Netflix Conductor is a workflow orchestration engine that runs in the cloud. It allows you to orchestrate microservices and workflows with a visual workflow designer.

Features

Visual Workflow Designer: Drag-and-drop interface for building complex workflows
Microservice Orchestration: Coordinate multiple services with decision logic
Task Management: Built-in retry mechanisms and error handling
Scalable Architecture: Designed for high-throughput scenarios
REST API: Full REST API with SDKs for Java, Python, Go, C#
Monitoring: Real-time monitoring and metrics via Prometheus

Quick Start

Copy .env.example to .env:
```
cp .env.example .env
```
(Optional) Edit .env to customize database passwords and other settings
Start Conductor (note: first run will build the image, may take several minutes):
```
docker compose up -d
```
Wait for services to be healthy (check with docker compose ps)
Access Conductor UI at http://localhost:5000
API is available at http://localhost:8080

Default Configuration

Service	Port	Description
Conductor Server	8080	REST API
Conductor UI	5000	Web UI
PostgreSQL	5432	Database (internal)
Elasticsearch	9200	Search & indexing (internal)

Authentication: No authentication is configured by default. Add an authentication layer (reverse proxy with OAuth2, LDAP, etc.) in production.

Environment Variables

Key environment variables (see .env.example for full list):

Variable	Description	Default
`CONDUCTOR_SERVER_PORT_OVERRIDE`	Host port for API	`8080`
`CONDUCTOR_UI_PORT_OVERRIDE`	Host port for UI	`5000`
`POSTGRES_DB`	Database name	`conductor`
`POSTGRES_USER`	Database user	`conductor`
`POSTGRES_PASSWORD`	Database password	`conductor`
`ELASTICSEARCH_VERSION`	Elasticsearch version	`8.11.0`
`CONDUCTOR_LOG_LEVEL`	Log level	`INFO`
`TZ`	Timezone	`UTC`

Resource Requirements

Minimum:

CPU: 1 core
RAM: 1.5GB
Disk: 5GB

Recommended:

CPU: 4+ cores
RAM: 4GB+
Disk: 20GB+

Volumes

postgres_data: PostgreSQL database data
elasticsearch_data: Elasticsearch indices
conductor_logs: Conductor server logs

Using Conductor

Creating a Workflow

Access the UI at http://localhost:5000
Go to "Definitions" > "Workflow Defs"
Click "Define Workflow" and use the visual editor
Define tasks and their execution logic
Save and execute your workflow

Using the API

Example: Get server information

curl http://localhost:8080/api/

Example: List workflows

curl http://localhost:8080/api/metadata/workflow

SDKs

Conductor provides official SDKs:

Security Considerations

Authentication: Configure authentication for production use
Database Passwords: Use strong passwords for PostgreSQL
Network Security: Use firewall rules to restrict access
SSL/TLS: Enable HTTPS with a reverse proxy
Elasticsearch: Consider enabling X-Pack security for production

Upgrading

To upgrade Conductor:

Update version in .env file (if using versioned tags)

Pull latest image and restart:

docker compose pull
docker compose up -d

Check logs for any migration messages:

docker compose logs -f conductor-server

Troubleshooting

Service won't start:

Check logs: docker compose logs conductor-server
Ensure database is healthy: docker compose ps postgres
Verify Elasticsearch: docker compose ps elasticsearch

UI not accessible:

Check if port 5000 is available: netstat -an | findstr 5000
Verify service is running: docker compose ps conductor-server

Performance issues:

Increase resource limits in .env
Monitor Elasticsearch heap size
Check database connection pool settings

References

Official Website: https://conductor-oss.org
Documentation: https://docs.conductor-oss.org
GitHub: https://github.com/conductor-oss/conductor
Community: https://github.com/conductor-oss/conductor/discussions

License

Conductor is licensed under Apache-2.0. See LICENSE for more information.