Grafana Kiosk

A very useful feature of Grafana is the ability to display dashboards and playlists on a large TV.

This provides a utility to quickly standup a kiosk on devices like a Raspberry Pi or NUC.

The utility provides these options:

Login
- to a Grafana server (local account or bypass OAuth)
- to a Grafana server with anonymous-mode enabled (same method used on play.grafana.org)
- to a Grafana Cloud instance
- to a Grafana server with OAuth enabled
- to an AWS Managed Grafana instance (both with and without MFA)
Switch to kiosk or kiosk-tv mode
Display the default home page set for the user
Display a specified dashboard
Start a playlist immediately (inactive mode enable)
Can specify where to start kiosk for multiple displays

Additionally, an initialize option is provided to configure LXDE for Raspberry Pi Desktop.

Installing on Linux

Download the zip or tar file from releases

The release file includes pre-built binaries. See table below for the types available.

OS	Architecture	Description	Executable
linux	amd64	64bit	grafana-kiosk.linux.amd64
linux	386	32bit	grafana-kiosk.linux.386
linux	arm64	64bit Arm v7	grafana-kiosk.linux.arm64
linux	arm	ARM v5	grafana-kiosk.linux.armv5
linux	arm	ARM v6	grafana-kiosk.linux.armv6
linux	arm	ARM v7	grafana-kiosk.linux.armv7
darwin	amd64	64bit	grafana-kiosk.darwin.amd64
windows	amd64	64bit	grafana-kiosk.windows.amd64.exe

Extract the zip or tar file, and copy the appropriate binary to /usr/bin/grafana-kiosk:

# sudo cp -p grafana-kiosk.linux.armv7 /usr/bin/grafana-kiosk
# sudo chmod 755 /usr/bin/grafana-kiosk

Dependencies/Suggestion Packages

This application can run on most operating systems, but for linux some additional binaries are suggested for full support.

Suggesting Packages:

unclutter (for hiding mouse/cursor) rng-tools (for entropy issues)

Usage

NOTE: Flags with parameters should use an "equals" -autofit=true -URL=https://play.grafana.org when used with any boolean flags.

  -URL string
      URL to Grafana server (default "https://play.grafana.org")
  -apikey string
      apikey
  -audience string
      idtoken audience
  -auto-login
      oauth_auto_login is enabled in grafana config
  -autofit
      Fit panels to screen (default true)
  -c string
      Path to configuration file (config.yaml)
  -field-password string
      Fieldname for the password (default "password")
  -field-username string
      Fieldname for the username (default "username")
  -hide-links
      Hide links in the top nav bar
  -hide-logo
      Hide Powered by Grafana logo
  -hide-playlist-nav
      Hide playlist navigation controls
  -hide-time-picker
      Hide time picker in the top nav bar
  -hide-variables
      Hide variables in the top nav bar
  -ignore-certificate-errors
      Ignore SSL/TLS certificate error
  -incognito
      Use incognito mode (default true)
  -keyfile string
      idtoken json credentials (default "key.json")
  -kiosk-mode string
      Kiosk Display Mode [full|tv|disabled]
      full = No TOPNAV and No SIDEBAR
      tv = No SIDEBAR
      disabled = omit option
       (default "full")
  -login-method string
      [anon|local|gcom|goauth|idtoken|apikey|aws|azuread] (default "anon")
  -lxde
      Initialize LXDE for kiosk mode
  -lxde-home string
      Path to home directory of LXDE user running X Server (default "/home/pi")
  -page-load-delay-ms int
      Delay in milliseconds before navigating to URL (default 2000)
  -password string
      password (default "guest")
  -playlists
      URL is a playlist
  -scale-factor string
      Scale factor, sort of zoom (default "1.0")
  -use-mfa
      password
  -username string
      username (default "guest")
  -wait-for-password-field
      oauth_auto_login is enabled in grafana config
  -wait-for-password-field-class string
      oauth_auto_login is enabled in grafana config
  -wait-for-stay-signed-in-prompt
      oauth_auto_login is enabled in grafana config
  -window-position string
      Top Left Position of Kiosk (default "0,0")
  -window-size string
      Size of Kiosk in pixels (width,height)

