The FlowX Reporting solution provides powerful data analytics and visualization capabilities for your FlowX platform. This guide offers step-by-step instructions for setting up and configuring all components of the reporting system.

The reporting solution consists of three main components:

  • Reporting Plugin: Extracts and processes data from the FlowX Engine
  • Spark Application: Handles data transformation and loading operations
  • Apache Superset: Provides the visualization interface and dashboard capabilities

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Dependencies

The reporting plugin, available as a Docker image, requires the following dependencies:

  • PostgreSQL: Dedicated instance for reporting data storage.
  • Reporting-plugin Helm Chart:
    • Utilizes a Spark Application to extract data from the FLOWX.AI Engine database and populate the Reporting plugin database.
    • Utilizes Spark Operator (more info here).
  • Superset:
    • Requires a dedicated PostgreSQL database for its operation.
    • Utilizes Redis for efficient caching.
    • Exposes its user interface via an ingress.

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Prerequisites

Before starting the installation, ensure you have:

  • Kubernetes cluster with Helm installed
  • Access to PostgreSQL databases for:
    • FlowX Engine database (source)
    • Reporting database (destination)
    • Superset metadata database
  • Docker registry access for the reporting images
  • Redis instance for Superset caching
  • Ingress controller for exposing Superset UI

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Reporting plugin helm chart configuration

Configuring the reporting plugin involves several steps:

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Installation of Spark Operator

  1. Install the Spark Operator using Helm:
helm install local-spark-release spark-operator/spark-operator \
--namespace spark-operator --create-namespace \
--set webhook.enable=true \
--set logLevel=6
  1. Apply RBAC configurations:
kubectl apply -f spark-rbac.yaml
  1. Build the reporting image:
docker build ...

  1. Update the reporting-image URL in the spark-app.yml file.

  2. Configure the correct database ENV variables in the spark-app.yml file (check them in the above examples with/without webhook).

  3. Deploy the application:

kubectl apply -f operator/spark-app.yaml

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Spark Operator deployment options

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Without webhook

For deployments without a webhook, manage secrets and environmental variables for security:

sparkApplication: #Defines the Spark application configuration.
  enabled: "true" #Indicates that the Spark application is enabled for deployment.
  schedule: "@every 5m" #A cronJob that should run at every 5 minutes.
  driver: # This section configures the driver component of the Spark application.
    envVars: #Environment variables for driver setup.
      ENGINE_DATABASE_USER: flowx
      ENGINE_DATABASE_URL: postgresql:5432
      ENGINE_DATABASE_NAME: process_engine
      ENGINE_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres # To set the type of engine database, can be also changed to oracle
      REPORTING_DATABASE_USER: flowx
      REPORTING_DATABASE_URL: postgresql:5432
      REPORTING_DATABASE_NAME: reporting
      REPORTING_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_USER: postgres
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_URL: localhost:5439
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_NAME: app_manager
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres
      ENGINE_DATABASE_PASSWORD: "password"
      REPORTING_DATABASE_PASSWORD: "password"
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_PASSWORD: "password"

  executor: #This section configures the executor component of the Spark application.
    envVars: #Environment variables for executor setup.
      ENGINE_DATABASE_USER: flowx
      ENGINE_DATABASE_URL: postgresql:5432
      ENGINE_DATABASE_NAME: process_engine
      ENGINE_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres # To set the type of engine database, can be also changed to oracle
      REPORTING_DATABASE_USER: flowx
      REPORTING_DATABASE_URL: postgresql:5432
      REPORTING_DATABASE_NAME: reporting
      REPORTING_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_USER: postgres
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_URL: localhost:5439
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_NAME: app_manager
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres
      ENGINE_DATABASE_PASSWORD: "password"
      REPORTING_DATABASE_PASSWORD: "password"
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_PASSWORD: "password"

NOTE: Passwords are currently set as plain strings, which is not secure practice in a production environment.

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With webhook

When using the webhook, employ environmental variables with secrets for a balanced security approach:

