InfluxDB integration for BrowserStack Load Testing

Open the InfluxDB Connect form

To open the Connect form:

1. Navigate to the BrowserStack Load Testing dashboard.
2. Click Integrations > APM apps > InfluxDB.
3. Click Connect.

A form opens with seven fields. Keep this tab open while you collect the values in the following steps.

Get your InfluxDB endpoint URL

Your endpoint URL is the host URL of your InfluxDB instance. To find it:

1. Open your InfluxDB console.
2. Copy the URL from your browser’s address bar and keep only the host part (for example, https://us-east-1-1.aws.cloud2.influxdata.com).
3. Paste it into the InfluxDB Endpoint URL field in BrowserStack.

Note your organization name

To find your organization name:

1. In the InfluxDB console, look at the organization switcher in the top-left corner.
2. Copy the organization name exactly as shown. The value is case-sensitive.
3. Paste it into the Organization field in BrowserStack.

Pick or create a bucket

A bucket is where InfluxDB stores your time-series data. You can use an existing bucket, or create a new one named for load testing (for example, browserstack-load-tests). A dedicated bucket keeps BrowserStack data separate from your application metrics.

To pick or create a bucket:

1. In the InfluxDB console, click Load Data > Buckets.
2. Click Create Bucket to create a new bucket, or pick an existing one.
3. Copy the bucket name.
4. Paste it into the Bucket field in BrowserStack.

Create an API token

The API token authorizes BrowserStack to write metrics into the bucket you selected. To create it:

1. In the InfluxDB console, click Load Data > API Tokens.
2. Click Generate API Token > Custom API Token.
3. Set a description such as BrowserStack Load Testing.
4. Under Buckets, find the bucket from the previous step and check both Read and Write.
5. Click Generate.
6. Copy the token immediately. InfluxDB does not show it again.
7. Paste it into the API Token field in BrowserStack.

The token requires write:buckets and read:buckets scopes on the bucket from the previous step. BrowserStack uses write to push metrics, and uses read when saving to verify that the token works.

Get your Grafana URL

Your Grafana URL is the host URL of your Grafana instance. To find it:

1. Open Grafana.
2. Copy your stack URL (for example, https://myorg.grafana.net).
3. Paste it into the Grafana URL field in BrowserStack.

Create a Grafana service account API key

The Grafana API key lets BrowserStack create the dashboard and post annotations on your behalf. To create the key:

1. In Grafana, click Administration > Users and access > Service accounts.
2. Click Add service account.
3. Name it browserstack-load-testing and pick the role Editor.
4. Click Create.
5. On the service-account detail page, click Add service account token.
6. Set a display name and pick an expiration date. Rotate the key every 90 days.
7. Click Generate token.
8. Copy the glsa_... token immediately. Grafana does not show it again.
9. Paste it into the Grafana API Key field in BrowserStack.

The default Editor role grants the four required scopes:

• dashboards:create and dashboards:write to create and update your load-test dashboard.
• annotations:write to post lifecycle events.
• datasources:read to verify your data source UID at save time.

If you use a custom role, make sure that the role includes these scopes.

Find your Grafana data source UID

The UID tells BrowserStack which InfluxDB data source in your Grafana to point the dashboard at. Make sure this UID belongs to an InfluxDB-typed data source, not a Prometheus or other type. BrowserStack verifies the type at save time.

To find the UID:

1. In Grafana, click Connections > Data sources.
2. Click the InfluxDB data source that you want BrowserStack to use.

3. Look at your browser’s address bar. The UID is the last segment of the URL, as shown in the following example:

   https://myorg.grafana.net/connections/datasources/edit/cflt8gnh3a8owc
                                                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
                                                                UID
   

4. Copy the UID.
5. Paste it into the Grafana Datasource UID field in BrowserStack.

Save and verify

Click Save in the BrowserStack Connect form. BrowserStack runs a five-step health check that takes 2 to 5 seconds. You see one of the following results:

• A green Connected badge if all seven credentials are valid. You can now run a load test and view results in Grafana.
• A red error message identifying which field is wrong. Fix that field and click Save again. For common errors, see the Troubleshooting section.

Open your test configuration and select InfluxDB for pull mode.

In the Load Testing dashboard, create a new test or edit an existing one. In the Integrations panel, find InfluxDB and select Read from InfluxDB from the mode radio buttons.

Select a host from the InfluxDB instance.

The Host dropdown shows all hosts from your InfluxDB bucket that have reported metrics in the last hour. Click the Host dropdown, search by host name, and select the host you want to monitor.

The dropdown is searchable. Type part of the host name to narrow the list.

Select the metrics to pull from the selected host.

The Metrics dropdown populates once you select a host. It shows all metrics available from that host, grouped by measurement name. Click the Metrics dropdown, search by metric name, and select the metrics you want to include in your report.

To remove a metric, click the × next to its name in the selection area.

Save your configuration and run the test.

Click Save on the Integrations panel. Your pull configuration is now saved to the test.

When you run the test, BrowserStack fetches metrics from InfluxDB every 5 seconds while the test runs, every 20 seconds for 5 minutes after the test ends (the settlement window), and then only when you reopen the test report.