Using a configuration file

The kiosk can also be started using a configuration file, along with environment variables. When using this option, all other arguments passed are ignored.

general:
  kiosk-mode: full
  autofit: true
  incognito: true
  lxde: true
  lxde-home: /home/pi
  scale-factor: 1.0

target:
  login-method: anon
  username: user
  password: changeme
  playlist: false
  URL: https://play.grafana.org
  ignore-certificate-errors: false

grafana-kiosk -c config.yaml

See the examples directory for complete configuration files covering dashboards, playlists, kiosk modes, window sizing, and multi-monitor positioning.

Environment variables can be set and will override the configuration file. They can also be used instead of a configuration file.

  KIOSK_APIKEY_APIKEY string
      APIKEY
  KIOSK_AUTOFIT bool
      fit panels to screen (default "true")
  KIOSK_DEBUG bool
      enables debug output (default "false")
  KIOSK_GOAUTH_AUTO_LOGIN bool
      [false|true]
  KIOSK_GOAUTH_FIELD_PASSWORD string
      Password html input name value
  KIOSK_GOAUTH_FIELD_USER string
      Username html input name value
  KIOSK_GOAUTH_WAIT_FOR_PASSWORD_FIELD bool
      Indicate that it's necessary to wait for the password field
  KIOSK_GOAUTH_WAIT_FOR_PASSWORD_FIELD_CLASS string
      Ignore this password field when waiting for it being visible
  KIOSK_GOAUTH_WAIT_FOR_STAY_SIGNED_IN_PROMPT bool
      Indicate that it's necessary to wait for the stay signed in prompt,
      and will then click yes
  KIOSK_GPU_ENABLED bool
      disable GPU support (default "false")
  KIOSK_HIDE_LINKS bool
      Hide links in the top nav bar (default "false")
  KIOSK_HIDE_TIME_PICKER bool
      Hide time picker in the top nav bar (default "false")
  KIOSK_HIDE_VARIABLES bool
      Hide variables in the top nav bar (default "false")
  KIOSK_IDTOKEN_AUDIENCE string
      Audience for idtoken, typically your oauth client id
  KIOSK_IDTOKEN_KEYFILE string
      JSON Credentials for idtoken (default "key.json")
  KIOSK_IGNORE_CERTIFICATE_ERRORS bool
      ignore SSL/TLS certificate errors (default "false")
  KIOSK_INCOGNITO bool
      use incognito mode (default "true")
  KIOSK_IS_PLAYLIST bool
      URL is a playlist (default "false")
  KIOSK_LOGIN_METHOD string
      [anon|local|gcom|goauth|idtoken|apikey|aws|azuread] (default "anon")
  KIOSK_LOGIN_PASSWORD string
      password (default "guest")
  KIOSK_LOGIN_USER string
      username (default "guest")
  KIOSK_LXDE_ENABLED bool
      initialize LXDE for kiosk mode (default "false")
  KIOSK_LXDE_HOME string
      path to home directory of LXDE user running X Server (default "/home/pi")
  KIOSK_MODE string
      [full|tv|disabled] (default "full")
  KIOSK_OZONE_PLATFORM string
      Set ozone-platform option (wayland|cast|drm|wayland|x11) (default "")
  KIOSK_PAGE_LOAD_DELAY_MS int64
      milliseconds to wait before expecting page load (default "2000")
  KIOSK_SCALE_FACTOR string
      Scale factor, like zoom (default "1.0")
  KIOSK_URL string
      URL to Grafana server (default "https://play.grafana.org")
  KIOSK_USE_MFA bool
      MFA is enabled for given account (default "false")
  KIOSK_WINDOW_POSITION string
      Top Left Position of Kiosk (default "0,0")
  KIOSK_WINDOW_SIZE string
      Size of Kiosk in pixels (width,height) (default "")

Window size and kiosk mode

By default, the kiosk launches Chrome in fullscreen kiosk mode (--kiosk --start-fullscreen). The -window-size and -kiosk-mode flags interact to control Chrome launch flags and CDP window cycling behavior.

