[`Grafana`](https://grafana.com/) is an analytics platform that can provide alternative graphs for `readsb`.
In this guide we will be using [`Prometheus`](https://prometheus.io/) as the data repository.
Using Grafana and Prometheus in this configuration does not require a plan, account, or credentials for their respective cloud offerings.
## Hardware requirements
Prometheus will store a lot of data, and Grafana will do a lot of data queries. As a result, it would be better if you run these containers on a different system than your feeder Raspberry Pi. This will leave your Pi focused on data collection and processing, and unbothered by the CPU and Disk IO load that Prometheus/Grafana will cause.
You *can* do it on a single system. We're assuming below that you are not. If you do it on a single system, then you can combine the `docker-compose.yml` components in a single file
## Step 1: Make Prometheus data available for the Ultrafeeder
- Edit your Ultrafeeder's `docker-compose.yml` file and ensure that the following is set for the `ultrafeeder` service:
*) The volume definition structure is written this way purposely to ensure that the containers can place files in the persistent directories. Do not try to "directly" map volumes (`/opt/grafana/grafana/appdata:/var/lib/grafana`).
Prometheus needs to be told where to look for the data from the ultrafeeder. We will create a target prometheus configuration file that does this, please copy and paste the following. Make sure to replace `ip_xxxxxxx` with the IP address or hostname of the machine where `ultrafeeder` is running:
-`http://docker.host.ip.addr:9090/` to access the `prometheus` console.
-`http://docker.host.ip.addr:3000/` to access the `grafana` console, use admin/admin as initial credentials, you should be prompted to change the password on first login.
## Advanced Configuration: support for dashboards for multiple ultrafeeder instances
If you have multiple feeder stations with multiple instances of `ultrafeeder`, you can configure a dashboard for each of them. Here's how. In our example, we have two `ultrafeeder` instance called `heerlen` and `trenton`. You can adjust these names in accordance with your needs.
First execute all steps above, and then continue here.
### Step 1: Edit your Prometheus config file so it looks like this
```yaml
- job_name: 'heerlen'
static_configs:
- targets: ['10.0.0.100:9273', '10.0.0.100:9274']
- job_name: 'trenton'
static_configs:
- targets: ['10.0.0.101:9273', '10.0.0.101:9274']
```
Here, `10.0.0.100` is the IP address of the `heerlen` station, and `10.0.0.101` is the IP address of the `trenton` station. Yours will be different. Please keep the ports as you mapped them for Ultrafeeder in each instance. You should have a `- job_name` block for each ultrafeeder instance.
You can remove the `ultrafeeder` section as it will probably be a duplicate of what you just created.
Once you are done editing, restart Prometheus (`docker restart prometheus`).
### Step 2: Change your initial Grafana dashboard to use the new job name
In the previous step, you replaced the `ultrafeeder` job name by two or more new names. Now, we need to create a copy of the dashboard for each of the job names and make sure they each use the data source from the correct `ultrafeeder` instance.
Step 2a: Log into Grafana and open the Ultrafeeder dashboard that you already created
Step 2b: Click on the cogwheel (`Dashboard Settings`) in the top of the screen
Step 2c: Choose `JSON Model` from the Setting menu on the left of the screen and click anywhere in the JSON text
Step 2d. Press CTRL-F (Window/Linux) or CMD-F (Mac) and press the `>` button to show Find and Replace:
image
Step 2e: Find all instances of `job=\"ultrafeeder\"` and replace them with `job=\"heerlen\"` (or whatever name your first feeder has)
Step 2f: Press `Save dashboard` at the top right of the screen, followed by `Save` on the next screen
Step 2g: Press ESC to go back to your dashboard
Now your first Grafana dashboard gets its data from the your first `ultrafeeder` instance.
### Step 3: Clone the dashboard and repoint it at your second `ultrafeeder` instance
If you followed the steps above, you should be at your updated (first) dashboard. We'll now clone and adapt it for your second `ultrafeeder` instance:
Step 3a: Press the `Share` icon (to the right of the star, next to the page title)
Step 3b: Click the `Export` tab. Switch on `Export for sharing externally`
Step 3c: Press `View JSON` and `Copy to Clipboard`
Step 3d: `X` out of the popup box, leave the Dashboard, and go back to the `Browse Dashboards` page.
Step 3e: Click `New` -> `Import`. Right-click in the `Import via panel json` box, and paste your clipboard. Press `Load`
Step 3f: Change the `Name` and `uid` (pick anything you want), and select `Prometheus` as data source. IMPORTANT: if you do not change the `Name` and `uid`, it will overwrite your existing dashboard. CHANGE BOTH OF THEM! Then press `Import`
Step 3g: You will see your new dashboard, but it's still getting data from your first one. Follow steps 2b - 2g above to change the data source from `heerlen` (or whatever you named it) to `trenton` (or whatever name you want to give to it)
Now you have 2 dashboards for 2 instances of Ultrafeeder!