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Creating Templates in Grafana

Introduction

Templates in Grafana are powerful tools that allow you to create reusable dashboards that can adapt based on user inputs. This tutorial will guide you through the process of creating templates in Grafana, helping you streamline your dashboard building process.

What are Templates?

Templates are placeholders you can use in your queries and panels that can dynamically change based on user-selected values. This feature is particularly useful when you have metrics that can vary by different dimensions, such as time, region, or service.

Creating a Simple Template Variable

To create a template variable in Grafana, follow these steps:

  1. Open your Grafana dashboard.
  2. Click on the gear icon (⚙️) to access the dashboard settings.
  3. Navigate to the "Variables" section in the left menu.
  4. Click on "Add variable".

In the variable settings, you will need to provide the following information:

  • Name: The name used to reference the variable in queries.
  • Type: Choose the type of variable (e.g., Query, Custom, etc.).
  • Data source: Select the data source from which to query values.
  • Query: Enter the query that retrieves the values for the variable.

Example:

For a variable named region, you can set the type to Query, select your data source, and use the following query:

SHOW TAG VALUES WITH KEY = "region"

After saving, you can use ${region} in your queries to filter results based on the selected region.

Using Template Variables in Queries

After creating your variables, you can incorporate them into your queries. For example:

Consider a query that retrieves CPU usage:

SELECT mean("usage") FROM "cpu" WHERE "region" = '${region}' AND $timeFilter GROUP BY time($interval) fill(null)

In this case, the query will automatically adjust based on the selected region variable from the template.

Styling Your Dashboard with Variables

Grafana allows you to customize the appearance of your dashboard based on the selected variables. You can use variables to show/hide panels or change their content.

For instance, you can create a conditional panel that only displays when a specific variable is selected:

IF ${region} = 'US' THEN SHOW panel_name

This makes your dashboard more interactive and tailored to user needs.

Conclusion

Creating templates in Grafana enhances your dashboard's flexibility and interactivity. By following this tutorial, you should now be able to create and use template variables effectively in your Grafana dashboards. Experiment with different types of variables and queries to get the most out of your data visualization.