How to Set Up Grafana on AWS EC2 - A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Introduction

Grafana is a powerful open-source tool that helps you visualize and analyze data from various sources. It’s widely used in DevOps and IT to monitor systems and gain insights. In this guide, we’ll take you through the steps to set up Grafana on an AWS EC2 instance. Whether you’re new to Grafana or cloud computing, this easy-to-follow guide will help you get started.

Step 1 : Create an AWS Account

If you don’t already have an AWS account, you’ll need to create one. Here’s how:

Go to AWS’s website and click on “Create an AWS Account.”
Follow the instructions to set up your account. AWS offers a free tier for new users, which gives you limited free access to many AWS services for 12 months.

Step 2 : Launch an EC2 Instance

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) provides scalable computing capacity. To run Grafana, we need to launch an EC2 instance. Here’s how:

Log in to AWS Management Console:
- After logging in, find and click on “EC2” under the “Compute” section.
Launch Instance:
- Click on the “Launch Instance” button to start the setup process.
Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI):
- Select the Amazon Linux 2 AMI (Amazon Machine Image). This image is free-tier eligible and works well for our needs.
Choose an Instance Type:
- Select the “t2.micro” instance type. This is also free-tier eligible and sufficient for our setup.
Configure Instance Details:
- Click “Next: Configure Instance Details.” You can leave the default settings as they are.
Add Storage:
- Click “Next: Add Storage.” The default settings are usually fine, so you can proceed to the next step.
Add Tags:
- Tags are optional, but they can help you organize your resources. Click “Next: Add Tags” to continue.
Configure Security Group:
- Security groups control the traffic to your instance. Create a new security group with the following rules:
  - Type: SSH, Protocol: TCP, Port Range: 22, Source: Anywhere
  - Type: HTTP, Protocol: TCP, Port Range: 80, Source: Anywhere
  - Type: HTTPS, Protocol: TCP, Port Range: 443, Source: Anywhere
- Click “Review and Launch” to proceed.
Review and Launch:
- Review your settings and click “Launch.” You’ll be prompted to select an existing key pair or create a new one. This key pair is used to securely connect to your instance. Make sure to download and save the key pair file (.pem) as you will need it to connect to your instance.

Step 3 : Connect to Your EC2 Instance

Once your instance is running, you need to connect to it:

Find Your Instance:
- In the EC2 dashboard, select your instance and click “Connect.”
Connect via SSH:
- Open your terminal (or use an SSH client) and run the provided SSH command. It will look something like this:
```
  ssh -i "your-key-pair.pem" ec2-user@your-ec2-public-dns
```
- Replace "your-key-pair.pem" with the path to your key pair file and "your-ec2-public-dns" with your instance’s public DNS.

Step 4 : Install Grafana

Now that you’re connected to your EC2 instance, it’s time to install Grafana:

Update Your System:
- Run the following command to update your system packages:
```
  sudo yum update -y
```

Add Grafana Repository:

Add the Grafana repository to your system:

  sudo tee /etc/yum.repos.d/grafana.repo <<EOF
  [grafana]
  name=grafana
  baseurl=https://packages.grafana.com/oss/rpm
  repo_gpgcheck=1
  enabled=1
  gpgcheck=1
  gpgkey=https://packages.grafana.com/gpg.key
  EOF

Install Grafana:
- Install Grafana using the following command:
```
  sudo yum install grafana -y
```

Start and Enable Grafana:

Start the Grafana service and enable it to start on boot:

  sudo systemctl start grafana-server
  sudo systemctl enable grafana-server

Step 5 : Configure Firewall Rules

To ensure Grafana is accessible, you need to configure the firewall:

Allow Grafana Port:

By default, Grafana runs on port 3000. Allow this port through the firewall:

  sudo firewall-cmd --zone=public --add-port=3000/tcp --permanent
  sudo firewall-cmd --reload

Step 6 : Access Grafana

With Grafana installed and running, you can now access it:

Open Grafana in Your Browser:
- Open your web browser and navigate to http://your-ec2-public-dns:3000. Replace "your-ec2-public-dns" with your instance’s public DNS.
Login to Grafana:
- The default username is admin and the default password is admin. You’ll be prompted to change the password upon first login.

Step 7 : Set Up Your First Dashboard

Now that you’re logged into Grafana, you can set up your first dashboard:

Add a Data Source:
- Click on “Add your first data source” and select the type of data source you want to use (e.g., Prometheus, InfluxDB, etc.). Follow the prompts to configure your data source.
Create a Dashboard:
- After adding the data source, click on “Create your first dashboard.” You can add various panels to visualize data from your data source.
Customize Your Dashboard:
- Explore Grafana’s features to customize your dashboard. You can add multiple panels, set up alerts, and more.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully set up Grafana on an AWS EC2 instance. Grafana is a powerful tool for monitoring and visualizing data. With this setup, you can create custom dashboards to gain insights into your systems. Continue exploring Grafana’s features to make the most out of this versatile platform.

How to Set Up Grafana on AWS EC2 - A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

Table of contents

Introduction