Creating a New Farm

Updated: August 8, 2012

Workflow Configuration Wizard creates a new farm and assigns the server on which you have installed Workflow Manager to the new farm. You are required to run this process only once per farm, before you add nodes to the farm as described in Joining an Existing Farm or Managing Farms and Nodes.

You can create a farm using defaults for many of the required settings, or you can add additional customizations to the new farm by specifying values for those settings.

If an error occurs or you are forced to reboot during the farm creation, the farm management database that is created may be left in a corrupt state. In that case, when you try to join a farm the process may display an error that says that the machine you are trying to add to the farm is not a part of any farm. When you encounter such an error, you must drop the farm management database and recreate it before you can join any new nodes to the farm.

With Default Settings

When you create a new farm using the default configuration settings, both the Workflow Manager and Service Bus farms are created using the same settings. Use the following procedure to create a new farm and assign the Workflow Manager server to the farm using the default settings.

1. Web PI displays the following first page for the configuration wizard.

   

2. Select Configure Workflow Manager Farm with Default Settings (Recommended). New Farm Configuration page appears.

   

3. In the SQL SERVER INSTANCE text box, the name of the SQL Server instance on the current computer appears by default. To specify a different SQL Server, type the complete name of the SQL Server instance that will host the databases for the farm. Refer to the SQL Server section in System Requirements for understanding SQL Server requirements. To verify that the instance name you have entered points to a valid instance, click the Test Connection button to the right of the text box. A green check mark icon appears next to the button if the connection is made correctly. If an error occurs, a message will be displayed in the wizard.

   By default, the wizard connects to the SQL server using Windows Authentication with the account of the current user. SQL Authentication can be set by using the advanced options. If your SQL server requires SSL connections, you can enable it using the advanced options.

4. Under Configure Service Account, your user ID appears in the USER ID text box to identify the user account under which services run. To change the user ID for the user account, enter a new user ID in the USER ID text box. The user ID must be in the format username@domain-name or domain\user. Then enter the password for that user ID in the PASSWORD text box. The wizard validates the user ID and password combination and if it finds an error notifies you to re-enter the user ID and password. The same user credentials are used for Workflow Manager services and Service Bus services.

5. Under Certificate Generation Key, enter a key in the first text box, and then re-enter it one more time in the text box under CONFIRM CERTIFICATE GENERATION KEY to confirm the first key you entered. The wizard checks the keys to make sure that they match. If the keys do not match the wizard notifies you to re-enter the keys. Record the key for future use because you will need to provide it every time you add a new computer to this farm.

   The configuration cmdlets use this key for generating certificates. You can specify the custom certificate with the custom settings option.

6. Check Allow Workflow Management over HTTP on this computer if you want to allow HTTP access in addition to HTTPS access to the Workflow Manager endpoint. You must enable this option individually on each machine of the farm.

   Note

   Enabling HTTP support is not recommended in a production environment.

7. Check the Enable Firewall rules for this computer checkbox if you want to enable firewall rules. If firewall rules are not enabled, services required by Workflow Manager and Service Bus may fail to start.

8. Select Next. The wizard displays the Summary screen, which lists the values that you have entered along with the default values for the remaining configuration options. The screen also displays the configuration options and values for the farm as a whole and for Workflow Manager individually.

   The wizard will also validate if the configuration values are valid for this computer. With any error the wizard will display the error page and will not allow you to proceed further. You can either go back to change the configuration that is causing the error or, if possible, fix the error outside the wizard.

   For some errors it may not be possible to continue with the default configuration. For example, if the default port used for Workflow Manager management is blocked by some application it may not possible to get it unblocked. If it is not possible to continue with the default configuration you must create the new farm with custom settings.

   

   Tip

   If there are any errors that you fix outside the wizard, you can use the re-validate button to validate the configuration again.

   Tip

   If you want to configure using PowerShell, you can generate the script based on the current configuration on this page by clicking on Get PowerShell Commands link.

9. Click the Apply button to approve the listed options, to create the new farm, and to add the server to the new farm. Click the Back button to return to the New Farm Configuration page and to change the entries you have made.

