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Grafana Enterprise Features

Now that you're familiar with Grafana's core functionality, let's explore the enterprise-grade features that make Grafana suitable for large organizations. These features extend Grafana beyond basic dashboarding into a comprehensive observability platform with enhanced security, collaboration, and administration capabilities.

Learning Goals

  • Understand Grafana Enterprise's value proposition
  • Configure and use data source permissions
  • Implement reporting and usage analytics
  • Set up enhanced authentication methods
  • Utilize enterprise plugins and support

What is Grafana Enterprise?​

Grafana Enterprise is the commercial edition of Grafana that includes additional features, enterprise plugins, and support for organizations requiring enhanced security, governance, and collaboration capabilities. It builds upon the open-source foundation while adding enterprise-specific functionality.

tip

Grafana Enterprise maintains full compatibility with open-source Grafana. All your existing dashboards, data sources, and configurations will work seamlessly when upgrading from open-source to Enterprise.

Data Source Permissions​

One of the most powerful Enterprise features is fine-grained data source permissions. While open-source Grafana allows either view or admin access to data sources, Enterprise enables you to control exactly which users and teams can query specific data sources.

Configuring Data Source Permissions​

datasource-permissions.yaml
apiVersion: 1

datasources:
  - name: Production PostgreSQL
    type: postgres
    url: localhost:5432
    database: production
    user: grafana
    secureJsonData:
      password: "secret"
    # Enterprise-specific permissions
    permissions:
      - team: Developers
        permission: Query
      - team: DevOps
        permission: Query
      - user: admin@company.com
        permission: Admin
      - user: readonly@company.com
        permission: Query

You can also manage permissions through the UI:

  1. Navigate to Configuration > Data Sources
  2. Select your data source
  3. Click the Permissions tab
  4. Add users/teams with appropriate access levels

Reporting and Analytics​

Grafana Enterprise includes built-in reporting capabilities that allow you to schedule and distribute dashboard exports via email or other channels.

Creating Scheduled Reports​

create-report.ts
// Using Grafana Enterprise API to create a scheduled report
const reportConfig = {
  name: "Daily Production Metrics",
  dashboards: [
    {
      dashboardId: 1,
      timeRange: {
        from: "now-24h",
        to: "now"
      }
    }
  ],
  schedule: {
    frequency: "daily",
    startTime: "09:00",
    timeZone: "UTC"
  },
  recipients: [
    "team-leads@company.com",
    "managers@company.com"
  ],
  format: "pdf",
  options: {
    layout: "grid",
    orientation: "landscape"
  }
};

// API call to create report
fetch('/api/reports', {
  method: 'POST',
  headers: {
    'Content-Type': 'application/json',
    'Authorization': 'Bearer your-token'
  },
  body: JSON.stringify(reportConfig)
});

Enhanced Authentication​

Enterprise edition supports additional authentication methods including SAML, OAuth 2.0, and enhanced LDAP integration.

SAML Configuration Example​

saml-config.yaml
[auth.saml]
enabled = true
single_logout = true
allow_idp_initiated = true

[auth.saml.metadata]
url = "https://sso.company.com/saml2/metadata"

[auth.saml.attribute_mapping]
username = "http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/05/identity/claims/name"
email = "http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/ws/2005/05/identity/claims/emailaddress"
groups = "http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/claims/Group"

[auth.saml.role_values_editor]
  = "Editor"
  = "Developer"

[auth.saml.role_values_admin]
  = "Admin"
  = "GrafanaAdmin"

Enterprise Plugins​

Grafana Enterprise includes several proprietary plugins that extend observability capabilities:

  • ServiceNow - Direct integration with ServiceNow ITSM
  • Splunk - Native Splunk data source
  • Datadog - Datadog metrics integration
  • New Relic - New Relic data source
  • MongoDB - Enhanced MongoDB support

ServiceNow Integration Example​

servicenow-datasource.ts
// Querying ServiceNow incidents in Grafana
const query = {
  refId: 'A',
  datasource: {
    type: 'servicenow',
    uid: 'servicenow-prod'
  },
  queryType: 'table',
  rawQuery: true,
  queryText: `SELECT number, short_description, state, priority 
              FROM incident 
              WHERE state NOT IN ('6', '7') 
              AND sys_created_on >= '2024-01-01'`
};

// The query would return active incidents for visualization

Usage Analytics​

Enterprise includes detailed usage analytics to help administrators understand how Grafana is being used across the organization.

usage-analytics-query.sql
-- Example of usage data available through Enterprise
SELECT 
  user_email,
  dashboard_title,
  COUNT(*) as view_count,
  AVG(duration_seconds) as avg_view_time
FROM grafana_usage_events 
WHERE event_type = 'dashboard_view'
  AND time >= now() - interval '30 days'
GROUP BY user_email, dashboard_title
ORDER BY view_count DESC;

Common Pitfalls​

  • License Management: Forgetting to renew your Enterprise license can cause features to stop working
  • Permission Overlap: Complex permission setups can lead to unexpected access when user/team permissions overlap
  • Report Scheduling: Large reports with many dashboards can timeout; break them into smaller, focused reports
  • SAML Configuration: Incorrect attribute mappings in SAML can prevent proper user provisioning
  • Plugin Compatibility: Ensure enterprise plugins are compatible with your Grafana version before upgrading

Summary​

Grafana Enterprise extends the open-source platform with crucial enterprise features including fine-grained data source permissions, scheduled reporting, enhanced authentication methods, and enterprise-grade plugins. These features make Grafana suitable for large organizations with complex security, compliance, and collaboration requirements. The investment in Enterprise typically pays off through improved governance, reduced administrative overhead, and enhanced observability capabilities.

Quiz​

Show quiz

  1. What is the main advantage of Grafana Enterprise's data source permissions over open-source?

    • A) Faster query performance
    • B) Fine-grained control over who can query specific data sources
    • C) Automatic data source discovery
    • D) Built-in data transformation

  2. Which authentication method is exclusively available in Grafana Enterprise?

    • A) Basic Auth
    • B) SAML
    • C) LDAP
    • D) OAuth

  3. What happens to existing dashboards when migrating from open-source to Enterprise?

    • A) They need to be recreated
    • B) They work seamlessly without changes
    • C) Only basic visualizations are preserved
    • D) Data source connections must be reconfigured

  4. Which feature allows automated distribution of dashboard exports?

    • A) Alerting
    • B) Reporting
    • C) Templating
    • D) Provisioning

  5. What should you monitor to avoid Enterprise feature disruption?

    • A) Dashboard performance
    • B) License expiration
    • C) Plugin updates
    • D) Data source availability

Answers:

  1. B - Fine-grained control over who can query specific data sources
  2. B - SAML (while OAuth and LDAP exist in open-source, Enterprise enhances them)
  3. B - They work seamlessly without changes
  4. B - Reporting
  5. B - License expiration