--- title: Create an InfluxDB template description: Use the InfluxDB UI and the influx export command to create InfluxDB templates. url: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb/v2/tools/influxdb-templates/create/ estimated_tokens: 5610 product: InfluxDB OSS v2 version: v2 --- # Create an InfluxDB template This page documents an earlier version of InfluxDB OSS. [InfluxDB 3 Core](/influxdb3/core/) is the latest stable version. #### API token hashing is enabled by default in InfluxDB OSS 2.9.0 Stronger token security: tokens are stored as hashes on disk, so a copy of the database file doesn’t expose usable tokens. Existing tokens are hashed on first startup and the original strings can’t be recovered afterward — **capture any plaintext tokens you still need before you upgrade**. For more information, see [Token hashing](/influxdb/v2/admin/tokens/#token-hashing). Use the InfluxDB user interface (UI) and the [`influx export` command](/influxdb/v2/reference/cli/influx/export/) to create InfluxDB templates from [resources](/influxdb/v2/tools/influxdb-templates/#template-resources) in an organization. Add buckets, Telegraf configurations, tasks, and more in the InfluxDB UI and then export those resources as a template. - [Create a template](#create-a-template) - [Export resources to a template](#export-resources-to-a-template) - [Include user-definable resource names](#include-user-definable-resource-names) - [Troubleshoot template results and permissions](#troubleshoot-template-results-and-permissions) - [Share your InfluxDB templates](#share-your-influxdb-templates) ## Create a template Creating an organization to contain only your template resources is an easy way to ensure you export the resources you want. Follow these steps to create a template from a new organization. 1. [Start InfluxDB](/influxdb/v2/get-started/). 2. [Create an organization](/influxdb/v2/admin/organizations/create-org/). 3. In the InfluxDB UI, add one or more [resources](/influxdb/v2/tools/influxdb-templates/#template-resources). 4. [Create an **All Access** API token](/influxdb/v2/admin/tokens/create-token/) (or a token that has **read** access to the organization). 5. Use the API token from **Step 4** with the [`influx export all` subcommand](/influxdb/v2/reference/cli/influx/export/all/) to export all resources in the organization to a template file. ```sh influx export all \ -o YOUR_INFLUX_ORG \ -t YOUR_ALL_ACCESS_TOKEN \ -f ~/templates/template.yml ``` ## Export resources to a template The [`influx export` command](/influxdb/v2/reference/cli/influx/export/) and subcommands let you export [resources](#template-resources) from an organization to a template manifest. Your [API token](/influxdb/v2/admin/tokens/) must have **read** access to resources that you want to export. If you want to export resources that depend on other resources, be sure to export the dependencies. #### Authentication credentials The examples below assume your InfluxDB **host**, **organization**, and **token** are provided by either the [active `influx` CLI configuration](/influxdb/v2/reference/cli/influx/#provide-required-authentication-credentials) or by environment variables (`INFLUX_HOST`, `INFLUX_ORG`, and `INFLUX_TOKEN`). If you do not have a CLI configuration set up or the environment variables set, include these required credentials for each command with the following flags: - `--host`: [InfluxDB host](/influxdb/v2/reference/urls/) - `-o, --org` or `--org-id`: InfluxDB organization name or ID - `-t, --token`: InfluxDB API token To create a template that **adds, modifies, and deletes resources** when applied to an organization, use [InfluxDB stacks](/influxdb/v2/tools/influxdb-templates/stacks/). First, [initialize the stack](/influxdb/v2/tools/influxdb-templates/stacks/init/) and then [export the stack](#export-a-stack). To create a template that only **adds resources** when applied to an organization (and doesn’t modify existing resources there), choose one of the following: - [Export all resources](#export-all-resources) to export all resources or a filtered subset of resources to a template. - [Export specific resources](#export-specific-resources) by name or ID to a template. ### Export all resources To export all [resources](/influxdb/v2/tools/influxdb-templates/#template-resources) within an organization to a template manifest file, use the [`influx export all` subcommand](/influxdb/v2/reference/cli/influx/export/all/) with the `--file` (`-f`) option. Provide the following: - **Destination path and filename** for the template manifest. The filename extension determines the output format: - `your-template.yml`: [YAML](https://yaml.org/) format - `your-template.json`: [JSON](https://json.org/) format ```sh # Syntax influx export all -f ``` #### Export resources filtered by labelName or resourceKind The [`influx export all` subcommand](/influxdb/v2/reference/cli/influx/export/all/) accepts a `--filter` option that exports only resources that match specified label names or resource kinds. To filter on label name *and* resource kind, provide a `--filter` for each. #### Export only dashboards and buckets with specific labels The following example exports resources that match this predicate logic: ```js (resourceKind == "Bucket" or resourceKind == "Dashboard") and (labelName == "Example1" or labelName == "Example2") ``` ```sh influx export all \ -f ~/templates/template.yml \ --filter=resourceKind=Bucket \ --filter=resourceKind=Dashboard \ --filter=labelName=Example1 \ --filter=labelName=Example2 ``` For more options and examples, see the [`influx export all` subcommand](/influxdb/v2/reference/cli/influx/export/all/). ### Export