Dashboard Configuration

This article covers creating and editing dashboards in the Kentik portal, including dashboard settings and panel dialogs.

Note: For information on using dashboards, including layout, sidebars, guided mode, and panel types, see Dashboards.

Dashboard configuration in Kentik involves both dashboard-level and panel-level settings.

Dashboard Edit Controls

Choose Edit from the Actions menu to show the following controls below the title bar:

• Data Explorer View: Adds a panel based on a view in Data Explorer (see View Panel Dialog Settings).

• Metrics Explorer View: Adds a panel based on a view in Metrics Explorer (see Metrics Panel Dialogs).

• Raw Flow View: Adds a panel showing unaggregated flow records (see Raw Flow Table).

• Synthetic Test View: Adds a panel for single or multiple Synthetics tests (see Synthetic Test Dialogs).

• Cancel: Exits without saving changes.

• Save: Saves the dashboard and exits.

Note: Edit is not available on Kentik Presets.

Dashboard Settings

Note: For panel-level settings, see Panel Dialogs.

Choose Settings on the dashboard's Actions menu to open the Edit Dashboard dialog.

• Name: The dashboard's name in the Library List and title bar.

• Description: An optional description shown with the name in the Library List.

• Labels: Applies labels to the dashboard. Choose from the filterable list (multiple labels may be applied) or, to create one with a color and name, click Add Label. Click a label's X to remove it. Labels can also limit who can access the dashboard (see Label-Based Access).

• Visibility: Private (visible only to you) or Shared (visible to others in your organization; changes to a shared dashboard affect all users). See Dashboard Visibility.

• Default Query Options: Defaults for the dashboard's panels, which can be overridden in the Dashboard sidebar panes (see Dashboard Query Panes) and by individual panels:

  • Time Range: The default "show last" time range.

  • Data Sources: The default data sources (e.g., devices). Click Edit Data Sources to open the Data Sources Dialog.

  • Filters: The default filters. Click Edit Filters to open the Filters Dialog.

• Guided Mode: A switch (disabled by default) that prompts users for a filter value, applied to some or all of the dashboard's panels, with no need to set up filters:

  • Dimension family to filter by: The category of dimensions available for the filter (see Guided Mode UI).

  • Prompt text: The prompt at the top of the dashboard. A generic prompt is filled in when you choose a dimension family; edit it if desired.

  • Input type: Predefined (choose from a drop-down list) or Freeform (enter any text).

  • Predefined options (Predefined only): A comma-delimited list of the drop-down values.

  • Panels: How each panel is affected is set in its Guided Mode tab (see View Panel Dialog Settings).

  • URLs: Appending the guided-mode value to a dashboard's URL applies it on arrival (see Guided Mode URLs).

• Dashboard Dependencies: Shows the dashboard navigation, if any, established for this dashboard:

  • Navigate From: Dashboards that navigate to this dashboard from a panel.

  • Navigate To: The destinations of this dashboard's panels (see Navigate To Tab).

• Cancel (button): Exits without saving changes. Alternatively, click the X at the upper right.

• Save (button): Saves the dashboard and exits.

Label-Based Access

With Kentik role-based access control (RBAC), a role's dashboard permissions can be set to Label Access instead of Full Access, which limits the permission to dashboards that have specific labels. To grant access by label:

1. Apply the labels to the dashboards (see Dashboard Settings).

2. Edit a custom role (see Manage Role Permissions). On the Permissions tab, turn on a dashboard permission (for example, Can view dashboards), choose Label Access from its dropdown, and select the labels.

3. Assign the role to users.

Notes:

• Adding or removing labels on a dashboard requires the dashboard Update permission.

• Multiple labels in a Label Access permission are combined with OR: the permission applies to dashboards with any of the labels. For example, a role with Label Access for the labels Core Network and Security can access dashboards labeled Core Network, dashboards labeled Security, and dashboards labeled both.

• Label Access overrides sharing: a user restricted to certain labels cannot view or edit other dashboards, even shared ones.

• If a user's roles grant both Full Access and Label Access for dashboards, the result is Full Access.

