Install a flow runtime as a Windows Service

Prerequisites

A platform that supports the minimum requirements is required.

Step 1: Download the installer

1. Login to flow manager.

2. From the Register Nodes tab on the Nodes page, download the Windows installer.

3. Select Advanced settings to show downloadable files.

4. Download the file for the version required to install.

5. Unzip it in a directory (persistent and not a temp directory) on the local host server to store configuration data used by the flow runtime.

   Note: Nodes:Create permission to access the Register Nodes tab is required.

Step 2: Install the Windows server

Important: Be aware of the 260-character path length limitation on most Windows systems and therefore avoid overly nested directories by keeping the installation path as short as possible—ideally under 100 characters for the flow runtime root folder (Host). For example use a local folder named C:\Flows.

6. When extracting the downloaded archive, navigate to \Flows.EdgeNode.Service.Windows.5.0.0\WinService, and extract the content to the desired destination, for example C:\Flows.

7. Find the installation script in C:\Flows\WinService\InstallWindowsService.ps1.

8. To install the flow runtime, open a PowerShell window as Administrator, where the installer is stored. Then run:

   .\InstallWindowsService.ps1

9. Enter the NodeId and AccessKey obtained when registering the flow runtime in flow manager. Only single flow runtime credentials can be used with the Windows Service installer.

10. Type run start the service. If skipped, the service will just be installed. Later, open the Services app to start the service.

Note: The installer is implemented as a PowerShell script, therefore scripting must be enabled in PowerShell for scripts downloaded from the Internet. Check the current execution policy with:

Get-ExecutionPolicy

Ensure it is one of UnRestricted or Bypass, if not use the following command to change it:

Set-ExecutionPolicy -Scope Process UnRestricted

If needed, unblock the installation script using:

Unblock-File .\InstallWindowsService.ps1

Step 3: Python setup (optional)

To use the Python Bridge module, Python 3.x must be installed. The path to the Python interpreter must be configured in the appsettings.json file, which can be found in the Host\data folder, the same directory where the flow runtime is installed. In the ExternalPrograms section modify the path to the Python executable.

If unsure about the path to the executable, use the following command from a Windows Command Line or Powershell:

PS C:\Users\myuser> python -c 'import os, sys; print(os.path.dirname(sys.executable))'

C:\Program Files\Python311

The appsettings.json file will update to show this:

{

"EdgeNodeConfiguration": {

"SERVER_CONFIGURATION_VERSION": 2.9,

"LogLevel": "Information",

"ExternalPrograms": {

"Python3": "C:/Program Files/Python311/python.exe"

}

Alternatively, add the path to the Python executable as a an environment variable:

$env:python3Path = 'C:/Program Files/Python311/python.exe'

Afterwards, restart the flow runtime service.

Python Bridge Module > 6.0.0

The Module installs the required packages (grpcio and protobuf) automatically.

For any dependency or compatibility issue, install the packages manually:

pip install grpcio protobuf

or

conda install -c grpcio protobuf

Python Bridge Module < 6.0.0

The Module requires paho-mqtt=1.6.1 and does not install the required packages automatically.
To install the packages run:

pip install paho-mqtt==1.6.1

or

conda install -c sci-bots paho-mqtt==1.6.1

Note that paho-mqtt=2.x.x is not supported.

Step 4: Error check

11. Validate that a green checkmark appears next to the flow runtime on the Nodes or Dashboard pages.

12. If no errors are reported, then the flow runtime is successfully running and connected to Flow manager.

Next, build and deploy flows on the new Flow runtime.