Create flexible dashboards with dashboard variables
Use dashboard variables to create flexible dashboards that can quickly display different content in multiple widgets, depending on the value of an input field within the dashboard. For example, you can create a dashboard that can quickly switch between different Lambda functions or Amazon EC2 instance IDs, or one that can switch to different Amazon Regions.
After you create a dashboard that uses a variable, you can copy the same variable pattern to other existing dashboards.
Using dashboard variables improves the operational workflow for people who use your dashboards. It can also reduce your costs because you're using dashboard variables in one dashboard instead of creating multiple similar dashboards.
Note
If you share a dashboard that contains dashboard variables, the people that you share it with won't be able to change between the variable values.
Types of dashboard variables
The dashboard variable can be a property variable or a pattern variable.
Property variables change all instances of a property in all widgets in the dashboard. This property can be any JSON property in the JSON source of a dashboard, such as
region. Or it can be a dimension name for a metric, such asInstanceIDorFunctionName.For a tutorial that uses a property variable, see Tutorial: Create a Lambda dashboard with function name as the variable.
For more information about the JSON source of dashboards, see Dashboard Body Structure and Syntax. In the CloudWatch console, you can see the JSON source for any custom dashboard by choosing Actions, View/edit source.
Pattern variables use a regular expression pattern to change all of a JSON property or only a certain part of it.
For a tutorial that uses a pattern variable, see Tutorial: Create a dashboard that uses a regular expression pattern to switch between Regions.
Property variables apply to most use cases and are less complex to set up.