Workflows

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workflows define a set of tasks that can be executed on a node or a group of nodes, and the execution order of these tasks, serially or in parallel. A task may be an operation (implemented by a plugin), but it may also be other actions, including arbitrary code.

Declaration

Mapping a workflow name to a workflow implementation in the blueprint is done in one of two ways:

Simple mapping maps a workflow name to its implementation method that does not accept parameters.

workflows:
  workflow_1: my_workflow_plugin_name.my_workflow_module_name.my_first_workflow_method
  workflow_2: my_workflow_plugin_name.my_workflow_module_name.my_seconde_workflow_method

Mapping with parameters maps a workflow name to a workflow implementation that uses parameters. Workflow parameters are structured as a schema map, in which each entry specifies the parameter schema.

workflows:
  workflow_1:
    mapping: my_workflow_plugin_name.my_workflow_module_name.my_workflow_method
    parameters:
      my_mandatory_parameter:
        description: this parameter is mandatory, it has no default value
      my_optional_parameter:
        description: this parameters is optional, if omitted it will take the default value
        default: optional_parameter_default_value

You cannot set the “mapping” key without also setting “parameters”. If your workflow method does not accept parameters, use the “simple mapping” format described above.

Schema

Keyname	Required	Type	Description
mapping	yes	string	A path to the method implementing this workflow. (In the “Simple mapping” format this value is set without explicitly using the “mapping” key.)
parameters	no	dict	A map of parameters to be passed to the workflow implementation.

Parameter Schema

Keyname	Required	Type	Description
description	no	string	An optional description for the input.
type	no	string	The required data type of the input. If you do not specify a data type, the type can be anything. Valid types: `string`, `integer`, `float`, `boolean`, `list`, `dict`, `regex` or a custom data type.
default	no	<any>	An optional default value for the input.

Example

In the following example, a workflow plugin named maintenance_workflows_plugin is defined, and two workflows refer to it.

The first workflow is named test_all_connections_workflow. It does’t accept parameters and so it just maps the relevant implementation - method validate_all_connections in module maintenance_workflows.

The second workflow is named test_connection_workflow. It is mapped to the validate_connection method in module maintenance_workflows, and accpets three parameters - protocol (a mandatory parameter), port (an optional parameter, defaulting to 8080) and connection_properties. The last parameter has a default value of a map, consisting of 2 entries - timeout_seconds and retry_attempts.

tosca_definitions_version: cloudify_dsl_1_2

imports:
  - http://www.getcloudify.org/spec/cloudify/3.2/types.yaml


plugins:
  maintenance_workflows_plugin:
    executor: central_deployment_agent
    source: http://example.com/url/to/plugin.zip

workflows:
  test_all_connections_workflow: maintenance_workflows_plugin.maintenance_workflows.validate_all_connections
  test_connection_workflow:
    mapping: maintenance_workflows_plugin.maintenance_workflows.validate_connection
    parameters:
      protocol:
        description: the protocol to use for connection
        type: string
      port:
        description: the port to use for connection
        default: 8080
      connection_properties:
        description: connection properties - timeout (in seconds) and retry attempts
        default:
          timeout_seconds: 60
          retry_attempts: 3

For further reading, refer to the Workflows section.