Connect to an Azure Monitor data source

The Azure Monitor data source supports multiple services in the Azure cloud:

• Azure Monitor service is the platform service that provides a single source for monitoring Azure resources. For more information, see Querying the Azure Monitor service.

• Application Insights server is an extensible Application Performance Management (APM) service for web developers on multiple platforms and can be used to monitor your live web application - it will automatically detect performance anomalies. For more information, see Querying the Application Insights Analytics service.

• Azure Log Analytics (or Azure Logs) gives you access to log data collected by Azure Monitor. For more information, see Querying the Azure Log Analytics service.

• Use the Application Insights Analytics service to query Application Insights data using the same query language used for Azure Log Analytics. For more information, see Querying the Application Insights Analytics service.

Adding the data source

The data source can access metrics from four different services. You can configure access to the services that you use. It is also possible to use the same credentials for multiple services if that is how you have set it up in Azure AD.

• Guide to setting up an Azure Active Directory Application for Azure Monitor

• Guide to setting up an Azure Active Directory Application for Azure Log Analytics.

• Quickstart Guide for Application Insights.

1. Accessed from the Grafana main menu, newly installed data sources can be added immediately within the Data Sources section. Next, choose the Add data source button in the upper right. The Azure Monitor data source will be available for selection in the Cloud section in the list of data sources.

2. In the name field, Grafana will automatically fill in a name for the data source: Azure Monitor or something such as Azure Monitor - 3. If you are configuring multiple data sources, change the name to something more informative.

3. If you are using Azure Monitor, you need four pieces of information from the Azure portal (for detailed instructions, see the link provided earlier):

   • Tenant Id (Azure Active Directory, Properties, Directory ID)

   • Client Id (Azure Active Directory, App Registrations, Choose your app, Application ID)

   • Client Secret (Azure Active Directory, App Registrations, Choose your app, Keys)

   • Default Subscription Id (Subscriptions, Choose subscription, Overview, Subscription ID)

4. Paste these four items into the fields in the Azure Monitor API Details section.

   • The Subscription Id can be changed per query. Save the data source and refresh the page to see the list of subscriptions available for the specified Client Id.

5. If you are also using the Azure Log Analytics service, you must specify these two configuration values or reuse the Client Id and Secret from the previous step.

   • Client Id (Azure Active Directory, App Registrations, Choose your app, Application ID)

   • Client Secret (Azure Active Directory, App Registrations, Choose your app, Keys, Create a key, Use client secret)

6. If you are using Application Insights, you need two pieces of information from the Azure Portal (for detailed instructions, see the link provided earlier):

   • Application ID

   • API Key

7. Paste these two items into the appropriate fields in the Application Insights API Details section.

8. Test that the configuration details are correct by choosing the Save & Test button.

Alternatively on step 4, if you are creating a new Azure Active Directory App, use the Azure CLI:

az ad sp create-for-rbac -n "http://localhost:3000"

Choosing a service

In the query editor for a panel, after you choose your Azure Monitor data source, the first step is to select a service. There are four options:

• Azure Monitor

• Application Insights

• Azure Log Analytics

• Insights Analytics

The query editor changes depending on which option you select. Azure Monitor is the default.

Querying the Azure Monitor service

The Azure Monitor service provides metrics for all the Azure services that you have running. It helps you understand how your applications on Azure are performing, andit proactively finds issues affecting your applications.

If your Azure Monitor credentials give you access to multiple subscriptions, choose the appropriate subscription first.

Examples of metrics that you can get from the service are:

• Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines - Percentage CPU

• Microsoft.Network/networkInterfaces - Bytes sent

• Microsoft.Storage/storageAccounts - Used Capacity

The query editor allows you to query multiple dimensions for metrics that support them. Metrics that support multiple dimensions are those listed in the Azure Monitor supported Metrics List that have one or more values listed in the Dimension column for the metric.

Formatting legend keys with aliases for Azure Monitor

The default legend formatting for the Azure Monitor API is:

metricName{dimensionName=dimensionValue,dimensionTwoName=DimensionTwoValue}

These can be long, but you can change this formatting by using aliases. In the Legend Format field, you can combine the following aliases any way that you want.

