Using the Apica Panels Dashboards
The Panel Widgets allow you to populate your Grafana dashboards with data visualizations from your Synthetic Monitoring according to your needs.
Add Dashboard
You can create new dashboards directly from the Dashboard Search menu.
To add a new dashboard:
Click the Dashboard Search
Click New Dashboard
A new empty dashboard called New Dashboard
is added:
You can now go on to add Panel Widgets and/or Configure Dashboard the dashboard settings.
Configure Dashboards
All configurations for dashboards are available from the dashboard configuration menu.
Edit Panel Widget
To edit a panel widget:
Click configuration to open the menu
Select the configuration option you want to work with.
Annotations
With Annotations, you can add events to your graphs, either in Grafana itself, or through queries from supporting Data Source.
Add Annotation
Annotations can be added directly in the graph.
Display Annotation Events
Annotation events are displayed as icons and vertical lines and icons on graph panels.
Hovering over annotations will display details about the event. The dashboard configuration allows you to filter which annotations to display.
Item | Description |
|
---|---|---|
Name | Display name for the filter. |
|
Data Source | Source for the annotations. |
|
Enabled | Show annotations. |
|
Hidden | Hide the filter from the dashboard. |
|
Color | Display color for the indicator lines. |
|
Query
Item | Description |
|
---|---|---|
Filter By | Filter method. |
|
Max Limit | Maximum number of annotations to display. |
|
Filter Method
Filtering by Tags
will display only the annotations that match any of the tags in the list.
With Dashboard
filtering, all annotations are displayed on their originating panel widget.
Configure Dash History
In the Version History, you can see a list of all saved versions of the dashboard.
Compare Dashboards
With the Compare feature, you can see the differences between two versions of a dashboard.
The view shows all differences in the JSON between the selected versions.
Restore
You can Restore previous versions of the dashboard. This will replace the latest version with the selected version. The restore button is available from two places:
on the right-hand side in the History:
At the top of the Compare:
Dialog
View JSON
The View JSON menu option opens a panel displaying the JSON for the current dashboard.
Menu
Dialog
You can select and copy the JSON code from the panel, but not edit and save it in place.
Save As
The Save As menu option allows you to save a complete copy of the current dashboard under a different name.
Menu
Dialog
Configure Dash Settings
The Dashboard Settings allow you to configure options and parameters for the dashboard.
Edit Settings
Edit
All settings for a panel widget are available from the panel widget settings dialog.
Edit Settings
To edit Dashboard Settings:
Click configuration to open the menu
Click Settings
You can now select the appropriate settings tab to work with.
“General” Settings Tab
General
The General tab covers settings relating to the dashboard display.
View
Item | Description |
|
---|---|---|
Name | Identifier/title for the dashboard. |
|
Description | Longer description of the dashboard. |
|
Tags | Dashboard tags for filering, search and organization. |
|
Timezone | Timezone to use for display. |
|
Toggles
In the Toggles section you can set parameters relating to
Item | Description |
|
---|---|---|
Editable | Turn dashboard editing on or off. | Dahsboard must be saved to apply changes. |
Hide Controls | Show or hide the dashboard controls. |
|
Panel Options
The Panel Options governs the default Graph Tooltips behavior for the panel widgets in the dashboard.
Item | Description |
|
---|---|---|
Graph Tooltip |
|
|
The default behavior is single mode.
You can also toogle between behaviors by pressing ctrl-o
/command-o
while working in the dashboard.
Hide Controls
The dashboard controls - the row menu and the add row button, can be hidden from the display.
Controls on:
Controls off:
Links Tab
In the Links tab you can create links to web pages or other dashboards.
View
Add Link
To add more than one link:
Click the Add Link button
Dashboard
In the Links tab you can create links to web pages or other dashboards. optionally based on a tag filter.
View
Item |
| Description | Comment |
|
---|---|---|---|---|
Type |
| Type of link. |
|
|
Wit Tags |
| Filter for dashboard Settings General. |
|
|
As Dropdown |
| Show the filtered list as dropdown menu to select individual dashboards. |
|
|
Title |
| Title for the link. |
|
|
Include |
|
|
|
|
| Time Range | Apply the current Time Range to the linked dashboard view. |
|
|
| Variable Values | Apply any current Templates to the linked dashboard view. |
|
|
Open In New Tab |
| Link will open in separate browser tab. |
|
|
Dashboard Display
Creating Links to Web Pages
In the Links tab you can create links to web pages or other dashboards. optionally based on a tag filter.
View
Item |
| Description | Comment |
|
---|---|---|---|---|
Type | Type of link. |
|
| |
Url | External link to access. |
|
| |
Title | Title for the link. |
|
| |
Tooltip | Tooltip to display when hovering over the link. |
|
| |
Icon | Icon to display before the link. | |
| |
Include |
|
|
| |
| Time Range | n/a |
| |
| Variable Values | n/a |
| |
Open In New Tab | Link will open in separate browser tab. |
|
Dashboard Display
Metadata
The *Metadata tab shows administrative information about the dashboard.
View
Item | Description | Commment |
---|---|---|
Last Updated At | Timestamp for last change. |
|
Last Updated By | User that did the last change. |
|
Created At | Dashboard creation timestamp. |
|
Created By | User who created the dashboard. |
|
Current Version | Version of dashboard. | Corresponds to number of times saved. |
Rows
In the Rows tab, you can configure individual settings for the rows in the dashboard.
View
This feature is useful if you want provide the row with a title, when multiple panel widgets are related to the same theme.
The
Icon | Item | Description |
|
---|---|---|---|
| Title | Title to display for the row. |
|
Show Title | Turn title display on or off. |
| |
| Move Up | Change display order in the dashboard. |
|
| Move Down | Changes display order in the dashboard. |
|
| Delete | Remove the row and all panel widgets it contains. |
|
Dashboard Display
Time Picker
With the Time Picker tab, you can configure how often the dashboard should be refreshed and define now
for relative time calculations.
View
The Timepicker settings apply per Dashboard.
| Item | Description | Comment |
---|---|---|---|
Auto-Refresh | Interval between automatic reloads and data refresh in the dashboard. |
|
|
Now Delay | Add delay to | Gives extra time for data aggregation. |
|
Shortcuts
The Shortcuts view provides a list of keyboard shortcuts for Grafana.
Menu
Dialog
Templates
Dashboard templates allows you to create more dynamic dashboards, by providing dropdown menus where you can select what to display based on predefined variables.
Menu
View
Add Variable
You can add multiple variables of different types as needed.
View
Click the New button
The New tab opens
Select the type of variable you want to add
Add settings according to the variable type
Click the Add button
The variable is added to the list.
Template Ad Hoc
Ad Hoc
Ad Hoc filters are currently not supported by The Synthetic Monitoring data source.
View
Ad hoc filters allows you to add key/value
filters that will automatically be added to all metric queries that use the specified data source.
Constant
Constant
A Constant can be used as a defined as a metric path prefixes for shared dashboards.
View
When the dashboard is ExportImport, constant variables are concerted to import options.
Variable
Item | Description | Comment |
---|---|---|
Name | Name of the variable. |
|
Label | Display label in dashboard. |
|
Type | Type of variable. |
|
Hide | Display elements to hide. | |
Constant Options
Item | Description | Comment |
---|---|---|
Value | Constant value to use. |
|
Preview
List of values that will be displayed in the dropdown.
Template Custom
In Custom variables, you provide a manually defined list of values .
View
Variable
Item | Description | Comment |
---|---|---|
Name | Name of the variable. |
|
Label | Display label in dashboard. |
|
Type | Type of variable. |
|
Hide | Display elements to hide. |
|
Custom Options
Item | Description | Comment |
---|---|---|
Values | Values to use. | Comma-separated list. |
Selection Options
Item | Description | Comment |
---|---|---|
Multi-value | Allow selection of multiple values in the dropdown. |
|
Include All Option | Add | Will include all values in a combined query expression. |
Custom All Value | Query expression to use as |
|
Custom All Value
The standard All
value combines all options, which can result in a very long expression and possibly affect performance.
It may therefore be better to provide a custom expression more suitable for your data source, for example a Regular Expression.
