119 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
119 lines
4.9 KiB
Markdown
---
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title: Get started with InfluxDB Cloud
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list_title: Get started
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description: >
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Start collecting, querying, processing, and visualizing data in InfluxDB OSS.
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menu:
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influxdb_cloud:
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name: Get started
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weight: 2
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influxdb/cloud/tags: [get-started]
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aliases:
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- /influxdb/cloud/introduction/get-started/
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---
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InfluxDB {{< current-version >}} is the platform purpose-built to collect, store,
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process and visualize time series data.
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**Time series data** is a sequence of data points indexed in time order.
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Data points typically consist of successive measurements made from the same
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source and are used to track changes over time.
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Examples of time series data include:
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- Industrial sensor data
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- Server performance metrics
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- Heartbeats per minute
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- Electrical activity in the brain
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- Rainfall measurements
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- Stock prices
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This multi-part tutorial walks you through writing time series data to InfluxDB {{< current-version >}},
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querying that data, processing and alerting on the data, and then visualizing the data.
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## Key concepts before you get started
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Before you get started using InfluxDB, it's important to understand how time series
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data is organized and stored in InfluxDB and some key definitions that are used
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throughout this documentation.
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### Data organization
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The InfluxDB data model organizes time series data into buckets and measurements.
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A bucket can contain multiple measurements. Measurements contain multiple
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tags and fields.
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- **Bucket**: Named location where time series data is stored.
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A bucket can contain multiple _measurements_.
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- **Measurement**: Logical grouping for time series data.
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All _points_ in a given measurement should have the same _tags_.
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A measurement contains multiple _tags_ and _fields_.
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- **Tags**: Key-value pairs with values that differ, but do not change often.
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Tags are meant for storing metadata for each point--for example,
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something to identify the source of the data like host, location, station, etc.
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- **Fields**: Key-value pairs with values that change over time--for example: temperature, pressure, stock price, etc.
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- **Timestamp**: Timestamp associated with the data.
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When stored on disk and queried, all data is ordered by time.
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_For detailed information and examples of the InfluxDB data model, see
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[Data elements](/influxdb/cloud/reference/key-concepts/data-elements/)._
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### Important definitions
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The following are important definitions to understand when using InfluxDB:
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- **Point**: Single data record identified by its _measurement, tag keys, tag values, field key, and timestamp_.
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- **Series**: A group of points with the same
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{{% show-in "v2" %}}_measurement, tag keys, and tag values_.{{% /show-in %}}
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{{% show-in "cloud,cloud-serverless" %}}_measurement, tag keys and values, and field key_.{{% /show-in %}}
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##### Example InfluxDB query results
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{{< influxdb/points-series-flux >}}
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## Tools to use
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Throughout this tutorial, there are multiple tools you can use to interact with
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InfluxDB {{< current-version >}}. Examples are provided for each of the following:
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- [InfluxDB user interface (UI)](#influxdb-user-interface-ui)
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- [`influx` CLI](#influx-cli)
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- [InfluxDB HTTP API](#influxdb-http-api)
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### InfluxDB user interface (UI)
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The InfluxDB UI provides a web-based visual interface for interacting with and managing InfluxDB.
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{{% show-in "v2" %}}The UI is packaged with InfluxDB and runs as part of the InfluxDB service. To access the UI, with InfluxDB running, visit [localhost:8086](http://localhost:8086) in your browser.{{% /show-in %}}
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{{% show-in "cloud,cloud-serverless" %}}To access the InfluxDB Cloud UI, [log into your InfluxDB Cloud account](https://cloud2.influxdata.com).{{% /show-in %}}
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### `influx` CLI
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The `influx` CLI lets you interact with and manage InfluxDB {{< current-version >}} from a command line.
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{{% show-in "v2" %}}The CLI is packaged separately from InfluxDB and must be downloaded and installed separately.{{% /show-in %}}
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For detailed CLI installation instructions, see
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[Use the influx CLI](/influxdb/cloud/tools/influx-cli/).
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### InfluxDB HTTP API
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The [InfluxDB API](/influxdb/cloud/reference/api/) provides a simple way to
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interact with the InfluxDB {{< current-version >}} using HTTP(S) clients.
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Examples in this tutorial use cURL, but any HTTP(S) client will work.
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{{% note %}}
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#### InfluxDB client libraries
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[InfluxDB client libraries](/influxdb/cloud/api-guide/client-libraries/) are
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language-specific clients that interact with the InfluxDB HTTP API.
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Examples for client libraries are not provided in this tutorial, but these can
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be used to perform all the actions outlined in this tutorial.
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{{% /note %}}
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## Authorization
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**InfluxDB {{< current-version >}} requires authentication** using [API tokens](/influxdb/cloud/admin/tokens/).
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Each API token is associated with a user and a specific set of permissions for InfluxDB resources.
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{{< page-nav next="/influxdb/cloud/get-started/setup/" >}}
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---
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{{< influxdbu "influxdb-101" >}}
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