Although Nightingale’s focus is on alerting, it also supports dashboards. While it is not as feature-rich as Grafana, it supports all common chart types and is more than enough for daily use.

Quick Import

We have prepared some machine dashboards in advance that you can import directly to see results quickly. Import method:

Different collectors produce metric names and labels that vary, so dashboards must be prepared separately. If you use Categraf, you can import the following two dashboards:

• Machine overview: categraf-overview.json
• Machine details: categraf-detail.json

If you use Node Exporter, you can import:

• Key Node metrics: exporter-detail.json

In fact, all these dashboards can also be found via Nightingale’s menu Integrations Center - Template Center - search for Linux:

Categraf overview dashboard sample:

Categraf machine details dashboard sample:

The template center already ships many component dashboards, but quality varies. We plan to revise them one by one when time permits, aiming for out-of-the-box usability. There are simply too many components and limited manpower, however, so we welcome the community to participate and contribute their polished dashboards by submitting PRs into the corresponding dashboards directory under each component under the integrations directory of the Nightingale GitHub repository.

Integrate Grafana

You can also continue to use Grafana for visualization — they each have their strengths and combining them works even better. You can also embed Grafana into Nightingale as an iframe via the Nightingale menu Integrations Center - System Integration.

There are two embedding approaches: secure embedding via SSO single sign-on, and anonymous embedding.

Secure Embedding

Please refer to this article: Deep integration of Nightingale and Grafana with shared authentication

Anonymous Embedding

Grafana by default does not allow being embedded by other systems. You need to modify some configuration:

1. Enable embedding

In the Grafana configuration file, find the allow_embedding option and set it to true.

2. Enable anonymous

Find the auth.anonymous section, set enabled to true, org_role to Viewer, and set org_name according to your environment.

3. For HTTPS Grafana

In the security section, set cookie_secure to true and cookie_samesite to none.

Common Questions

Q1: A chart on the dashboard shows “No data”. Why?

A:

• No data in the selected time range — extend the time range;
• The PromQL is wrong — verify it in Ad-hoc Query;
• The data source is not associated — pick the correct data source from the dashboard header;
• Business group isolation — resources are limited to the current business group (see Business Group Permissions).

Q2: Can I import a Grafana dashboard?

A: Yes. The Grafana JSON model has high compatibility with Nightingale, and most panel types work after import. Steps: dashboard list → Import → paste JSON. Complex plugins (such as commercial panels) may not be compatible.

Q3: How do I use dashboard variables?

A: Define them in the “Variables” area of the dashboard header (for example, $instance sourced from label_values(node_load1, instance)), then reference them in the panel’s PromQL like node_load1{instance="$instance"}. See the dashboard documentation for details.

Q4: How do I share a dashboard with a team?

A: A dashboard belongs to a business group — resources under a business group are visible to all members of that group. To share across business groups: clone a copy to the target business group. Or use System Integration to embed the dashboard URL into another system.

References

• Dashboard details
• Inspection report
• Alert rules
• Ad-hoc query