Azure Monitor examples:

• Blob Type: {{ blobtype }}

• {{ resourcegroup }} - {{ resourcename }}

Alias patterns for Azure Monitor

• {{ resourcegroup }} = replaced with the value of the Resource Group

• {{ namespace }} = replaced with the value of the Namespace (for example, Microsoft.Compute/virtualMachines)

• {{ resourcename }} = replaced with the value of the Resource Name

• {{ metric }} = replaced with metric name (for example, Percentage CPU)

• {{ dimensionname }} = Legacy as of 7.1+ (for backwards compatibility) replaced with the first dimension’s key/label (as sorted by the key/label) (for example, blobtype)

• {{ dimensionvalue }} = Legacy as of 7.1+ (for backwards compatibility) replaced with first dimension’s value (as sorted by the key/label) (for example, BlockBlob)

• {{ arbitraryDim }} = Available in 7.1+ replaced with the value of the corresponding dimension. (for example, {{ blobtype }} becomes BlockBlob)

Creating template variables for Azure Monitor

Instead of hardcoding things such as server, application and sensor name in your metric queries you can use variables in their place. Variables are shown as dropdown select boxes at the top of the dashboard. You can use these dropdown boxes to change the data being displayed in your dashboard.

Note that the Azure Monitor service does not support multiple values yet. To visualize multiple time series (for example, metrics for server1 and server2), add multiple queries so that you can view them on the same graph or in the same table.

The Azure Monitor data source plugin provides the following queries that you can specify in the Query field in the Variable edit view. You can use them to fill a variable’s options list.

Name	Description
Subscriptions()	Returns a list of subscriptions.
ResourceGroups()	Returns a list of resource groups.
ResourceGroups(12345678-aaaa-bbbb-cccc-123456789aaa)	Returns a list of resource groups for a specified subscription.
Namespaces(aResourceGroup)	Returns a list of namespaces for the specified resource group.
Namespaces(12345678-aaaa-bbbb-cccc-123456789aaa, aResourceGroup)	Returns a list of namespaces for the specified resource group and subscription.
ResourceNames(aResourceGroup, aNamespace)	Returns a list of resource names.
ResourceNames(12345678-aaaa-bbbb-cccc-123456789aaa, aResourceGroup, aNamespace)	Returns a list of resource names for a specified subscription.
MetricNamespace(aResourceGroup, aNamespace, aResourceName)	Returns a list of metric namespaces.
MetricNamespace(12345678-aaaa-bbbb-cccc-123456789aaa, aResourceGroup, aNamespace, aResourceName)	Returns a list of metric namespaces for a specified subscription.
MetricNames(aResourceGroup, aNamespace, aResourceName)	Returns a list of metric names.
MetricNames(12345678-aaaa-bbbb-cccc-123456789aaa, aResourceGroup, aNamespace, aResourceName)	Returns a list of metric names for a specified subscription.

Examples:

• Resource Groups query: ResourceGroups()

• Passing in metric name variable: Namespaces(cosmo)

• Chaining template variables: ResourceNames($rg, $ns)

• Do not quote parameters: MetricNames(hg, Microsoft.Network/publicIPAddresses, grafanaIP)

For more information about templating and template variables, see Templates.

List of supported Azure Monitor metrics

Not all metrics returned by the Azure Monitor API have values. To make building a query easier, the Grafana data source has a list of supported Azure Monitor metrics, and it ignores metrics that will never have values. This list is updated regularly as new services and metrics are added to the Azure cloud.

Azure Monitor alerting

Grafana alerting is supported for the Azure Monitor service. This is not Azure Alerts support. For more information about Grafana alerting, see Grafana alerting.

Querying the Application Insights service

Formatting legend keys with aliases for Application Insights

The default legend formatting is:

metricName{dimensionName=dimensionValue,dimensionTwoName=DimensionTwoValue}

In the Legend Format field, the following aliases can be combined any way you want.