specific resources To export specific [resources](/influxdb/v2/tools/influxdb-templates/#template-resources) by name or ID, use the **[`influx export` command](/influxdb/v2/reference/cli/influx/export/)** with one or more lists of resources to include. Provide the following: - **Destination path and filename** for the template manifest. The filename extension determines the output format: - `your-template.yml`: [YAML](https://yaml.org/) format - `your-template.json`: [JSON](https://json.org/) format - **Resource options** with corresponding lists of resource IDs or resource names to include in the template. For information about what resource options are available, see the [`influx export` command](/influxdb/v2/reference/cli/influx/export/). ```sh # Syntax influx export -f [resource-flags] ``` #### Export specific resources by ID ```sh influx export \ --org-id ed32b47572a0137b \ -f ~/templates/template.yml \ -t $INFLUX_TOKEN \ --buckets=00x000ooo0xx0xx,o0xx0xx00x000oo \ --dashboards=00000xX0x0X00x000 \ --telegraf-configs=00000x0x000X0x0X0 ``` #### Export specific resources by name ```sh influx export \ --org-id ed32b47572a0137b \ -f ~/templates/template.yml \ --bucket-names=bucket1,bucket2 \ --dashboard-names=dashboard1,dashboard2 \ --telegraf-config-names=telegrafconfig1,telegrafconfig2 ``` ### Export a stack To export an InfluxDB [stack](/influxdb/v2/tools/influxdb-templates/stacks/) and all its associated resources as a template, use the `influx export stack` command. Provide the following: - **Organization name** or **ID** - **API token** with read access to the organization - **Destination path and filename** for the template manifest. The filename extension determines the output format: - `your-template.yml`: [YAML](https://yaml.org/) format - `your-template.json`: [JSON](https://json.org/) format - **Stack ID** #### Export a stack as a template ```sh # Syntax influx export stack \ -o \ -t \ -f \ # Example influx export stack \ -o my-org \ -t mYSuP3RS3CreTt0K3n -f ~/templates/awesome-template.yml \ 05dbb791a4324000 ``` ## Include user-definable resource names After exporting a template manifest, replace resource names with **environment references** to let users customize resource names when installing your template. 1. [Export a template](#export-a-template). 2. Select any of the following resource fields to update: - `metadata.name` - `associations[].name` - `endpointName` *(unique to `NotificationRule` resources)* 3. Replace the resource field value with an `envRef` object with a `key` property that references the key of a key-value pair the user provides when installing the template. During installation, the `envRef` object is replaced by the value of the referenced key-value pair. If the user does not provide the environment reference key-value pair, InfluxDB uses the `key` string as the default value. **YAML:** ```yml apiVersion: influxdata.com/v2alpha1 kind: Bucket metadata: name: envRef: key: bucket-name-1 ``` **JSON:** ```json { "apiVersion": "influxdata.com/v2alpha1", "kind": "Bucket", "metadata": { "name": { "envRef": { "key": "bucket-name-1" } } } } ``` Using the example above, users are prompted to provide a value for `bucket-name-1` when [applying the template](/influxdb/v2/tools/influxdb-templates/use/#apply-templates). Users can also include the `--env-ref` flag with the appropriate key-value pair when installing the template. ```sh # Set bucket-name-1 to "myBucket" influx apply \ -f /path/to/template.yml \ --env-ref=bucket-name-1=myBucket ``` *If sharing your template, we recommend documenting what environment references exist in the template and what keys to use to replace them.* #### Resource fields that support environment references Only the following fields support environment references: - `metadata.name` - `spec.endpointName` - `spec.associations.name` ## Troubleshoot template results and permissions If you get unexpected results, missing resources, or errors when exporting templates, check the following: - [Ensure `read` access](#ensure-read-access) - [Use Organization ID](#use-organization-id) - [Check for resource dependencies](#check-for-resource-dependencies) ### Ensure read access The [API token](/influxdb/v2/admin/tokens/) must have **read** access to resources that you want to export. The `influx export all` command only exports resources that the API token can read. For example, to export all resources in an organization that has ID `abc123`, the API token must have the `read:/orgs/abc123` permission. To learn more about permissions, see [how to view authorizations](/influxdb/v2/admin/tokens/view-tokens/) and [how to create a token](/influxdb/v2/admin/tokens/create-token/) with specific permissions. ### Use Organization ID If your token doesn’t have **read** access to the organization and you want to [export specific resources](#export-specific-resources), use the `--org-id ` flag (instead of `-o ` or `--org `) to provide the organization. ### Check for resource dependencies If you want to export resources that depend on other resources, be sure to export the dependencies as well. Otherwise, the resources may not be usable. ## Share your InfluxDB templates Share your InfluxDB templates with the entire InfluxData community. Contribute your template to the [InfluxDB Community Templates](https://github.com/influxdata/community-templates/) repository on GitHub. [View InfluxDB Community Templates](https://github.com/influxdata/community-templates/) #### Related - [influx export](/influxdb/v2/reference/cli/influx/export/) - [influx export all](/influxdb/v2/reference/cli/influx/export/all/) [templates](/influxdb/v2/tags/templates/)