KNIME Documentation

How-to Guides ​

Creating Remote Execution Contexts ​

Add-on Feature

This feature is a paid add-on available for Business Hub Standard and Enterprise editions.

Administrators can create and manage remote execution contexts using the Hub UI.

Additional Option

This is available only for shared execution contexts created by Hub admins. It is possible to enable this feature for specific teams via the Hub API.

  1. Create a new execution context from the Hub UI (see instructions in the admin guide)

  2. When creating an execution context, switch Execution to Remote.

    Important

    This option can only be set during creation; you cannot change the executor provisioning mode for an existing context.

  3. After creation, the context will remain in a Not configured state until the first executor is added.

Installing the Executor Agent (Linux) ​

  1. Download and Install KNIME Analytics Platform (v5.8.1 or later):

    KNIME Analytics Platform Already Installed?

    If you already have an existing KNIME Analytics Platform installation on the machine, you can reuse it and skip the steps below. The executor requires KNIME Analytics Platform 5.8.1 or later, with the KNIME Executor Connector and the KNIME Remote Workflow Editor for Executor extensions installed. The full KNIME Analytics Platform distributions referenced in the steps below already include these extensions by default.

    • Download the latest KNIME Analytics Platform version
    shell
    curl -L -o knime-full-latest-linux.gtk.x86_64.tar.gz https://download.knime.com/analytics-platform/linux/knime-full-latest-linux.gtk.x86_64.tar.gz
    • Extract the archive into a directory named "knime"
    shell
    mkdir knime && tar xzf knime-full-latest-linux.gtk.x86_64.tar.gz -C knime --strip-components=1
    • (Optionally) Remove the downloaded archive
    shell
    rm knime-full-latest-linux.gtk.x86_64.tar.gz

  2. Download and Install KNIME Hub Executor Agent:

    • Download KNIME Hub Executor Agent version
    shell
    curl -L -o knime-hub-executor-agent_latest_Linux_amd64.tar.gz http://download.knime.com/knime-hub-executor-agent/knime-hub-executor-agent_latest_Linux_amd64.tar.gz
    • Extract the archive
    shell
    tar xzf knime-hub-executor-agent_latest_Linux_amd64.tar.gz
    • (Optionally) Remove the downloaded archive
    shell
    rm knime-hub-executor-agent_latest_Linux_amd64.tar.gz
    • Make the agent executable
    shell
    chmod +x knime-agent

  3. Configure the Agent:

    • Execute the command
    shell
    ./knime-agent configure --executor $PWD/knime/

    You will be prompted for the Hub URL and a connect token provided in the Hub UI.

    Important

    The value passed to --executor must be the path to the KNIME Analytics Platform installation directory (the directory containing the knime.ini file). Adjust the path if you bring your own installation or move the installation. An absolute path is recommended in case you want to run the agent as a service.

  4. Start the Agent:

    • Execute the command
    shell
    ./knime-agent start

    The status in the Hub UI will change from Offline to Running.

Installing the Executor Agent (Windows) ​

  1. Download and Install KNIME Analytics Platform (v5.8.1 or later):

    KNIME Analytics Platform Already Installed?

    If you already have an existing KNIME Analytics Platform installation on the machine, you can reuse it and skip the steps below. The executor requires KNIME Analytics Platform 5.8.1 or later, with the KNIME Executor Connector and the KNIME Remote Workflow Editor for Executor extensions installed. The full KNIME Analytics Platform distributions referenced in the steps below already include these extensions by default.

    • (Optionally) If the following download is slow, disabling the progress bar might speed it up
    powershell
    $ProgressPreference = 'SilentlyContinue'
    • Download the latest KNIME Analytics Platform version
    powershell
    Invoke-WebRequest -Uri https://download.knime.com/analytics-platform/win/knime-full-latest-win32.win32.x86_64.zip -OutFile knime-full-latest-win32.win32.x86_64.zip
    • Extract the archive to folder "knime"
    powershell
    Add-Type -AssemblyName System.IO.Compression.FileSystem ; [System.IO.Compression.ZipFile]::ExtractToDirectory("$PWD/knime-full-latest-win32.win32.x86_64.zip", "$PWD")
    • Rename the extracted folder to "knime"
    powershell
    Get-ChildItem -Directory -Filter 'knime-full_*' | Sort-Object LastWriteTime -Descending | Select-Object -First 1 | Rename-Item -NewName 'knime'
    • (Optionally) Remove the downloaded archive
    powershell
    Remove-Item knime-full-latest-win32.win32.x86_64.zip

  2. Install KNIME Hub Executor Agent:

    • Download KNIME Hub Executor Agent version
    powershell
    Invoke-WebRequest -Uri http://download.knime.com/knime-hub-executor-agent/knime-hub-executor-agent_latest_Windows_amd64.zip -OutFile knime-hub-executor-agent_latest_Windows_amd64.zip
    • Extract the archive
    powershell
    Add-Type -AssemblyName System.IO.Compression.FileSystem ; [System.IO.Compression.ZipFile]::ExtractToDirectory("$PWD/knime-hub-executor-agent_latest_Windows_amd64.zip", "$PWD")
    • (Optionally) Remove the downloaded archive
    powershell
    Remove-Item knime-hub-executor-agent_latest_Windows_amd64.zip

  3. Configure the Agent:

    • Execute the command
    powershell
    .\knime-agent.exe configure --executor $PWD\knime\

    You will be prompted for the Hub URL and a connect token provided in the Hub UI.

    Important

    The value passed to --executor must be the path to the KNIME Analytics Platform installation directory (the directory containing the knime.ini file). Adjust the path if you bring your own installation or move the installation. An absolute path is recommended in case you want to run the agent as a service.

  4. Start the Agent:

    • Execute the command
    powershell
    .\knime-agent.exe start

    The status in the Hub UI will change from Offline to Running.

Configuring the Agent as a System Service (Linux) ​

To ensure the Agent automatically starts upon host restart, create a systemd unit file at /etc/systemd/system/knime-agent.service:

shell
[Unit]
Description=KNIME Hub Executor Agent
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=<non-root user>
Group=<non-root group>
WorkingDirectory=<path to the agent>
ExecStart=<path to the agent>/knime-agent start
Restart=always

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Removing and Revoking Remote Executors ​

  • Revoking via Hub UI: Removing an executor in the Hub UI revokes its credentials. The installation on the remote machine remains, but future connection attempts will be rejected.
  • Decommissioning: If an agent is uninstalled or a machine is terminated, it will stay in the Hub UI as Offline. Administrators must explicitly remove it to clean up the entry and free up vCore licenses.

Enabling Remote Execution (On-Premise) ​

For on-prem installations, an administrator must enable the feature in the KOTS admin page by checking the Enable Remote Execution checkbox in the Remote Execution section.