Add Dashboard from Explorer

Creating a dashboard from Data Explorer (see Add Panel from Explorer) opens a variant of the Add Dashboard dialog that saves the current view to a panel on the new dashboard. It differs from the standard dialog (see Dashboard Settings) as follows:

• Adds a Dashboard Panel pane (upper right) with a Title field for the new panel's name.

• Omits the Dashboard Dependencies section.

Panel Edit Controls

These controls appear on panels when editing a dashboard:

• Edit button: Opens the panel's edit dialog (see Panel Dialogs).

• Clone to: Opens a menu for choosing where the clone goes, then the Add Panel dialog (see View Panel Dialog Settings):

  • This Dashboard: Adds the new panel to the current dashboard.

  • Existing Dashboard: The dialog includes a Dashboard pane for choosing the dashboard.

  • New Dashboard: After you save the panel, the Add Dashboard dialog opens (see Dashboard Settings).

• Remove button: Removes the panel from this dashboard.

• Filter (funnel icon; view panels only): Shows the filters applied to the panel and their sources (dashboard, panel, or both).

  

• Resize handle: Resizes the panel when you drag its lower-right corner.

Note: For panel UI outside edit state, see Dashboard Panels.

Panel Dialogs

Each panel type has an Add dialog (opened with the Add button for that type; see Adding Dashboard Panels) and an Edit dialog (opened with Edit in the panel's title bar when editing the dashboard; see Editing Dashboard Panels). Controls vary by panel type (see Dashboard Panel Types):

• View Panel Dialogs: Add Data Explorer Panel and Edit Data Explorer Panel.

• Metrics Panel Dialogs: Add Metrics Explorer Panel and Edit Metrics Explorer Panel.

• Raw Flow Dialogs: Add Raw Flow Panel and Edit Raw Flow Panel.

• Synthetic Test Dialogs: Add Synthetic Test Panel and Edit Synthetic Test Panel.

Note: For dashboard-level settings, see Dashboard Settings.  

View Panel Dialogs

The Add Data Explorer Panel and Edit Data Explorer Panel dialogs share these controls:

• Cancel: Closes the dialog without saving (button at lower right or X at upper right).

• Add Panel (Add dialog only): Saves the new panel and closes the dialog.

• Save (Edit dialog only): Saves changes and closes the dialog.

View Panel Dialog Settings

View panels have the following settings:

• Title: The text in the panel's title bar.

  Note: On a guided dashboard, insert {{filter_dimension}} and/or {{filter_value}} in the title to show the panel's current filter dimension or value.

• Description: A description of the panel's purpose.

• Cross-Panel Filtering: When enabled, key-based filtering (see Filtering with the Key) applies to all panels on the dashboard, not just the one where it's applied. Filtering cannot currently be started from Sankey, Map, Matrix, or Gauge visualizations.

• Dashboard pane (Add dialog only, when cloning to an existing dashboard; see Panel Edit Controls): Choose the destination dashboard.

• Query tab: The query whose results the panel displays (see View Panel Query Tab).

• Guided Mode tab (guided-mode dashboards only): The panel's guided-mode settings (see Guided Mode Tab).

• Navigate To tab: Settings for linking the panel to another dashboard (see Navigate To Tab).

View Panel Query Tab

The Query tab defines the query whose results the panel displays. It includes:

• Query preview area: Previews results, with a subset of the Data Explorer chart controls (see Explorer Chart Display).

• Query sidebar controls: The settings that determine what the panel shows (see Query Tab Sidebar Controls).

Query Tab Sidebar Controls

The Query tab sidebar includes:

• Visualization: The panel's view type and its controls (see Visualization Pane).

• Data Sources: The query's data sources (e.g., devices), with access to the selection dialog (see Panel Data Sources).

• Dimensions pane: The group-by dimensions, with access to the selection dialog (see Dimension Selectors).

• Metrics pane: The primary metric, with access to the dialog for primary and secondary metrics (see Metrics Dialog UI).

• Time: The panel's time range (see Panel Time Range).

• Filters (standard-mode dashboards only): The source of the panel's filters (see Panel Filtering).

