How to Tailor Cloud Service Dashboards in Grafana Cloud: A Step-by-Step Customization Guide

Introduction

Cloud Provider Observability in Grafana Cloud delivers ready-to-use dashboards and drill-downs for AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. You get service overviews, instance-level views, and quick links to explore your data without initial setup. However, you might already have trusted dashboards, need a view that matches your team’s workflow, or want different panels when drilling into a single instance. The good news: you can now customize everything without leaving the app. This guide walks you through three ways to make service views your own—connecting an existing dashboard, generating one with AI and wiring it in, and editing the instance drill-down that appears across Cloud Provider Observability, Database Observability, and the entity graph.

What You Need

• A Grafana Cloud account with active Cloud Provider Observability integration for AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud.
• Editor or Admin permissions for the relevant data sources and dashboards.
• Existing dashboards you want to attach (optional, for Step 2).
• Access to Grafana’s AI dashboard generation feature (optional, for Step 3).
• Familiarity with your cloud service’s metrics and panel queries (for Step 4).

Step-by-Step Customization

Step 1: Access the Configure Page for Your Cloud Service

Customization for a specific cloud service (e.g., Amazon RDS, GCP Cloud SQL, Azure Virtual Machines) is managed on that service’s Configure page. To get there:

1. In your Grafana Cloud instance, navigate to the Cloud Provider Observability app.
2. Click the Services tab to see all integrated services.
3. Locate the service you want to customize and click the Configure button next to it.

The Configure page displays three key areas:

• Preconfigured dashboard – the built-in, out-of-the-box view for that service.
• Custom dashboards – dashboards you add as quick links, with one marked as default.
• Explore-style links – for metrics and Grafana Metrics Drilldown.

Everything you set here is saved per service and reused wherever that service appears (services list, entity graph, Database Observability).

Step 2: Connect an Existing Dashboard

If you already have a dashboard that matches the service—for example, your internal RDS or Lambda view—you can attach it as a quick link and optionally set it as the default view.

1. On the Configure page, scroll to the section labeled “Customize your quick links and add new ones to your custom dashboards.”
2. Under “Select a dashboard”, use the search box to find and select your existing dashboard.
3. Click “Add” to make it a custom dashboard for this service. It appears as a quick link.
4. To set this dashboard as the default view when users open the service, click the three-dot menu next to the dashboard and choose “Set as default.”
5. Optionally, repeat to add more dashboards as quick links. You can reorder them by dragging.

After saving, the default dashboard replaces the preconfigured one on the Services tab, entity graph, and other entry points. Your added dashboards become extra quick links for quick navigation.

Step 3: Create and Wire an AI-Generated Dashboard

If you lack a custom dashboard but want a tailored view without manual work, let AI build one. Grafana’s AI dashboard generation creates dashboards with correct variables and methodology, so they fit into the same workflows.

1. From the Configure page, click “Create with AI” (available if the feature is enabled).
2. Describe the type of dashboard you need—e.g., “summary of top errors for Azure Virtual Machines” or “RDS connection metrics with CPU and memory.”
3. Review the generated dashboard. You can tweak panels, queries, and layout before saving.
4. Save the AI-generated dashboard to your Grafana instance.
5. Return to the Configure page for the service. Under “Custom dashboards,” click “Select a dashboard” and choose your new AI dashboard.
6. Add it as a custom dashboard and optionally set it as default, following the same steps as in Step 2.

The AI dashboard now appears as a quick link and can serve as the service’s default front door, just like any other custom dashboard.

Step 4: Customize the Instance Drill-Down Panels

The instance-level view—what you see when you click into a single instance from Cloud Provider Observability, Database Observability, or the entity graph—can also be tailored. Panels and queries you configure here apply everywhere that view is used.

1. On the Configure page, find the section “Customize the panels that appear when you drill down into an instance.”
2. Click “Edit panels”. A panel editor opens, allowing you to add, remove, or modify panels.
3. Each panel is based on a query. You can:
   • Change existing queries to focus on different metrics (e.g., swap average CPU for maximum).
   • Add new panels for additional metrics or logs.
   • Remove panels that your team doesn’t need.
4. Rearrange panels by dragging them to your preferred order.
5. Click “Save” to apply changes. The instance drill-down is now consistent across all observability surfaces.

Pro tip: Test your instance drill-down by navigating to an actual instance from the Services tab or entity graph to ensure the panels render correctly.

Tips and Best Practices

• Start small: Customize one service first, such as a high-traffic RDS instance, then replicate the approach across others.
• Use consistent naming: When adding custom dashboards, give them clear, descriptive names like “RDS Production Overview” so teammates easily identify them.
• Test in a sandbox: If you have a non-production Grafana Cloud stack, experiment there before rolling out to production.
• Leverage AI for rapid prototyping: Generate a dashboard with AI, review it, adjust as needed, and then set it as default—a fast way to replace prebuilt views.
• Combine quick links for team-specific views: Add multiple custom dashboards as quick links so each team (e.g., SRE, DevOps, Finance) can jump to their preferred view.
• Remember instance drill-down consistency: The panels you set in Step 4 apply globally to that service’s instance view. Avoid adding too many panels; keep it focused on the most common debugging metrics.
• Document changes: Note why you customized a service and what panels were replaced—this helps future administrators understand the setup.

With these three customization methods—connecting existing dashboards, creating AI-generated dashboards, and tailoring instance drill-downs—you can make Cloud Provider Observability work exactly the way your team needs. The Configure page is your central hub for all changes, ensuring consistency across Grafana surfaces.