Onprem Grafana environment setup, and want to migrate to Azure managed Grafana

Migration is feasible only if the Zabbix data-source plugin appears in your Azure Managed Grafana workspace’s Plugin management catalog and Azure Managed Grafana can reach the Zabbix API; validate those two dependencies in a Standard-tier pilot before migrating production dashboards.

1. Validate the Zabbix dependency first

Microsoft’s supported-data-source list does not explicitly include the community alexanderzobnin-zabbix-datasource plugin. Azure Managed Grafana also does not allow arbitrary installation, removal, or upgrading from the Grafana Catalog—you can install only the optional plugins Microsoft exposes for the workspace.^1^

1. Create a Standard Azure Managed Grafana pilot workspace.
2. In Azure portal, open the workspace → Plugin management.
3. Search for the Zabbix plugin/plugin ID.
4. If listed, select its checkbox → Save → Yes. Plugins can be managed only from this Azure portal page, not from the Grafana UI or Azure CLI.^2^
5. Open Overview → Endpoint, then in Grafana select Connections → Data sources → Add new data source. Configure Zabbix and select Save & test.^3^

If Zabbix is absent from Plugin management, there is no documented supported method to upload it manually. That is a migration blocker unless Microsoft confirms availability for your workspace/region through an Azure support request.

Also test network reachability:

• A publicly reachable Zabbix API may require allowlisting Azure Managed Grafana outbound addresses.
• For private connectivity, Standard supports managed private endpoints to a Private Link service, including self-hosted data sources. Configure this under Settings → Networking → Managed Private Endpoint → Add, approve the request on the target side, and refresh until its state is Approved.^4^

2. Migrate content into the pilot

Both instances require Grafana Admin access. The Azure CLI migration can automatically migrate data sources, folders, library panels, dashboards, snapshots, and annotations.^5^

Create an Admin service account and token in the source Grafana, then start with a non-destructive preview:

az grafana migrate \
  --name <target-workspace> \
  --resource-group <resource-group> \
  --src-endpoint <on-prem-grafana-url> \
  --src-token-or-key <source-admin-token> \
  --dry-run

If the preview is correct, rerun without --dry-run. Use --folders-to-include for a limited pilot. Avoid --overwrite initially; it replaces dashboards, folders, and library panels having matching names or UIDs.^6^

Afterward:

• Re-enter data-source passwords, API tokens, and other secrets manually.
• Open representative dashboards and verify variables, Zabbix queries, transformations, panel plugins, and time ranges.
• Dashboard JSON export/import is available as a fallback, but Microsoft’s migration tutorial was created with Grafana 10 and notes that UI steps can differ by Grafana version. Your v13.0.1 source therefore needs pilot validation.^5^

3. Alerts and notifications

Alerts and notification/contact-point objects are not included in Microsoft’s documented list of automatically migrated elements. Do not assume that the CLI migration transfers them.

For each existing alert:

1. Confirm the Zabbix plugin supports Grafana alerting in the managed workspace.
2. Recreate the alert rule, contact point, notification policy, mute timings, and templates as necessary.
3. Generate a controlled test condition and verify both firing and resolved notifications.

Use Standard, because Grafana alerting is unavailable in the deprecated Essential tier. Standard X1 supports 500 alert rules per instance and X2 supports 1,000; alert evaluation shares workspace compute and query-throttling resources with dashboards.^7^

4. Authentication and authorization

Azure Managed Grafana uses Microsoft Entra ID; built-in Grafana SAML and LDAP authentication are not supported. Every user must have an Entra account, with external users added as guests.^8^

Assign workspace roles through Azure Managed Grafana → Access control (IAM) → Add role assignment:

• Grafana Admin
• Grafana Editor
• Grafana Viewer
• Grafana Limited Viewer

Grafana Admins can then refine permissions on folders, dashboards, and data sources. Azure Managed Grafana does not expose Grafana Server Admin and does not support Grafana’s native RBAC API.^9^

Key operational differences

• Microsoft controls Grafana updates and versions; customers cannot pin a specific version. Major upgrades are announced, but compatibility testing remains necessary.^10^
• Arbitrary plugins and server-level configuration are unavailable.
• Data-query timeout is 200 seconds and outgoing data-source responses are limited to 80 MB.^1^
• Retain the on-premises instance during parallel validation and cut over only after Zabbix dashboards, alerts, notification delivery, SSO, permissions, and private/public connectivity pass testing.

References

1. Service limits, quotas, and constraints
2. How to manage Grafana plugins
3. How to manage data sources in Azure Managed Grafana
4. Connect to a data source privately
5. Migrate to Azure Managed Grafana (experience-gui)
6. az grafana migrate
7. Use Azure Monitor alerts with Grafana
8. Azure Managed Grafana FAQ
9. Grant users and identities access to Azure Managed Grafana
10. Lifecycle / upgrades of Managed Grafana? - Microsoft Q&A