Unable to start Airflow worker/flower and need clarification on Airflow architecture to confirm that the installation is correct

Running a worker on a different machine results in errors specified below. I have followed the configuration instructions and have sync the dags folder.

I would also like to confirm that RabbitMQ and PostgreSQL only needs to be installed on the Airflow core machine and does not need to be installed on the workers (the workers only connect to the core).

The specification of the setup is detailed below:

Airflow core/server computer

Has the following installed:

• Python 2.7 with
  • airflow (AIRFLOW_HOME = ~/airflow)
  • celery
  • psycogp2
• RabbitMQ
• PostgreSQL

Configurations made in airflow.cfg:

• sql_alchemy_conn = postgresql+psycopg2://username:password@192.168.1.2:5432/airflow
• executor = CeleryExecutor
• broker_url = amqp://username:password@192.168.1.2:5672//
• celery_result_backend = postgresql+psycopg2://username:password@192.168.1.2:5432/airflow

Tests performed:

• RabbitMQ is running
• Can connect to PostgreSQL and have confirmed that Airflow has created tables
• Can start and view the webserver (including custom dags)

.

.

Airflow worker computer

Has the following installed:

• Python 2.7 with
  • airflow (AIRFLOW_HOME = ~/airflow)
  • celery
  • psycogp2

Configurations made in airflow.cfg are exactly the same as in the server:

• sql_alchemy_conn = postgresql+psycopg2://username:password@192.168.1.2:5432/airflow
• executor = CeleryExecutor
• broker_url = amqp://username:password@192.168.1.2:5672//
• celery_result_backend = postgresql+psycopg2://username:password@192.168.1.2:5432/airflow

Output from commands run on the worker machine:

When running airflow flower:

ubuntu@airflow_client:~/airflow$ airflow flower
[2016-06-13 04:19:42,814] {__init__.py:36} INFO - Using executor CeleryExecutor
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/ubuntu/anaconda2/bin/airflow", line 15, in <module>
    args.func(args)
  File "/home/ubuntu/anaconda2/lib/python2.7/site-packages/airflow/bin/cli.py", line 576, in flower
    os.execvp("flower", ['flower', '-b', broka, port, api])
  File "/home/ubuntu/anaconda2/lib/python2.7/os.py", line 346, in execvp
    _execvpe(file, args)
  File "/home/ubuntu/anaconda2/lib/python2.7/os.py", line 382, in _execvpe
    func(fullname, *argrest)
OSError: [Errno 2] No such file or directory

When running airflow worker:

ubuntu@airflow_client:~$ airflow worker
[2016-06-13 04:08:43,573] {__init__.py:36} INFO - Using executor CeleryExecutor
[2016-06-13 04:08:43,935: ERROR/MainProcess] Unrecoverable error: ImportError('No module named postgresql',)
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/home/ubuntu/anaconda2/lib/python2.7/site-packages/celery/worker/__init__.py", line 206, in start
    self.blueprint.start(self)
  File "/home/ubuntu/anaconda2/lib/python2.7/site-packages/celery/bootsteps.py", line 119, in start
    self.on_start()
  File "/home/ubuntu/anaconda2/lib/python2.7/site-packages/celery/apps/worker.py", line 169, in on_start
    string(self.colored.cyan(' n', self.startup_info())),
  File "/home/ubuntu/anaconda2/lib/python2.7/site-packages/celery/apps/worker.py", line 230, in startup_info
    results=self.app.backend.as_uri(),
  File "/home/ubuntu/anaconda2/lib/python2.7/site-packages/kombu/utils/__init__.py", line 325, in __get__
    value = obj.__dict__[self.__name__] = self.__get(obj)
  File "/home/ubuntu/anaconda2/lib/python2.7/site-packages/celery/app/base.py", line 626, in backend
    return self._get_backend()
  File "/home/ubuntu/anaconda2/lib/python2.7/site-packages/celery/app/base.py", line 444, in _get_backend
    self.loader)
  File "/home/ubuntu/anaconda2/lib/python2.7/site-packages/celery/backends/__init__.py", line 68, in get_backend_by_url
    return get_backend_cls(backend, loader), url
  File "/home/ubuntu/anaconda2/lib/python2.7/site-packages/celery/backends/__init__.py", line 49, in get_backend_cls
    cls = symbol_by_name(backend, aliases)
  File "/home/ubuntu/anaconda2/lib/python2.7/site-packages/kombu/utils/__init__.py", line 96, in symbol_by_name
    module = imp(module_name, package=package, **kwargs)
  File "/home/ubuntu/anaconda2/lib/python2.7/importlib/__init__.py", line 37, in import_module
    __import__(name)
ImportError: No module named postgresql

When celery_result_backend is changed to the default db+mysql://airflow:airflow@localhost:3306/airflow and the airflow worker is run again the result is:

ubuntu@airflow_client:~/airflow$ airflow worker                                                                             
[2016-06-13 04:17:32,387] {__init__.py:36} INFO - Using executor CeleryExecutor

 -------------- celery@airflow_client2 v3.1.23 (Cipater)
---- **** ----- 
--- * ***  * -- Linux-3.19.0-59-generic-x86_64-with-debian-jessie-sid
-- * - **** --- 
- ** ---------- [config]
- ** ---------- .> app:         airflow.executors.celery_executor:0x7f5cb65cb510
- ** ---------- .> transport:   amqp://username:**@192.168.1.2:5672//
- ** ---------- .> results:     mysql://airflow:**@localhost:3306/airflow
- *** --- * --- .> concurrency: 16 (prefork)
-- ******* ---- 
--- ***** ----- [queues]
 -------------- .> default          exchange=default(direct) key=celery


[2016-06-13 04:17:33,385] {__init__.py:36} INFO - Using executor CeleryExecutor
Starting flask
[2016-06-13 04:17:33,737] {_internal.py:87} INFO -  * Running on http://0.0.0.0:8793/ (Press CTRL+C to quit)
[2016-06-13 04:17:34,536: WARNING/MainProcess] celery@airflow_client2 ready.

What am I missing? How can I diagnose this further?

Answer

The ImportError: No module named postgresql error is due to the invalid prefix used in your celery_result_backend. When using a database as a Celery backend, the connection URL must be prefixed with db+. See https://docs.celeryproject.org/en/stable/userguide/configuration.html#conf-database-result-backend

So replace:

celery_result_backend = postgresql+psycopg2://username:password@192.168.1.2:5432/airflow

with something like:

celery_result_backend = db+postgresql://username:password@192.168.1.2:5432/airflow