Google Sheets and CSV files

Grafana not only allows you to connect to databases, but it also admits parsing files and cloud services, such as CSV files and Google Sheets.

In simple IoT applications, you may find that data is being saved in Google Sheets or text files. Also, you could have data stored on SD cards or in old files.

So, you can have either living data ingressing in a cloud spreadsheet or historical data stored in the cloud or local files.

In any case, you may want to build a dashboard with this information to analyze it or even show it to other people.

Google Sheets data source

Although you will see how to manage and install plugins in Chapter 7, Managing Plugins, let’s see how to install the Google Sheets plugin.

You have two options: local installation and cloud installation.

Local installation

The Google Sheets plugin doesn’t come by default with Grafana, so you have to install it.

In a local instance, you will have to use the...