Chrome launch flags

`-window-size`	`-kiosk-mode`	`--kiosk`	`--start-fullscreen`	`--app`	`--window-size`
not set	`full` (default)	true	true	not set	not set
not set	`tv`	true	true	not set	not set
not set	`disabled`	true	true	not set	not set
`1920,1080`	`full` (default)	true	true	set	`1920,1080`
`1920,1080`	`tv`	false	false	set	`1920,1080`
`1920,1080`	`disabled`	false	false	set	`1920,1080`

When -window-size is specified, Chrome launches in app mode (--app) which removes the address bar and browser controls. The --kiosk and --start-fullscreen Chrome flags are only enabled when the kiosk mode requires fullscreen (full or default).

CDP window cycling

Before navigating to the dashboard, the kiosk cycles the browser window state via the Chrome DevTools Protocol (CDP) to force Chrome to properly register viewport dimensions. This ensures Grafana correctly applies the autofitpanels parameter on initial page load.

`-window-size`	`-kiosk-mode`	CDP action	Final window state
not set	any	normal → fullscreen	fullscreen
set	`full` (default)	set dimensions → fullscreen	fullscreen at native resolution
set	`tv` or `disabled`	set dimensions	fixed size window

Grafana query parameters

The -kiosk-mode flag also controls the kiosk query parameter appended to the dashboard URL:

`-kiosk-mode`	Query parameter	UI effect
`full` (default)	`?kiosk=1`	No top navigation, no sidebar
`tv`	`?kiosk=tv`	No sidebar, top navigation without buttons
`disabled`	none	Full Grafana UI

Dashboard hide options

These flags append _dash.* query parameters to hide specific UI elements:

Flag	Query parameter	UI effect
`-hide-links`	`_dash.hideLinks=true`	Hide links in the top nav bar
`-hide-logo`	`hideLogo=1`	Hide Powered by Grafana logo
`-hide-playlist-nav`	`_dash.hidePlaylistNav=true`	Hide playlist navigation controls
`-hide-time-picker`	`_dash.hideTimePicker=true`	Hide time picker in the top nav
`-hide-variables`	`_dash.hideVariables=true`	Hide variables in the top nav

See examples/ for complete configuration files demonstrating each combination.

Hosted Grafana using grafana.com authentication

This will login to a Hosted Grafana instance and take the browser to the default dashboard in fullscreen kiosk mode:

./bin/grafana-kiosk \
  -URL=https://bkgann3.grafana.net \
  -login-method=gcom -username=bkgann -password=abc123 \
  -kiosk-mode=full

This will login to a Hosted Grafana instance and take the browser to a specific dashboard in tv kiosk mode:

./bin/grafana-kiosk \
  -URL=https://bkgann3.grafana.net/dashboard/db/sensu-summary \
  -login-method=gcom -username=bkgann -password=abc123 \
  -kiosk-mode tv

This will login to a Hosted Grafana instance and take the browser to a playlist in fullscreen kiosk mode, and autofit the panels to fill the display.

./bin/grafana-kiosk \
  -URL=https://bkgann3.grafana.net/playlists/play/1 \
  -login-method=gcom -username=bkgann -password=abc123 \
  -kiosk-mode=full -playlist -autofit=true

Grafana Server with Local Accounts

This will login to a grafana server that uses local accounts:

./bin/grafana-kiosk \
  -URL=https://localhost:3000 -login-method=local \
  -username=admin -password=admin -kiosk-mode=tv

If you are using a self-signed certificate, you can remove the certificate error with -ignore-certificate-errors

./bin/grafana-kiosk \
  -URL=https://localhost:3000 -login-method=local \
  -username=admin -password=admin \
  -kiosk-mode=tv -ignore-certificate-errors

This will login to a grafana server, configured for AzureAD OAuth and has Oauth_auto_login is enabled, bypassing OAuth and using a manually setup local username and password.

