Use Chronograf to visualize data

Chronograf is a data visualization and dashboarding tool designed to visualize data in InfluxDB 1.x using the InfluxQL query language. This page walks through how to use Chronograf with InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated.

Prerequisites

• Download and install Chronograf
• An InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated cluster with:
  • A database to query
  • A database token with read permissions

Enable InfluxDB 3 support

To connect Chronograf to InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated, start Chronograf with InfluxDB 3 support enabled using one of the following methods:

chronograf --influxdb-v3-support-enabled

export 
INFLUXDB_V3_SUPPORT_ENABLED=true
chronograf

Create an InfluxDB connection

1. Open Chronograf and click Configuration (wrench icon) in the navigation menu.

2. Click Add Connection.

   

3. In the Server Type dropdown, select InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated.

   

4. Enter your InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated connection credentials:

   • Connection URL: InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated cluster URL

     https://cluster-id.a.influxdb.io

   • Connection Name: Name to uniquely identify this connection configuration

   • Database Token: InfluxDB database token with read permissions on the database you want to query

   • Telegraf Database Name: InfluxDB database Chronograf uses to populate parts of the application, including the Host List page (default is telegraf)

   To enable database management features, provide the following credentials:

   • Cluster ID: Your InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated cluster ID (found in your influxctl configuration)
   • Account ID: Your InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated account ID (found in your influxctl configuration)
   • Management Token: A management token for administrative operations

   You can configure the following optional database access fields:

   • Default Database: (Optional) Default database to use. When set, Chronograf limits queries to this database.
   • Tags CSV Directory Path: (Optional) Path to a directory containing CSV files that predefine tags for the query builder (see Tags CSV files)
   • Unsafe SSL: Enable to skip SSL certificate verification for self-signed certificates
   

5. Click Add Connection.

6. Select the dashboards you would like to create, and then click Next.

7. To configure a Kapacitor connection, provide the necessary credentials, and then click Continue. Otherwise, click Skip.

8. Click Finish.

Configure connection via CLI

You can configure the connection when starting Chronograf.

With management features

Replace the following:

• ACCOUNT_ID: Account ID
• CLUSTER_ID: Cluster ID
• DATABASE_NAME: Database name
• DATABASE_TOKEN: Database token with read permissions
• MANAGEMENT_TOKEN: Management token

chronograf --influxdb-v3-support-enabled \
  --influxdb-type=influx-v3-cloud-dedicated \
  --influxdb-url=https://cluster-id.a.influxdb.io \
  --influxdb-token=
DATABASE_TOKEN
 \
  --influxdb-mgmt-token=
MANAGEMENT_TOKEN
 \
  --influxdb-cluster-id=
CLUSTER_ID
 \
  --influxdb-account-id=
ACCOUNT_ID
 \
  --influxdb-default-db=
DATABASE_NAME
 \
  --tags-csv-path=/path/to/tags

Without management features

Replace the following:

• DATABASE_NAME: Database name
• DATABASE_TOKEN: Database token with read permissions

chronograf --influxdb-v3-support-enabled \
  --influxdb-type=influx-v3-cloud-dedicated \
  --influxdb-url=https://cluster-id.a.influxdb.io \
  --influxdb-token=
DATABASE_TOKEN
 \
  --influxdb-default-db=
DATABASE_NAME

For a complete list of configuration options, see InfluxDB 3 connection options.

Tags CSV files

For InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated, you can predefine tags for the query builder and control filters using CSV files.

CSV file requirements:

• File names must match database names (for example, mydb.csv for a database named mydb)
• Use semicolons (;) as field delimiters
• Three fields per line: measurement;tag-key;tag-value

Example CSV content:

home;room;Living Room
home;room;cellar
home;room;attic

Query data in the Data Explorer

1. In Chronograf, click Explore in the left navigation bar.
2. Build and submit InfluxQL queries.

-- Fully qualified measurement
SELECT * FROM "db-name"."rp-name"."measurement-name"

-- Fully qualified measurement shorthand (use the default retention policy)
SELECT * FROM "db-name".."measurement-name"

SELECT * FROM mydb.autogen.measurement

Important notes

• Database view is read-only
• No administrative functionality
• Annotations and variables

Database view is read-only

When connected to InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated, the database view in Chronograf is read-only.

No administrative functionality

Chronograf cannot be used for administrative tasks in InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated. For example, you cannot do the following:

• Define databases
• Modify retention policies
• Add users
• Kill queries

When connected to an InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated database, functionality in the InfluxDB Admin section of Chronograf is disabled.

To complete administrative tasks, use the influxctl CLI.

Annotations and variables

Annotations and dashboard variables work with InfluxDB Cloud Dedicated when a chronograf database exists and is accessible with the same database token.

When setting up variables with dynamic tag values, the backend query limits the scope of the record search with a time condition. By default, this is time > now() - 7d. Tags from records older than this limit are ignored. To change this setting, use the --influxdb-v3-time-condition flag or INFLUXDB_V3_TIME_CONDITION environment variable.