Initial setup

This section covers the following topics:

Initial setup

This section provides instructions to guide you through your first steps in using CWM. This initial setup allows you to prepare your workplace and start executing workflows.

Use these guidelines to accomplish the following:

Procedure

  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

Install adapters and create workers.

First, you need to add and install adapters that allow workflows to interact with external systems. In this guide, it's assumed that you will use the default adapters shipped with CWM, or that you have custom adapters developed and ready to use. For execution of your adapter activities and code, you need workers. You can create a worker directly during adapter installation.

Step 2

Configure secrets and resources.

Adapters mostly communicate with external entities via APIs, and they need to have connection data, like port or host, and authentication data, like username with password. This information is kept in secrets and resources. The structure and schema for each resource and secret type are defined in the adapter files. As an operator, you can add secrets and resources to CWM. Once created, they can be reused by different workflow definitions and passed on when needed.

Step 3

Add your workflow definition.

Workflow definitions, often referred to as workflows, are pieces of code intended to automate operations. They are written in JSON or YAML and follow the Serverless Workflow Specification. Before workflows can be executed, they must be to be added to CWM.

When you complete this setup you are ready to run your first job.

Install an adapter

Follow these steps to upload an adapter file and then install (deploy) it.

Procedure

  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

In CWM, choose Administration > Workflow Administration > Adapters.

Step 2

Click the Add adapter button.

Step 3

In the Install adapter window, click on or drag an installable adapter file to the file uploader area and then click Install Adapter. You can find adapter files in the CWM software package.

Note

 

The only supported installable adapter file format is tar.gz.

Step 4

After the adapter file is uploaded to the CWM database, optionally tick Automatically create worker for this adapter checkbox if you want to create one, then click Install Adapter to finish the installation process.

If the installation is interrupted or you chose Cancel, the adapter will be added to the CWM database and visible in the adapters list, but will not be installed and will be unusable by workflows. If you canceled the installation intentionally and want to remove the adapter from the list, click Delete under the Actions column.

Step 5

If your adapter was installed, you should see the message "Your_adapter's_name has been fully installed!". Click Done.

Adapter not installed: If the process failed or was interrupted, you can finalize it later by clicking the Install button under the Actions column.

Set adapter as default for associated activities

You can set which adapter should be the default one for associated activities. To do so, follow the steps below.

Procedure
  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

In CWM, choose Administration > Workflow Administration > Adapters

Step 2

In the Adapters list, click the name of the chosen adapter to open the adapter's details view.

Step 3

In Use as default version, select True.

Step 4

Click Save Changes.

After setting the adapter as the default one, you should see a relevant status under Set as default column on the adapters list.

Delete adapter

You can delete an adapter if it has the status Not in use under the In Use column in the adapters list.

You cannot delete an adapter that is in use by one or more running workflows. The adapter will be shown with an In use status and the Delete button will be disabled. To delete the adapter, you must first terminate the running workflows and remove the associated workers.

Procedure
  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

In CWM, choose Administration > Workflow Administration > Adapters.

Step 2

In the Adapters list, find the adapter you want to remove and click the Delete button in the same row under the Actions column.

Step 3

In the Delete Adapter window, confirm by clicking the Delete Adapter button.

Add worker

This topic explains how to create a worker in CWM.

Before you begin

Be sure to add and deploy one or more adapters.

Procedure

  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

In CWM, choose Administration > Workflow Administration > Workers.

Step 2

In the Workers view, click Add worker.

Step 3

In the Create new worker window, provide the required input:

  • Worker name: Type a name for your worker; for example, MyNewWorker. Once created, it cannot be modified.

  • Start worker after creation: Check the checkbox to automatically start the worker as soon as you click Create worker.

  • Activities: Check the checkboxes for selected adapter activities you want to assign to your worker, then click the right-pointing arrow to and move them to the selected field . In our example, a worker for the Generic Rest adapter's activities is created.

If you want to remove any of the previously selected activities from the worker, check the checkbox next to each selected activity you want to remove and then use the left-pointing arrow to remove it.

Step 4

Click Create worker.

Create secrets and resources

The following topics explain how to add secrets and resources to CWM. Be sure to upload adapters with workers, and add secrets before adding resources, as resources use secrets.

Add a secret

Procedure
  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

In CWM, choose Administration > Workflow Administration > Secrets

Step 2

In the Secrets view, click Add secret.

Step 3

In the New secret view, provide the required input:

  • Secret ID: Enter a unique name for your secret.

  • Secret type: Select a Secret type from the drop-down menu. Secret types are defined in adapters and are added during adapter installation.

Step 4

After selecting the secret type, CWM displays a set of additional fields (for example, Username and Password) in the Secret type details section. The adapter specifies these detail fields, and they will vary with the adapter and secret type. Fill in the fields with values, as appropriate.

Step 5

Click Create Secret.

Once you've added a secret and its details, create a resource in CWM and associate it with the secret, as explained in Add a resource.