Note: Characters in the expression are not escaped.
Preview
List of values that will be displayed in the dropdown.
Interval
With the Interval variable you can provide a selector for different time spans to apply to the dashboard.
View
Variable
Item | Description | Comment |
---|---|---|
Name | Name of the variable. |
|
Label | Display label in dashboard. |
|
Type | Type of variable. |
|
Hide | Display elements to hide. | |
Interval Options
Item | Description | Comment |
---|---|---|
Values | Time values to include in the list. |
|
Auto Option | Generate the list automatically based on the current time span. |
|
Step Count | Number times to divide the current time span. |
|
Min Interval | Lowest value in the list. |
|
Preview
List of values that will be displayed in the dropdown.
Query
Query
The Query variable type uses a Data Source query to return a list of values.
View
Variable
Item | Description | Comment |
---|---|---|
Name | Name of the variable. |
|
Label | Display label in dashboard. |
|
Type | Type of variable. |
|
Hide | Display elements to hide. | |
Query Options
Item | Description | Comment |
---|---|---|
Data source | The Data Source used by the query. |
|
Refresh | Controls when to update the variable option list. | |
Query | Query expression. | Each data source has a specific query. |
Regex | Optional Regular Expression for filtering of query results. |
|
Sort | Sort order to use instead of the one returned by the query. | |
Selection Options
Item | Description | Comment |
---|---|---|
Multi-value | Allow selection of multiple values in the dropdown. |
|
Include All Option | Add | Will include all values in a combined query expression. |
Custom All Value | Query expression to use as |
|
Custom All Value
The standard All
value combines all options, which can result in a very long expression and possibly affect performance.
It may therefore be better to provide a custom expression more suitable for your data source, for example a Regular Expression.
Note: Characters in the expression are not escaped.
Template Source Data Source
Data Source
The Datasource variable lets you create a dropdown containing multiple Data Source.
View
With the Datasource variable, you can quickly change the data source for an entire Dashboard. This is useful if you have multiple data source instances for different environments.
Variable
Item | Description | Comment |
---|---|---|
Name | Name of the variable. |
|
Label | Display label in dashboard. |
|
Type | Type of variable. |
|
Hide | Display elements to hide. | |
Data Source Options
Item | Description | Comment |
---|---|---|
Data source | The Data Source type to display. |
|
Instance Name Filter | Optional Regular Expression for filtering of data source instances. |
|
Preview
List of values that will be displayed in the dropdown.
Export/Import/Format
Export/Import
Dashboards can be exported as JSON files, modified as text files, and imported.
Export
An existing dashboard can be exported as a JSON file. The exported file contains everything needed to create a dashboard.
Export Dashboard
To save the dashboard as a JSON file:
Click the Share
Select Export
The Export tab in the Share dialog is shown:
Click Save to file
The file is saved to your default download location.
Import
There are multiple ways to import an existing or previously used dashboard to an organization.
Process
The import consist of three steps:
Verify that you have an appropriate Data Source for the dashboard
Start import
Add JSON code
Save the new dashboard
When the dashboard is imported, you can can perform additional configuration.
File
File
A previously exported dashboard JSON file can be imported to create a new dashboard.
Import Dashboard File
Click the Dashboard Search
Click Import Dashboard
The Import Dashboard dialog is shown:
Click Upload .JSON File
Browse to the
.JSON
file
Click Open
Enter a Name for the new dashboard
Select a DataSource for the new dashboard
Click Import
The dashboard is created and added to the organization.
Paste JSON
If you have JSON code copied from somewhere else, you can paste it into the import dialog.
Create Dashboard From JSON
Make sure that the code you want to paste is available and correct.
Click the Dashboard Search
Click Import Dashboard
The Import Dashboard dialog is shown:
Copy the JSON code and paste it into the Paste JSON box.
Click Load
Enter a Name for the new dashboard
Select a DataSource for the new dashboard
Click Import
The dashboard is created and added to the organization.
Format
The format is a standard JSON object containing the dashboard description and settings.
