Influxdb

Overview

This role installs and configures InfluxDB 1.x time-series database on RedHat-based systems. It adds the official InfluxData repository, installs InfluxDB, configures HTTP/UDP/logging settings, creates databases with users and grants privileges, sets up retention policies for data lifecycle management, and ensures the service is enabled and started. The role is fully idempotent and checks for existing resources before creating them.

What This Role Does

1. Adds InfluxData repository

   • URL: https://repos.influxdata.com/rhel/
   • Enables GPG verification

2. Installs InfluxDB package via dnf/yum

   • Version 1.x from official repository

3. Configures HTTP API in /etc/influxdb/influxdb.conf:

   • Bind address
   • Access logging
   • Enables/disables HTTP endpoint

4. Configures logging:

   • Format (logfmt or json)
   • Level (error, warn, info, debug)
   • Logo suppression

5. Configures UDP input (if enabled):

   • Bind address
   • Default database for UDP writes

6. Starts and enables service:

   • Starts InfluxDB
   • Ensures InfluxDB starts on boot

7. Waits for InfluxDB to be ready (port 8086)

8. Checks existing users (idempotent):

   • Queries: SHOW USERS
   • Parses JSON response

9. Creates users:

   • Only creates if not exists
   • Uses passwords from vault

10. Checks existing databases (idempotent):

    • Queries: SHOW DATABASES
    • Parses JSON response

11. Creates databases:

    • Only creates if not exists

12. Grants privileges:

    • GRANT ALL ON database TO user

13. Checks existing retention policies:

    • Queries: SHOW RETENTION POLICIES ON database

14. Creates retention policies:

    • Only creates if not exists
    • Sets as default if specified

Role Variables

Variable	Description
influxdb_databases	List of databases to create; each entry supports an optional user (with password) and an optional retention_policy
influxdb_service_enabled	Enable InfluxDB service to start on boot
influxdb_service_state	Desired service state after role execution
influxdb_http_enabled	Enable HTTP API
influxdb_http_bind_address	HTTP API bind address
influxdb_http_log_enabled	Enable HTTP request logging
influxdb_http_access_log_path	Path to HTTP access log file
influxdb_udp_enabled	Enable UDP input listener
influxdb_udp_bind_address	UDP listener bind address
influxdb_udp_database	Default database for UDP writes
influxdb_logging_level	Log level
influxdb_logging_format	Log output format (logfmt or json)
influxdb_logging_suppress_logo	Suppress InfluxDB startup logo in logs

Database definition structure:

influxdb_databases:
  - name: homelab
    user: telegraf
    password: "{{ vault_influxdb_telegraf_password }}"
    retention_policy:
      name: thirty_days
      duration: 30d
      replication: 1
      default: true
  - name: opnsense
    retention_policy:
      name: ninety_days
      duration: 90d
      replication: 1
      default: true

Notes

• Supports InfluxDB 1.x only (InfluxQL query language)
• Typically used as the backend for the Telegraf → InfluxDB → Grafana monitoring stack