Home and tools guide
Grafana, from anywhere
Your homelab graphs, on any screen.
You'll need
- Grafana running on a machine at home
- Docker
- A free Seawise.io account
Step by step
Everything happens in your browser except step 1.
Run the Seawise.io container
Run this on the machine where Grafana runs. The container connects out to Seawise.io, so you don't open any ports on your router.
On Docker Desktop for Mac or Windows, replace --network host with -p 8082:8082.
$ docker run -d --name seawise \ --restart unless-stopped \ --network host \ -v seawise-data:/config \ ghcr.io/seawise-io/seawise-client:latest
✓ Container started
Set a password
On a computer at home, open http://your-server-ip:8082 and create a password for the container's page.
Connect it to your account
Give the server a name, click Connect, and approve it in the seawise.io tab that opens. Sign up for free there if you haven't yet.
Add Grafana
Fill in the name, the address and the port Grafana uses (3000 by default), then click Add.
--network host, use localhost. On Docker Desktop, use host.docker.internal. If Grafana runs on another machine, use its local IP, like 192.168.1.20.
Open it from anywhere
Grafana now shows on your Servers page at seawise.io. Click it from any browser, on any network, and you're in.
Share it
Go to Portals, create one (say, Family), and add Grafana to it. Then open its sharing settings and add the email of everyone who should get in.
Skip this step if Grafana is just for you.
What they see
Send them the portal link. They sign in with the email you added, using Google, GitHub or an email link, and tap Grafana. Nothing to install, on any phone, tablet or laptop.
Grafana settings for remote viewers
01
Invite people as Viewers
Go to Administration > Users and access > Users, click Organization users, then Invite. Give most people the Viewer role; you can change it later in the Role column.
02
Keep sign-up closed
allow_sign_up is false by default, so only people you invite get an account. Leave it that way and leave anonymous access off.
03
Copy invite links yourself
Without email set up, turn off Send invite email when inviting, or copy the link from Pending Invites. Set root_url first so the link uses your Seawise.io address.
Set root_url
Grafana builds links from root_url and checks Grafana Live WebSocket origins against it. Set it to your Seawise.io address with an environment variable on the Grafana container, or root_url under [server] in grafana.ini.
GF_SERVER_ROOT_URL=https://your-app.seawise.dev/
If something's not working
Grafana shows as offline+
The Seawise.io container can't reach port 3000. Run curl http://localhost:3000/login on the server, or check http_port if you moved Grafana.
Live panels never update+
Grafana Live matches the WebSocket Origin against root_url, which defaults to a localhost address. Set GF_SERVER_ROOT_URL to your Seawise.io address and restart.
Invite links point at localhost:3000+
Same cause: root_url is still the default. Fix it, then copy the invite again from Pending Invites.
Good to know
Externally shared dashboards need a public app
Grafana's Share externally option (formerly public dashboards) makes a link for people without a login. Through Seawise.io, that only works for people outside your portal if the app is public on the Admin plan.