• Brackets: The brackets applied to the panel (see About Bracketing). Click the gear icon to open the Bracketing Options Dialog.

• Advanced: The Advanced Query Settings for the panel.

Notes:

• The preview updates automatically as settings change.

• When Data Sources, Time, or Filters is Controlled by Dashboard, the dashboard's Query sidebar settings affect the panel's results (see Dashboard Query Sidebar).

Panel Data Sources

The Data Sources pane lists the panel's data sources and has a Controlled by Dashboard switch:

• On (default): Follows the dashboard's Data Sources pane.

• Off: Independent of the dashboard. The Edit Data Sources button opens the Data Sources Dialog.

Panel Time Range

The time-range indicator shows the panel's time range. The Controlled by Dashboard switch:

• On (default): Follows the Time pane in the dashboard sidebar; the indicator is grayed out.

• Off: Independent of the dashboard. Click the indicator to choose a time range.

• Compare over previous period: A switch that compares the panel's time range with an earlier period. When on, Previous sets how far back to compare: a number of hours, days, weeks, or months (default 1 week).

Panel Filtering

The Filters pane lists the panel's filter groups (see About Filters). Unless Filter Setting is Controlled by Dashboard, click the gear icon to open the Filters Dialog. The Filter Setting drop-down sets the source of panel-level filters:

• Controlled by Dashboard: Uses the filters in the dashboard sidebar's Filtering pane (see Dashboard Query Panes). The gear icon is inactive.

• Additive (default): Panel filters are combined with the dashboard sidebar's filters using AND.

• Locked to Specific Filters: Independent of the dashboard's filters.

Panel Filter Interactions

The tables below show how panel-level, dashboard-level (see Dashboard Query Panes), and guided-mode filters (see Guided Mode Tab) interact.

Filter Setting is Additive:

Filter Setting is Controlled by Dashboard:

Filter Setting is Locked to Specific Filters:

Guided Mode Tab

The Guided Mode tab appears only in panel dialogs on guided-mode dashboards.

About Guided Mode Tab Settings

On arrival at a guided-mode dashboard, the user is prompted for a value for the dimension family set in the dashboard's Guided Mode section (see Guided Mode UI), such as an IP address.

Each panel's Guided Mode tab determines whether the panel gets a guided-mode filter (e.g., Source IP or Destination IP with the user's value) and how it interacts with panel- and dashboard-level filters (see Panel Filtering and Dashboard Query Panes).

Guided Mode Behavior

The Guided Mode Behavior radio buttons determine how the guided-mode filter interacts with existing panel-level filters:

• Override all filters: Ignores existing panel-level filters and applies a new guided-mode filter:

  • You choose the filter's dimension and operator (see Guided Mode Dimension).

  • The user supplies the value at the guided-mode prompt.

• Override specific filters: Applies existing panel-level filters without creating a new one. For any filter on a dimension in the guided-mode dimension family:

  • You choose the dimension whose value is overridden.

  • The user supplies the value at the guided-mode prompt.

• Add filter group: Creates a guided-mode filter that is combined with existing panel-level filters using AND:

  • You choose the filter's dimension and operator.

  • The user supplies the value at the guided-mode prompt.

• Ignore: No filter is created; the user's value has no effect on this panel.

The Panel Filter Interactions tables show the resulting filters.

Guided Mode Dimension

Depending on the behavior, the tab may include:

• Dimension (unless behavior is Ignore): The dimension for the guided-mode filter, from the current dimension family.

• Operator (unless behavior is Ignore or Override specific filters): The filter's operator.

Navigate To Tab

The Navigate To tab configures dashboard navigation:

• Enable Dashboard Navigation switch:

  • When On: Adds a Drill Down button to the panel that links to another dashboard.

  • When Off: The other settings are hidden.

• Destination Dashboard selector (when navigation is enabled): The dashboard to navigate to (see Destination Dashboard Selector).

Destination Dashboard Selector

This drop-down lists all dashboards in your organization. Choosing one shows:

• Drill Down Button Text: An alternate name for the panel's Drill Down button (default "Drill Down").