Use Custom Settings

When you create a new farm using the custom configuration settings, the new farm may contain both the Workflow Manager and Service Bus.

1. When Web PI launches and displays the first page for the configuration wizard under Configure Workflow Farm Manager with Custom Settings, the Workflow Farm Configuration page appears.

2. Configure databases required for Workflow Manager.

   Workflow Manager requires three databases.

   • Farm management database that manages the farm configuration.

   • Instance manager database that contains information about each running and terminated instance of the currently running Workflow Manager.

   • Resource management database that manages the workflow artifacts in Workflow Manager.

   You can specify the SQL Server Instance and database name for each of these databases. In the SQL SERVER INSTANCE text box, the name of the SQL Server instance on the current computer appears by default. To specify a different SQL Server, type the complete name of the SQL Server instance that will host the databases for the farm. The current user needs to have SysAdmin privilege on this SQL Server instance. Refer to the SQL Server section in System Requirements for understanding SQL Server requirements.

   By default, the wizard connects to the SQL server using Windows Authentication with the account of the current user. SQL Authentication can be set by using the advanced options. If your SQL server requires SSL connections, you can enable it using the advanced options.

   To verify that the instance name you entered points to a valid instance and the specified database name exists, click the Test Connection button to the right of the text box. A green check mark icon appears next to the button if the connection is made correctly. If an error occurs, place the mouse cursor over the red X in the error message to see the reason for the connection failure.

   Check Use the above SQL server instance and settings for all databases checkbox if you want to use the same SQL server instance and associated settings for all databases.

3. Under Configure Service Account, your user ID appears in the USER ID text box to identify the user account under which services run. To change the user ID for the user account, enter a new user ID in the USER ID text box. The user ID must be in the format username@domain-name or domain\user. Then enter the password for that user ID in the PASSWORD text box. The wizard validates the user ID and password combination and if it finds an error notifies you to re-enter the user ID and password.

4. Under Configure Certificate you can specify whether the wizard should generate certificates for you or take certificates specified by you. The wizard will generate the certificates by default. In this case you will have to specify a certificate generation key. Enter the key in the CERTIFICATE GENERATION KEY text box, and re-enter it in the CONFIRM CERTIFICATE GENERATION KEY text box. The wizard checks the keys to make sure they match and notifies you to re-enter them if they do not. Record the key for future use because you will need to provide it every time you add a new computer to this Workflow Manager farm.

   If you clear the Auto-Generate checkbox, the wizard will allow you to specify two certificates. These certificates should already be installed on the Local Machine\Personal store. You will also need to install these certificates on all the computers in the farm. The following certificates are configured.

   • The Workflow Manager SSL certificate secures HTTPS communications between Workflow Manager and clients. Click the Browse button to select an existing certificate. Refer to the Certificates section in System Requirements to understand certificate requirements.

   • The Configure Workflow Outbound Signing Certificate option determines the certificate that Workflow Manager requires to secure communications between workflows. Click the Browse button to select an existing certificate. Refer to the Certificates section in System Requirements to understand certificate requirements.

   • The Encryption certificate is used for encrypting all of the Workflow connection strings stored in the Workflow Management database. Click the Browse button to select an existing certificate. Refer to the Certificates section in System Requirements for more information on certificate requirements.

5. In Configure Port you can specify the ports on which Workflow Manager listens to management requests. You can specify the HTTPS and HTTP ports for this purpose. If you want to enable HTTP access, check Allow Workflow Management over HTTP on this computer. You must enable this option individually on each machine of the farm.

   Note

   Enabling HTTP support is not recommended in a production environment.

6. Check the Enable Firewall rules for this computer checkbox if you want to enable firewall rules. If firewall rules are not enabled, services required by Workflow Manager and Service Bus may fail to start.

7. In the text box under Configure Admin Group enter the name of the user group. This is the user group for which you want to grant access for all databases that you are adding to the farm and service configuration.

   By default, the administrative group name is used. BUILTIN\Administrators appears by default. Every user in this group has administrative access to the databases that are part of the farm. If this group is local, ensure that the group also exists on all computers in the farm and on the SQL Server that you specified earlier.

