docs-v2/content/influxdb3/explorer/install.md

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Install and run InfluxDB 3 Explorer Use [Docker](https://docker.com) to install and run **InfluxDB 3 Explorer**.
influxdb3_explorer
name
Install Explorer
2

Use Docker to install and run InfluxDB 3 Explorer.

Quick start

Get {{% product-name %}} running in minutes:

  1. Run the Explorer container:

    docker run --detach \
      --name influxdb3-explorer \
      --publish 8888:80 \
      influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}}
    
  2. Access the Explorer UI at http://localhost:8888

  3. Configure your InfluxDB connection in the UI


Installation methods

Prerequisites

Install Docker or Docker Desktop if you haven't already.

Basic setup

[!Tip] To get the latest updates, run the following command before starting the container:

docker pull influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}}

{{< code-tabs-wrapper >}} {{% code-tabs %}} Docker run Docker Compose {{% /code-tabs %}}

{{% code-tab-content %}}

docker run --detach \
  --name influxdb3-explorer \
  --publish 8888:80 \
  influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}}

{{% /code-tab-content %}}

{{% code-tab-content %}}

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
  explorer:
    image: influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}}
    container_name: influxdb3-explorer
    ports:
      - "8888:80"
    volumes:
      - ./config:/app-root/config:ro
    restart: unless-stopped

Start the container:

docker-compose up -d

{{% /code-tab-content %}} {{< /code-tabs-wrapper >}}

Production setup

For production deployments with persistence, admin mode, and automatic image updates:

{{< code-tabs-wrapper >}} {{% code-tabs %}} Docker run Docker Compose {{% /code-tabs %}}

{{% code-tab-content %}}

docker run --detach \
  --name influxdb3-explorer \
  --pull always \
  --publish 8888:80 \
  --volume $(pwd)/db:/db:rw \
  --volume $(pwd)/config:/app-root/config:ro \
  --env SESSION_SECRET_KEY=$(openssl rand -hex 32) \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}} \
  --mode=admin

{{% /code-tab-content %}}

{{% code-tab-content %}}

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
  explorer:
    image: influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}}
    container_name: influxdb3-explorer
    pull_policy: always
    command: ["--mode=admin"]
    ports:
      - "8888:80"
    volumes:
      - ./db:/db:rw
      - ./config:/app-root/config:ro
      - ./ssl:/etc/nginx/ssl:ro
    environment:
      SESSION_SECRET_KEY: ${SESSION_SECRET_KEY:-changeme123456789012345678901234}
    restart: unless-stopped

Create a .env file that contains the following:

SESSION_SECRET_KEY=your_32_char_hex_string_here

Start the container:

docker-compose up -d

{{% /code-tab-content %}} {{< /code-tabs-wrapper >}}


Configuration options

Persist data across restarts

{{% product-name %}} stores application data in a SQLite database. To persist this data across container restarts:

  1. Create a local directory:

    mkdir -m 700 ./db
    
  2. Mount the directory when running the container:

    {{< code-tabs-wrapper >}} {{% code-tabs %}} Docker Docker Compose {{% /code-tabs %}}

    {{% code-tab-content %}}

    docker run --detach \
      --name influxdb3-explorer \
      --publish 8888:80 \
      --volume $(pwd)/db:/db:rw \
      influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}}
    

    {{% /code-tab-content %}}

    {{% code-tab-content %}}

    version: '3.8'
    
    services:
      explorer:
        image: influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}}
        container_name: influxdb3-explorer
        ports:
          - "8888:80"
        volumes:
          - ./db:/db:rw
        restart: unless-stopped
    

    {{% /code-tab-content %}} {{< /code-tabs-wrapper >}}

[!Important] Without a mounted ./db directory, application data is lost when the container is deleted.

Pre-configure InfluxDB connections

Instead of configuring connections through the UI, you can pre-define connection settings using a config.json file. This is useful for:

  • Automated deployments
  • Shared team configurations
  • Quick setup for known environments
  1. Create a config.json file:

    mkdir -p config
    cat > config/config.json << 'EOF'
    {
      "DEFAULT_INFLUX_SERVER": "http://host.docker.internal:8181",
      "DEFAULT_INFLUX_DATABASE": "mydb",
      "DEFAULT_API_TOKEN": "your-token-here",
      "DEFAULT_SERVER_NAME": "Local InfluxDB 3"
    }
    EOF
    

    Customize the following properties for your InfluxDB 3 instance:

    [!Note] If connecting to a local, non-Docker instance, use host.docker.internal as your server host--for example:

    "DEFAULT_INFLUX_SERVER": "http://host.docker.internal:8181"
    

    host.docker.internal allows the Docker container to connect to services running on your host machine. For more information, see the Docker documentation.

  2. Mount the configuration directory:

    {{< code-tabs-wrapper >}} {{% code-tabs %}} Docker Docker Compose {{% /code-tabs %}}

    {{% code-tab-content %}}

    docker run --detach \
      --name influxdb3-explorer \
      --publish 8888:80 \
      --volume $(pwd)/config:/app-root/config:ro \
      influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}}
    

    {{% /code-tab-content %}}

    {{% code-tab-content %}}

    version: '3.8'
    
    services:
      explorer:
        image: influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}}
        container_name: influxdb3-explorer
        ports:
          - "8888:80"
        volumes:
          - ./config:/app-root/config:ro
        restart: unless-stopped
    

    {{% /code-tab-content %}} {{< /code-tabs-wrapper >}}

Enable TLS/SSL (HTTPS)

To enable TLS/SSL for secure connections:

  1. Create SSL directory and add certificate files:

    mkdir -m 755 ./ssl
    # Copy your certificate files to the ssl directory
    cp /path/to/server.crt ./ssl/
    cp /path/to/server.key ./ssl/
    

