dashtoyaml

Bash script to convert Grafana JSON dashboards to YAML format for kube-prometheus-stack.

Features

• Convert Grafana JSON dashboards to YAML format
• Fix template variables from [[var]] to $var format
• Fix datasource references
• Add custom prefix/suffix to dashboard UID
• Specify folder for dashboards (added as comment)
• Custom datasource naming
• Force specific UID
• Optional YAML formatting via yq

Requirements

• jq - JSON processor
• python3 - for template variable fixes
• yq (optional) - for YAML formatting

Installing Dependencies

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt-get install jq python3

# macOS
brew install jq python3 yq

# CentOS/RHEL
sudo yum install jq python3

Usage

Basic

./dashtoyaml.sh dashboard.json dashboards/dashboard.yaml

With prefix and suffix

./dashtoyaml.sh dashboard.json dashboards/dashboard.yaml \
  --prefix prod_ \
  --suffix _v1

With folder specification

./dashtoyaml.sh dashboard.json dashboards/dashboard.yaml \
  --folder "Production Dashboards"

With custom datasource

./dashtoyaml.sh dashboard.json dashboards/dashboard.yaml \
  --datasource "MyPrometheus"

Full options

./dashtoyaml.sh dashboard.json dashboards/my.yaml \
  --prefix stage_ \
  --suffix _2024 \
  --folder "Stage Dashboards" \
  --datasource "Prometheus"

Force specific UID

./dashtoyaml.sh dashboard.json dashboards/my.yaml \
  --uid custom-uid

Options

Option	Description
--prefix TEXT	Add prefix to dashboard UID
--suffix TEXT	Add suffix to dashboard UID
--folder NAME	Specify folder name (added as comment)
--datasource NAME	Datasource name (default: Prometheus)
--uid NAME	Force specific UID
--help	Show help message

Integration with kube-prometheus-stack

After conversion, deploy dashboards via ConfigMap:

kubectl create configmap grafana-dashboards \
  --from-file=dashboards/ \
  --dry-run=client \
  -o yaml | kubectl apply -f -

Or use Helm values:

grafana:
  dashboards:
    dashboard-provider:
      folders:
        - name: Production
          path: /tmp/dashboards/production
        - name: Stage
          path: /tmp/dashboards/stage
  dashboardProviders:
    dashboardproviders.yaml:
      apiVersion: 1
      providers:
        - name: 'default'
          orgId: 1
          folder: ''
          type: file
          disableDeletion: false
          editable: true
          options:
            path: /var/lib/grafana/dashboards/default

Example

Input JSON (dashboard.json):

{
  "title": "Kubernetes Cluster Monitoring",
  "uid": "cluster-monitoring",
  "panels": [...],
  "templating": {
    "list": [...]
  }
}

Output YAML (dashboards/cluster.yaml):

# cluster.yaml
# Automated generated from dashboard.json
# 2026-05-25 10:30:00
# Directory: Production Dashboards
# Datasource: Prometheus

title: Kubernetes Cluster Monitoring
uid: prod_cluster-monitoring_v1
version: 1
tags:
  - kubernetes
  - monitoring
panels:
  - ...
templating:
  list:
    - ...

License

MIT