Training Agenda

Here is a customizable Flux training outline. This outline can also be customized as needed and does not have to be delivered in the order shown.

First Session (2 Hours)

Installing Flux

• Choosing the installation package
• Installing Flux as a service
  • Service configuration files
• Stopping and starting Flux
  • How Flux handles active transactions at shutdown
• Installing Flux database tables

Introduction to Flux Architecture

• Engines
• Agents
• Operations Console
• Database

Workflows

• How are workflows created?
• Invoking system commands/scripts via Process Action
• Time-based Schedules
  • “One-shot” vs. recurring schedules
  • Time expressions
    • Forecasting jobs
    • Managing the late time window
• Administering jobs from the Operations Console and API

Second Session (2 Hours)

Workflows (Continued)

• Business hour scheduling
• Administering Deadlines
• Administering the Repository
• Prioritizing workflows
• Concurrency settings and workflow throttling
• Assigning tasks to remote servers
• Creating job dependencies
• Workflow states and transitions
• Variable management
• Signals
• Process action – destroy on timeout, interrupt
• Audit trail trigger
• Editing existing workflows
• Rescheduling workflows
• For each collection element action
• Forecasting from the Console
• Rescheduling jobs
  • Workflow structure cannot be changed
• Invoking Java code
• Administering the Java class path

Flows

• Conditions
• Timeouts
• Signals
• Transaction Breaks
• Concurrency
• Error handling

Third Session (2 Hours)

File Transfer

• Host Types
  • Local
  • FTP
  • SFTP
  • FTPS
  • UNC
  • Amazon S3
• Viewing and using file action results
• Timeouts and notifications
• Using the runtime configuration to specify environmental connection parameters

Java Actions

• Best practices
• Sending and receiving data

Namespaces

• Best practices
• Multiple instances of similar workflows with unique data

Fourth Session (2 Hours)

Configuring Flux

• Configuring the engine
  • Database settings
    • Data sources
  • Cache settings
  • Clustering
    • Load Balancing
    • High Availability
    • Failover
• Setting the runtime configuration
  • Dynamic throttling
  • Class path
  • Error handling

Operations Console Administration

• Understanding the .flux directory
• Securing the Console
• Customizing the Console
  • Users
  • Roles
  • Privileges

Common Pitfalls — Administration

• Mismatched flux.jar files
• Flux license key errors
• Database Pool Size to Support Flux and Other Applications
• Late time window

Monitoring Performance and Troubleshooting

• Memory heap dumps
• Thread dumps
• Viewing Flux logs
  • File system
  • Operations Console
  • Database
• Audit Trail
• Run and Metric Reporting
• Monitoring with JConsole
  • Remote monitoring with -Dcom.sun.management.jmxremote.port=
• Finding your Java PID
  • jps -l -m
• Generating heap dumps with jmap
  • jmap -dump:file=
• Viewing heap dumps
  • jhat
    • jhat
  • Eclipse MAT
• Generating thread dumps
  • jstack
    • jstack
  • command line
    • kill -QUIT
      • (generates to stdout wherever the engine is running)

Tuning the JVM

• Recommended JVM settings for Flux

Upgrading Flux

• Shut down all Flux components
• Download new Flux release
• Install new database schema
• Migration tool
• Start new Flux release

Fifth Session (2 Hours)

Common Pitfalls

• Reimplementing Flux Features
• Trigger Polling Delays
• Not Closing Iterators in try/finally Blocks
• Using Engine.getFlowCharts() instead of Engine.getFlowChartElements()
• Excessive Transaction Breaks
• Start and End of Run

Custom Actions

• Developing custom actions
• Best practices

Sixth Session (2 Hours)

Command Line Interface

• Interacting with workflows
• Publishing workflows from .ffc
• Checking engine status

Architecture

• The Flux Engine
  • Embedding the engine
    • Embedding in Java
    • As a servlet
  • Security
    • Built-in Flux Security
    • LDAP
  • Remote and local engines
    • Disabling network connectivity
  • Databases
    • Explanation of primary database tables
  • Transactional support
    • Standalone transactions
    • XA transactions
  • Caching
    • Local
    • Networked
    • None
  • Clustering and failover
  • Flux clients
    • Agents
    • Operations Console
    • API
  • Workflows as XML
  • Overview of triggers and actions

Seventh and Eight Sessions (2 Hours Each)

Remote API

• Use Chrome’s DEV HTTP Client to invoke REST methods on the engine.

Review

• Follow-up on topics discussed in previous sessions, review outstanding questions, and workflow design.