The airflow orchestrator allows for workflows to be programmatically authored, scheduled, and monitored.

Getting Started #

Prerequisites #

If you haven't already, follow the initial steps of the Getting Started guide:

  1. Install Meltano
  2. Create your Meltano project

Installation and configuration #

  1. Add the airflow orchestrator to your project using meltano add : 

    meltano add orchestrator airflow
  2. Configure the settings below using meltano config .

Next steps #

  1. Use the meltano schedule command to create pipeline schedules in your project, to be run by Airflow.

  2. If you’re running Airflow for the first time in a new environment, create an admin user:

    meltano invoke airflow:create-admin
# This is equivalent to `airflow users create` with some arguments in the Airflow documentation

  3. Launch the Airflow UI and log in using the username/password you created:

    meltano invoke airflow:ui

    By default, the UI will be available at at http://localhost:8080. You can change this using the webserver.web_server_port setting documented below.

  4. Start Scheduler or execute Airflow commands directly using the instructions in the Meltano docs.

If you run into any issues, learn how to get help.

Settings #

Meltano centralizes the configuration of all of the plugins in your project, including Airflow’s. This means that if the Airflow documentation tells you to put something in airflow.cfg, you can use meltano config, meltano.yml, or environment variables instead, and get the benefits of Meltano features like environments.

Any setting you can add to airflow.cfg can be added to meltano.yml, manually or using meltano config. For example, [core] executor = SequentialExecutor becomes meltano config airflow set core executor SequentialExecutor on the CLI, or core.executor: SequentialExecutor in meltano.yml. Config sections indicated by [section] in airflow.cfg become nested dictionaries in meltano.yml.

The settings for orchestrator airflow that are known to Meltano are documented below. To quickly find the setting you're looking for, use the Table of Contents at the top of the page.

DAGs Folder (core.dags_folder) #

  • Environment variable: AIRFLOW__CORE__DAGS_FOLDER, alias: AIRFLOW_CORE_DAGS_FOLDER
  • Default: $MELTANO_PROJECT_ROOT/orchestrate/dags

How to use #

Manage this setting using meltano config or an environment variable: 

meltano config airflow set core.dags_folder <core.dags_folder>

export AIRFLOW__CORE__DAGS_FOLDER=<core.dags_folder>

Plugins Folder (core.plugins_folder) #

  • Environment variable: AIRFLOW__CORE__PLUGINS_FOLDER, alias: AIRFLOW_CORE_PLUGINS_FOLDER
  • Default: $MELTANO_PROJECT_ROOT/orchestrate/plugins

How to use #

Manage this setting using meltano config or an environment variable: 

meltano config airflow set core.plugins_folder <core.plugins_folder>

export AIRFLOW__CORE__PLUGINS_FOLDER=<core.plugins_folder>

SQL Alchemy Connection (core.sql_alchemy_conn) #

  • Environment variable: AIRFLOW__CORE__SQL_ALCHEMY_CONN, alias: AIRFLOW_CORE_SQL_ALCHEMY_CONN
  • Default: sqlite:///$MELTANO_PROJECT_ROOT/.meltano/orchestrators/airflow/airflow.db

How to use #

Manage this setting using meltano config or an environment variable: 

meltano config airflow set core.sql_alchemy_conn <core.sql_alchemy_conn>

export AIRFLOW__CORE__SQL_ALCHEMY_CONN=<core.sql_alchemy_conn>

Load Examples (core.load_examples) #

  • Environment variable: AIRFLOW__CORE__LOAD_EXAMPLES, alias: AIRFLOW_CORE_LOAD_EXAMPLES
  • Default: false

How to use #

Manage this setting using meltano config or an environment variable: 

meltano config airflow set core.load_examples <core.load_examples>

export AIRFLOW__CORE__LOAD_EXAMPLES=<core.load_examples>

Pause DAGs at Creation (core.dags_are_paused_at_creation) #

  • Environment variable: AIRFLOW__CORE__DAGS_ARE_PAUSED_AT_CREATION, alias: AIRFLOW_CORE_DAGS_ARE_PAUSED_AT_CREATION
  • Default: false

How to use #

Manage this setting using meltano config or an environment variable: 

meltano config airflow set core.dags_are_paused_at_creation <core.dags_are_paused_at_creation>

export AIRFLOW__CORE__DAGS_ARE_PAUSED_AT_CREATION=<core.dags_are_paused_at_creation>

Webserver Port (webserver.web_server_port) #

  • Environment variable: AIRFLOW__WEBSERVER__WEB_SERVER_PORT, alias: AIRFLOW_WEBSERVER_WEB_SERVER_PORT
  • Default: 8080

How to use #

Manage this setting using meltano config or an environment variable: 

meltano config airflow set webserver.web_server_port <webserver.web_server_port>

export AIRFLOW__WEBSERVER__WEB_SERVER_PORT=<webserver.web_server_port>

Commands #

The airflow orchestrator supports the following commands that can be used with meltano invoke :

create-admin #

  • Equivalent to: airflow users create --username admin --firstname FIRST_NAME --lastname LAST_NAME --role Admin --email admin@example.org

Create an admin user.

How to use #

Run this command using meltano invoke: 

meltano invoke airflow:create-admin [additional arguments...]

ui #

  • Equivalent to: airflow webserver

Start the Airflow webserver.

How to use #

Run this command using meltano invoke: 

meltano invoke airflow:ui [additional arguments...]

Looking for help? #

If you're having trouble getting the airflow orchestrator to work, look for an existing issue in its repository, file a new issue, or join the Meltano Slack community and ask for help in the #plugins-general channel.

Found an issue on this page? #

This page is generated from a YAML file that you can contribute changes to. Edit it on GitHub!