#  Administering FlowFuse

#  Getting started

#  Administering FlowFuse

#  Accessing the Admin Settings

The Admin Settings can be accessed from the main menu:

#  Admin Settings

The Admin Settings view lets you manage the platform and its users. The following settings are available:

  • Allow new users to register on the login screen (default: false)

    With this option enabled, the platform login page allows visitors to register with the platform.

    This option is only available if email sending has been enabled.

  • Create a personal team for users when they register (default: false)

    With this option enabled, the platform will automatically create a Team for the user. This allows them to start creating Node-RED instances straight away.

    By default, this doesn't happen, which means the user must either manually create the Team (if that option is enabled), or be invited to an existing Team.

    When enabled, a choice of what type of team should be created for the user is shown.

  • Allow users to reset their password on the login screen (default: `false)

    With this option enabled, a 'forgot your password' link is shown on the login screen, and provides a workflow where a user can reset their password via a link emailed to them.

    This option is only available if email sending has been enabled.

  • Allow users to create teams (default: false)

    This option allows users to create new Teams on the platform. By default, it is not enabled which means all Teams must be created by an Admin.

  • Allow users to invite external users to teams (default: false)

    This option allows users to invite people to join a Team who are not currently registered users of the platform. It sends an email with an invitation to sign-up to the platform and join the Team.

    By default, this is not enabled - users must be added by an Admin.

    This option is only available if email sending has been enabled.

#  Managing Users

The Users page of Admin Settings can be used to manage the user on the platform.

It can be used to:

  • Add new users to the platform.

    With the 0.1.0 release, the admin sets the new user's password and it is left to the admin to share the login details with the user outside of the platform.

  • Edit a user's details.

    This includes making them an admin - giving them full access to the platform.

It also provides a list of all pending user invitations, showing who invited whom to which team.

#  Managing Teams

With the 0.1.0 release, the Teams page just lists the teams on the platform.

Further team management options will come in later releases.

#  Managing Team Types

The Team Types page can be used to manage the Team Types on the platform.

They determine what features of the platform are available to teams of a given type, including what Instance Types are available and any limits that should be applied.

#  Managing Instance Types

The Instance Types page can be used to manage the Instance Types on the platform.

When billing is enabled, an instance type can be associated with a particular Stripe Product/Price - allowing each type to have a different monthly price associated with it.

The Instance Types page shows what types are currently active, how many stacks each type has been assigned to it, and how many instances have been created of that type.

Whenever a new Instance Type is created, it will need to be manually enabled for the individual Team Types before they will be available for teams to use.

Instance Types also control the default Stack (and in turn, the default Node-RED versions) that Instances will run with if there are multiple available Stacks associated with an Instance Type.

#  Managing Stacks

Admin Settings > Stacks

The Stacks page can be used to manage the Stacks on the platform. It can be used to create and edit the stacks on the platform.

For Deployment specific information about working with stacks, refer to the documentation of your chosen deployment model:

#  Create Stack

#  Upgrading Stacks

You can create a new version of an existing stack via the drop-down menu in the stack table. This allows the platform to notify users that an update is available for their instance, allowing them to upgrade the stack at their convenience.

Screenshot of FlowFuse showing where admins can create new stacks Screenshot of FlowFuse showing where admins can create new stacks

Node-RED instances that use the old stack will offer the new stack as a one-click upgrade option.

#  Create New Stack

Alternatively, click 'Create stack' to create an entirely new stack.

Screenshot of FlowFuse showing the "Create Stack" dialog Screenshot of FlowFuse showing the "Create Stack" dialog

When prompted for the Node-RED version, the value here depends on the setup you're running:

  • Local: Provide the exact stack name (Node-RED version) that was installed. For example, if you ran the script with latest and it resulted in 3.1.9 being installed, you should enter 3.1.9. This must match the directory name created in your stacks directory. If you changed the directory name for any reason, make sure to use that name.
  • Docker: Support the container image name (docs)
  • k8s: Support the container image name (docs)

#  Updating Stacks

It is not possible to edit a stack that is being used by Instances.

#  Managing Templates

With templates administrators can apply Node-RED configuration options as default. For these options, the administrator can lock the selected value so users cannot change them, or keep them editable by end-users.

If you edit a template that is being used by an Application Instance, those changes will get applied the next time the instance is restarted.

#  Disallow using nodes

On FlowFuse Cloud, but recommended on self-managed installs on Docker and Kubernetes, where certain nodes will not work so are excluded from being used by the template.

When adding 31-tcpin.js,32-udp.js,10-file.js,23-watch.js,90-exec.js to the Exclude node by filename section of a template and locking this value users are prevented from using these.