A dashboard in Grafana is represented by a JSON object, which stores metadata of its dashboard. Dashboard metadata includes dashboard properties, metadata from rows, panels, template variables, panel queries, and so on.
View JSON
To view the JSON for a dashboard:
Click on Manage
Select View JSON
The JSON for the current dashboard is shown in a separate frame:
More Information
For more information, see the http://docs.grafana.org/reference/dashboard/
Sharing Grafana Links
With Dashboard links, you can share a dashboard through a direct link. The link will show the dashboard according to the settings you provide, so the view can be different from the current state.
Note: This requires access to Grafana for whomever is supposed to see the dashboard.
View
Item | Description | Comment |
---|---|---|
Current Time Range | Time Time Range. |
|
Template Variables | Templating Templates. |
|
Theme | Display UI Theme. | |
Note: Make sure that any changes you made to the dashboard has been saved before creating the link.
Create a Shareable Link
Create Link
Dashboard links can be created from the Share menu.
Create Dashboard Link
To create a dashboard link:
Click the Share
Select Link To Dashboard
The Link tab in the Share dialog is shown:
Select options as desired:
Time range
Variables
Theme
Click Copy
You can now paste the link wherever you need it.
Time Range
Time Range
The dashboards display data according to the Time Range settings.
Add Grafana Dashboard
The current setting is shown in the top right corner:
Clicking the time range will open the configuration dialog.
Dashboard
The Dashboard time range settings apply to all Panel widgets in the Dashboard, except panels with Time Range Time Override.
Configuration
Time Range
The time range section allows you to mix both explicit and relative ranges.
Item | Description |
---|---|
From | Start time period. |
To | End time period. |
Refreshing every | Reload the dashboard at this frequency. |
Quick Ranges
Quick ranges are a list of preset values that you can choose from to select a predefined relative time.
Explicit Time Range
The explicit time range format is YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS
.
Relative Time Range
Relative time ranges are created by using time formatting:
Units | Description |
---|---|
| Current time at viewing. |
| Seconds |
| Minutes |
| Hours |
| Days |
| Weeks |
| Months |
| Years |
| Adds the time period unit. |
| Relative from |
Examples
From: | To: | Meaning |
---|---|---|
|
| Last 5 minutes |
|
| The day so far |
|
| This week |
|
| Week to date |
|
| Previous Month |
Time Override
If you want individual panel widgets to display metrics from different time periods in the same dashboard, you can override the relative time range for individual panel widgets
View
Item | Description |
---|---|
Override Relative Time | Start time period. |
Add Time Shift | End time period. |
Hide Time Override Info | Hides override info text shown in the upper right of a widget. |
Feature Notes
Note: Only relative time ranges can be used for panel widget time override.
Some considerations to keep in mind when using time overrides in panel widgets:
The panel relative time override is only active when the dashboard time is also relative.
The panel timeshift override is always active, even when the dashboard time is absolute.
If the dashboard time range is manually selected (zoomed), all panel widget overrides will be disabled.
Graph Tooltips
When viewing panel widgets, you can hover the mouse pointer over various sections to get detailed information in tooltips.
The tooltip hover can work in crosshair (single) or shared (multiple) mode.
Crosshair
In crosshair/single mode, only one panel widget at a time is affected.
Shared
In shared/multiple mode, the crosshair is shown on multiple widgets and tooltip contains information for all affected panel widgets.
Configuration
The default behavior can be changed from the Settings General.
You can also toogle between behaviors by pressing ctrl-o
/command-o
.
Kiosk Mode
Displaying a dashboard in kiosk mode provides a cleaner view without the toolbar is visible at the top of the window.
Typical uses for this is to show the dashboard on a office TV or other public display.
Apica Link
In order to provide access to the kiosk dashboard through your Apica account, you need to create a special link to the kiosk mode.
Create External Link
The external link for a dashboard looks something like this:
https://wpm.apicasystem.com/Account/Login?returnUrl=
{returnUrl}&authToken=
{authToken}&onAuth=setApic aDashboardToken
Part | Description |
---|---|
| Base access URL. |
| The returnUrl property name. |
{returnUrl} | URL encoded link to the Panel. |
| The authToken property name. |
{authToken} | |
| Instructions to server to use the token. |
Replace the {strings} with the values relevant for your panel.
