Grafana

Grafana connects to Elasticsearch via the Arrow Flight SQL protocol using the Flight SQL data source plugin, enabling SQL-based dashboards and panels.

Prerequisites

• A running Arrow Flight SQL server (see Arrow Flight SQL guide)
• Grafana 10+ with the Flight SQL data source plugin

Quick Start with Docker

The demo includes a pre-configured Grafana with the Flight SQL data source plugin and sample dashboards:

docker compose --profile grafana up

Then open Grafana at http://localhost:3000.

Manual Setup

1. Install the Flight SQL Plugin

Install the Apache Arrow Flight SQL data source plugin:

grafana-cli plugins install apache-arrow-flight-sql-datasource

Or via the Grafana UI: Configuration > Plugins > Search “Flight SQL”.

2. Add Data Source

1. Go to Configuration > Data Sources > Add data source
2. Select Apache Arrow Flight SQL
3. Configure:
   • Host: localhost:32010
   • Auth: Leave empty (or configure if your Flight SQL server requires authentication)
4. Click Save & Test

3. Create Dashboards

Use the full SoftClient4ES SQL syntax in Grafana panels:

SELECT
  DATE_TRUNC(order_date, DAY) AS day,
  SUM(total_price) AS revenue,
  COUNT(*) AS orders
FROM ecommerce
GROUP BY DATE_TRUNC(order_date, DAY)
ORDER BY day;

Supported Features

Feature	Status
SELECT queries	Tested
Aggregations (GROUP BY)	Tested
Date/time functions	Tested
Time series panels	Tested
Table panels	Tested
Dashboard variables	Compatible

License

Grafana integration uses the Arrow Flight SQL server, licensed under the Elastic License 2.0.