docker.recipes

InfluxDB + Chronograf

intermediate

InfluxDB time-series database with Chronograf admin UI.

Overview

InfluxDB is a purpose-built time-series database designed specifically for handling high-velocity, timestamped data from IoT sensors, application metrics, and monitoring systems. Originally developed by InfluxData in 2013, it addresses the unique challenges of time-series data through specialized storage engines, query optimization for temporal patterns, and built-in retention policies that automatically manage data lifecycle. Unlike traditional relational databases, InfluxDB excels at ingesting millions of data points per second while providing sub-second query performance for analytics and alerting. This stack combines InfluxDB 2.7 with Chronograf to create a comprehensive time-series data platform. While InfluxDB 2.x includes a built-in UI, Chronograf provides advanced visualization capabilities, alerting rules, and administrative tools that complement InfluxDB's native interface. The configuration establishes automatic initialization with organization, bucket, and authentication setup, plus inter-service connectivity for data exploration and dashboard creation. This combination is ideal for DevOps teams implementing observability solutions, IoT developers collecting sensor data, and organizations requiring real-time analytics on timestamped metrics. The stack provides both the high-performance data storage capabilities of InfluxDB and the intuitive visualization tools of Chronograf, making it accessible for both technical operators and business users who need to analyze time-series patterns.

Key Features

  • High-performance time-series storage engine optimized for timestamped data ingestion and retrieval
  • Flux query language with advanced time-series functions for complex temporal analytics
  • Built-in data retention policies with automatic downsampling and expiration management
  • Chronograf's drag-and-drop dashboard builder with time-series specific visualizations
  • Real-time alerting system with customizable thresholds and notification channels
  • Multi-tenant organization and bucket structure for data isolation and access control
  • Native support for both push and pull data collection patterns
  • Advanced time-series functions including aggregations, transformations, and predictive analytics

Common Use Cases

  • 1IoT sensor networks collecting temperature, humidity, and environmental data from distributed devices
  • 2Application performance monitoring with metrics collection from microservices architectures
  • 3Financial data analysis for real-time trading metrics and market data aggregation
  • 4Industrial equipment monitoring for predictive maintenance and operational efficiency
  • 5Website analytics tracking user behavior patterns and performance metrics over time
  • 6Energy management systems monitoring power consumption and grid performance data
  • 7DevOps infrastructure monitoring collecting system metrics, logs, and performance indicators

Prerequisites

  • Minimum 1GB RAM allocated to Docker (InfluxDB requires 256MB minimum, 1GB+ recommended for production)
  • Available ports 8086 (InfluxDB) and 8888 (Chronograf) on the host system
  • Basic understanding of time-series data concepts and Flux or InfluxQL query syntax
  • Environment variables configured for INFLUX_USER, INFLUX_PASSWORD, INFLUX_ORG, INFLUX_BUCKET, and INFLUX_TOKEN
  • Docker Compose version 3.8 or higher with volume and network support
  • Understanding of InfluxDB's bucket and organization concepts for proper data modeling

For development & testing. Review security settings, change default credentials, and test thoroughly before production use. See Terms

docker-compose.yml

docker-compose.yml
1services: 
2  influxdb: 
3    image: influxdb:2.7
4    container_name: influxdb
5    restart: unless-stopped
6    environment: 
7      DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_MODE: setup
8      DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_USERNAME: ${INFLUX_USER}
9      DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_PASSWORD: ${INFLUX_PASSWORD}
10      DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_ORG: ${INFLUX_ORG}
11      DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_BUCKET: ${INFLUX_BUCKET}
12      DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_ADMIN_TOKEN: ${INFLUX_TOKEN}
13    volumes: 
14      - influxdb_data:/var/lib/influxdb2
15      - influxdb_config:/etc/influxdb2
16    ports: 
17      - "8086:8086"
18    networks: 
19      - influx-network
20
21  chronograf: 
22    image: chronograf:latest
23    container_name: chronograf
24    restart: unless-stopped
25    environment: 
26      INFLUXDB_URL: http://influxdb:8086
27    volumes: 
28      - chronograf_data:/var/lib/chronograf
29    ports: 
30      - "8888:8888"
31    depends_on: 
32      - influxdb
33    networks: 
34      - influx-network
35
36volumes: 
37  influxdb_data: 
38  influxdb_config: 
39  chronograf_data: 
40
41networks: 
42  influx-network: 
43    driver: bridge

.env Template

.env
1INFLUX_USER=admin
2INFLUX_PASSWORD=changeme123
3INFLUX_ORG=myorg
4INFLUX_BUCKET=mybucket
5INFLUX_TOKEN=my-super-secret-token

