---
title: "Get Started With TimescaleDB and Grafana"
published: 2023-12-22T10:53:00.000-05:00
updated: 2024-03-01T07:42:14.000-05:00
excerpt: "Connect Timescale to Grafana to visualize your data."
tags: Data Visualization, #CTA-docs-grafana
authors: Team Tiger Data
---

> **TimescaleDB is now Tiger Data.**

[](https://github.com/timescale/docs/blob/70d12e72e9a223aa1a726bf42ba1af96bd521eaf/tutorials/OLD_grafana/grafana-timescalecloud.md#get-started-with-timescaledb-and-grafana)

Grafana ships with built-in Prometheus, PostgreSQL, Jaeger, and other data source plugins that allow you to query and visualize data from a compatible database. To add a data source in Grafana you must be signed as a user with organization administration role privileges.

To connect Grafana with Timescale, start by installing Grafana. For more information about installing Grafana, see the [Grafana documentation](https://grafana.com/docs/grafana/latest/installation/).

This section shows you how to connect Timescale as a data source in [Grafana](https://grafana.com/).

## Configure Timescale as a data source

[](https://github.com/timescale/docs/blob/70d12e72e9a223aa1a726bf42ba1af96bd521eaf/tutorials/OLD_grafana/grafana-timescalecloud.md#configure-timescale-as-a-data-source)

To configure Timescale as a data source, you need to create a service and then configure Timescale as the data source in Grafana.

### Creating a Timescale service

[](https://github.com/timescale/docs/blob/70d12e72e9a223aa1a726bf42ba1af96bd521eaf/tutorials/OLD_grafana/grafana-timescalecloud.md#creating-a-timescale-service)

1.  Sign in to the [Timescale portal](https://console.cloud.timescale.com/login).
2.  Click `Create service`.
3.  Click `Download the config`. This `.sql` file contains the credentials that you require to configure TimescaleDB as a data source on Grafana.

### Configuring TimescaleDB as a data source

To configure the TimescaleDB service on Timescale with your Grafana installation, log in to Grafana and proceed to step 5 in this procedure.

1.  Sign in to your Timescale account, and click the name of your new Grafana service.
2.  On the service details page, take a note of the `User` and `Password` field for your service.
3.  Navigate to Grafana and log in with your service credentials.
4.  Navigate to `Configuration` → `Data sources`. The data sources page lists supported data sources for the Grafana instance.
5.  Click `Add data source`.
6.  Type `PostgreSQL` in the search field and click `Select`.
7.  Configure the data source:
    -   In the `Name` field, type the name that you would like for your dataset on TimescaleDB.
    -   In the `PostgreSQL Connection` section, type the `Database`, `User`, and `Password` fields using the `.sql` file that you downloaded when creating the TimescaleDB service.
    -   In the `Host` type `<HOST>:<PORT>` from the `.sql` file that you downloaded.
    -   Set `TLS/SSL Mode` as `require`.
    -   In `PostgreSQL details` enable `TimescaleDB`
8.  Click the `Save & test` button. A connected message will now appear.

To double-check if the connection is successful, click through to `Connections` and confirm that your new data source is listed under `Data sources`.

When configuring TimescaleDB as a data source in Grafana, you can create panels populated with data using SQL. Learn more about ways to visualize this data with the [NYC Taxi Cab](https://docs.timescale.com/tutorials/latest/nyc-taxi-cab/) tutorial.