https://auth.example.com/token
api_url = https://auth.example.com/userinfo

Data sources​

VictoriaMetrics data source​

Automatically configured during installation:

apiVersion: 1
datasources:
  - name: VictoriaMetrics
    type: prometheus
    url: http://victoriametrics:8428
    access: proxy
    isDefault: true

Adding additional data sources​

datasources:
  - name: PostgreSQL
    type: postgres
    url: postgresql://host:5432/db
    user: readonly_user
    secureJsonData:
      password: ${DB_PASSWORD}  # Use environment variable

Dashboard provisioning​

Auto-loading dashboards​

PostgresAI dashboards are provisioned automatically:

apiVersion: 1
providers:
  - name: postgres_ai
    folder: postgres_ai
    type: file
    options:
      path: /var/lib/grafana/dashboards/postgres_ai

Custom dashboard folder​

GF_DASHBOARDS_DEFAULT_HOME_DASHBOARD_PATH=/var/lib/grafana/dashboards/custom/home.json

Variables​

Default variable values​

Override dashboard variable defaults:

# In dashboard JSON
"templating": {
  "list": [
    {
      "name": "cluster_name",
      "current": {
        "value": "production"
      }
    }
  ]
}

Variable refresh​

Control when variables are refreshed:

SettingBehavior
On dashboard loadRefresh when dashboard opens
On time range changeRefresh when time picker changes
NeverManual refresh only

Panel customization​

Time zone​

# Use browser time zone
GF_DEFAULT_TIMEZONE=browser

# Use specific time zone
GF_DEFAULT_TIMEZONE=UTC

Theme​

GF_DEFAULT_THEME=dark  # dark, light

Refresh interval​

Default auto-refresh:

GF_DASHBOARDS_DEFAULT_INTERVAL=15s

Performance​

Query caching​

Enable query result caching:

[caching]
enabled = true
ttl = 60s

Max data points​

Limit data points returned per query:

[server]
router_logging = false

Concurrent queries​

[database]
max_open_conn = 100

Embedding​

Allow embedding in iframes​

[security]
allow_embedding = true

CORS settings​

[security]
cookie_samesite = none
cookie_secure = true

Alerting​

Enable Grafana alerting​

[unified_alerting]
enabled = true

Disable classic alerting​

[alerting]
enabled = false

See Alerting configuration for alert rules.

Plugins​

Install plugins​

# Via environment variable
GF_INSTALL_PLUGINS=grafana-clock-panel,grafana-piechart-panel

# Via CLI
grafana-cli plugins install grafana-clock-panel

Required plugins​

PostgresAI dashboards use these plugins:

PluginPurpose
Stat panelSingle value displays
Time seriesMetric charts
TableData grids
HeatmapWait event visualization

Resource limits​

Memory​

# docker-compose.yml
services:
  grafana:
    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          memory: 512M

Concurrent users​

[server]
concurrent_render_request_limit = 30

Backup and restore​

Backup dashboards​

# Export all dashboards
for uid in $(curl -s http://monitor:YOUR_PASSWORD@localhost:3000/api/search | jq -r '.[].uid'); do
  curl -s "http://monitor:YOUR_PASSWORD@localhost:3000/api/dashboards/uid/$uid" > "dashboard-$uid.json"
done

Restore dashboards​

for file in dashboard-*.json; do
  curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    -d @"$file" \
    http://monitor:YOUR_PASSWORD@localhost:3000/api/dashboards/db
done

Troubleshooting​

Check data source connectivity​

curl http://localhost:3000/api/datasources/proxy/1/api/v1/query?query=up

Debug panel queries​

  1. Open panel edit mode
  2. Click "Query Inspector"
  3. Review raw query and response

Common issues​

IssueCauseSolution
No dataData source misconfiguredCheck data source URL and credentials
Slow dashboardsToo many panelsReduce time range or panel count
Login loopCookie issuesClear cookies, check cookie_samesite