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InfluxDB is the platform purpose-built to collect, store, and query time series data. {{% product-name %}} is powered by the InfluxDB 3 storage engine, that provides nearly unlimited series cardinality, improved query performance, and interoperability with widely used data processing tools and platforms.

<a class="btn" href="{{< cta-link >}}">Run an {{% product-name %}} proof of concept (PoC)</a>

Time series data is a sequence of data points indexed in time order. Data points typically consist of successive measurements made from the same source and are used to track changes over time. Examples of time series data include:

  • Industrial sensor data
  • Server performance metrics
  • Heartbeats per minute
  • Electrical activity in the brain
  • Rainfall measurements
  • Stock prices

This multi-part tutorial walks you through writing time series data to {{% product-name %}}, querying, and then visualizing that data.

Key concepts before you get started

Before you get started using InfluxDB, it's important to understand how time series data is organized and stored in InfluxDB and some key definitions that are used throughout this documentation.

Data organization

The {{% product-name %}} data model organizes time series data into databases and tables.

A database can contain multiple tables. Tables contain multiple tags and fields.

  • Database: A named location where time series data is stored in tables. Database is synonymous with bucket in InfluxDB Cloud Serverless and InfluxDB TSM.
    • Table: A logical grouping for time series data. All points in a given table should have the same tags. A table contains tags and fields. Table is synonymous with measurement in InfluxDB Cloud Serverless and InfluxDB TSM.
      • Tags: Key-value pairs that provide metadata for each point--for example, something to identify the source or context of the data like host, location, station, etc. Tag values may be null.
      • Fields: Key-value pairs with values that change over time--for example, temperature, pressure, stock price, etc. Field values may be null, but at least one field value is not null on any given row.
      • Timestamp: Timestamp associated with the data. When stored on disk and queried, all data is ordered by time. A timestamp is never null.

[!Note]

What about buckets and measurements?

If coming from InfluxDB Cloud Serverless or InfluxDB powered by the TSM storage engine, you're likely familiar with the concepts bucket and measurement. Bucket in TSM or InfluxDB Cloud Serverless is synonymous with database in {{% product-name %}}. Measurement in TSM or InfluxDB Cloud Serverless is synonymous with table in {{% product-name %}}.

Schema on write

As you write data to InfluxDB, the data defines the table schema. You don't need to create tables or explicitly define the table schema.

Important definitions

The following definitions are important to understand when using InfluxDB:

  • Point: Single data record identified by its measurement, tag keys, tag values, field key, and timestamp.
  • Series: A group of points with the same measurement, tag keys and values, and field key.
  • Primary key: Columns used to uniquely identify each row in a table. Rows are uniquely identified by their timestamp and tag set. A row's primary key tag set does not include tags with null values.
Example InfluxDB query results

{{< influxdb/points-series-sql >}}

Tools to use

The following table compares tools that you can use to interact with {{% product-name %}}. This tutorial covers many of the recommended tools.

ToolAdministrationWriteQuery
Chronograf--{{< icon "check" >}}
<span style="opacity:.5;">influx CLI</span>---
influxctl CLI{{< req text="* " color="magenta" >}}{{< icon "check" >}}{{< icon "check" >}}{{< icon "check" >}}
influx3 data CLI{{< req text="* " color="magenta" >}}-{{< icon "check" >}}{{< icon "check" >}}
InfluxDB HTTP API{{< req text="* " color="magenta" >}}-{{< icon "check" >}}{{< icon "check" >}}
<span style="opacity:.5;">InfluxDB user interface</span>---
InfluxDB 3 client libraries{{< req text="* " color="magenta" >}}-{{< icon "check" >}}{{< icon "check" >}}
InfluxDB v2 client libraries-{{< icon "check" >}}-
InfluxDB v1 client libraries-{{< icon "check" >}}{{< icon "check" >}}
Telegraf{{< req text="* " color="magenta" >}}-{{< icon "check" >}}-
Third-party tools
Flight SQL clients--{{< icon "check" >}}
Grafana--{{< icon "check" >}}
Superset--{{< icon "check" >}}
Tableau--{{< icon "check" >}}

{{< caption >}} {{< req type="key" text="Covered in this tutorial" color="magenta" >}} {{< /caption >}}

[!Warning] Avoid using the influx CLI with {{% product-name %}}. While it may coincidentally work, it isn't supported.

influxctl CLI

The influxctl command line interface (CLI) writes, queries, and performs administrative tasks, such as managing databases and authorization tokens in a cluster.

influx3 data CLI

The influx3 data CLI is a community-maintained tool that lets you write and query data in {{% product-name %}} from a command line. It uses the HTTP API to write data and uses Flight gRPC to query data.

InfluxDB HTTP API

The InfluxDB HTTP API provides a simple way to let you manage {{% product-name %}} and write and query data using HTTP(S) clients. Examples in this tutorial use cURL, but any HTTP(S) client will work.

The /write and /query v1-compatible endpoints work with the username/password authentication schemes and existing InfluxDB 1.x tools and code. The /api/v2/write v2-compatible endpoint works with existing InfluxDB 2.x tools and code.

InfluxDB client libraries

InfluxDB client libraries are community-maintained, language-specific clients that interact with InfluxDB APIs.

InfluxDB 3 client libraries are the recommended client libraries for writing and querying data {{% product-name %}}. They use the HTTP API to write data and use InfluxDB's Flight gRPC API to query data.

InfluxDB v2 client libraries can use /api/v2 HTTP endpoints to manage resources such as buckets and API tokens, and write data in {{% product-name %}}.

InfluxDB v1 client libraries can write data to {{% product-name %}}.

Authorization

{{% product-name %}} requires authentication using one of the following token types:

  • Database token: A token that grants read and write access to InfluxDB databases.

  • Management token: Auth0 authentication token generated by the influxctl CLI and used to administer your InfluxDB cluster. Management tokens authorize a user to perform tasks related to:

    • Account management
    • Database management
    • Database token management
    • Pricing

By default, management tokens are

  • short-lived
  • issued for a specific user
  • issued by an OAuth2 identity provider
  • managed by influxctl and don't require management by users

However, for automation purposes, an influxctl user can manually create a long-lived management token for use with the Management API for Cloud Dedicated. Manually-created management tokens authenticate directly with your InfluxDB cluster and don't require human interaction with your identity provider.

<!-- - Infrastructure management -->

{{< page-nav next="/influxdb3/cloud-dedicated/get-started/setup/" >}}