Graphite template variables
Instead of hard-coding details such as server, application, and sensor names in metric queries, you can use variables. Grafana lists these variables in dropdown select boxes at the top of the dashboard to help you change the data displayed in your dashboard. Grafana refers to such variables as template variables.
For an introduction to templating and template variables, refer to the Templating and Add and manage variables documentation.
Select a query type
There are three query types for Graphite template variables
Query Type | Description |
---|---|
Default Query | Use functions such as tags() , tag_values() , expand(<metric>) and metrics. |
Value Query | Returns all the values for a query that includes a metric and function. |
Metric Name Query | Returns all the names for a query that includes a metric and function. |
Use tag variables
To create a variable using tag values, use the Grafana functions tags
and tag_values
.
Query | Description |
---|---|
tags() | Returns all tags. |
tags(server=~backend\*) | Returns only tags that occur in series matching the filter expression. |
tag_values(server) | Returns tag values for the specified tag. |
tag_values(server, server=~backend\*) | Returns filtered tag values that occur for the specified tag in series matching those expressions. |
Multiple filter expressions and expressions can contain other variables. For example:
tag_values(server, server=~backend\*, app=~${apps:regex})
For details, refer to the Graphite docs on the autocomplete API for tags.
Use multi-value variables in tag queries
Multi-value variables in tag queries use the advanced formatting syntax for variables introduced in Grafana v5.0: {var:regex}
.
Non-tag queries use the default glob formatting for multi-value variables.
Tag expression example
Using regex formatting and the Equal Tilde operator, =~
:
server=~${servers:regex}
For more information, refer to Advanced variable format options.
Use other query variables
When writing queries, use the metric find type of query.
For example, a query like prod.servers.*
fills the variable with all possible values that exist in the wildcard position.
The results contain all possible values occurring only at the last level of the query.
To get full metric names matching the query, use the expand
function: expand(*.servers.*)
.
Compare expanded and non-expanded metric search results
The expanded query returns the full names of matching metrics. In combination with regular expressions, you can use it to extract any part of the metric name. By contrast, a non-expanded query returns only the last part of the metric name, and doesn’t let you extract other parts of metric names.
Given these example metrics:
prod.servers.001.cpu
prod.servers.002.cpu
test.servers.001.cpu
These examples demonstrate how expanded and non-expanded queries can fetch specific parts of the metrics name:
Non-expanded query | Results | Expanded query | Expanded results |
---|---|---|---|
* | prod, test | expand(*) | prod, test |
*.servers | servers | expand(*.servers) | prod.servers, test.servers |
test.servers | servers | expand(test.servers) | test.servers |
*.servers.* | 001,002 | expand(*.servers.*) | prod.servers.001, prod.servers.002, test.servers.001 |
test.servers.* | 001 | expand(test.servers.*) | test.servers.001 |
*.servers.*.cpu | cpu | expand(*.servers.*.cpu) | prod.servers.001.cpu, prod.servers.002.cpu, test.servers.001.cpu |
The non-expanded query is the same as an expanded query, with a regex matching the last part of the name.
You can also create nested variables that use other variables in their definition.
For example, apps.$app.servers.*
uses the variable $app
in its query definition.
Use __searchFilter
to filter query variable results
Note
Available in Grafana v6.5 and higher.
You can use __searchFilter
in the query field to filter the query result based on what the user types in the dropdown select box.
The default value for __searchFilter
is *
if you’ve not entered anything, and `` when used as part of a regular expression.
Search filter example
To use __searchFilter
as part of the query field to enable searching for server
while the user types in the dropdown select box:
Query
apps.$app.servers.$__searchFilter
TagValues
tag_values(server, server=~${__searchFilter:regex})
Choose a variable syntax
The Graphite data source supports two variable syntaxes for use in the Query field:
$<varname>
, for exampleapps.frontend.$server.requests.count
, which is easier to read and write but does not allow you to use a variable in the middle of a word.${varname}
, for exampleapps.frontend.${server}.requests.count
, to use in expressions likemy.server${serverNumber}.count
.
Templated dashboard example
To view an example templated dashboard, refer to Graphite Templated Nested dashboard.
Was this page helpful?
Related resources from Grafana Labs
![Getting started with the Grafana LGTM Stack](/static/assets/featured/getting-started-with-grafana-lgtm-stack-amer_featured.png?w=200 200w, /static/assets/featured/getting-started-with-grafana-lgtm-stack-amer_featured.png?w=400 400w)
![Intro to Kubernetes monitoring in Grafana Cloud](/media/webinar/Screenshot-2024-02-12-at-4.09.30-PM.png?w=200 200w, /media/webinar/Screenshot-2024-02-12-at-4.09.30-PM.png?w=400 400w)
![Building advanced Grafana dashboards](/media/webinar/AMER_buildadv_notxt.png?w=200 200w, /media/webinar/AMER_buildadv_notxt.png?w=400 400w)