    Required files:

    • Certificate: server.crt or fullchain.pem
    • Private key: server.key
  2. Run the container with SSL enabled:

    {{< code-tabs-wrapper >}} {{% code-tabs %}} Docker Docker Compose {{% /code-tabs %}}

    {{% code-tab-content %}}

    docker run --detach \
      --name influxdb3-explorer \
      --publish 8888:443 \
      --volume $(pwd)/ssl:/etc/nginx/ssl:ro \
      influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}}
    

    {{% /code-tab-content %}}

    {{% code-tab-content %}}

    version: '3.8'
    
    services:
      explorer:
        image: influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}}
        container_name: influxdb3-explorer
        ports:
          - "8888:443"
        volumes:
          - ./ssl:/etc/nginx/ssl:ro
        restart: unless-stopped
    

    {{% /code-tab-content %}} {{< /code-tabs-wrapper >}}

  3. Access the Explorer UI at https://localhost:8888

[!Note] The nginx web server automatically detects and uses certificate files in the mounted path.

Choose operational mode

{{% product-name %}} supports two operational modes:

  • Query mode (default): Read-only UI for querying data
  • Admin mode: Full UI with administrative capabilities

Set the mode using the --mode parameter:

{{< code-tabs-wrapper >}} {{% code-tabs %}} Docker Docker Compose {{% /code-tabs %}}

{{% code-tab-content %}}

# Query mode (default)
docker run --detach \
  --name influxdb3-explorer \
  --publish 8888:80 \
  influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}} \
  --mode=query

# Admin mode
docker run --detach \
  --name influxdb3-explorer \
  --publish 8888:80 \
  influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}} \
  --mode=admin

{{% /code-tab-content %}}

{{% code-tab-content %}}

version: '3.8'

services:
  explorer:
    image: influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}}
    container_name: influxdb3-explorer
    # For query mode (default), omit the command
    # For admin mode, add:
    command: ["--mode=admin"]
    ports:
      - "8888:80"
    restart: unless-stopped

{{% /code-tab-content %}} {{< /code-tabs-wrapper >}}


Advanced configuration

Environment variables

Variable Default Description
SESSION_SECRET_KEY (random) Secret key for session management. Set this in production to persist sessions across restarts.
DATABASE_URL /db/sqlite.db Path to SQLite database inside container
SSL_CERT_PATH /etc/nginx/ssl/cert.pem Path to SSL certificate file
SSL_KEY_PATH /etc/nginx/ssl/key.pem Path to SSL private key file

[!Important] Always set SESSION_SECRET_KEY in production to persist user sessions across container restarts. Enter the following command to generate a secure key:

openssl rand -hex 32

Volume reference

Container Path Purpose Permissions Required
/db SQLite database storage 700 No (but recommended)
/app-root/config Connection configuration 755 No
/etc/nginx/ssl TLS/SSL certificates 755 Only for HTTPS

Port reference

Container Port Protocol Purpose Common Host Mapping
80 HTTP Web UI (unencrypted) 8888
443 HTTPS Web UI (encrypted) 8888

Complete examples

Production setup with all features

{{< code-tabs-wrapper >}} {{% code-tabs %}} Docker Docker Compose {{% /code-tabs %}}

{{% code-tab-content %}}

# Create required directories
mkdir -m 700 ./db
mkdir -m 755 ./config ./ssl

# Generate session secret
export SESSION_SECRET=$(openssl rand -hex 32)

# Create configuration
cat > config/config.json << 'EOF'
{
  "DEFAULT_INFLUX_SERVER": "http://host.docker.internal:8181",
  "DEFAULT_INFLUX_DATABASE": "production",
  "DEFAULT_API_TOKEN": "your-production-token",
  "DEFAULT_SERVER_NAME": "Production InfluxDB 3"
}
EOF

# Run Explorer with all features
docker run --detach \
  --name influxdb3-explorer \
  --pull always \
  --publish 8888:443 \
  --volume $(pwd)/db:/db:rw \
  --volume $(pwd)/config:/app-root/config:ro \
  --volume $(pwd)/ssl:/etc/nginx/ssl:ro \
  --env SESSION_SECRET_KEY=$SESSION_SECRET \
  --restart unless-stopped \
  influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}} \
  --mode=admin

{{% /code-tab-content %}}

{{% code-tab-content %}}

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
  explorer:
    image: influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}}
    container_name: influxdb3-explorer
    pull_policy: always
    command: ["--mode=admin"]
    ports:
      - "8888:443"
    volumes:
      - ./db:/db:rw
      - ./config:/app-root/config:ro
      - ./ssl:/etc/nginx/ssl:ro
    environment:
      SESSION_SECRET_KEY: ${SESSION_SECRET_KEY}
    restart: unless-stopped

Create a .env file that contains the following:

SESSION_SECRET_KEY=your_32_char_hex_string_here

Start the container:

docker-compose up -d

{{% /code-tab-content %}} {{< /code-tabs-wrapper >}}

Development setup (minimal)

{{< code-tabs-wrapper >}} {{% code-tabs %}} Docker Docker Compose {{% /code-tabs %}}

{{% code-tab-content %}}

docker run --rm \
  --name influxdb3-explorer-dev \
  --publish 8888:80 \
  influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}}

{{% /code-tab-content %}}

{{% code-tab-content %}}

# docker-compose.yml
version: '3.8'

services:
  explorer:
    image: influxdata/influxdb3-ui:{{% latest-patch %}}
    container_name: influxdb3-explorer-dev
    ports:
      - "8888:80"

{{% /code-tab-content %}} {{< /code-tabs-wrapper >}}