• Destination Dashboard Settings: How the destination's data sources, time range, and filters are set (see Destination Dashboard Settings).

• Guided Mode Settings (guided-mode destinations only): See Guided Mode Settings.

Destination Dashboard Settings

These settings determine how the destination dashboard's data sources, time range, and filters are set:

Guided Mode Settings

If the destination is a guided-mode dashboard (see Dashboard Modes), these radio buttons set the guided-mode dimension's value on arrival:

• Use filter value from this guided dashboard: Available only for panels on guided-mode dashboards. Copies the source dashboard's guided-mode value to the destination.

  Note: The source and destination guided-mode dimensions aren't validated to match.

• Use Drill Down selection: Uses the time series currently selected in the panel's chart (see Filtering with the Key).

  Note: If the guided-mode and panel dimensions don't match, the Drill Down button does nothing.

• Prompt user: Clicking Drill Down (see View Panel UI) prompts for the value, as when navigating directly to a guided-mode dashboard.

Add Data Explorer View Panel

This dialog opens when you choose Add to Existing Dashboard from the Actions menu in Data Explorer (see Add Panel from Explorer). It differs from View Panel Dialog Settings as follows:

• No Query, Guided Mode, or Navigate To tab.

• A Dashboard pane for choosing the existing dashboard to add the panel to.

Metrics Panel Dialogs

The Add Metrics Explorer Panel and Edit Metrics Explorer Panel dialogs use the same query settings as Metrics Explorer and share the following elements:

• General dialog UI: Cancel, Save, and other controls as in View Panel Dialogs.

• Title: The text in the panel's title bar.

• Description (optional): A description of the panel's purpose.

• Results display: The chart for the current settings.

• Metrics query sidebar: Controls that define the metrics query (see Metrics Explorer Query Sidebar).

Raw Flow Dialogs

The raw flow panel dialogs include:

• General dialog UI: Cancel, Save, and other controls as in View Panel Dialogs.

• Title: The text in the panel's title bar.

• Description: A description of the panel's purpose.

• Query Sidebar: Controls that define the raw flow query (see Raw Flow Query Settings).

• Guided Mode tab (guided-mode dashboards only): The panel's guided-mode behavior, set as for view panels (see Guided Mode Tab).

• Preview Display: The panel's display of the query results.

Raw Flow Query Settings

The raw flow Query sidebar includes:

• Preview Query (if shown): Updates the Preview Display. If absent, the preview updates automatically.

• Data Sources: The query's data sources (e.g., devices), with access to the selection dialog (see Panel Data Sources).

• Dimensions pane: The group-by dimensions, with editing (see Raw Flow Dimensions Pane).

• Time Range: The panel's time range (see Panel Time Range).

• Filtering: The filters applied to the data, whose source is set with the Filter Setting drop-down (see Panel Filtering). Unless Controlled by Dashboard, click Edit Filters to open the Filters Dialog.

Note: When Data Sources, Time Range, or Filtering is Controlled by Dashboard, the dashboard's Query sidebar settings affect the panel (see Dashboard Query Sidebar).

Raw Flow Dimensions Pane

The Dimensions pane lists the query's dimensions; new panels start with a default set of flow record fields:

• To remove a dimension, click the X at the right end of the dimension.

• To add a dimension, click Edit Dimensions to open the Group By Dimensions dialog (see Dimension Selectors).

Note: Dimensions that are no longer supported appear as "invalid."

The pane also has:

• Order By: A drop-down for the initial sort (default Timestamp). Choose another dimension to sort by it.

  Note: A non-timestamp order-by dimension must be included in the query.

• Row Count (required): The number of rows returned (default 1000).

Synthetic Test Dialogs

The Add Synthetic Test Panel and Edit Synthetic Test Panel dialogs share the following settings. The Panel Type you choose determines which additional controls appear:

• General dialog UI: Cancel, Save, and other controls as in View Panel Dialogs.

• Title: The text in the panel's title bar.

• Panel Type: Single Test or Multiple Test:

  • Single Test: Displays the results from a single test defined on the Test Settings Page, in the format chosen with Display Type.

