Tutorial Beginner By Samson Tanimawo, PhD Published Oct 4, 2026 10 min read

Grafana Dashboards in 30 Minutes

The fastest path from data to dashboard. The 30-minute clock includes install, configuration, and the first chart.

Step 1: Run Grafana

docker run -d -p 3000:3000 grafana/grafana

Open localhost:3000; log in as admin/admin.

Step 2: Connect Prometheus

Configuration → Data Sources → Add data source → Prometheus.
URL: http://prometheus:9090 (or wherever yours runs).
Save & Test should turn green.

Step 3: First panel

Create dashboard → Add panel.

Query: rate(http_requests_total[5m])

Title: ‘Request Rate.’

Apply.

Step 4: Variables and templating

Variables let one panel show data for any service. Define $service as a label query.

Reuse one dashboard for all services.

Antipatterns

Hardcoding service names. Variables defeat that.
One dashboard per service. Templates over copy-paste.
Default panel without thoughtful query. Misleading.

What to do this week

Three moves. (1) Run the tutorial end-to-end on your own laptop / sandbox. (2) Apply the pattern to one production workload. (3) Document the variations you needed; share with the team.