Run Influx 2.x in Docker and query (Flux) with DataStation

This tutorial walks through running Influx 2.x in Docker, loading it with data, and finally querying it in DataStation using Flux.

Database initialization [Optional]

If you want to follow along with this tutorial verbatim, in your terminal start Influx 2.x in Docker:

$ docker run -p 8086:8086 -e "DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_USERNAME=test" -e "DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_PASSWORD=testtest" -e "DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_MODE=setup" -e "DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_ORG=test" -e "DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_BUCKET=test" -e "DOCKER_INFLUXDB_INIT_ADMIN_TOKEN=test" influxdb:2.0

Now download the latest-observations.lp file from Influx's sample data repo.

Load it into Influx with curl:

$ curl -XPOST 'http://localhost:8086/api/v2/write?org=test&bucket=test&precision=ns' --header 'Authorization: Token test' --data-binary @./noaa-ndbc-data-sample.lp

Data source setup

Now inside DataStation create a new data source in the left sidebar.

Give it a nice name so you easily can find it later. And select Influx (Flux) in the Vendor dropdown.

Host field

If you are connecting to localhost:8086 (the default), you can leave the host field blank. If your port is 8086 then you can always omit the colon and port and just specify the address.

Other fields

In this case we need to set the organization to test and the API key to test based on how we started the Docker container.

SSH Proxy [Optional]

If you want connect to a Influx database on a remote server through an SSH proxy, you will need to set up the SSH connection to that server first. Once you do, you can select that connection in the "Via Server" dropdown within the data source editor.

Panel setup

Now create a new panel and select the Database type.

Run a query

Copy the following query and hit play!

from(bucket: "test")
|> range(start: -1000000h)
|> filter(fn: (r) =>
  (r._measurement == "ndbc" and r._field == "avg_wave_period_sec"))
|> group(columns: ["_measurement", "_start", "_stop", "_field"], mode: "by")
|> keep(columns: ["_measurement", "_start", "_stop", "_field", "_time", "_value"])
|> mean()
|> map(fn: (r) =>
  ({r with _time: 1970-01-01T00:00:00Z}))
|> rename(columns: {_value: "mean", "_time": "time"})
|> drop(columns: ["result", "table"])
|> yield(name: "0")

Note: Ctrl-r is a shortcut for hitting the play button when you are focused on one panel.

You can always download the results of a panel by hitting the download button. Or you can reference the results in other panels.

Display results

After running the query, a table button will appear below the panel next to the New Panel button. Click it to generate a table based on this panel.