  • Multiple Test: Displays the aggregate of results from multiple tests.

• Single-test controls: Settings for Single Test panels (see Single Test Controls).

• Multiple-test controls: Settings for Multiple Test panels (see Multiple Test Controls).

• Time Configuration: Whether the panel's time range is Controlled by Dashboard (follows the Time pane in the dashboard sidebar) or independent (see Panel Time Range).

• Time Range: When not Controlled by Dashboard, sets the panel's time range (see Time Range Control).

Single Test Controls

When Panel Type is Single Test, the dialog adds the following controls for choosing a test and how its results are displayed:

• Display Type: The Test Details page element to display:

  • Table: Displays the test's Test Results.

  • Density Grid: Displays a set of squares that each represent the target of a test by a given agent (see Density Grid).

  • Mesh: Displays the matrix from the test's Mesh tab (see Test Mesh Subtab).

• Test Type: The test types that can produce the chosen Display Type.

• Select Test: The test to display, from tests of the chosen Test Type.

Density Grid

A density grid shows the health of an agent's connections to the targets (e.g., IP addresses or DNS servers) it tests. Each target is a square colored by the subtest's health status (Healthy, Warning, or Critical). Hovering over a square shows details (IP address, resolution time) and a View Details button that opens the Subtest Metrics Tab. The layout depends on the number of agents:

• Few agents: Each agent has a tab showing all of its targets.

• Many agents: Agents are listed down the left side (the top agent is shown by default); click one to see its targets.

Multiple Test Controls

In addition, Multiple Test panels may have the following, depending on current settings:

• Display Type: What the panel displays (see Multiple Test Display Types).

• Test Type (not Test List): The test types that can produce the chosen Display Type.

• Measurement (Test List only): The type of tests to list: Ping, DNS, HTTP, or Page Load.

• Metric Type (not Density Grid Group or Test List): The metrics to display (e.g., latency).

  Note: The available metrics vary by test type.

• Agent Label(s) (Min/Max/Avg - By Label only): Includes agents that have the chosen labels.

  Note: Labels group agents by attribute (e.g., region).

• Select Test (not Min/Max/Avg - By Label or Test List): The tests to include, from tests of the chosen Test Type.

• Test Label(s) (Availability or Test List only): Includes tests that have the chosen labels.

Multiple Test Display Types

Multiple Test panels support these display types:

• Test List: Displays the tests of the type chosen with Measurement, optionally limited to those with the chosen Test Label(s) (all tests if none).

• Min/Max/Avg - By Label: Displays a table of the Min, Max, and Avg values over the time range for the chosen Metric Type and the agents with the chosen Agent Label(s).

• Gauge - Min: Displays a gauge (see Gauge Visualization) of the minimum Metric Type value across the selected tests.

• Gauge - Max: Displays a gauge of the maximum Metric Type value across the selected tests.

• Gauge - Avg: Displays a gauge of the average Metric Type value across the selected tests.

• Density Grid Group: Displays a table with a row per agent and a column per selected test. Squares show health status (Healthy, Warning, or Critical); hovering shows details (IP address, resolution time) and a View Details button that opens the Subtest Results page for that agent and test.

• Availability: Displays a table of each test's availability (how consistently it completes successfully; see Availability Test), grouped by test label.

Manage Dashboards

The following topics cover managing your organization's dashboards.

Add a Dashboard

To add a dashboard (then add panels; see Adding Dashboard Panels):

1. Choose Library from the portal's navbar menu.

2. On the Library Page, choose Dashboard from the Add New menu in the subnav.

3. Specify the dashboard's settings (see Dashboard Settings).

4. Click Add Dashboard. The dashboard appears in the Library list.

Notes:

• To add panels to the new dashboard, see Adding Dashboard Panels.

• You can also add a dashboard from Data Explorer; see Add Dashboard from Explorer.

Edit a Dashboard

Edit Dashboard Properties

To change a dashboard's properties:

1. Choose Library from the portal's navbar menu.

2. In the Library list, click Edit Properties in the row's Action menu, or open the dashboard and choose Settings from the Actions menu (see Dashboard Subnav Controls). The Edit Dashboard dialog opens (see Dashboard Settings).