./bin/grafana-kiosk \
  -URL=https://localhost:3000 -login-method=local \
  -username=admin -password=admin \
  -auto-login=true -kiosk-mode=tv

Grafana Server with Anonymous access enabled

This will take the browser to the default dashboard on play.grafana.org in fullscreen kiosk mode (no login needed):

./bin/grafana-kiosk -URL=https://play.grafana.org -login-method=anon -kiosk-mode=tv

This will take the browser to a playlist on play.grafana.org in fullscreen kiosk mode (no login needed):

./bin/grafana-kiosk -URL=https://play.grafana.org/playlists/play/1 -login-method=anon -kiosk-mode=tv

Grafana Server with Api Key

This will take the browser to the default dashboard on play.grafana.org in fullscreen kiosk mode:

./bin/grafana-kiosk \
  -URL=https://play.grafana.org -login-method apikey \
  --apikey "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" -kiosk-mode=tv

Grafana Server with Generic Oauth

This will login to a Generic Oauth service, configured on Grafana. Oauth_auto_login is disabled. As Oauth provider is Keycloak used.

go run pkg/cmd/grafana-kiosk/main.go \
  -URL=https://my.grafana.oauth/playlists/play/1 \
  -login-method=goauth -username=test -password=test

This will login to a Generic Oauth service, configured on Grafana. Oauth_auto_login is disabled. As Oauth provider is Keycloak used and also the login and password html input name is set.

go run pkg/cmd/grafana-kiosk/main.go \
  -URL=https://my.grafana.oauth/playlists/play/1 \
  -login-method=goauth -username=test -password=test \
  -field-username=username -field-password=password

This will login to a Generic Oauth service, configured on Grafana. Oauth_auto_login is enabled. As Oauth provider is Keycloak used and also the login and password html input name is set.

go run pkg/cmd/grafana-kiosk/main.go \
  -URL=https://my.grafana.oauth/playlists/play/1 \
  -login-method=goauth -username=test -password=test \
  -field-username=username -field-password=password \
  -auto-login=true

Google Idtoken authentication

This allows you to log in through Google Identity Aware Proxy using a service account through injecting authorization headers with bearer tokens into each request. The idtoken library will generate new tokens as needed on expiry, allowing grafana kiosk mode without exposing a fully privileged google user on your kiosk device.

./bin/grafana-kiosk \
  -URL=https://play.grafana.org/playlists/play/1 \
  -login-method=idtoken -keyfile /tmp/foo.json \
  -audience myoauthid.apps.googleusercontent.com

LXDE Options

The -lxde option initializes settings for the desktop.

Actions Performed:

sets profile via lxpanel to LXDE
sets pcmanfs profile to LXDE
runs xset s off to disable screensaver
runs xset -dpms to disable power-saving (prevents screen from turning off)
runs xset s noblank disables blank mode for screensaver (maybe not needed)
runs unclutter to hide the mouse

The -lxde-home option allows you to specify a different $HOME directory where the lxde configuration files can be found.

Automatic Startup

Session-based

LXDE can start the kiosk automatically by creating this file:

Create/edit the file: /home/pi/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart

/usr/bin/grafana-kiosk \
  -URL=https://bkgann3.grafana.net/dashboard/db/sensu-summary \
  -login-method=gcom -username=bkgann -password=abc123 \
  -kiosk-mode=full -lxde

Session with disconnected "screen"

Alternatively you can run grafana-kiosk under screen, which can be very useful for debugging.

Create/edit the file: /home/pi/.config/lxsession/LXDE-pi/autostart

screen -d -m bash -c "/usr/bin/grafana-kiosk \
  -URL=https://bkgann3.grafana.net/dashboard/db/sensu-summary \
  -login-method=gcom -username=bkgann -password=abc123 \
  -kiosk-mode=full -lxde"

Desktop Link

Create/edit the file: /home/pi/.config/autostart/grafana-kiosk.desktop

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Exec=/usr/bin/grafana-kiosk -URL=https://bkgann3.grafana.net/dashboard/db/sensu-summary -login-method=gcom -username=bkgann -password=abc123 -kiosk-mode=full -lxde

Desktop Link with disconnected "screen"

