# grafana-azure

> Deploy Grafana OSS to Azure Container Apps. Use when deploying Grafana for metrics, logs, and traces visualization with optional PostgreSQL backend.

- Author: Dan Wahlin
- Repository: DanWahlin/oss-to-azure
- Version: 20260207002924
- Stars: 0
- Forks: 0
- Last Updated: 2026-02-07
- Source: https://github.com/DanWahlin/oss-to-azure
- Web: https://mule.run/skillshub/@@DanWahlin/oss-to-azure~grafana-azure:20260207002924

---

---
name: grafana-azure
description: Deploy Grafana OSS to Azure Container Apps. Use when deploying Grafana for metrics, logs, and traces visualization with optional PostgreSQL backend.
---

# Grafana Azure Deployment Skill

Deploy Grafana OSS to Azure Container Apps using Bicep and Azure Developer CLI (azd).

> **Reproducibility Verified**: This deployment has been tested multiple times from scratch. Deploy time: ~2 minutes.

## Overview

Grafana is an open-source observability platform for metrics, logs, and traces visualization. This skill deploys Grafana OSS (not Azure Managed Grafana) to Azure Container Apps.

## Architecture

```
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  Resource Group                         │
│  ┌─────────────────┐    ┌─────────────────────────────┐ │
│  │ Log Analytics   │───▶│ Container Apps Environment  │ │
│  │ Workspace       │    │                             │ │
│  └─────────────────┘    │  ┌───────────────────────┐  │ │
│                         │  │ Grafana Container App │  │ │
│                         │  │ - Port 3000           │  │ │
│                         │  │ - SQLite (default)    │  │ │
│                         │  │ - Scale 0-3 replicas  │  │ │
│                         │  └───────────────────────┘  │ │
│                         └─────────────────────────────┘ │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
```

## Quick Start (Verified)

```bash
# 1. Register providers (one-time per subscription)
az provider register --namespace Microsoft.App
az provider register --namespace Microsoft.OperationalInsights

# 2. Create environment
azd env new my-grafana-env

# 3. Set required variables
azd env set AZURE_SUBSCRIPTION_ID "$(az account show --query id -o tsv)"
azd env set AZURE_LOCATION "westus"
azd env set GRAFANA_ADMIN_PASSWORD "$(openssl rand -base64 16)"

# 4. Deploy (~2 minutes)
azd up

# 5. Access Grafana
azd env get-value GRAFANA_URL
# Login: admin / <your GRAFANA_ADMIN_PASSWORD>
```

**Deployment time breakdown:**
- Resource Group: ~4s
- Log Analytics: ~25s
- Container Apps Environment: ~38s
- Grafana Container App: ~10s
- **Total: ~2 minutes**

## Parameters

| Parameter | Description | Default | Required |
|-----------|-------------|---------|----------|
| `environmentName` | Environment name (used for resource naming) | - | Yes |
| `location` | Azure region | westus | No |
| `grafanaImage` | Container image | docker.io/grafana/grafana:latest | No |
| `grafanaAdminUser` | Admin username | admin | No |
| `grafanaAdminPassword` | Admin password | - | Yes |

## Environment Variables

Grafana is configured via environment variables in the Container App:

| Variable | Description | Value |
|----------|-------------|-------|
| `GF_SECURITY_ADMIN_USER` | Admin username | From parameter |
| `GF_SECURITY_ADMIN_PASSWORD` | Admin password | From secret |
| `GF_SERVER_HTTP_PORT` | HTTP port | 3000 |
| `GF_SERVER_ROOT_URL` | Public URL | Auto-configured |
| `GF_AUTH_ANONYMOUS_ENABLED` | Anonymous access | false |

See [config/environment-variables.md](config/environment-variables.md) for full list.

## Health Probes

| Type | Path | Port | Interval |
|------|------|------|----------|
| Liveness | /api/health | 3000 | 30s |
| Readiness | /api/health | 3000 | 10s |
| Startup | /api/health | 3000 | 10s (30 failures allowed) |

## Outputs

After deployment:
- **GRAFANA_URL**: Public HTTPS URL
- **GRAFANA_FQDN**: Container App FQDN
- **GRAFANA_ADMIN_USER**: Admin username

## Verification

```bash
# Health check
curl https://<GRAFANA_FQDN>/api/health

# Admin login test
curl -u admin:YourPassword https://<GRAFANA_FQDN>/api/org
```

## Scaling

- **Min replicas**: 0 (scale to zero when idle)
- **Max replicas**: 3
- **Scaling rule**: HTTP concurrent requests (10 per replica)

## Storage Considerations

By default, Grafana uses SQLite which stores data in the container. For production:
1. Add Azure Files for persistent storage
2. Or use PostgreSQL/MySQL backend

## Tear Down

```bash
azd down --force --purge
```

**Note:** Teardown takes 3-5 minutes (Container Apps environment deletion is slow).

## Comparison with n8n Deployment

| Aspect | Grafana | n8n |
|--------|---------|-----|
| Database | SQLite (default) | PostgreSQL (required) |
| Port | 3000 | 5678 |
| Resources | 0.5 CPU, 1GB RAM | 1 CPU, 2GB RAM |
| Complexity | Simple | Moderate |
| Deploy Time | ~2 minutes | ~5 minutes |

## Troubleshooting

See [troubleshooting.md](troubleshooting.md) for common issues and lessons learned.