Understand automation dashboard architecture

Automation dashboard overview

Automation dashboard provides visualization, measurement, and return on investment (ROI) analysis for your Ansible automation usage. In Ansible Automation Platform 2.7, the dashboard becomes a native component of the platform. It integrates directly with the Ansible Automation Platform unified user interface (UI) and leverages metrics service as its data collection backend.

Key characteristics (Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2.7 native integration)

Architecture components

Core components

Metrics service as unified backend

Automation dashboard uses metrics service as its data collection and storage backend. This architecture provides:

• Single infrastructure: Avoids duplicate data collection mechanisms
• Unified API: Dashboard UI consumes data by using metrics service REST APIs
• Shared database: Dashboard tables coexist with standard metrics in metrics_service database
• Consistent data model: Same anonymization and retention policies

Metrics service REST API endpoints

The dashboard UI consumes data by using the following metrics service REST API endpoints:

Dashboard API quick reference

The automation dashboard provides REST APIs for programmatic access to dashboard data. These APIs are consumed by the dashboard UI and can also be accessed directly for custom reporting and integrations.

Base URL: https://<AAP-FQDN>/api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/

Authentication: All dashboard API endpoints require authentication by using Ansible Automation Platform credentials and are subject to RBAC enforcement through the Ansible Automation Platform Gateway.

Report endpoint

Endpoint: /api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/report/

Method: GET

Purpose: Retrieve paginated dashboard data aggregated by job templates

Required Query Parameters:

Optional Filter Query Parameters:

Example Requests:

# Get all dashboard data for last 90 days
curl -k -u admin:<password> \
  "https://<AAP-FQDN>/api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/report/?period=last_90_days"

# Filter by specific organization
curl -k -u admin:<password> \
  "https://<AAP-FQDN>/api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/report/?period=last_90_days&organization=3"

# Combine multiple filters
curl -k -u admin:<password> \
  "https://<AAP-FQDN>/api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/report/?period=last_60_days&organization=3&project=10"

# Filter by multiple organizations
curl -k -u admin:<password> \
  "https://<AAP-FQDN>/api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/report/?period=last_90_days&organization=3&organization=5"

Response: Paginated JSON response containing job template aggregations with:

• Cost and savings calculations
• ROI metrics
• Job execution statistics
• Time saved calculations

Report details endpoint

Endpoint: /api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/report/details/

Method: GET

Purpose: Retrieve summary statistics, graphical data, and top user/project information

Query Parameters: Same as /report/ endpoint (period required, filters optional)

Example Request:

curl -k -u admin:<password> \
  "https://<AAP-FQDN>/api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/report/details/?period=last_90_days"

Response: JSON response containing:

• Summary statistics (total jobs, total savings, total time saved)
• Top 5 users by automation usage
  Note:

  Jobs triggered by schedules, webhooks, or maintenance tasks do not have an associated user ID. These jobs are included in total job counts but excluded from the Top 5 Users card.
• Top 5 projects by savings
• Time-series data for graphs

Filter list endpoints

These endpoints provide lists of available filter options for dropdown menus:

• Organizations: GET /api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/organizations/
• Templates: GET /api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/templates/
• Projects: GET /api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/projects/
• Labels: GET /api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/labels/

Cost configuration endpoint

Endpoint: /api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/subscription_costs/

Methods: GET (retrieve), PATCH (update)

Purpose: Configure cost parameters for ROI calculations

Example - Retrieve cost parameters:

curl -k -u admin:<password> \
  https://<AAP-FQDN>/api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/subscription_costs/

Example - Update cost parameters:

curl -k -X PATCH -u admin:<password> \
  https://<AAP-FQDN>/api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/subscription_costs/ \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "infrastructure_cost_per_hour": 2.50,
    "currency": "USD"
  }'

The maximum value for infrastructure_cost_per_hour is $1,000.00. The automation dashboard UI prevents entry of values exceeding this limit. This cap applies to the dashboard UI only and does not affect API requests.

API documentation

For complete API schema and additional endpoints, access the OpenAPI specification:

curl -k -u admin:<password> \
  https://<AAP-FQDN>/api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/schema/

Template metadata endpoint

Use the template metadata endpoint to configure manual effort time estimates for ROI calculations.

Endpoint: /api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/template_metadata/

Methods: GET (retrieve all template metadata), PATCH (update an individual template)

The default time_taken_to_manually_execute value is 1 minute (60 seconds) for all templates. This default applies to any template where an administrator has not explicitly configured a manual effort time.

To update the manual effort time for a specific template, send a PATCH request:

PATCH /api/metrics/v1/dashboard_reports/template_metadata/<template_id>/

{
    "time_taken_to_manually_execute": 300
}

This example sets the manual effort time to 5 minutes (300 seconds) for the specified template.

Data collection architecture

Collection schedule

Metrics service collects dashboard-specific data on an hourly schedule.

Dashboard collection configuration

The following configuration variables control dashboard collection behavior:

• Cost and pricing data: Infrastructure costs for automation execution
• ROI calculations: Time saved, cost savings, manual effort avoided. Time saved is calculated per template as manual effort time (default: 1 minute) minus automated elapsed time
• Automation savings metrics: Efficiency gains and resource optimization
• Executive reporting data: High-level usage trends and adoption metrics

Detailed metrics schema:

Related raw data tables:

Database architecture

The metrics service database may be colocated with the Controller database on the same postgres instance. The hourly collection schedule minimizes performance impact on Controller database operations. By default, dashboard data retention aligns with the automation controller retention period (DASHBOARD_COLLECTION__USE_CONTROLLER_RETENTION: True). This ensures the dashboard data lifecycle matches controller data availability. When controller data is purged, corresponding dashboard records are also cleaned up, preventing stale data in dashboard reports. To use an independent retention period for dashboard data, set DASHBOARD_COLLECTION__USE_CONTROLLER_RETENTION to false using automationmetrics_extra_settings in your inventory file.

Deployment topology

Single-instance limitation

The integrated dashboard displays data for the local Ansible Automation Platform instance only. Multi-instance support (connecting multiple Ansible Automation Platform deployments to a single dashboard) is not available with the Ansible Automation Platform 2.7 integration.

Dependency: Metrics service required

Automation dashboard requires metrics service to be configured and available.

If metrics service is not configured (no host in [automationmetrics] group for containerized, or no MetricsService CR for operator), dashboard configuration settings are ignored.

Dependency Behavior:

• Dashboard requires metrics service: Dashboard data collection cannot function without metrics service backend
• Metrics service is independent: Metrics service operates with or without dashboard enabled
• Configuration relationship: If metrics service is not configured, dashboard settings are ignored

Performance characteristics

Performance validated across Containerized Ansible Automation Platform and OpenShift Ansible Automation Platform deployments with data scales from 9,100 to 100,100 jobs.

Collection impact on Controller database

The hourly collection schedule minimizes impact on the Controller (AWX) database: