How to create a dashboard in Splunk?

Creating a dashboard in Splunk is a straightforward process that allows you to visualize and organize data insights in a user-friendly interface. Dashboards are essential for monitoring key metrics, analyzing trends, and sharing insights with your team.

Real-world example

Imagine you manage an online store and want a dashboard to monitor:

1. Sales trends: A chart showing revenue over the past week.
2. Top-selling products: A table of your best-performing items.
3. Website errors: A graph of HTTP 500 errors by time.

Splunk dashboards let you combine these visuals in one place, providing real-time insights at a glance.

Steps to create a dashboard in Splunk

1. Create a new dashboard

1. Go to Splunk's Search & Reporting app.
2. Click on Dashboards in the navigation menu.
3. Click Create New Dashboard.
4. Provide a name, description (optional), and choose whether to make it private or shared.
5. Click Create to open the dashboard editor.

2. Add a search to your dashboard

1. Run a search in the Search & Reporting app (e.g., index=sales_data | timechart sum(revenue) by product).
2. After verifying the results, click on Save As > Dashboard Panel.
3. Choose the dashboard you created earlier or create a new one.
4. Provide a title and other display options, then click Add to Dashboard.

3. Add visualizations

Splunk supports various visualization types like bar charts, line graphs, pie charts, and tables. To add a visualization:

1. Edit your dashboard and click Add Panel.
2. Choose Visualization and select a type (e.g., bar chart, line chart).
3. Link the visualization to a search query.
4. Customize the appearance (colors, axes, legends).

4. Customize the layout

1. Drag and drop panels to organize them.
2. Resize panels by clicking and dragging their edges.
3. Use the Edit Layout option for finer adjustments.

5. Add dynamic inputs

To make your dashboard interactive, add inputs like:

• Dropdown menus: Filter data based on a specific field (e.g., product category).
• Time pickers: Adjust the date range of the data displayed.

To add inputs:

1. Edit the dashboard and click Add Input.
2. Choose the input type (e.g., dropdown, time picker).
3. Configure its settings (e.g., data source, default values).

6. Save and share

1. Once you're satisfied with the dashboard, click Save.
2. Share it with others by adjusting the permissions under the Edit Permissions option.

Example: Sales monitoring dashboard

• Search for revenue trends:

index=sales_data | timechart sum(revenue)

• Search for top-selling products:

index=sales_data | stats sum(revenue) by product | sort -sum(revenue)

• Search for website errors:

index=web_logs status=500 | timechart count

Learn more

To explore how dashboards fit into monitoring systems, check out Grokking System Design Fundamentals. For advanced insights into creating monitoring and visualization systems, the System Design Primer is highly recommended. These resources will enhance your understanding of Splunk dashboards.