Grafana SSL – How to configure HTTPS

Need to know how to configure an SSL certificate for Grafana? You have come to the right place.

The TurboGeek step-by-step guide for setting up a self-signed SSL certificate in the Grafana community edition, it is an easy-to-follow procedure that will create a self-signed certificate on your Grafana Instance and have you up and running in no time at all.

By following these instructions, you will enhance the security of your Grafana server, making it accessible via a secure connection at https://my_grafana_server

What is a Grafana SSL Certificate?

First a bit of background. Feel free to skip to step 1 for the procedure.

By default, SSL is not configured in the free, self-hosted community edition of Grafana.

However, SSL is configured automatically for those who opt for the cloud version. To set up SSL on the self-hosted version, you will require sudo access to the /etc/grafana/grafana.ini file.

Here’s where you should look:

vi /etc/grafana/grafana.ini

HTTP options

In the grafana.ini file, you’ll need to modify four key fields. They are:

• root_url =
• protocol =
• cert_key =
• cert_file =

When you are finished. Your Grafana Ini will look something like this:

#FOR EXAMPLE PURPOSES

[server]
http_addr = dashboard.yourdomain.co.uk
http_port = 3000
domain = yourdomain.co.uk
root_url = https://grafana.yourdomain.co.uk
cert_key = /etc/grafana/grafana.key
enforce_domain = False
protocol = https
socket =
enable_gzip = False
cert_file = /etc/grafana/grafana.crt
static_root_path = public
router_logging = False

Step 1 – Create a Grafana SSL Certificate

Follow the steps below for those on Linux-based servers. I am using RedHat Enterprise. You may need refer to its specific documentation if you’re on a different Linux distribution.

This command generates an RSA private key for use with Grafana.

openssl genrsa -out grafana.key 2048

The command generates a 2048-bit RSA private key and saves it in a file named “grafana.key”.

Here is what the output should look like:

Step 2 – Generate a certificate signing request

From the command line, type:

openssl req -new -key grafana.key -out grafana.csr

This command creates a new certificate signing request (CSR) using your existing private key. The CSR contains information about your organization and is cryptographically linked to your key. You have the option to submit this CSR to a Certificate Authority to obtain a digital certificate for secure HTTPS connections. However, in this example, we will keep it simple and do a self-signed certificate.

Example output:

Step 3 – Output the certificate

Now, from the command line, type:

openssl x509 -req -days 365 -in grafana.csr -signkey grafana.key -out grafana.crt

This command creates a self-signed certificate valid for one year, using your existing CSR and private key. This certificate can be used for testing or internal purposes, but may cause browser warnings in production due to not being issued by a trusted authority.

After which, you’ll see this output:

Step 4 – Set certificate key file ownership

Run the following commands:

sudo chown grafana:grafana grafana.crt
sudo chown grafana:grafana grafana.key
sudo chmod 400 grafana.key grafana.crt

These commands change the ownership (chown) of the files grafana.crt and grafana.key to the user grafana and group grafana. The last command (chmod) changes the permissions (mode) of these files so they can only be read by the owner (grafana), ensuring they remain secure.

Step 5 – Transfer the certificate and key file to Grafana’s installation directory

Move files using:

sudo mv grafana.crt grafana.key /etc/grafana/

Step 6 – Edit the Grafana.ini file

Open the file with:

sudo vim /etc/grafana/grafana.ini

Search for the #HTTP options and set the properties accordingly:

root_url = https://grafana.yourdomain.co.uk
protocol = https
cert_key = /etc/grafana/grafana.key
cert_file = /etc/grafana/grafana.crt

Once done, save and exit the file. Proceed by restarting the Grafana service:

sudo service grafana-server restart

Step 7 – Access via the server IP

Finally, when you navigate to the server’s IP address using a web browser, you’ll encounter a warning due to the Self Signed Certificate. The prompt will appear as follows:

Note: You will always have to accept this prompt (only once) unless you have purchased a Signed Certificate from a certificate authority vendor such as https://www.digicert.com/

Want to know how to put certs on a Grafana container and how to make a Grafana container HTTPS? Run

docker exec -it containername /bin/bash

and follow the same procedure above.

That’s it; thanks for taking the time to read this article. If you have any questions or feedback, please write them in the comment section below.

What to know more about Grafana SSL? Check out our other posts about it:

Learn:

• What’s the difference between the Grafana Enterprise and Grafana Community editions?
• Why should I use Grafana?
• How do I install Grafana on a Raspberry Pi?
• Your Top Grafana Questions Answered (Q&A)

Thanks for taking the time to read this article. if you have any questions or feedback, please write in the comment section below.