Documentation

Get started with the InfluxData Platform

To get started with the InfluxDB 2.0 platform, see InfluxDB Cloud or InfluxDB OSS 2.0.

To get started with the InfluxData 1.x platform, download and install each component of the TICK stack, or Install the InfluxData Sandbox, and then follow the steps below.

Getting started setup

Understand how Telegraf writes data to InfluxDB

Once Telegraf is installed and started, it will send system metrics to InfluxDB by default, which automatically creates a ‘telegraf’ database.

The configuration file for Telegraf specifies where metrics come from and where they go (inputs and outputs). In this example, we’ll focus on CPU data, which is one of the default system metrics generated by Telegraf. For this example, it is worth noting some relevant values:

  • [agent].interval - declares the frequency at which system metrics will be sent to InfluxDB.
  • [[outputs.influxdb]] - declares how to connect to InfluxDB and the destination database, which is the default ‘telegraf’ database.
  • [[inputs.cpu]] - declares how to collect the system cpu metrics to be sent to InfluxDB. Enabled by default.

For details about the configuration file, see Get started with Telegraf.

Query data in InfluxDB

As reviewed above, Telegraf is sending system data, including CPU usage, to InfluxDB. There are two ways you can query your InfluxDB data:

Query example:

SELECT "usage_system",
       "usage_user"
FROM "telegraf"."autogen"."cpu"
WHERE time > now() - 30m

Visualize that data in a Chronograf dashboard

Now that you’ve explored your data with queries, you can build a dashboard in Chronograf to visualize the data. For details, see Create a dashboard and Using pre-created dashboards.

Create an alert in Kapacitor based on that data

Since InfluxDB is running on localhost:8086, Kapacitor finds it during start up and creates several subscriptions on InfluxDB. These subscriptions tell InfluxDB to send all the data it receives from Telegraf to Kapacitor.

For step-by-step instructions on how to set up an alert in Kapacitor based on your data, see Creating Chronograf alert rules.


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Linux Package Signing Key Rotation

All signed InfluxData Linux packages have been resigned with an updated key. If using Linux, you may need to update your package configuration to continue to download and verify InfluxData software packages.

For more information, see the Linux Package Signing Key Rotation blog post.

InfluxDB Cloud backed by InfluxDB IOx

All InfluxDB Cloud organizations created on or after January 31, 2023 are backed by the new InfluxDB IOx storage engine. Check the right column of your InfluxDB Cloud organization homepage to see which InfluxDB storage engine you’re using.

If powered by IOx, this is the correct documentation.

If powered by TSM, see the TSM-based InfluxDB Cloud documentation.

InfluxDB Cloud backed by InfluxDB TSM

All InfluxDB Cloud organizations created on or after January 31, 2023 are backed by the new InfluxDB IOx storage engine which enables nearly unlimited series cardinality and SQL query support. Check the right column of your InfluxDB Cloud organization homepage to see which InfluxDB storage engine you’re using.

If powered by TSM, this is the correct documentation.

If powered by IOx, see the IOx-based InfluxDB Cloud documentation.

State of the InfluxDB Cloud (IOx) documentation

The new documentation for InfluxDB Cloud backed by InfluxDB IOx is a work in progress. We are adding new information and content almost daily. Thank you for your patience!

If there is specific information you’re looking for, please submit a documentation issue.