Using bundled plugins with a PVC

[dadez]

Describe the bug
I have a container, based on upstream grafana 11.2.0 where I install the plugin yesoreyeram-infinity-datasource
When I run this container locally docker run, the plugin is available in grafana.

docker run log output: we can see that the plugin is registered and that 55 plugins are loaded

logger=plugin.store t=2024-08-30T10:53:54.024854111Z level=info msg="Loading plugins..."
logger=plugins.registration t=2024-08-30T10:53:54.048655368Z level=error msg="Could not register plugin" pluginId=xychart error="plugin xychart is already registered"
logger=plugins.initialization t=2024-08-30T10:53:54.048695303Z level=error msg="Could not initialize plugin" pluginId=xychart error="plugin xychart is already registered"
logger=local.finder t=2024-08-30T10:53:54.048732386Z level=warn msg="Skipping finding plugins as directory does not exist" path=/usr/share/grafana/plugins-bundled
logger=plugins.registration t=2024-08-30T10:53:54.135233713Z level=info msg="Plugin registered" pluginId=yesoreyeram-infinity-datasource
logger=plugin.store t=2024-08-30T10:53:54.135264186Z level=info msg="Plugins loaded" count=55 duration=110.410619ms

When I run this container on OpenShift into a Grafana instance managed by the grafana-operator, the plugin is missing
cotainer start log: no information about the plugin registration, only 54 plugins are loaded.

logger=plugin.store t=2024-08-30T11:06:37.020928461Z level=info msg="Loading plugins..."
logger=plugins.registration t=2024-08-30T11:06:37.054597216Z level=error msg="Could not register plugin" pluginId=xychart error="plugin xychart is already registered"
logger=plugins.initialization t=2024-08-30T11:06:37.054621428Z level=error msg="Could not initialize plugin" pluginId=xychart error="plugin xychart is already registered"
logger=local.finder t=2024-08-30T11:06:37.054684443Z level=warn msg="Skipping finding plugins as directory does not exist" path=/usr/share/grafana/plugins-bundled
logger=plugin.store t=2024-08-30T11:06:37.054696715Z level=info msg="Plugins loaded" count=54 duration=33.768951ms

The folder /var/lib/grafana/plugins is empty in the container.

Version
v5.8.0

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. build a container based on grafana/grafana:11.2.0 and install the plugin with grafana cli plugins install yesoreyeram-infinity-datasource 2.9.5
2. Setup / upgrade a Grafana instance using this image
3. Search for the pluing in grafana
4. List the content of folder $GF_PATHS_PLUGINS (/var/lib/grafana/plugins)

Expected behavior
The content of the $GF_PATHS_PLUGINS should not be empty and the plugin should be available for use in grafana.
It should be possible to manage plugins without any internet access.

Suspect component/Location where the bug might be occurring
unknown

Screenshots
If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem.

Runtime (please complete the following information):

• OS: [linux manjaro (for docker run only)]
• Grafana Operator Version [v5.8.0]
• Environment: [Openshift 4.14.25]
• Deployment type: [olm]

Additional context

• /var/lib/grafana is mounted as pvc
• our grafana instance has no internet connection, therefore the installation of plugins described in https://grafana.github.io/grafana-operator/docs/datasources/#plugins is not an option
• It works using the same container ,on the same platform installing a bitnami based helm chart
• Setting public_key_retrieval_disabled to true and allow_loading_unsigned_plugins to yesoreyeram-infinity-datasource did not help

[theSuess]

Hey, based on the additional context, you're using a PVC for /var/lib/grafana. This results in Kubernetes mounting the volume at that point, overriding any contents of the container in subdirectories.
To resolve this, you can either reconfigure the container to look for plugins elsewhere or install the plugin into the PVC

[dadez]

Thank you very much @theSuess.
I have now build a new docker image where I set the GF_PATHS_PLUGINS to another path, and install the plugin there.