Dashboard URL - returnURL
The returnURL string is a URL encoded link to the Panel.
String | URL Encoding |
---|---|
| |
Access Token - authToken
Note: For security purposes, the user must be a dedicated read-only user created specifically for this purpose. Make sure that the use has no user role assigned to it.
The authToken string is a base64 and url encoded string containing your login and password:
Login | Password | String | Base64 | URL encoded |
---|---|---|---|---|
|
| | | |
|
| | |
|
Note: the string must include the :
colon separator.
Note: This is not the API auth_ticket , but a base64 encoding of a string consisting of your login and password.
Grafana Setup
Grafana Setup
Creating a kiosk mode link in Grafana is done by adding a modifier at the end of the Share Link Grafana Link.
Enabling Kiosk Mode
Click the Share
Select Link To Dashboard
The Link tab in the Share dialog is shown:
Select link Share Link Grafana Link as desired:
Time range
Variables
Theme
Add
&kiosk
at the end of the link:
Click Copy
You can now paste the external link wherever you need it.
Browser Fullscreen
In addition to using the kiosk mode link, you may want to set the browser to fullscreen mode.
Example: Google Chrome
Open the view menu
Select Enter Fullscreen (or use the keyboard command for your OS)
With kiosk mode and browser fullscreen, nothing but the dashboard is shown:
UI Theme
You can select different UI Themes for display purposes.
Overview
The theme can either be a user profile setting and affect the entire interface, or as an option for the display Share Link Grafana Link, for example in Kiosk Mode mode.
Theme Link
Link
Using a theme in links is simply a matter of adding the theme name at the end of the link.
Examples
Dark
Dark is the default theme.
Note: If you set the profile default theme Light, you cannot currently override it in links.
Currently the
Light
Light is the the inverse of the Dark theme.
To use it in links, add &theme=light
to the end of the link.
Profile
The UI Theme can be set for the whole interface from the user profile. For more information, see the Preferences section.
User Profile
In the user profile, you can change configurations for your account and view associated organizations.
Menu
Panels User Information
The information section covers settings relating to the account itself.
View
Item | Description |
|
---|---|---|
Name | Display name for the account. |
|
User login password. | Not editable in Apica Panels. | |
Username | User login user name. | Not editable in Apica Panels. |
User Password
Password
With Apica Panels, the user password can not be changed from the profile, since the access is handled from Synthetic Monitoring.
Preferences
In the Preferences section, you can configure various interface settings for the account.
View
Item | Description | Comment |
---|---|---|
UI Theme | UI UI Theme to use for the account. |
|
Home Dashboard | Primary Apica Panels Dashboards for the account. | The list can be populated by Starring dashboards. |
Timezone | Timezone to use in dashboards. |
|
Starring
Starring a dashboard marks it as a favorite, and allows you to set it as the home dashboard for your account. You can star dashboards directly from the main page. The star button is at the top right next to the dashboard name.
Click the Star button
The star is filled in:
A notification is also shown:
The dashboard is not available in the profile Home Dashboard dropdown list.
Playlist
You can create a Playlist to display multiple dashboards in sequence as a slideshow.
The playlist displays each dashboard for a defined amount of time and then goes on to the next.
Note: The playlist view can currently not be combined with Kiosk Mode mode.
Add Playlist
You can create a Playlist to display multiple dashboards in sequence as a slideshow.
Create New Playlist
Click New Playlist
A blank playlist is created
Provide a Name for the playlist
Set a display time Interval for each dashboard
Search for dashboards by name in the freetext search for
Available dashboards
Click Add To Playlist for each dashboard to include
Click Create New Playlist
The playlist is created and added to the saved playlists table:
The playlist can be accessed by adding the Start URL to the base address panels.apicasystem.com
, or played with the play button.
Playlist Control
When the playlist is running, playback buttons are available at the top of the dashboard view.
Button | Action |
---|---|
| Play previous dashboard. |
| Stop playback. |
| Play next dashboard. |
Can't find what you're looking for? Send an E-mail to support@apica.io