Install and run InfluxDB 3 Explorer

Use Docker to install and run InfluxDB 3 Explorer.

• Quick start
• Installation methods
• Configuration options
  • Persist data across restarts
  • Pre-configure InfluxDB connections
  • Enable TLS/SSL (HTTPS)
    • TLS and certificate verification options
    • Use self-signed certificates
  • Choose operational mode
• Advanced configuration
  • Environment variables
  • Volume reference
  • Port reference
• Complete examples

Quick start

Get InfluxDB 3 Explorer running in minutes:

1. Run the Explorer container:

   docker run --detach \
     --name influxdb3-explorer \
     --publish 8888:80 \
     influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0

2. Access the Explorer UI at http://localhost:8888

3. Configure your InfluxDB connection in the UI

Installation methods

Prerequisites

Install Docker or Docker Desktop if you haven’t already.

Basic setup

docker pull influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0

docker run --detach \
  --name influxdb3-explorer \
  --publish 8888:80 \
  influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
  explorer:
    image: influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0
    container_name: influxdb3-explorer
    ports:
      - "8888:80"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/app-root/config:ro
    restart: unless-stopped

docker-compose up -d

Production setup

For production deployments with persistence, admin mode, and automatic image updates:

docker run --detach \
  --name influxdb3-explorer \
  --pull always \
  --publish 8888:80 \
  --volume $(pwd)/db:/db:rw \
  --volume $(pwd)/config:/app-root/config:ro \
  --env SESSION_SECRET_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 32) \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0 \
  --mode=admin

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
  explorer:
    image: influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0
    container_name: influxdb3-explorer
    pull_policy: always
    command: ["--mode=admin"]
    ports:
      - "8888:80"
    volumes:
      - ./db:/db:rw
      - ./config:/app-root/config:ro
      - ./ssl:/etc/nginx/ssl:ro
    environment:
      SESSION_SECRET_KEY: ${SESSION_SECRET_KEY:-changeme123456789012345678901234}
    restart: unless-stopped

SESSION_SECRET_KEY=your_32_char_hex_string_here

docker-compose up -d

Configuration options

Persist data across restarts

InfluxDB 3 Explorer stores application data in a SQLite database. To persist this data across container restarts:

1. Create a local directory:

   mkdir -m 700 ./db

2. Mount the directory when running the container:

   Docker Docker Compose

   docker run --detach \
     --name influxdb3-explorer \
     --publish 8888:80 \
     --volume $(pwd)/db:/db:rw \
     influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0

   version: '3.8'
   
   services:
     explorer:
       image: influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0
       container_name: influxdb3-explorer
       ports:
         - "8888:80"
       volumes:
         - ./db:/db:rw
       restart: unless-stopped

Pre-configure InfluxDB connections

Instead of configuring connections through the UI, you can pre-define connection settings using a config.json file. This is useful for:

• Automated deployments
• Shared team configurations
• Quick setup for known environments

1. Create a config.json file:

   mkdir -p config
   cat > config/config.json << 'EOF'
   {
     "DEFAULT_INFLUX_SERVER": "http://host.docker.internal:8181",
     "DEFAULT_INFLUX_DATABASE": "mydb",
     "DEFAULT_API_TOKEN": "your-token-here",
     "DEFAULT_SERVER_NAME": "Local InfluxDB 3"
   }
   EOF

   Customize the following properties for your InfluxDB 3 instance:

   • DEFAULT_INFLUX_SERVER: your InfluxDB 3 Core or Enterprise server URL
   • DEFAULT_INFLUX_DATABASE: the name of your InfluxDB 3 Core or Enterprise database
   • DEFAULT_API_TOKEN: your InfluxDB 3 Core or Enterprise authorization token with the necessary permissions to access your server
   • DEFAULT_SERVER_NAME: a display name (only used by Explorer) for your InfluxDB 3 Core or Enterprise server

   When to use host.docker.internal

   If your InfluxDB 3 instance is running in Docker (not the same container as Explorer), use host.docker.internal as your server host to allow the Explorer container to connect to the InfluxDB container on the host–for example:

   "DEFAULT_INFLUX_SERVER": "http://host.docker.internal:8181"

   • If both Explorer and InfluxDB are in the same Docker network, use the container name instead.
   • If InfluxDB is running natively on your machine (not in Docker), use localhost.

   For more information, see the Docker networking documentation.

2. Mount the configuration directory:

   Docker Docker Compose

   docker run --detach \
     --name influxdb3-explorer \
     --publish 8888:80 \
     --volume $(pwd)/config:/app-root/config:ro \
     influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0

   version: '3.8'
   
   services:
     explorer:
       image: influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0
       container_name: influxdb3-explorer
       ports:
         - "8888:80"
       volumes:
         - ./config:/app-root/config:ro
       restart: unless-stopped

Enable TLS/SSL (HTTPS)

To enable TLS/SSL for secure connections:

1. Create SSL directory and add certificate files:

   mkdir -m 755 ./ssl
   # Copy your certificate files to the ssl directory
   cp /path/to/server.crt ./ssl/
   cp /path/to/server.key ./ssl/

   Required files:

   • Certificate: server.crt or fullchain.pem
   • Private key: server.key

2. Run the container with SSL enabled:

   Docker Docker Compose

   docker run --detach \
     --name influxdb3-explorer \
     --publish 8888:443 \
     --volume $(pwd)/ssl:/etc/nginx/ssl:ro \
     influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0

   version: '3.8'
   
   services:
     explorer:
       image: influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0
       container_name: influxdb3-explorer
       ports:
         - "8888:443"
       volumes:
         - ./ssl:/etc/nginx/ssl:ro
       restart: unless-stopped

3. Access the Explorer UI at https://localhost:8888

TLS and certificate verification options

Use the following environment variables to configure TLS and certificate verification:

• NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS - Path to custom CA certificate file inside container (recommended).