Usage Notes

  1. 1Docs: https://docs.influxdata.com/influxdb/v2/
  2. 2Access InfluxDB UI at http://localhost:8086 | Chronograf at http://localhost:8888
  3. 3Use INFLUX_TOKEN for API authentication in your applications
  4. 4Query with Flux or InfluxQL - Flux recommended for v2.x
  5. 5Retention policies control data lifecycle - configure per bucket
  6. 6Backup: influx backup /path/to/backup, restore with influx restore

Individual Services(2 services)

Copy individual services to mix and match with your existing compose files.

influxdb
influxdb:
  image: influxdb:2.7
  container_name: influxdb
  restart: unless-stopped
  environment:
    DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_MODE: setup
    DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_USERNAME: ${INFLUX_USER}
    DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_PASSWORD: ${INFLUX_PASSWORD}
    DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_ORG: ${INFLUX_ORG}
    DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_BUCKET: ${INFLUX_BUCKET}
    DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_ADMIN_TOKEN: ${INFLUX_TOKEN}
  volumes:
    - influxdb_data:/var/lib/influxdb2
    - influxdb_config:/etc/influxdb2
  ports:
    - "8086:8086"
  networks:
    - influx-network
chronograf
chronograf:
  image: chronograf:latest
  container_name: chronograf
  restart: unless-stopped
  environment:
    INFLUXDB_URL: http://influxdb:8086
  volumes:
    - chronograf_data:/var/lib/chronograf
  ports:
    - "8888:8888"
  depends_on:
    - influxdb
  networks:
    - influx-network

Quick Start

terminal
1# 1. Create the compose file
2cat > docker-compose.yml << 'EOF'
3services:
4  influxdb:
5    image: influxdb:2.7
6    container_name: influxdb
7    restart: unless-stopped
8    environment:
9      DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_MODE: setup
10      DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_USERNAME: ${INFLUX_USER}
11      DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_PASSWORD: ${INFLUX_PASSWORD}
12      DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_ORG: ${INFLUX_ORG}
13      DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_BUCKET: ${INFLUX_BUCKET}
14      DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_ADMIN_TOKEN: ${INFLUX_TOKEN}
15    volumes:
16      - influxdb_data:/var/lib/influxdb2
17      - influxdb_config:/etc/influxdb2
18    ports:
19      - "8086:8086"
20    networks:
21      - influx-network
22
23  chronograf:
24    image: chronograf:latest
25    container_name: chronograf
26    restart: unless-stopped
27    environment:
28      INFLUXDB_URL: http://influxdb:8086
29    volumes:
30      - chronograf_data:/var/lib/chronograf
31    ports:
32      - "8888:8888"
33    depends_on:
34      - influxdb
35    networks:
36      - influx-network
37
38volumes:
39  influxdb_data:
40  influxdb_config:
41  chronograf_data:
42
43networks:
44  influx-network:
45    driver: bridge
46EOF
47
48# 2. Create the .env file
49cat > .env << 'EOF'
50INFLUX_USER=admin
51INFLUX_PASSWORD=changeme123
52INFLUX_ORG=myorg
53INFLUX_BUCKET=mybucket
54INFLUX_TOKEN=my-super-secret-token
55EOF
56
57# 3. Start the services
58docker compose up -d
59
60# 4. View logs
61docker compose logs -f

One-Liner

Run this command to download and set up the recipe in one step:

terminal
1curl -fsSL https://docker.recipes/api/recipes/influxdb-chronograf/run | bash

Troubleshooting

  • Connection refused on port 8086: Ensure InfluxDB container is fully started and DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_MODE environment variables are properly set
  • Chronograf shows 'Unable to connect to InfluxDB': Verify the INFLUXDB_URL environment variable points to http://influxdb:8086 and both containers are on the same network
  • Authentication failures with INFLUX_TOKEN: Check that the token matches between InfluxDB initialization and client applications, and verify token has proper read/write permissions
  • High memory usage during data ingestion: Configure appropriate retention policies and batch write sizes, monitor for inefficient Flux queries causing memory spikes
  • Empty dashboards in Chronograf: Ensure data is being written to the correct bucket and organization, verify Chronograf is connected to the right InfluxDB instance
  • Time zone issues in data visualization: Configure proper timezone settings in both InfluxDB and Chronograf, ensure client applications send UTC timestamps

Community Notes

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Components

influxdbchronograf

Tags

#influxdb#timeseries#metrics#iot

Category

Database Stacks

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