Dashboard JSON: How to declare a global `"datasource"`

Grafana Configuration
1

  • What Grafana version and what operating system are you using?

    Latest as of posting

  • What are you trying to achieve?

    I am writing the json model for my dashboard mostly manually (for importing / provisioning). This works great. Currently I am repeating the "datasource": {…} block for each panel. This is fine, if panels have different datasources. But if all of my many panels have the same, it would be nice, if I would only need to write it once (DRY).

  • What did you expect to happen?

    A way to declare it globally (maybe as a “default”. Panels not setting it would inherit that)

  • Can you copy/paste the configuration(s) that you are having problems with?

    What should I paste here?

  • Did you follow any online instructions? If so, what is the URL?

    Did not find anything telling me how to declare that global default.

2

datasources are per panel so that would break the data model

3

Can you please elaborate on what would break if a dashboard json for importing has a “default” datasource. So that panel without one would use that?

4

Use dashboard variable. See for example AWS EC2 | Grafana Labs