sparkApplication:
  enabled: "true"
  schedule: "@every 5m"
  driver:
    env: #Environment variables for driver setup with secrets.
      ENGINE_DATABASE_USER: flowx
      ENGINE_DATABASE_URL: postgresql:5432
      ENGINE_DATABASE_NAME: process_engine
      ENGINE_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres # To set the type of engine database, can be also changed to oracle     
      REPORTING_DATABASE_USER: flowx
      REPORTING_DATABASE_URL: postgresql:5432
      REPORTING_DATABASE_NAME: reporting
      REPORTING_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_USER: postgres
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_URL: localhost:5439
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_NAME: app_manager
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres
    extraEnvVarsMultipleSecretsCustomKeys: 
      - name: postgresql-generic
        secrets: #Secrets retrieved from a generic source.
          ENGINE_DATABASE_PASSWORD: postgresql-password
          REPORTING_DATABASE_PASSWORD: postgresql-password
          APPLICATION_DATABASE_PASSWORD: postgresql-password
  executor:
    env: #Environment variables for executor setup with secrets.
      ENGINE_DATABASE_USER: flowx
      ENGINE_DATABASE_URL: postgresql:5432
      ENGINE_DATABASE_NAME: process_engine
      ENGINE_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres # To set the type of engine database, can be also changed to oracle
      REPORTING_DATABASE_USER: flowx
      REPORTING_DATABASE_URL: postgresql:5432
      REPORTING_DATABASE_NAME: reporting
      REPORTING_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_USER: postgres
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_URL: localhost:5439
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_NAME: app_manager
      APPLICATION_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres
    extraEnvVarsMultipleSecretsCustomKeys:
      - name: postgresql-generic
        secrets: #Secrets retrieved from a generic source.
          ENGINE_DATABASE_PASSWORD: postgresql-password
          REPORTING_DATABASE_PASSWORD: postgresql-password
          APPLICATION_DATABASE_PASSWORD: postgresql-password

In Kubernetes-based Spark deployments managed by the Spark Operator, you can define the sparkApplication configuration to customize the behavior, resources, and environment for both the driver and executor components of Spark jobs. The driver section allows fine-tuning of parameters specifically pertinent to the driver part of the Spark application.

Below are the configurable values within the chart values.yml file (with webhook):

apiVersion: "sparkoperator.k8s.io/v1beta2"
kind: ScheduledSparkApplication
metadata:
  name: reporting-plugin-spark-app
  namespace: dev
  labels:
    app.kubernetes.io/component: reporting
    app.kubernetes.io/instance: reporting-plugin
    app.kubernetes.io/managed-by: Helm
    app.kubernetes.io/name: reporting-plugin
    app.kubernetes.io/release: 0.0.1-FLOWXRELEASE
    app.kubernetes.io/version: 0.0.1-FLOWXVERSION
    helm.sh/chart: reporting-plugin-0.1.1-PR-9-4-20231122153650-e
spec:
  schedule: '@every 5m'
  concurrencyPolicy: Forbid
  template:
    type: Python
    pythonVersion: "3"
    mode: cluster
    image: eu.gcr.io/prj-cicd-d-flowxai-jx-6401/reporting-plugin:0.1.1-PR-9-4-20231122153650-eb6c
    imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
    mainApplicationFile: local:///opt/spark/work-dir/main.py
    sparkVersion: "3.1.1"
    restartPolicy:
      type: Never
      onFailureRetries: 0
      onFailureRetryInterval: 10
      onSubmissionFailureRetries: 5
      onSubmissionFailureRetryInterval: 20
    driver:
      cores: 1
      coreLimit: 1200m
      memory: 512m
      labels:
        version: 3.1.1
      serviceAccount: spark
      env:
        ENGINE_DATABASE_USER: flowx
        ENGINE_DATABASE_URL: postgresql:5432
        ENGINE_DATABASE_NAME: process_engine
        ENGINE_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres # To set the type of engine database, can be also changed to oracle
        REPORTING_DATABASE_USER: flowx
        REPORTING_DATABASE_URL: postgresql:5432
        REPORTING_DATABASE_NAME: reporting
        REPORTING_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres
        APPLICATION_DATABASE_USER: postgres
        APPLICATION_DATABASE_URL: localhost:5439
        APPLICATION_DATABASE_NAME: app_manager
        APPLICATION_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres
        ENGINE_DATABASE_PASSWORD: "password"
        REPORTING_DATABASE_PASSWORD: "password"
        APPLICATION_DATABASE_PASSWORD: "password"
    extraEnvVarsMultipleSecretsCustomKeys: 
      - name: postgresql-generic
        secrets: #Secrets retrieved from a generic source.
          ENGINE_DATABASE_PASSWORD: postgresql-password
          REPORTING_DATABASE_PASSWORD: postgresql-password
          APPLICATION_DATABASE_PASSWORD: postgresql-password
    executor:
      cores:  1
      instances: 3
      memory: 512m
      labels:
        version: 3.1.1
      env: #Environment variables for executor setup with secrets.
        ENGINE_DATABASE_USER: flowx
        ENGINE_DATABASE_URL: postgresql:5432
        ENGINE_DATABASE_NAME: process_engine
        ENGINE_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres # To set the type of engine database, can be also changed to oracle
        REPORTING_DATABASE_USER: flowx
        REPORTING_DATABASE_URL: postgresql:5432
        REPORTING_DATABASE_NAME: reporting
        REPORTING_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres
        APPLICATION_DATABASE_USER: postgres
        APPLICATION_DATABASE_URL: localhost:5439
        APPLICATION_DATABASE_NAME: app_manager
        APPLICATION_DATABASE_TYPE: postgres
    extraEnvVarsMultipleSecretsCustomKeys:
      - name: postgresql-generic
        secrets: #Secrets retrieved from a generic source.
          ENGINE_DATABASE_PASSWORD: postgresql-password
          REPORTING_DATABASE_PASSWORD: postgresql-password
          APPLICATION_DATABASE_PASSWORD: postgresql-password

