Working with the Edge Observer dashboards

The Edge Observer dashboards provide collections of metrics represented as charts. The metrics relate to the Fastly service you select via the Service menu on the Observability page.

There are two types of dashboards:

• System-generated: Dashboards that provide an overview of a Fastly service. Some system-generated dashboards focus on a specific product (e.g., the Domain Inspector metrics dashboard only contains domain related metrics). You can not modify system-generated dashboards.
• Customized: Dashboards that you can build to surface relevant metrics for a Fastly service.

Before you begin

Be sure you know how to access the web interface controls and understand basic information about the Observability page before learning how to customize Observe dashboards.

Limitations and considerations

The system-generated dashboards included in the Dashboard menu on the Observe page depend on your access permissions and the products and features you may have purchased. Your access permissions also determine your ability to build customized dashboards.

Customized dashboards are saved in local storage. Only you can view the customized dashboards that you've built. If you clear your browser's cache, the customized dashboards you created are deleted, and you can no longer access them via the Dashboard menu on the Observe page.

Viewing a dashboard

To view a system-generated or customized dashboard, navigate to the Observe page:

1. Log in to the Fastly web interface.
2. Click Observability.
3. Click Edge Observer. The Account Summary dashboard appears by default.
4. Click the System Dashboards link to view a system-generated dashboard or the Custom Dashboards link to view a customized dashboard.
5. From the menu to the right of the dashboard name, select a dashboard to display metrics for a specific service.
6. Use the Observability page controls to change the display of the metrics on the selected dashboard.

Sharing a dashboard

To share a specific dashboard, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the dashboard that you want to share.
2. Click Options and then select Copy link. The link is saved to your computer's clipboard.
3. Manually share the link outside of the Fastly app.

To access a shared dashboard, you must have the appropriate permissions.

Working with customized dashboards

From the Edge Observer page, you can create and delete customized dashboards.

Creating a customized dashboard

To create a customized dashboard, follow these steps:

1. On the Edge Observer page, click Create dashboard.
2. In the Dashboard Name field, enter the name of your customized dashboard.
3. Click Save. The Edge Observer page appears and displays the customized dashboard that you created.

After creating a dashboard, you can add charts to it.

Deleting a customized dashboard

To delete a customized dashboard, follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the customized dashboard that you want to delete.
2. Click Options and then select Edit dashboard.
3. Click the pencil next to the dashboard name.
4. Click Delete and then Delete. The customized dashboard is deleted and is no longer listed in the customized dashboard menu.

Working with dashboard charts

You can surface relevant metrics on customized dashboards by adding new charts that highlight meaningful data and deleting existing charts that aren't needed anymore.

Expanding a chart on a system-generated dashboard

To expand a chart on a system-generated dashboard and display detailed information about the metric being tracked:

1. Navigate to a system-generated dashboard.
2. Click expand in the upper right corner of the chart that you want to expand. The Metric Details page for the chart appears.

Adding a chart to a customized dashboard

To add a chart to a customized dashboard, follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to the customized dashboard that you want to add a chart to.

2. Click Options and then select Edit dashboard.

3. Click Add Chart.

   

4. Fill out the Add Chart fields as follows:

   • In the Title field, enter the name of the chart.
   • In the Subtitle field, enter a brief description of the chart.
   • From the Data Source menu, select a data pipeline. Data pipeline options include Historic Stats, Original Inspector, and Domain Inspector.
   • From the Metrics menu, select the type of data the chart should report.
   • From the Type menu, select an option to control how the data is displayed.
   • From the Calculation Method menu, select the single metric the chart should report. This field only appears when the Type field is set to Donut or Number.
   • From the Size menu, select an option to control the width of the chart.

   A preview of the title and subtitle appears above the form, and a preview of the chart appears below the form.

5. Click Save. The chart is added to the dashboard.

6. Click Exit Edit Mode to return to view mode for the dashboard.

Deleting a chart from a customized dashboard

To delete a chart from a customized dashboard, follow the steps below:

1. Navigate to the customized dashboard that you want to add a chart to.
2. Click Options and then select Edit dashboard.
3. Click the trash to the right of the chart that you want to delete. The chart is removed from the dashboard.
4. Click Exit Edit Mode to return to view mode for the dashboard.

What's next