Local Cluster

What is a local Cluster?

A local Cluster allows you to execute Flowgear Workflows entirely within your own network or on-premises environment. Unlike the cloud Cluster, where Workflows run on Flowgear's infrastructure, a local Cluster runs the entire Workflow on machines that you control.

This is useful when a Workflow needs access to on-premises resources such as the local file system, internal databases, or network services that are not exposed to the internet. A local Cluster does not require inbound firewall rules.

Note: In Flowgear v1, DropPoints provided access to on-premises data sources. In v2, local Clusters replace this concept. Rather than routing individual connector calls on-premises, the entire Workflow runs locally.

How it works

Each Workflow in Flowgear is assigned to a Cluster: either the cloud Cluster or one of your registered local Clusters. When a Workflow is executed, it runs entirely on the selected Cluster.

A local Cluster can contain multiple nodes to provide high availability for on-premises workloads.

When a Workflow calls another Workflow, execution can move between Clusters. E.g., a cloud Workflow can invoke a local Workflow, and a local Workflow can invoke a cloud Workflow.

Prerequisites

A Windows machine with administrator privileges.
Outbound access to port 443 from each machine that hosts the local Cluster.
The Cluster's config.json, downloaded from its detail page in the Flowgear Console. It contains all the keys the local Runtime needs. See Create a local Cluster for details.

Select a Cluster for a Workflow

After your local Cluster is registered, installed, and online, you can assign a Workflow to it in the Workflow designer.

In the Workflow designer toolbar, click Select Cluster, and then select the Cluster. All executions of that Workflow run on the selected Cluster.

Tip: The cloud Cluster is always available. A local Cluster appears after it has been registered.

Select Cluster dropdown in the Workflow designer

Get started

Follow these articles in order to set up a local Cluster:

Create a local Cluster to register it in the Flowgear Console.
Install a local Cluster to install it on a Windows machine.
Set up a local Cluster to configure and start the Windows service.