Installing ThingWorx Flow
Deployment Options
You can deploy ThingWorx Flow in one of the following ways:
On-Premise
ThingWorx Flow is available for an on-premise installation by customers when they purchase the Enterprise SCO and SCP editions of ThingWorx. Customers can choose to install this optional package immediately after installing ThingWorx Foundation they can install it later.
For example, you can install Kepware and ThingWorx Foundation to connect with and monitor factory equipment, and then later install the ThingWorx Flow package to connect with their MES or other production systems. A subset of the ThingWorx Foundation server OS and Database platforms is supported for the deployment of the ThingWorx Flow add-on packages.
For more information on the installation system requirements, refer to ThingWorx Flow server requirements.
In the PTC Azure Cloud Environment
ThingWorx Flow is also available in a PTC hosted Azure cloud environment. Note the following:
◦ It requires purchase of a ThingWorx Enterprise SCO or SCP hosting service. Both services include support of ThingWorx Flow capabilities.
◦ Each cloud service instance is dedicated to a customer account. This is different from a multitenant model where system performance and actions may be influenced by the activities of other tenants.
◦ The ability to connect with cloud-based system and device connectors is provided out of the box by PTC and its partners. Initially there is no support for connector additions for a custom system.
◦ The ability to connect with the on-premise systems and devices such as SAP and Windchill requires additional setup.
The ThingWorx Flow installer is available on the PTC Support Site for on-premise environments.
ThingWorx Flow installers are available for the following operating system and database combinations:
• Windows Server with PostgreSQL
• Windows Server with Microsoft SQL Server
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux with PostgreSQL
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux with Microsoft SQL Server
For detailed information about the supported versions of the operating system and database, see ThingWorx Flow server requirements.
You can install ThingWorx Flow on an existing instance of ThingWorx Foundation only. You have the following options to install ThingWorx Flow:
• Install ThingWorx Flow on the same machine as ThingWorx Foundation.
For detailed steps on installing ThingWorx Flow, depending on your database, see Installing ThingWorx Flow on PostgreSQL or Installing ThingWorx Flow on Microsoft SQL Server.
• Install ThingWorx Flow on a different machine than ThingWorx Foundation.
For a high-level overview of the steps, refer to Installing ThingWorx Flow on a different machine than ThingWorx Foundation.
• Install ThingWorx Flow in a ThingWorx HA environment.
For more information, see ThingWorx Flow in ThingWorx HA.
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• The ThingWorx Flow installer does not support a repeated execution unless all the artifacts from a previous installation are removed. Install ThingWorx Flow on a virtual machine snapshot that can be rolled back to a preinstallation state.
• With ThingWorx Flow 9.1, use the ThingWorx Flow automated uninstaller to uninstall ThingWorx Flow automatically.
For previous versions, the ThingWorx Flow installer does not support uninstallation. However, you can uninstall ThingWorx Flow manually.
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The ThingWorx Flow installer performs the following tasks:
• Installs ThingWorx Flow software.
• Sets up the ThingWorx Flow schema and tables in the database.
• Update the ThingWorx Foundation setting.
• Installs third-party software–
◦ For Windows: RabbitMQ, Nginx, Node.js, PM2, Erlang, 7–Zip, and Nssm
◦ For Linux: RabbitMQ, Nginx, Node.js, PM2, Erlang.
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The third-party softwares are downloaded from the internet. The installer downloads the version based on the logic mentioned in the instructions for Prerequisites for Installing or Upgrading ThingWorx Flow with No Internet Access on Linux machine. If you want to control the download version of the softwares, then install ThingWorx Flow with no internet access.
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ThingWorx Flow makes use of PM2 to manage Flow services. PM2 is a process manager library for the JavaScript runtime Node.js. PTC does not support the use of the PM2 “Web API” feature, hence it is disabled by default. PTC advises against enabling this feature.
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NodeJS versions for ThingWorx Flow Installation For Windows
ThingWorx Flow version | NodeJS version |
|---|---|
9.0.0 9.0.1 9.0.2 | node-v12.16.3 |
9.0.3 | node-v12.18.3 |
9.0.4 9.0.5 9.0.6 | node-v12.19.0 |
9.0.7 9.0.8 9.0.9 9.0.10 9.0.11 9.0.12 9.0.13 | node-v14.16.0 |
9.1.0 | node-v12.18.3 |
9.1.1 | node-v12.19.0 |
9.1.2 9.1.3 9.1.4 9.1.5 9.1.6 9.1.7 9.1.8 | node-v14.16.0 |
9.2.0 9.2.1 9.2.2 9.2.3 9.2.4 9.3.0 9.3.1 9.3.2 9.3.3 9.3.4 9.3.5 9.3.6 9.3.7 9.3.8 9.3.9 9.3.10 9.3.11 9.3.12 9.4.0 9.4.1 9.4.2 9.4.3 | node-v14.16.0 |
9.4.4 | node-v20.x |
NodeJS versions for ThingWorx Flow Installation For Linux
ThingWorx Flow version | NodeJS version |
|---|---|
9.0.0 9.0.1 9.0.2 9.0.3 9.0.4 9.0.5 | node 12.x |
9.0.6 9.0.7 9.0.8 9.0.9 9.0.10 9.0.11 9.0.12 9.0.13 | node 14.x |
9.1.0 9.1.1 | node 12.x |
9.1.2 9.1.3 9.1.4 9.1.5 9.1.6 9.1.7 9.1.8 | node 14.x |
9.2.0 9.2.1 9.2.2 9.2.3 9.2.4 9.3.0 9.3.1 9.3.2 9.3.3 9.3.4 9.3.5 9.3.6 9.3.7 9.3.8 9.3.9 9.3.10 9.3.11 9.3.12 9.4.0 9.4.1 9.4.2 9.4.3 | node 14.x |
9.4.4 | node 20.x |