HTML Dashboards Deprecation

Recently we announced that Splunk is deprecating use of older versions of jQuery and moving to use jQuery v3.5.0 or newer. This change impacts any HTML dashboards, which depend on jQuery.

Background on HTML Dashboards

How did we get here? You may have HTML dashboards that were created by converting Simple XML dashboards to HTML dashboards, a capability that was removed in Splunk Cloud Platform 8.0.2004 and Splunk Enterprise 8.1, or you may have created these dashboards directly to handle complex functionality or styling in your app. 

With the release of Splunk Dashboard Studio in Splunk Enterprise 8.2 and Splunk Cloud Platform 8.1.2103, Splunk now supports native capabilities to easily customize dashboards, without needing to convert to HTML or depend on custom development. Below is an example of a Studio dashboard. 

How to Check if You Have HTML Dashboards

HTML dashboards are defined as files in the following directories:

• $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/apps/appname/local/data/ui/html/
• $SPLUNK_HOME/etc/users/username/appname/local/data/ui/html/
   

If you are the administrator of a Splunk Cloud deployment, you can check if you have any HTML dashboards by reviewing the jQuery Admin Dashboard, which you can find in the Dashboards list, in Search & Reporting app. Look for the panel at the bottom of the dashboard, which lists any HTML dashboards in your environment. 

If you are the administrator of a Splunk Enterprise deployment, you can check what HTML dashboards exist in your deployment by running the following search.

| rest splunk_server=local /servicesNS///data/ui/views search="eai:type=html" count=0
| rename title as view_name eai:acl.app as app eai:acl.owner as owner
| search owner=* app=*
| table view_name, owner, app
| join type=inner app
[ | rest splunk_server=local /servicesNS///apps/local count=0
| rename title as app label as app_label
| table app app_label]

If you are an app developer, you can check if you have any HTML dashboards by running the AppInspect API with the jquery check. The new check_html_dashboards detects if your application includes any HTML dashboards. This check will report as a WARN result until <date>, when this check will be updated to report as FAIL. 

How to Update Your HTML Dashboards

You have three options for updating your HTML dashboards.

The preferred and most durable option is to rebuild your HTML dashboard in Dashboard Studio. Splunk believes that Dashboard Studio provides the out of the box capabilities needed to cover most customization use cases (think: adding images, free placement of objects, and more). 

Another option is to rebuild your dashboard as a Simple XML dashboard, extended with Custom JS. Unfortunately, you must rebuild the dashboard as there is no way to convert an HTML dashboard back to Simple XML. 

The final option is to move your HTML files from /data/ui/html to /appserver/static/template and add a Single Page Application (SPA) view that specifies <view template="app-name:/static/template/path" type="html">. This option has the most overhead as you will be responsible for packaging all dependencies, and for managing future library updates. 

If you are an app developer, we encourage you to update your HTML dashboards and submit an updated version to retain compatibility with the Splunk Cloud Platform.

You can find more information about the jQuery update and HTML dashboard removal by visiting the developer docs portal. 

For Additional Information

For additional information about the jQuery update, check out the following resources:

• Developer docs page regarding the jQuery update
• Blog: Make Your App More Secure by Upgrading to jQuery Version 3.5 or Newer 
• Blog: How to Upgrade Your App to jQuery v3.5 or Newer