Application Insights examples:

• city: {{ client/city }}

• {{ metric }} [Location: {{ client/countryOrRegion }}, {{ client/city }}]

Alias patterns for Application Insights

• {{ groupbyvalue }} = Legacy as of Grafana 7.1+ (for backwards compatibility) replaced with the first dimension’s key/label (as sorted by the key/label)

• {{ groupbyname }} = Legacy as of Grafana 7.1+ (for backwards compatibility) replaced with first dimension’s value (as sorted by the key/label) (for example, BlockBlob)

• {{ metric }} = replaced with metric name (for example, requests/count)

• {{ arbitraryDim }} = Available in 7.1+ replaced with the value of the corresponding dimension. (for example, {{ client/city }} becomes Chicago)

Filter expressions for Application Insights

The filter field takes an OData filter expression.

Examples:

• client/city eq 'Boydton'

• client/city ne 'Boydton'

• client/city ne 'Boydton' and client/city ne 'Dublin'

• client/city eq 'Boydton' or client/city eq 'Dublin'

Templating with variables for Application Insights

Use the one of the following queries in the Query field in the Variable edit view.

For more information about templating and template variables, see Templates.

Name	Description
AppInsightsMetricNames()	Returns a list of metric names.
AppInsightsGroupBys(aMetricName)	Returns a list of group by clauses for the specified metric name.

Examples:

• Metric Names query: AppInsightsMetricNames()

• Passing in metric name variable: AppInsightsGroupBys(requests/count)

• Chaining template variables: AppInsightsGroupBys($metricnames)

Application Insights alerting

Grafana alerting is supported for Application Insights. This is not Azure Alerts support. For more information about Grafana alerting, see Grafana alerting.

Querying the Azure Log Analytics service

Queries are written in the new Azure Log Analytics (or KustoDB) Query Language. A Log Analytics query can be formatted as time series data or as table data.

If your credentials give you access to multiple subscriptions, then choose the appropriate subscription before entering queries.

Time series queries

Time series queries are for the graph panel and other panels such as the SingleStat panel. Each query must contain at least a datetime column and a numeric value column. The result must be sorted in ascending order by the datetime column.

The following code example shows a query that returns the aggregated count grouped by hour.

Perf
| where $__timeFilter(TimeGenerated)
| summarize count() by bin(TimeGenerated, 1h)
| order by TimeGenerated asc

A query can also have one or more non-numeric/non-datetime columns, and those columns are considered dimensions and become labels in the response. For example, a query that returns the aggregated count grouped by hour, Computer, and the CounterName.

Perf
| where $__timeFilter(TimeGenerated)
| summarize count() by bin(TimeGenerated, 1h), Computer, CounterName
| order by TimeGenerated asc

You can also select additional number value columns (with, or without multiple dimensions). For example, getting a count and average value by hour, Computer, CounterName, and InstanceName:

Perf
| where $__timeFilter(TimeGenerated)
| summarize Samples=count(), ["Avg Value"]=avg(CounterValue)
    by bin(TimeGenerated, $__interval), Computer, CounterName, InstanceName
| order by TimeGenerated asc

Note

Tip: In the previous query, the Kusto syntax and Samples=count()["Avg Value"]=... are used to rename those columns — the second syntax allowing for the space. This changes the name of the metric that Grafana uses. As a result, things such as series legends and table columns will match what you specify. In this example, Samples is displayed instead of _count.

Table queries

Table queries are mainly used in the table panel, and they show a list of columns and rows. This example query returns rows with the six specified columns.

AzureActivity
| where $__timeFilter()
| project TimeGenerated, ResourceGroup, Category, OperationName, ActivityStatus, Caller
| order by TimeGenerated desc

Formatting the display name for Log Analytics

The default display name format is:

metricName{dimensionName=dimensionValue,dimensionTwoName=DimensionTwoValue}

This can be customized by using the display name field option.

Azure Log Analytics macros

To make writing queries easier, Grafana provides several macros that you can use in the where clause of a query:

• $__timeFilter() – Expands to TimeGenerated ≥ datetime(2018-06-05T18:09:58.907Z) and TimeGenerated ≤ datetime(2018-06-05T20:09:58.907Z) where the from and to datetimes are from the Grafana time picker.

• $__timeFilter(datetimeColumn) – Expands to datetimeColumn ≥ datetime(2018-06-05T18:09:58.907Z) and datetimeColumn ≤ datetime(2018-06-05T20:09:58.907Z) where the from and to datetimes are from the Grafana time picker.

• $__timeFrom() – Returns the From datetime from the Grafana picker. Example: datetime(2018-06-05T18:09:58.907Z).

• $__timeTo() – Returns the From datetime from the Grafana picker. Example: datetime(2018-06-05T20:09:58.907Z).

• $__escapeMulti($myVar) – is to be used with multi-value template variables that contain illegal characters. If $myVar has the following two values as a string '\\grafana-vm\Network(eth0)\Total','\\hello!', then it expands to: @'\\grafana-vm\Network(eth0)\Total', @'\\hello!'. If using single value variables there is no need for this macro, escape the variable inline instead: @'\$myVar'.

• $__contains(colName, $myVar) – is to be used with multi-value template variables. If $myVar has the value 'value1','value2', it expands to: colName in ('value1','value2').

  If using the All option, check the Include All Option check box and in the Custom all value field, enter the following value: all. If $myVar has the value all, the macro will instead expand to 1 == 1. For template variables with numerous options, this increases the query performance by not building a large "where..in" clause.

Azure Log Analytics built-in variables

There are also some Grafana variables that can be used in Azure Log Analytics queries:

• $__interval - Grafana calculates the minimum time grain that can be used to group by time in queries. It returns a time grain such as 5m or 1h that can be used in the bin function; for example, summarize count() by bin(TimeGenerated, $__interval). For more information about interval variables, see Adding an interval variable.

Templating with variables for Azure Log Analytics

Any Log Analytics query that returns a list of values can be used in the Query field in the Variable edit view. There is also one Grafana function for Log Analytics that returns a list of workspaces.

For information about templates and template variables, see Templates and variables.

Name	Description
workspaces()	Returns a list of workspaces for the default subscription.
workspaces(12345678-aaaa-bbbb-cccc-123456789aaa)	Returns a list of workspaces for the specified subscription (the parameter can be quoted or unquoted).

The following table shows example variable queries.

Query	Description
subscriptions()	Returns a list of Azure subscriptions.
workspaces()	Returns a list of workspaces for default subscription.
workspaces("12345678-aaaa-bbbb-cccc-123456789aaa")	Returns a list of workspaces for a specified subscription.
workspaces("$subscription")	With template variable for the subscription parameter.
workspace("myWorkspace").Heartbeat \| distinct Computer	Returns a list of virtual machines.
workspace("$workspace").Heartbeat \| distinct Computer	Returns a list of virtual machines with template variable.
workspace("$workspace").Perf \| distinct ObjectName	Returns a list of objects from the Perf table.
workspace("$workspace").Perf \| where ObjectName == "$object" \| distinct CounterName	Returns a list of metric names from the Perf table.

The following code xample shows a time series query using variables.

Perf
| where ObjectName == "$object" and CounterName == "$metric"
| where TimeGenerated >= $__timeFrom() and TimeGenerated <= $__timeTo()
| where  $__contains(Computer, $computer)
| summarize avg(CounterValue) by bin(TimeGenerated, $__interval), Computer
| order by TimeGenerated asc

Deep linking from Grafana panels to the Log Analytics query editor in Azure Portal

Choose a time series in the panel to see a context menu with a link to View in Azure Portal. Choosing that link opens the Azure Log Analytics query editor in the Azure Portal and runs the query from the Grafana panel there.

If you’re not currently logged in to the Azure Portal, then the link opens the login page. The provided link is valid for any account, but it only displays the query if your account has access to the Azure Log Analytics workspace specified in the query.

Azure Log Analytics alerting

Grafana alerting is supported for Application Insights. This is not Azure Alerts support. For more information about alerting in Grafana workspaces, see Grafana alerting.

Querying the Application Insights Analytics service

If you change the service type to Insights Analytics, then a similar editor to the Log Analytics service is available. This service also uses the Kusto language, so the instructions for querying data are identical to Querying the Azure Log Analytics service, except that you query Application Insights Analytics data instead.