Duplicating Grafana Dashboards

When working with Grafana, you may find the need to create a development dashboard that closely resembles an existing production dashboard. Fortunately, Grafana provides a straightforward method to duplicate dashboards, allowing you to maintain consistency across environments.

Steps to Duplicate a Dashboard

  1. Open the Dashboard: Navigate to the dashboard you wish to duplicate in your Grafana instance.
  2. Access Dashboard Settings: Click on the dashboard title at the top of the page, then select the gear icon (⚙️) to access the dashboard settings.
  3. Use the 'Save As...' Option: In the settings menu, look for the Save As... button. This option allows you to create a copy of the current dashboard.
  4. Rename the Dashboard: In the dialog that appears, you can change the name of the dashboard to something appropriate for your development environment. Ensure that you also modify the unique identifier (UID) if necessary to avoid conflicts with the original dashboard.
  5. Save the New Dashboard: Click the Save button to create your new dashboard. You now have a duplicate that you can modify without affecting the production version.

Important Considerations

  • UID Conflicts: If you are importing a dashboard that already exists, be cautious of UID conflicts. Always change the UID in the JSON if you are copying the dashboard manually.
  • Editing the New Dashboard: After duplication, you can freely edit the new dashboard to suit your development needs without impacting the original production dashboard.

By following these steps, you can efficiently create a development dashboard that mirrors your production setup, facilitating testing and development processes.