[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Exec=screen -d -m bash -c /usr/bin/grafana-kiosk -URL=https://bkgann3.grafana.net/dashboard/db/sensu-summary -login-method=gcom -username=bkgann -password=abc123 -kiosk-mode=full -lxde

Systemd startup

# sudo touch /etc/systemd/system/grafana-kiosk.service
# sudo chmod 664 /etc/systemd/system/grafana-kiosk.service

[Unit]
Description=Grafana Kiosk
Documentation=https://github.com/grafana/grafana-kiosk
Documentation=https://grafana.com/blog/2019/05/02/grafana-tutorial-how-to-create-kiosks-to-display-dashboards-on-a-tv
After=network-online.target

[Service]
User=pi
Environment="DISPLAY=:0"
Environment="XAUTHORITY=/home/pi/.Xauthority"

# Disable screensaver and monitor standby
ExecStartPre=xset s off
ExecStartPre=xset -dpms
ExecStartPre=xset s noblank

ExecStart=/usr/bin/grafana-kiosk -URL=<url> -login-method=local -username=<username> -password=<password> -playlist=true

[Install]
WantedBy=graphical.target

Reload systemd:

# sudo systemctl daemon-reload

Enable, Start, Get Status, and logs:

# sudo systemctl enable grafana-kiosk
# sudo systemctl start grafana-kiosk
# sudo systemctl status grafana-kiosk

Logs:

journalctl -u grafana-kiosk

Troubleshooting

Timeout Launching

2020/08/24 10:18:41 Launching local login kiosk
panic: websocket url timeout reached

Often this is due to lack of entropy, for linux you would need to install rng-tools (or an equivalent).

apt install rng-tools

Building

A Magefile is provided for building the utility, you can install mage by following the instructions at https://magefile.org/

mage -v

This will generate executables in "bin" that can be run on a variety of platforms.

For full build and testing options use:

mage -l

TODO

RHEL/CentOS auto-startup
Everything in issues!

References

Thanks to our Contributors

Michael Pasqualone for the session-based startup ideas!
Brendan Ball for contributing the desktop link startup example for LXDE!
Alex Heylin for the v7 login fix - and also works with v6!
Xan Manning for the ignore certificate option!
David Stäheli for the OAuth implementation!
Marcus Ramberg for the Google ID Token Auth implementation!
Ronan Salmon for API token authentication!

Any many others!

Name		Name	Last commit message	Last commit date
Latest commit History 127 Commits
.agents		.agents
.github/workflows		.github/workflows
build		build
examples		examples
pkg		pkg
scripts		scripts
testdata		testdata
.gitattributes		.gitattributes
.gitignore		.gitignore
.markdownlint-cli2.yaml		.markdownlint-cli2.yaml
.octocov.yml		.octocov.yml
AGENTS.md		AGENTS.md
CHANGELOG.md		CHANGELOG.md
CLAUDE.md		CLAUDE.md
GEMINI.md		GEMINI.md
LICENSE		LICENSE
Magefile.go		Magefile.go
README.md		README.md
config-example.yaml		config-example.yaml
cspell.config.json		cspell.config.json
go.mod		go.mod
go.sum		go.sum
mise.toml		mise.toml

Folders and files

Latest commit

History

Repository files navigation

Grafana Kiosk

Installing on Linux

Dependencies/Suggestion Packages

Usage

Using a configuration file

Window size and kiosk mode

Chrome launch flags

CDP window cycling

Grafana query parameters

Dashboard hide options

Hosted Grafana using grafana.com authentication

Grafana Server with Local Accounts

Grafana Server with Anonymous access enabled

Grafana Server with Api Key

Grafana Server with Generic Oauth

Google Idtoken authentication

LXDE Options

Automatic Startup

Session-based

Session with disconnected "screen"

Desktop Link

Desktop Link with disconnected "screen"

Systemd startup

Troubleshooting

Timeout Launching

Building

TODO

References

Thanks to our Contributors

About

Resources

License

Code of conduct

Security policy

Uh oh!

Stars

Watchers

Forks

Releases 12

Packages 0

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Contributors

Uh oh!

Languages

Packages