Spring Cloud Data Flow | Spring Flo | Spring Framework Tutorial

Introduction

Spring Cloud Data Flow (SCDF) is a microservices-based framework that allows you to orchestrate data processing pipelines. It provides a simple way to deploy and manage data pipelines, whether the processing needs to be done in-stream or batch. This tutorial will take you through the setup, features, and examples of using Spring Cloud Data Flow.

Prerequisites

Before getting started with Spring Cloud Data Flow, ensure you have the following installed:

Java 8 or higher
Spring Boot CLI (optional, for running Spring Boot applications)
Docker (for running SCDF in a container)
Maven (for building projects)

Setting Up Spring Cloud Data Flow

You can run Spring Cloud Data Flow in various environments, including local, Cloud Foundry, or Kubernetes. For this tutorial, we will use Docker to set it up locally.

Step 1: Pull the Docker Image

Run the following command to pull the SCDF Docker image:

docker pull springcloud/spring-cloud-data-flow-server

Step 2: Start the Data Flow Server

Start the Data Flow server using Docker:

docker run -d -p 9393:9393 springcloud/spring-cloud-data-flow-server

After running the above command, open your browser and navigate to http://localhost:9393 to access the Spring Cloud Data Flow dashboard.

Creating a Stream

Streams in SCDF are composed of one or more processors, sources, and sinks. Let's create a simple stream that reads data from a source and processes it through a processor before sending it to a sink.

Example Stream

We will create a stream that reads from a time source, processes the data, and writes it to a log sink.

stream create --name time-log --definition "time | log" --deploy

This command creates a stream named time-log that uses the time source and the log sink. The --deploy flag tells SCDF to start the stream immediately.

Monitoring and Managing Streams

SCDF provides a user-friendly dashboard for monitoring and managing your streams. From the dashboard, you can see the status of your streams, view logs, and manage instances.

Viewing Stream Status

To view the status of your streams, you can click on the Streams tab in the SCDF dashboard. Here, you can see the health and status of each stream.

Conclusion

Spring Cloud Data Flow is a powerful tool for orchestrating data processing pipelines. In this tutorial, we covered the basics of setting up SCDF, creating a stream, and monitoring it through the dashboard. With SCDF, you can easily manage your data flows and integrate different data processing components in your applications.

For more advanced features, such as using external databases and custom applications, refer to the Spring Cloud Data Flow Documentation.

Spring Cloud Data Flow Tutorial