Add a resource

Before you begin

Ensure that you have already created a secret, as explained in Add a secret

Procedure
  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

In CWM, choose Workflow Administration > Resources

Step 2

In the Resources view, click Add resource.

Step 3

In the New resource view, provide the required input:

  • Resource name: Enter a unique name for your resource. Once created, it cannot be modified.

  • Resource type: Select a Resource type from the drop-down menu. Resource types are defined inside adapters and are added to during adapter installation.

Step 4

After selecting the Resource type, the Connection section displays a set of additional fields (for example, host and port) . The adapter specifies these extra fields, and they will vary with the adapter and resource type. Fill in the fields with appropriate information.

Step 5

Select a Secret ID from the drop-down menu to associate a previously created secret with this resource.

Step 6

Click the Create resource button.

You are not required to fill in the Secret ID and Connection details when creating the resource. You can insert the proper values later, but you must fill them in before attempting to use the resource or it will not work properly.

Once created, your resource is displayed on the list in the main Resources view.

Add workflow

This topic explains how to add a workflow definition to CWM.


Note

These steps create a workflow entry in CWM with dummy code that needs further editing. After you create the workflow, go to the Designer tab to insert your workflow definition.

Procedure

  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

In CWM, choose Design > Workflows.

Step 2

Click Create workflow.

Step 3

In the Create workflow page, provide the required input:

  • Workflow definition name: Enter the name for your workflow definition, for example, test_workflow.

  • Version: Enter your workflow definition version, for example, 1.0.

Step 4

Click Create.

Workflow editing

Procedure
  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

To edit an existing workflow, first choose Design > Workflows to display the Workflows list.

Step 2

In the list, find the workflow definition you want to edit. Then click on that definition's Workflow name to display the workflow's Details tab. You can then:

  • Change the Workflow definition name.

  • Change the workflow's Version number.

  • Change, delete, or add new Tags to the workflow. To add more workflow tags, separate them with a comma. Workflow tags are separate from job tags, and are passed to every execution of this workflow definition (job run). You can edit workflow tags from the workflow definition details level, but once you add them to a run, they cannot be changed.

  • Add or edit the workflow's Description.

  • Use form as input. The form you set as input to the workflow must already exist.

Step 3

To edit the workflow definition itself, click the Designer tab By default, after creating a new workflow, the Code view contains a dummy piece of code that you need to replace with the actual developed workflow definition in JSON format, based on the Serverless Workflow Specification.

Step 4

After making your changes, you can:

  • Back: Reject all the changes and go back to the previous page.

  • Delete: Remove the workflow definition from CWM.

  • Save Changes: Save the changes for the current workflow definition.

  • Save as new workflow: Createsa new workflow definition with inserted changes and keep the previously saved version of the workflow definition (do not overwrite the changes on the same workflow definition, but create a separate, new workflow definition).

  • Run: Execute the workflow definition as a single job.

Note

 

You can update the workflow definition and up-version it without affecting the currently running job.

Workflow designer

With Designer, you can view a graphic representation of your workflow code.

To use the Designer, choose Design > Workflows, click on any workflow to see its details, then click the Designer tab.

The Designer provides multiple viewing options for your workflow:

  • View modes: Use the toggle buttons at the top to switch between:

    • Code view: displays the workflow's code.

    • Graph view: visualizes the workflow as a graph.

    • Split view: shows both the code and graph side by side.

  • Graph controls:

    • Click the magnifying glass icons to zoom in or out.

    • Enable dark mode by clicking the brush icon.

  • Top-Right controls:

    • Errors: Show or hide OnErrors definitions.

    • Compensation: Show or hide compensation actions.

    • Validate definition: Check for syntax errors, missing required fields, and other issues in the workflow.

      Successful validation is required in order to save the workflow definition.

Inside a node

Nodes are the visualized steps of a workflow. The main element of a node is the state. States are represented inside state headers along with a label denoting the timeout defined for the particular state (if timeout is given):

If an action is defined inside the state, it is displayed under the state header along with the name of the adapter that is assigned to perform it:

An event might be assigned to an action. In this case it will be represented by a green tag under the action element.

If a child workflow is defined inside a state, it is displayed as an action element under the state header with an icon:

Data conditions are represented as decision points, displayed along the arrows branching down from one node to another within the tree. If a condition is marked as default, it will be shown inside a green label with a green checkmark icon.

Bulk tags editing

You can edit Tags for many workflow definitions at once. You can also add one or more Tags to all selected workflows or remove all Tags by resetting them.

Procedure
  Command or Action Purpose

Step 1

In CWM, choose Design > Workflows.

Step 2

Select chosen workflows by checking the checkbox on the left side of the Workflows table, then click on the Edit tags button.

Step 3

In the Edit tags window, under the Select action section, click on the chosen radio button, depending on whether you plan to add tags or reset them:

  • Add tags to all: Assign one or more tags (separated by a comma) to all selected workflows.

  • Reset tags for all: Remove all tags for selected workflows.

Step 4

Click Save.

You can see the result under the Workflow tags column.