How to set up Multiple Developers authoring Multiple Dashboards with Version Control protection?

[gedworksplunk]

Hi,

Sorry if this has already been asked. It should be a common question, but I've not been able to find an answer by searching...

We would like to switch using Splunk to serve hundreds of dashboards. The built-in Splunk web interface is great for a single person to author their first dashboard. It does not seem meant for team development as I don't see any change history being preserved: a new version of a dashboard overwrites the old one, and there is no record of who changed what?

So, how do teams author dashboards together?
I've used the 'vi' editor to directly edit files in splunk/etc/apps/search/local/data/ui/views, but then it requires human intervention to go to http://splunk:8000/debug/refresh to pick up the new version of the file just edited. Is there a unix-side command line equivalent?

When you put those dashboards together using version-control, how do you setup your Splunk instances? You'll need a production one where all the users are using the production version of dashboards, maybe a staging one for testing dashboards before production, and then one or more for each of your dozen of developers for them to develop in a isolated way. Any best practices? any document on this?
Thanks,
Jill

[DalJeanis · Accepted solution]

Git is the preferred tool. Here's some relevant descriptions of how to use git for that purpose...

https://answers.splunk.com/answers/312571/best-way-to-use-git-for-source-version-control-wit.html
https://conf.splunk.com/session/2014/conf2014_VladimirHad_FirstData_Deploying.pdf
https://answers.splunk.com/answers/226454/using-splunk-with-git-source-control-is-there-a-wa.html

The following has some information on how to integrate docker, and Atlassian's version of Git -- formerly Stash, I believe, now Bitbucket...

http://www.rfaircloth.com/2016/09/27/making-splunk-certified-apps/

... and here's some information on using subversion...

http://www.ossintegrators.com/blog/splunk-revision-control-subversion-example/