Grafana on docker with customization options

 

Grafana is an open-source platform for data visualization and monitoring. It can be installed on a variety of operating systems and platforms, including Docker.

To run Grafana on Docker, you can follow these steps:

1.     Install Docker on your machine if it is not already installed. You can download Docker for your operating system from the official Docker website 

2.     Pull the Grafana image from Docker Hub by running the following command in your terminal:

docker pull grafana/grafana

3.     Once the image is downloaded, start a new Grafana container by running the following command:

docker run -d -p 3000:3000 grafana/grafana

This will start a new Grafana container and bind it to port 3000 of your machine.

4.     Access Grafana by opening a web browser and navigating to http://localhost:3000. You should see the Grafana login page.

5.     Log in with the default credentials (username: admin, password: admin) and you should be able to start using Grafana.

Note that this is a basic setup for Grafana on Docker.

Below are some of the ways of customizing Grafana container by passing additional parameters to docker run command:

1. To start a Grafana container with a custom configuration file:

docker run -d \ -p 3000:3000 \ -v /path/to/custom.ini:/etc/grafana/grafana.ini \ grafana/grafana

In this command, we're mounting a custom configuration file located at /path/to/custom.ini to the container's /etc/grafana/grafana.ini file path. This will override the default Grafana configuration file and allow you to customize Grafana settings.

2. Mounting External Volumes to Store Grafana Data Persistently: By default, Grafana stores its data in the container's file system, which is not persistent. If you want to store Grafana data persistently, you can mount an external volume to the container's data directory.

Here's an example of how to start a Grafana container with an external volume:

docker run -d \ -p 3000:3000 \ -v /path/to/grafana/data:/var/lib/grafana \ grafana/grafana

In this command, we're mounting the external volume at /path/to/grafana/data to the container's /var/lib/grafana directory. This will allow Grafana to store its data persistently in the external volume.

3.Set Environment Variables: You can set environment variables to configure various Grafana settings, such as the SMTP server details, database credentials, or authentication settings. Here's an example of how to start a Grafana container with environment variables:

docker run -d \ -p 3000:3000 \ -e "GF_SMTP_ENABLED=true" \ -e "GF_SMTP_HOST=smtp.example.com" \ -e "GF_SMTP_USER=smtp_user" \ -e "GF_SMTP_PASSWORD=smtp_password" \ grafana/grafana

In this command, we're setting environment variables to enable and configure the SMTP server settings. 

4. Expose Additional Ports: You can expose additional ports to allow external services or applications to access Grafana. For example, you can expose the Graphite data source port to allow Grafana to fetch data from Graphite. Here's an example of how to start a Grafana container with an exposed port:

docker run -d \ -p 3000:3000 \ -p 8080:8080 \ grafana/grafana

In this command, we're exposing port 8080 in addition to the default port 3000.

 

5.      Specify a Custom UID/GID: You can specify a custom UID/GID for the Grafana user to control file permissions and access control. Here's an example of how to start a Grafana container with a custom UID/GID:

docker run -d \ -p 3000:3000 \ -u 1001:1001 \ grafana/grafana

In this command, we're setting the UID/GID to 1001 for the Grafana user.

6.      Enable Anonymous Access: You can enable anonymous access to Grafana by configuring the auth.anonymous section in the Grafana configuration file. Here's an example of how to start a Grafana container with anonymous access enabled:

docker run -d \ -p 3000:3000 \ -v /path/to/custom.ini:/etc/grafana/grafana.ini \ -e "GF_AUTH_ANONYMOUS_ENABLED=true" \ -e "GF_AUTH_ANONYMOUS_ORG_ROLE=Viewer" \ grafana/grafana

In this command, we're mounting a custom configuration file and setting environment variables to enable anonymous access and configure the default organization role for anonymous users.

7.      Use a Custom SSL Certificate: You can use a custom SSL certificate to secure the Grafana web interface. Here's an example of how to start a Grafana container with a custom SSL certificate:

docker run -d \ -p 3000:3000 \ -v /path/to/cert.pem:/etc/grafana/cert.pem \ -v /path/to/key.pem:/etc/grafana/key.pem \ -e "GF_SERVER_PROTOCOL=https" \ -e "GF_SERVER_CERT_FILE=/etc/grafana/cert.pem" \ -e "GF_SERVER_CERT_KEY=/etc/grafana/key.pem" \ grafana/grafana

In this command, we're mounting custom SSL certificate and key files and setting environment variables to configure the server protocol and certificate settings.

8.      Use a Custom Timezone: You can use a custom timezone to display Grafana time series data according to your local time zone. Here's an example of how to start a Grafana container with a custom timezone:

docker run -d \ -p 3000:3000 \ -v /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime \ -e "TZ=America/Los_Angeles" \ grafana/grafana

In this command, we're mounting the local timezone file and setting the TZ environment variable to America/Los_Angeles.