  This option adds an intermediate or custom CA certificate to the Node.js trusted certificate store and is required when InfluxDB uses certificates signed by an internal or private CA.

  • Format: PEM format certificate file
  • Example: -e NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS=/ca-certs/ca-bundle.crt

  This is the native Node.js environment variable for custom CAs.

• CA_CERT_PATH - Alternative to NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS (convenience alias)

  • Example: -e CA_CERT_PATH=/ca-certs/ca-bundle.crt

  Use either NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS or CA_CERT_PATH; not both. CA_CERT_PATH aliases NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS.

Use self-signed certificates

To configure Explorer to trust self-signed or custom CA certificates when connecting to InfluxDB:

1. Create a directory for CA certificates:

   mkdir -p ./ca-certs

2. Copy your CA certificate to the directory:

   cp /path/to/your-ca.pem ./ca-certs/

3. Mount the CA certificate directory and set the NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS environment variable:

docker run --detach \
  --name influxdb3-explorer \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  --publish 8888:443 \
  --volume $(pwd)/db:/db:rw \
  --volume $(pwd)/config:/app-root/config:ro \
  --volume $(pwd)/ssl:/etc/nginx/ssl:ro \
  --volume $(pwd)/ca-certs:/ca-certs:ro \
  --env SESSION_SECRET_KEY=your-secure-secret-key-here \
  --env NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS=/ca-certs/your-ca.pem \
  influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0 \
  --mode=admin

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
  explorer:
    image: influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0
    container_name: influxdb3-explorer
    pull_policy: always
    command: ["--mode=admin"]
    ports:
      - "8888:443"
    volumes:
      - ./db:/db:rw
      - ./config:/app-root/config:ro
      - ./ssl:/etc/nginx/ssl:ro
      - ./ca-certs:/ca-certs:ro
    environment:
      SESSION_SECRET_KEY: ${SESSION_SECRET_KEY:-your-secure-secret-key-here}
      NODE_EXTRA_CA_CERTS: /ca-certs/your-ca.pem
    restart: unless-stopped

Choose operational mode

InfluxDB 3 Explorer supports two operational modes:

• Query mode (default): Read-only UI for querying data
• Admin mode: Full UI with administrative capabilities

Set the mode using the --mode parameter:

# Query mode (default)
docker run --detach \
  --name influxdb3-explorer \
  --publish 8888:80 \
  influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0 \
  --mode=query

# Admin mode
docker run --detach \
  --name influxdb3-explorer \
  --publish 8888:80 \
  influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0 \
  --mode=admin

version: '3.8'

services:
  explorer:
    image: influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0
    container_name: influxdb3-explorer
    # For query mode (default), omit the command
    # For admin mode, add:
    command: ["--mode=admin"]
    ports:
      - "8888:80"
    restart: unless-stopped

Advanced configuration

Environment variables

openssl rand -hex 32

Volume reference

Port reference

Complete examples

Production setup with all features

# Create required directories
mkdir -m 700 ./db
mkdir -m 755 ./config ./ssl

# Generate session secret
export SESSION_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32)

# Create configuration
cat > config/config.json << 'EOF'
{
  "DEFAULT_INFLUX_SERVER": "http://host.docker.internal:8181",
  "DEFAULT_INFLUX_DATABASE": "production",
  "DEFAULT_API_TOKEN": "your-production-token",
  "DEFAULT_SERVER_NAME": "Production InfluxDB 3"
}
EOF

# Run Explorer with all features
docker run --detach \
  --name influxdb3-explorer \
  --pull always \
  --publish 8888:443 \
  --volume $(pwd)/db:/db:rw \
  --volume $(pwd)/config:/app-root/config:ro \
  --volume $(pwd)/ssl:/etc/nginx/ssl:ro \
  --env SESSION_SECRET_KEY=$SESSION_SECRET \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0 \
  --mode=admin

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
  explorer:
    image: influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0
    container_name: influxdb3-explorer
    pull_policy: always
    command: ["--mode=admin"]
    ports:
      - "8888:443"
    volumes:
      - ./db:/db:rw
      - ./config:/app-root/config:ro
      - ./ssl:/etc/nginx/ssl:ro
    environment:
      SESSION_SECRET_KEY: ${SESSION_SECRET_KEY}
    restart: unless-stopped

SESSION_SECRET_KEY=your_32_char_hex_string_here

docker-compose up -d

Development setup (minimal)

docker run --rm \
  --name influxdb3-explorer \
  --publish 8888:80 \
  influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
  explorer:
    image: influxdata/influxdb3-ui:1.4.0
    container_name: influxdb3-explorer
    ports:
      - "8888:80"