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 {{% product-name %}}.

Prerequisites

• Download and install Chronograf
• A running {{% product-name %}} cluster with:
  • A database to query
  • A {{% token-link "database" %}} with read permissions

Enable InfluxDB 3 support

To connect Chronograf to {{% product-name %}}, start Chronograf with InfluxDB 3 support enabled using one of the following methods:

{{< tabs-wrapper >}} {{% tabs %}} CLI flag Environment variable {{% /tabs %}} {{% tab-content %}}

chronograf --influxdb-v3-support-enabled

{{% /tab-content %}} {{% tab-content %}}

export INFLUXDB_V3_SUPPORT_ENABLED=true
chronograf

{{% /tab-content %}} {{< /tabs-wrapper >}}

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 3 Enterprise.

   {{< img-hd src="/img/chronograf/v1-influxdb3/server-type-dropdown.png" alt="Chronograf Server Type dropdown" />}}

4. Enter your {{% product-name %}} connection credentials:

   • Connection URL: URL of your {{% product-name %}} cluster

     Copy

     http://{{< influxdb/host >}}
     

   • Connection Name: Name to uniquely identify this connection configuration

   • Database Token: InfluxDB {{% token-link "database" %}} 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)

   {{< img-hd src="/img/chronograf/v1-influxdb3/enterprise-connection.png" alt="Chronograf InfluxDB 3 Enterprise connection configuration" />}}

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 also configure the connection when starting Chronograf:

Replace the following:

• {{% code-placeholder-key %}}DATABASE_NAME{{% /code-placeholder-key %}}: Database name
• {{% code-placeholder-key %}}DATABASE_TOKEN{{% /code-placeholder-key %}}: {{% token-link "database" %}} with read permissions

chronograf --influxdb-v3-support-enabled \
  --influxdb-type=influx-v3-enterprise \
  --influxdb-url=http://{{< influxdb/host >}} \
  --influxdb-token=DATABASE_TOKEN \
  --influxdb-default-db=DATABASE_NAME

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

Query data in the Data Explorer

1. In Chronograf, click {{< icon "graph" "v2" >}} Explore in the left navigation bar.
2. Build and submit InfluxQL queries.

[!Note]

Schema information in the Data Explorer

{{% product-name %}} supports InfluxQL metaqueries, so schema information is available in the Data Explorer to help build queries. You can also use fully qualified measurements in the FROM clause. For example:

sqlCopy

-- 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"

For more information about available InfluxQL functionality, see InfluxQL feature support.

Important notes

• Database view is disabled
• No administrative functionality
• Annotations and variables

Database view is disabled

When connected to {{% product-name %}}, the database view in Chronograf is disabled.

No administrative functionality

Chronograf cannot be used for administrative tasks in {{% product-name %}}. For example, you cannot do the following:

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

When connected to an {{% product-name %}} database, functionality in the {{< icon "crown" >}} InfluxDB Admin section of Chronograf is disabled.

To complete administrative tasks, use the influxdb3 CLI.

Annotations and variables

Annotations and dashboard variables work with {{% product-name %}} 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.