Install Community Plugins to Grafana in SystemLink

This article demonstrates how to install community Plugins to the Grafana instance hosted within SystemLink Server. Depending on requirements, this can be done using the web UI, or programmatically with the Grafana Command Line Interface (CLI).

Prerequisites

• An existing SystemLink Server.
• The [External] Grafana Plugin for SystemLink already installed.

Installing Plugins From the Web UI

1. In a browser, navigate to your SystemLink Server URL.
2. From the navigation menu, select Custom Applications >> Grafana.

3. From the Grafana navigation menu, select Administration >> Plugins.
   • Note: This menu item is only visible if you are logged in with a SystemLink administrator account.

4. From the Plugins page, ensure that State is set to All.
   • This ensures that you can search for Plugins that are not yet installed.

5. In the search bar, type the name of the Plugin you wish to install.
   • For example, the [External] Business Suite by Volkov Labs can be found by searching "Business".

6. Click on the Plugin you wish to install.
   • The latest version that is compatible with your Grafana version will be automatically selected.
7. Click Install.

Installing Plugins Using the CLI

1. Launch Command Prompt as an Administrator.
   • The Grafana CLI requires local administrator access.
2. Type cd "C:\Program Files\GrafanaLabs\grafana\bin" and press Enter.
   • This navigates to the directory of the Grafana CLI.

3. Type grafana-cli plugins install <name of plugin> <plugin version> and press Enter, where:
   • <name of plugin> is the ID of the Plugin package you wish to install. This can be found by going to the [External] Grafana website and searching for your Plugin. The Plugin's Overview page should include an explanation of how to download this package using the CLI.
   • <plugin version> is optional. Use it to declare a specific version of the Plugin to install. Without this option, the latest version of the Plugin will be installed by default.

4. If successful, you should receive a Command Prompt output similar to the image above.
5. Launch the Services application from the Windows Start Menu.
6. Scroll until you identify the Grafana service.
7. Right-click it and select Restart.

Once you have followed the steps in the relevant section above, you will have the ability to add your Plugin as a Visualization in your Grafana dashboard: