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Yes—a Raspberry Pi makes an excellent always-on dashboard terminal. Connect it to an HDMI monitor, install the current Raspberry Pi OS desktop image, and launch a Grafana dashboard in Chromium kiosk mode. The most reliable setup uses the Pi as a display client while Grafana and its database run on a home server, NAS, another Raspberry Pi, or Grafana Cloud.
For a self-contained hobby project, the Pi can also host Grafana and a lightweight data pipeline. That is simpler to deploy but creates one device responsible for collection, storage, visualization, and recovery.
What you are building
The finished system looks like this:
Data producers → database or metrics service → Grafana → Chromium on Raspberry Pi → HDMI monitorGrafana is the visualization and alerting layer; it does not automatically collect arbitrary sensor or application data. You need a configured data source such as a database, MQTT-fed pipeline, exporter, API, CloudWatch account, or metrics service.
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#1 Best Overall
- Includes Raspberry Pi 5 with 2.4Ghz 64-bit quad-core CPU (8GB RAM)
- Includes 128GB Micro SD Card pre-loaded with 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS, USB MicroSD Card Reader
- CanaKit Turbine Black Case for the Raspberry Pi 5
- CanaKit Low Noise Bearing System Fan
- Mega Heat Sink - Black Anodized
Choose the architecture first
Recommended: Pi as a dashboard viewer
In this design, the Pi only runs the browser. Grafana and the database are hosted elsewhere. It is the best default when reliability, security, multiple users, long-term retention, or easy replacement matter.
- Less work on the display device.
- No local database to back up.
- The Pi can be replaced without losing monitoring data.
- Several displays can use the same Grafana instance.
All-in-one monitoring Pi
A small home or hobby installation can run Grafana, a collector, a database, and Chromium on one Pi. This works well for modest data volumes and offline projects, but the display and monitoring service become a single point of failure. Storage wear, backups, updates, thermal management, and authentication are also your responsibility.
Grafana’s official Debian installation supports ARM systems and the Grafana APT repository. Installation alone does not provide a database or sensor collector.
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Hardware checklist
- Raspberry Pi 4 or Pi 5: A Pi 4 is a good 1080p client; a Pi 5 provides more headroom for complex dashboards, higher-resolution output, or additional services. See the official Pi 4 page and official Pi 5 page for current specifications and power requirements.
- Power supply: Use the official or a properly rated supply for a permanent installation. A monitor’s USB port is not automatically sufficient.
- Storage: A quality microSD card is adequate for a browser client. USB or NVMe storage is more attractive when the Pi hosts a database or receives frequent writes.
- Display: An existing 1080p HDMI monitor is usually the best value.
- Cable: Use HDMI or the appropriate micro-HDMI adapter for your Pi model.
- Network: Ethernet is preferable for a wall-mounted, always-on display; Wi-Fi is fine when signal quality is reliable.
- Setup accessories: Keyboard and mouse for initial configuration, plus an optional case, cooling solution, and VESA or wall mount.
A Pi Zero-class board may display a very simple dashboard, but it is not the recommended general-purpose choice. Browser rendering becomes demanding with many panels, animations, tables, short refresh intervals, or high-resolution output.
Pick the right monitor
A normal 1080p HDMI monitor offers readable text, low rendering overhead, and easy replacement. A 4K screen can work, but performance depends on the Pi model, Chromium, dashboard complexity, cable, and display configuration. Small text may also be harder to read. For most dashboards, 1080p provides a better cost-to-usefulness ratio.
Portrait orientation is useful for a narrow display with vertically stacked status panels. Landscape is better for side-by-side charts, wide tables, and network views. A touchscreen is worthwhile only when people need to change dashboards or interact with controls locally; it adds cost, mounting complexity, power requirements, and a need for touch-friendly UI design. Raspberry Pi’s Touch Display 2 is better suited to embedded or interactive projects than a large wall dashboard.
Rank #2
- Includes Raspberry Pi 5 with 2.4Ghz 64-bit quad-core CPU (4GB RAM)
- Includes 128GB Micro SD Card pre-loaded with 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS, USB MicroSD Card Reader
- CanaKit Turbine Black Case for the Raspberry Pi 5
- CanaKit Low Noise Bearing System Fan
- CanaKit Mega Heat Sink - Black Anodized
Some monitors provide USB power, but check the port’s current rating and whether it remains powered during sleep. Watch for undervoltage warnings and instability when peripherals are attached. Use a dedicated Pi power supply when reliability matters.
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Use Raspberry Pi’s current operating-system page rather than copying old “Raspbian” instructions. Raspberry Pi OS is the current name, and desktop labels, kernels, Chromium packaging, and menus can change. Download Raspberry Pi OS and write it with Raspberry Pi Imager.
- Install and open Raspberry Pi Imager.
- Select a current 64-bit Raspberry Pi OS desktop image compatible with your board.
- Configure the hostname, user, password, locale, time zone, network, and SSH settings as needed.
- Write the image to the microSD card, insert it, and boot the Pi.
- Connect the monitor and network, then complete the first-boot process.
- Update the system before configuring the kiosk:
sudo apt update
sudo apt full-upgrade -y
sudo rebootUse the desktop image if the Pi will run Chromium locally. Raspberry Pi OS Lite can support a custom minimal graphical kiosk, but it requires considerably more configuration and is not the straightforward path for this project.
Prefer a DHCP reservation or another stable address for the Pi. Before configuring automatic startup, verify that the Grafana URL works from a normal browser on another computer.
Prepare Grafana and its data source
In Grafana, add a data source, create a dashboard, add panels, choose useful units and time ranges, and set a refresh interval appropriate to the data. A dashboard refresh is not the same as data collection: refreshing every five seconds does not make a sensor produce new measurements every five seconds.
Design the screen for quick decisions:
- Put the most important health indicators first.
- Use large values, clear units, and high contrast.
- Limit the number of panels and avoid tiny labels.
- Use consistent time ranges.
- Show thresholds without making every panel red.
- Account for missing data, counter resets, time zones, and aggregation that hides spikes.
Grafana’s current dashboard controls are documented in its dashboard documentation.
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For a local Grafana installation, the official Debian repository path is:
sudo apt-get install -y apt-transport-https wget gnupg
sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo wget -O /etc/apt/keyrings/grafana.asc https://apt.grafana.com/gpg-full.key
sudo chmod 644 /etc/apt/keyrings/grafana.asc
echo "deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/grafana.asc] https://apt.grafana.com stable main"
| sudo tee -a /etc/apt/sources.list.d/grafana.list
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install grafana
sudo systemctl enable --now grafana-server
sudo systemctl status grafana-serverCheck Grafana’s current Debian instructions before installation because package names, versions, and repository details can change. You must install and configure a separate database or collector if your project needs one.
Handle dashboard access safely
You can use an authenticated dashboard, a controlled shared link, or an anonymous dashboard. Authentication is the safest general choice for sensitive metrics. A dedicated low-privilege account is preferable to placing an administrator password in a startup command.
Anonymous access may be acceptable on a physically secure, isolated network, but never treat it as harmless when Grafana is reachable by untrusted users or the public internet. A shared link’s behavior depends on the Grafana version, edition, and dashboard settings.
Kiosk mode is not a security feature. It hides browser controls and presents the dashboard full-screen; it does not protect data, restrict network access, or replace authentication.
Test Chromium in kiosk mode
First find the browser executable supplied by your image:
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- CanaKit Turbine Black Case for the Raspberry Pi 5
- CanaKit Low Noise Bearing System Fan
- Mega Heat Sink - Black Anodized
which chromium
which chromium-browserThen test the returned command manually. A typical invocation is:
chromium --kiosk --noerrdialogs --disable-infobars
--check-for-update-interval=604800
'https://grafana.example.com/d/your-dashboard-id/your-dashboard'Use the executable name that actually exists on your system. If the dashboard requires login, sign in during testing and confirm that the session survives a restart. Do not put valuable credentials in a world-readable file.
Start the dashboard automatically
A common desktop autostart method is a per-user entry:
mkdir -p ~/.config/autostart
nano ~/.config/autostart/grafana-kiosk.desktopPaste this pattern, replacing the executable and URL:
[Desktop Entry]
Type=Application
Name=Grafana Kiosk
Exec=chromium --kiosk --noerrdialogs --disable-infobars https://grafana.example.com/d/your-dashboard-id/your-dashboard
Terminal=false
X-GNOME-Autostart-enabled=trueValidate the file if the utility is installed:
desktop-file-validate ~/.config/autostart/grafana-kiosk.desktopDesktop environments and Chromium packaging vary between Raspberry Pi OS releases. If it fails, launch the command manually, confirm the path from which, check that the desktop session logs in automatically, inspect session logs, and temporarily remove --kiosk so browser errors are visible. A systemd user service or desktop-specific startup mechanism may be more reliable for an unattended installation.
Prevent unwanted blanking
Disable or adjust screen blanking in the current desktop power-management settings, then check the monitor’s own sleep timer. The exact Raspberry Pi OS menu path can change. Also consider HDMI hotplug behavior, HDMI-CEC, and whether the monitor switches inputs after waking.
Best Value
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- Display Cable - 6 foot (Supports up to 4K 60p)
A permanently illuminated display consumes more electricity and may reduce panel longevity. If the screen only needs to be visible during certain hours, scheduled blanking is preferable to disabling every power-saving feature.
Make the installation resilient
- Use Ethernet or a stable Wi-Fi connection and a DHCP reservation.
- Set a sensible Grafana refresh interval rather than polling aggressively.
- Use a browser watchdog or supervised process if unattended recovery is important.
- Keep the Pi ventilated, especially a Pi 5 or an enclosed installation.
- Back up dashboards, data-source settings, and Grafana configuration.
- Avoid high-frequency telemetry writes to the microSD card.
- Keep SSH or another administration method available without removing the Pi from the wall.
- Test recovery after network outages and repeated power cycles before mounting the display.
- Keep a spare imaged card for quick recovery.
Troubleshooting
Chromium shows a login page
Check whether the session expired, cookies were cleared, the URL requires authentication, or the Pi’s clock is wrong. Test the URL normally, confirm time synchronization, and use a dedicated low-privilege account where appropriate.
The dashboard is blank
Check Grafana availability, data-source connectivity, DNS, firewall rules, TLS certificates, the selected time range, and browser-console errors. Confirm that the dashboard actually contains data and that the installed Chromium build supports the features it uses.
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4K output, too many panels, heavy transformations, large tables, multiple tabs, short refresh intervals, local database activity, and thermal throttling are common causes. Try 1080p, reduce panels, increase the refresh interval, pre-aggregate data, move Grafana or the database elsewhere, and check temperature and throttling.
The display goes black
Check Pi desktop blanking, monitor sleep settings, the HDMI cable, power supply, hotplug behavior, and whether the monitor’s USB power turns off while sleeping.
The kiosk does not recover after a power loss
Poor power, filesystem damage, SD-card corruption, a browser startup race, or a network that is unavailable at login can all contribute. Use a quality power supply, consider USB or NVMe storage for heavier workloads, add delayed startup or retry logic, supervise the browser, and test repeated power cycling.
Self-hosted Grafana or Grafana Cloud?
Self-hosted Grafana OSS gives you local control and suits offline or privacy-sensitive projects, but you maintain the server, storage, updates, backups, and access controls. Grafana Cloud reduces server administration and makes remote access easier, but it introduces hosted-service limits, recurring costs beyond its free tiers, and a requirement to send data to an external service. See the current Grafana Cloud pricing page for limits and plans rather than relying on old figures.
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1Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteFor most readers, the strongest setup is a Pi 4 or Pi 5 running the current Raspberry Pi OS desktop image, an existing 1080p HDMI monitor, Chromium in kiosk mode, and Grafana hosted separately. Run Grafana locally on the Pi only when a modest, self-contained monitoring appliance is more valuable than independent reliability.
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