​
Superset configuration

Detailed Superset Configuration Guide:

Superset configuration

Superset docker image

Refer to Superset Documentation for in-depth information:

Superset documentation

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Post-installation steps

After installation, perform the following essential configurations:

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Datasource configuration

For document-related data storage, configure these environment variables:

  • SPRING_DATASOURCE_URL
  • SPRING_DATASOURCE_USERNAME
  • SPRING_DATASOURCE_PASSWORD

Ensure accurate details to prevent startup errors. The Liquibase script manages schema and migrations.

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Redis configuration

The following values should be set with the corresponding Redis-related values:

  • SPRING_REDIS_HOST
  • SPRING_REDIS_PORT

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Keycloak configuration

To implement alternative user authentication:

  • Override AUTH_TYPE in your superset.yml configuration file:
    • Set AUTH_TYPE: AUTH_OID
  • Provide the reference to your openid-connect realm:
    • OIDC_OPENID_REALM: 'flowx'

With this configuration, the login page changes to a prompt where the user can select the desired OpenID provider.

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Extend the security manager

Firstly, you will want to make sure that flask stops using flask-openid and starts using flask-oidc instead.

To do so, you will need to create your own security manager that configures flask-oidc as its authentication provider.

extraSecrets:
  keycloak_security_manager.py: |
    from flask_appbuilder.security.manager import AUTH_OID
    from superset.security import SupersetSecurityManager
    from flask_oidc import OpenIDConnect

To enable OpenID in Superset, you would previously have had to set the authentication type to AUTH_OID.

The security manager still executes all the behavior of the super class, but overrides the OID attribute with the OpenIDConnect object.

Further, it replaces the default OpenID authentication view with a custom one:

    from flask_appbuilder.security.views import AuthOIDView
    from flask_login import login_user
    from urllib.parse import quote
    from flask_appbuilder.views import expose
    from flask import request, redirect

    class AuthOIDCView(AuthOIDView):
        @expose('/login/', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
        def login(self, flag=True):
            sm = self.appbuilder.sm
            oidc = sm.oid
            superset_roles = ["Admin", "Alpha", "Gamma", "Public", "granter", "sql_lab"]
            default_role = "Admin"
            @self.appbuilder.sm.oid.require_login
            def handle_login():
                user = sm.auth_user_oid(oidc.user_getfield('email'))
                if user is None:
                    info = oidc.user_getinfo(['preferred_username', 'given_name', 'family_name', 'email', 'roles'])
                    roles = [role for role in superset_roles if role in info.get('roles', [])]
                    roles += [default_role, ] if not roles else []
                    user = sm.add_user(info.get('preferred_username'), info.get('given_name', ''), info.get('family_name', ''),
                                       info.get('email'), [sm.find_role(role) for role in roles])
                login_user(user, remember=False)
                return redirect(self.appbuilder.get_url_for_index)
            return handle_login()
        @expose('/logout/', methods=['GET', 'POST'])
        def logout(self):
            oidc = self.appbuilder.sm.oid
            oidc.logout()
            super(AuthOIDCView, self).logout()
            redirect_url = request.url_root.strip('/')
            # redirect_url = request.url_root.strip('/') + self.appbuilder.get_url_for_login
            return redirect(
                oidc.client_secrets.get('issuer') + '/protocol/openid-connect/logout?redirect_uri=' + quote(redirect_url))

On authentication, the user is redirected back to Superset.

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Configure Superset authentication

Finally, we need to add some parameters to the superset .yml file:

    '''
    ---------------------------KEYCLOACK ----------------------------
    '''
    curr  =  os.path.abspath(os.getcwd())
    AUTH_TYPE = AUTH_OID
    OIDC_CLIENT_SECRETS =  curr + '/pythonpath/client_secret.json'
    OIDC_ID_TOKEN_COOKIE_SECURE = True
    OIDC_REQUIRE_VERIFIED_EMAIL = True
    OIDC_OPENID_REALM: 'flowx'
    OIDC_INTROSPECTION_AUTH_METHOD: 'client_secret_post'
    CUSTOM_SECURITY_MANAGER = OIDCSecurityManager
    AUTH_USER_REGISTRATION = False
    AUTH_USER_REGISTRATION_ROLE = 'Admin'
    OVERWRITE_REDIRECT_URI = 'https://{{ .Values.flowx.ingress.reporting }}/oidc_callback'
    '''
    --------------------------------------------------------------
    '''

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