9.      Use a Custom Data Source: You can use a custom data source plugin in Grafana to fetch data from a non-standard data source. Here's an example of how to start a Grafana container with a custom data source plugin:

docker run -d \ -p 3000:3000 \ -v /path/to/custom.ini:/etc/grafana/grafana.ini \ -v /path/to/data-source:/var/lib/grafana/plugins/data-source \ grafana/grafana

In this command, we're mounting a custom configuration file and a custom data source plugin to the Grafana container.

10.   Use a Custom Theme: You can use a custom theme in Grafana to customize the look and feel of the Grafana web interface. Here's an example of how to start a Grafana container with a custom theme:

docker run -d \ -p 3000:3000 \ -v /path/to/custom.ini:/etc/grafana/grafana.ini \ -v /path/to/custom.css:/usr/share/grafana/public/css/custom.css \ grafana/grafana

In this command, we're mounting a custom configuration file and a custom CSS file to the Grafana container.

11.   Use a Custom Plugin: You can use a custom plugin in Grafana to add new functionality to the Grafana web interface. Here's an example of how to start a Grafana container with a custom plugin:

docker run -d \ -p 3000:3000 \ -v /path/to/custom.ini:/etc/grafana/grafana.ini \ -v /path/to/custom-plugin:/var/lib/grafana/plugins/custom-plugin \ grafana/grafana

In this command, we're mounting a custom configuration file and a custom plugin to the Grafana container.

12. Configuring SMTP for email notifications: You can configure Grafana to send email notifications using SMTP. To do this, you need to pass the SMTP configuration parameters to Grafana via environment variables. For example:

docker run -d \ -p 3000:3000 \ -e "GF_SMTP_ENABLED=true" \ -e "GF_SMTP_HOST=smtp.gmail.com:587" \ -e "GF_SMTP_USER=myemail@gmail.com" \ -e "GF_SMTP_PASSWORD=mypassword" \ grafana/grafana

In this command, we're enabling SMTP for email notifications and passing the SMTP host, user, and password via environment variables.

13. Configuring LDAP for authentication: You can configure Grafana to authenticate users using LDAP. To do this, you need to pass the LDAP configuration parameters to Grafana via environment variables. For example:

docker run -d \ -p 3000:3000 \ -e "GF_AUTH_LDAP_ENABLED=true" \ -e "GF_AUTH_LDAP_CONFIG_FILE=/etc/grafana/ldap.toml" \ -v /path/to/ldap.toml:/etc/grafana/ldap.toml \ grafana/grafana

In this command, we're enabling LDAP authentication and passing the LDAP configuration file via a volume.

14. Using a reverse proxy: You can use a reverse proxy to access Grafana securely over HTTPS. To do this, you need to configure the reverse proxy to forward requests to Grafana and configure Grafana to use HTTPS. For example:

docker run -d \ -e "GF_SERVER_ROOT_URL=https://example.com/grafana" \ -e "GF_SERVER_DOMAIN=example.com" \ -e "GF_SERVER_HTTP_PORT=3000" \ -e "GF_SERVER_HTTPS_PORT=3001" \ -e "GF_SERVER_PROTOCOL=https" \ grafana/grafana

In this command, we're configuring Grafana to use HTTPS and specifying the root URL, domain name, HTTP, and HTTPS ports via environment variables. We're also not exposing any ports directly to the host as the traffic will be forwarded through the reverse proxy.

15. Configuring session cookies: You can configure the session cookies used by Grafana by specifying the GF_SESSION_COOKIE environment variable. For example:

docker run -d \ -p 3000:3000 \ -e "GF_SESSION_COOKIE_NAME=my-session-cookie" \ -e "GF_SESSION_COOKIE_SECURE=true" \ -e "GF_SESSION_COOKIE_HTTPONLY=true" \ -e "GF_SESSION_COOKIE_SAMESITE=Lax" \ grafana/grafana

Grafana on Docker offers several unique benefits:

1. Portability: Grafana on Docker is highly portable, which means you can easily move it from one environment to another without any issues. You can easily package the Grafana environment and its dependencies into a Docker image, which can be easily deployed to other environments.
2. Isolation: Docker provides a high level of isolation between the Grafana environment and the host operating system. This means that any changes made to the Grafana environment won't affect the host operating system and vice versa.
3. Easy management: Docker makes it easy to manage multiple Grafana instances. You can easily spin up new instances, update existing ones, and roll back changes if necessary.
4. Scalability: Docker makes it easy to scale the Grafana environment as per the demand. You can easily add or remove Grafana instances as per the demand.
5. Version control: With Docker, you can version control the entire Grafana environment, including its dependencies. This means that you can easily roll back to a previous version if any issues arise.
6. Persistence: Docker provides the ability to persist Grafana data using external volumes. This means that you can store Grafana data outside of the container, making it easier to back up, restore, or migrate Grafana instances.

Overall, using Grafana on Docker provides a lot of benefits over a traditional installation, making it an excellent choice for those looking to deploy and manage Grafana instances at scale.