Creating InfluxDB and Kapacitor connections

Connections to InfluxDB and Kapacitor can be configured through the Chronograf user interface (UI) or with JSON configuration files:

• Manage InfluxDB connections using the Chronograf UI
• Manage InfluxDB connections using .src files
• Manage Kapacitor connections using the Chronograf UI
• Manage Kapacitor connections using .kap files

Note: Connection details are stored in Chronograf’s internal database chronograf-v1.db .src. Typically, the only time you’ll need to administer the internal database is when you’re restoring a Chronograf database.

Manage InfluxDB connections using the Chronograf UI

To create an InfluxDB connection in the Chronograf UI:

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

2. Click Add Connection.

3. Enter values for the following fields:

   
   • Connection URL: Enter the hostname or IP address of the InfluxDB instance and the port. The field is prefilled with http://localhost:8086.
   • Connection Name: Enter the name for this connection.
   • Username: Enter the username that will be shared for this connection. Required only if authorization is enabled on the InfluxDB instance to which you’re connecting.
   • Password: Enter the password. Required only if authorization is enabled on the InfluxDB instance to which you’re connecting.
   • Telegraf Database Name: This field specifies the database that Chronograf will use for populating different parts of the application, including the Host List page. If you’ve changed the default retention policy in your InfluxDB instance, you may want to change it here as well. If none is provided, we will use autogen. You will still be able to query any database you have access to in the InfluxDB instance when building dashboards or exploring data.
   • Default Retention Policy: Enter the name of the default retention policy. If none i s provided, it assumes autogen.
   • Make this the default connection: When this option is selected, this InfluxDB connection will be used when Chronograf is launched.

4. Click Add Connection

   • If the connection is valid, the Dashboards window appears, allowing you to import dashboard templates you can use to display and analyze your data. For details, see Creating dashboards.
   • If the connection cannot be created, the following error message appears: “Unable to create source: Error contacting source.” If this occurs, ensure all connection credentials are correct and that the InfluxDB instance is running and accessible.

The following dashboards are available:

• Docker
• Kubernetes Node
• Riak
• Consul
• Kubernetes Overview
• Mesos
• IIS
• RabbitMQ
• System
• VMware vSphere Overview
• Apache
• Elastisearch
• InfluxDB
• Memcached
• NSQ
• PostgreSQL
• Consul Telemetry
• HAProxy
• Kubernetes Pod
• NGINX
• Redis
• VMware vSphere VMs
• VMware vSphere Hosts
• PHPfpm
• Win System
• MySQL
• Ping

Manage InfluxDB connections using .src files

Manually create .src files to store InfluxDB connection details. .src files are simple JSON files that contain key-value paired connection details. The location of .src files is defined by the --resources-path command line option, which is, by default, the same as the --canned-path. An .src files contains the details for a single InfluxDB connection.

Create a new file named example.src (the filename is arbitrary) and place it at Chronograf’s resource-path. All .src files should contain the following:

{
  "id": "10000",
  "name": "My InfluxDB",
  "username": "test",
  "password": "test",
  "url": "http://localhost:8086",
  "type": "influx",
  "insecureSkipVerify": false,
  "default": true,
  "telegraf": "telegraf",
  "organization": "example_org"
}

id

A unique, stringified non-negative integer. Using a 4 or 5 digit number is recommended to avoid interfering with existing datasource IDs.

name

Any string you want to use as the display name of the source.

username

Username used to access the InfluxDB server or cluster. Only required if authorization is enabled on the InfluxDB instance to which you’re connecting.

password

Password used to access the InfluxDB server or cluster. Only required if authorization is enabled on the InfluxDB instance to which you’re connecting.

url

URL of the InfluxDB server or cluster.

type

Defines the type or distribution of InfluxDB to which you are connecting. Below are the following options:

insecureSkipVerify

Skips the SSL certificate verification process. Set to true if you are using a self-signed SSL certificate on your InfluxDB server or cluster.

default

Set to true if you want the connection to be the default data connection used upon first login.

telegraf

The name of the Telegraf database on your InfluxDB server or cluster.

organization

The ID of the organization you want the data source to be associated with.

Environment variables in .src files

.src files support the use of environment variables to populate InfluxDB connection details. Environment variables can be loaded using the "{{ .VARIABLE_KEY }}" syntax:

{
  "id": "10000",
  "name": "My InfluxDB",
  "username": "{{ .INFLUXDB_USER }}",
  "password": "{{ .INFLUXDB_PASS }}",
  "url": "{{ .INFLUXDB_URL }}",
  "type": "influx",
  "insecureSkipVerify": false,
  "default": true,
  "telegraf": "telegraf",
  "organization": "example_org"
}

Manage Kapacitor connections using the Chronograf UI

Kapacitor is the data processing component of the TICK stack. To use Kapacitor in Chronograf, create Kapacitor connections and configure alert endpoints. To create a Kapacitor connection using the Chronograf UI:

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

2. Next to an existing InfluxDB connection, click Add Kapacitor Connection if there are no existing Kapacitor connections or select Add Kapacitor Connection in the Kapacitor Connection dropdown list.

3. In the Connection Details section, enter values for the following fields:

   
   • Kapacitor URL: Enter the hostname or IP address of the Kapacitor instance and the port. The field is prefilled with http://localhost:9092.
   • Name: Enter the name for this connection.
   • Username: Enter the username that will be shared for this connection. Only required if authorization is enabled on the Kapacitor instance or cluster to which you’re connecting.
   • Password: Enter the password. Only required if authorization is enabled on the Kapacitor instance or cluster to which you’re connecting.

4. Click Continue. If the connection is valid, the message “Kapacitor Created! Configuring endpoints is optional.” appears. To configure alert endpoints, see Configuring alert endpoints.

Manage Kapacitor connections using .kap files

Manually create .kap files to store Kapacitor connection details. .kap files are simple JSON files that contain key-value paired connection details. The location of .kap files is defined by the --resources-path command line option, which is, by default, the same as the --canned-path. A .kap files contains the details for a single InfluxDB connection.

Create a new file named example.kap (the filename is arbitrary) and place it at Chronograf’s resource-path. All .kap files should contain the following:

{
  "id": "10000",
  "srcID": "10000",
  "name": "My Kapacitor",
  "url": "http://localhost:9092",
  "active": true,
  "organization": "example_org"
}

id

A unique, stringified non-negative integer. Using a 4 or 5 digit number is recommended to avoid interfering with existing datasource IDs.

srcID

The unique, stringified non-negative integer id of the InfluxDB server or cluster with which the Kapacitor service is associated.

name

Any string you want to use as the display name of the Kapacitor connection.

url

URL of the Kapacitor server.

active

If true, specifies that this is the Kapacitor connection that should be used when displaying Kapacitor-related information in Chronograf.

organization

The ID of the organization you want the Kapacitor connection to be associated with.

Environment variables in .kap files

.kap files support the use of environment variables to populate Kapacitor connection details. Environment variables can be loaded using the "{{ .VARIABLE_KEY }}" syntax:

{
  "id": "10000",
  "srcID": "10000",
  "name": "My Kapacitor",
  "url": "{{ .KAPACITOR_URL }}",
  "active": true,
  "organization": "example_org"
}