March 2018 Summaries

Issue 38 of TimeShift highlights the recent release of Grafana v5.0.4, which includes a range of bug fixes related to Docker, dashboards, snapshots, and alerting, enhancing its functionality on Kubernetes and other environments. The update also underscores Grafana's integration capabilities, with insights into setting up AWS CloudWatch monitoring and the new Instana APM plugin. Additionally, the issue covers a variety of community activities, including upcoming events like Percona Live 2018 and KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2018, where Grafana's time series engine for GrafanaCloud and monitoring mixins using Jsonnet will be discussed. There's also mention of the availability of GrafanaCon videos, a call for event submissions, and an invitation to join the Grafana Labs team as they continue to innovate in open-source software. The issue wraps up with an engaging tweet showcasing a visualization of Grafana's growth and an open invitation for reader feedback and community interaction.

TimeShift's 37th issue, authored by Trent White, announces the availability of all GrafanaCon EU talks on their YouTube channel, with plans to include these videos and speaker slides on their website. It highlights Grafana 5.0.3's release, discusses the significance of design in data-driven teams as explored at GrafanaCon, and shares insights into various open-source projects and monitoring tools, including Cloudprober and Zipkin with OpenTracing. The issue also details a step-by-step guide on creating a Grafana dashboard for vCloud Director, provides setup instructions for NetApp Harvest, and mentions updates to Grafana plugins, particularly the Zabbix App. Additionally, it features a notable tweet about a Surface Book 2 dashboard setup and concludes with an invitation for feedback and job openings at Grafana Labs.

Following GrafanaCon EU 2018 in Amsterdam, where Grafana 5.0 was officially launched despite weather challenges, Grafana Labs has been actively expanding its capabilities and community involvement. The company announced the acquisition of Kausal to enhance their work with Prometheus, and introduced new plugins like Instana for monitoring microservices, Moogsoft AIOps for rich reporting, and USGS Water Services for visualizing live sensor data. The latest Grafana 5.0.3 release includes features like provisioning dashboards via config files and compatibility updates for existing plugins. Grafana Labs is also expanding its team, welcoming new members and encouraging interested individuals to apply for open positions. The community is vibrant, with ongoing discussions and showcases of innovative uses of Grafana, such as a "Video Wall on Wheels" for dynamic dashboard displays.

Grafana v5.0, released after extensive development throughout 2017, introduces significant improvements focused on enhancing user experience and core functionalities. The update features a new dashboard layout engine that simplifies panel arrangements with an intuitive drag, drop, and resize capability, alongside a refined user interface with a fresh light theme. The release caters to large installations by introducing dashboard folders, teams, and an advanced permissions system, enabling better organization and control. Grafana now supports provisioning datasources and dashboards via configuration files, facilitating a more seamless integration with cloud-native setups and GitOps practices. Enhancements extend to the Graphite query editor, which now includes support for the latest Graphite version with tagging capabilities and integrated function documentation. This comprehensive update reflects Grafana's most substantial evolution, further supported by contributions from its user community.