3. Change the desired settings.

4. Click Save.

Edit Dashboard Contents

To edit a dashboard from the Library:

1. Choose Library from the portal's navbar menu.

2. In the Library list, click Open in Edit Mode in the row's Action menu (see Dashboard Edit Controls).

3. Make your desired changes:

   1. To add one or more panels, see Adding Dashboard Panels.

   2. To edit a panel, see Editing Dashboard Panels.

   3. To change the size or layout of panels on the dashboard, see Change Dashboard Layout.

4. To save your changes and exit edit mode, click Save.

Note: Changes to a shared dashboard (see Dashboard Visibility) or its panels affect all users in your organization.

Change Dashboard Layout

To move and/or resize the panels of a dashboard:

1. Open the dashboard in edit mode (see Edit Dashboard Contents).

2. Then:

   1. Move a panel: Drag it to a new location; the other panels rearrange around it.

   2. Resize a panel: Drag its lower-right handle; surrounding panels may rearrange.

3. To save the layout, click Save.

Remove a Dashboard

To remove a dashboard:

1. Choose Library from the portal's navbar menu.

2. In the Library list, click Remove in the row's Action menu.

3. In the confirmation pop-up, click Remove.

Note: You can also choose Remove on the dashboard's Actions menu (see Dashboard Subnav Controls).

Add or Edit Panels

Dashboards are made up of panels that each chart a query (see About Dashboards).

Note: The elements that make up each panel are described in Dashboard Panels.

Adding Dashboard Panels

To add a panel:

1. Choose Edit from the Actions menu (see Dashboard Subnav Controls). The tiles appear (see Dashboard Edit Controls).

2. Click Add on one of the tiles:

   1. Data Explorer View: Opens the Add Data Explorer Panel dialog (see View Panel Dialog Settings).

   2. Metrics Explorer View: Opens the Add Metrics Explorer Panel dialog (see Metrics Panel Dialogs).

   3. Raw Flow View: Opens the Add Raw Flow Panel dialog (see Raw Flow Dialogs).

   4. Synthetic Test View: Opens the Add Synthetic Test Panel dialog (see Synthetic Test Dialogs).

3. To save, click Add Panel. The page scrolls to the new panel at the bottom.

4. To exit, click Save in the dashboard title bar.

Note: To add additional panels, repeat the above.

Add Panel from Explorer

To add a dashboard panel directly from Data Explorer:

1. In the subnav (see Explorer Subnav Controls), open the Actions menu.

2. Choose one of the following:

   1. Add To New Dashboard: Opens the dialog described in Add Dashboard from Explorer. Specify the dashboard's settings and click Add Dashboard; the new dashboard opens with the panel.

   2. Add To Existing Dashboard: Opens the Add Data Explorer View Panel dialog. Choose the dashboard in the Dashboard pane and click Add Panel; the dashboard opens with the new panel and a confirmation.

Editing Dashboard Panels

To edit a view panel on the current dashboard:

1. Choose Edit from the Actions menu (see Dashboard Subnav Controls).

2. Click Edit in the title bar of the panel.

3. In the resulting dialog, make your changes to the panel settings (see Panel Dialogs).

4. To save your changes, click Save.

Add Dashboard Navigation

Dashboard Navigation is set on a view panel (see Dashboard Panel Types). This example sets an existing dashboard (the "destination dashboard") as the destination of an existing panel (the "source panel"); the process is similar for new dashboards or panels.

1. Choose Edit from the Actions menu (see Dashboard Subnav Controls).

2. Click Edit in the source panel's title bar. The Edit Data Explorer Panel dialog opens (see Panel Dialogs).

3. Use the controls of the Navigate To Tab to specify the destination dashboard (see Destination Dashboard Selector) and set the Destination Dashboard Settings.

4. To exit the panel editing dialog, click Save.

5. To exit edit mode, click Save in the dashboard title bar. The panel now has a Drill Down button at lower right. Hover over the button to see the destination dashboard's name, and click the button to go to that dashboard.