   Click the Next link. The wizard displays the Service Bus Configuration page.

   

   The page displays configuration options for Service Bus. Each option has a default value already filled in.

8. Service Bus requires you to configure three databases:

   1. The farm management database for managing the farm configuration.

   2. The gateway database that load-balances and manages incoming Service Bus requests.

   3. The message container database that where Service Bus keeps its message queues and topics.

   You can specify SQL Server Instance and database name for each of these databases.

   In the SQL SERVER INSTANCE text box, the name of the SQL Server instance on the current computer appears by default. To specify a different SQL Server, type the complete name of the SQL Server instance that will host the databases for the farm. The current user needs to have SysAdmin privilege on this SQL Server instance. Refer to the SQL Server section in System Requirements for understanding SQL Server requirements.

   To verify that the instance name you entered points to a valid instance and the specified database name exists, click the Test Connection button to the right of the text box. A green check mark icon appears next to the button if the connection is made correctly. If an error occurs, hover the cursor over the red X in the error message to see the reason for the connection failure.

9. Under Configure Service Account, you can opt to use the same service account credentials as Workflow. The User ID of the current user appears in the USER ID text box to identify the user account under which Service Bus services will run. To change the user ID for the user account, enter a new user ID in the USER ID text box. The user ID must be in the format username@domain-name or domain\user. Then enter the password for that user ID in the PASSWORD text box. The wizard validates the user ID and password combination and if it finds an error notifies you to re-enter the user ID and password.

10. Under Configure Certificate you can specify whether the wizard should generate certificates for you or take certificates specified by you. The wizard will generate the certificates by default. In this case you will have to specify a certificate generation key. If you had provided a certificate generation key for Workflow, you can reuse the same key by checking the Use the same certificate generation key provided for Workflow. Otherwise, enter the key in the CERTIFICATE GENERATION KEY text box, and re-enter it in the CONFIRM CERTIFICATE GENERATION KEY text box. The wizard checks the keys to make sure they match and notifies you to re-enter them if they do not. Record the key for future use because you will need to provide it every time you add a new computer to this Workflow Manager farm.

    If you clear the Auto-Generate checkbox, the wizard will allow you to specify certificates required by Service Bus.

    1. The farm certificate secures HTTPS communications between Service Bus 1.0 and Workflow Manager. Click the Browse button to select an existing certificate. Refer to the Certificates section in System Requirements to understand certificate requirements.

11. The options under Configure Ports determine the TCP ports that Service Bus uses to communicate with its clients and the range of ports that Service Bus nodes use to communicate with one another. Under TCP PORT and COMMUNICATION PORT RANGE enter a TCP port number in the text box. The HTTPS port is used for SSL communication with Service Bus. The Message Broker port is used for message broker port communications. For COMMNICATION PORT RANGE the port number you enter represents the first of six ports that nodes can use to communicate.

12. Check the Enable Firewall rules for this computer checkbox if you want to enable firewall rules. If firewall rules are not enabled, services required by Workflow Manager and Service Bus may fail to start.

13. In the text box under Configure Admin Group, enter the name of the user group to which you want to grant access for all databases that you are adding to the farm and service configuration. By default, the administrative group name is used. BUILTIN\Administrators appears by default.

14. Select Next. The wizard displays the Summary page that lists the values that you have entered along with the default values for the remaining configuration options. The page displays the configuration options and values for the farm as a whole and for Workflow Manager.

    The wizard validates the configuration values for this computer. If there is any error, the wizard displays the page with an error and does not allow you to proceed further. You can either go back to change the configuration that is causing the error or, if possible, fix the error outside the wizard.

    Tip

    If there are any errors that you can fix outside the wizard, you can use the re-validate button to validate the configuration again.

    Tip

    If you want to configure using PowerShell, you can generate the script based on current configuration on this page by clicking on PowerShell Commands link.

15. Click the Apply button to add the server to the new farm, or Click the Back link to return to the Farm Configuration page and change the entries you made.

    The wizard displays the Configuration progress page that shows the installation progress and the details of the current installation operation in the Details list. If any errors occur during the installation, you can click the View log link to see which installation step caused the error.