Run your first workflow in Desktop
This tutorial runs one activity on your local machine. You will create a workflow, choose where it runs, start it, and inspect the recorded output file and checksum. It uses the Desktop interface and does not require a cloud or HPC account.
Before you begin
Install AkôFlow Desktop and complete its first-start checkup. Docker must be available to your user, and Desktop must show Connected. These steps were exercised with a Linux Desktop package and its bundled runtime; confirm any platform-specific differences in the release notes.
1. Check your local environment
Open Infrastructure → Environments. If the first-start checkup already created a local environment, open it. Otherwise, choose New environment, select Local machine, give it a name such as Local check, select Test connection, then Save environment.
On the environment page, select Check now. Continue when Local machine shows online. This check also makes the local resource available for planning.
2. Define a small workflow
Open Workflows → New workflow and enter:
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Workflow name | First local check |
| Activity name | write-report |
| Command | printf 'Akoflow local check\n' > result.txt |
Leave the other activity settings at their defaults and select Create workflow. The workflow page should show one activity, write-report.
3. Choose the local environment
Open Infrastructure → Execution scopes and choose New execution scope. Name it First local scope, select your local environment, leave Create the initial network topology enabled, and select Create execution scope. A one-machine workflow needs no network links.
4. Make and run a plan
Return to the workflow and select Generate plan. Choose Create manually, then select First local scope. Select write-report in the activity graph and set:
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Runtime | Your local machine runtime |
| Expected execution time | 1 second |
| Machine / target | Your local machine resource |
Select Generate plan. On the plan page, select Execute plan. Confirm that the execution mode is Real execution and the local runtime is listed, then select Start execution.
5. Check the result
Wait for the run to show completed and 1/1 activities settled. Open Activities → write-report → Open activity details. Expect Exit code 0 and a Generated files row for result.txt with a SHA-256 checksum. That row records the file observed in the activity workspace; it does not mean Desktop downloaded the file to your computer.
If the run fails, inspect the activity output on that page and use Troubleshooting. To understand how the plan and run records relate, read Compare a plan with a completed run. To try scheduling alternatives or another target, continue with Plan a workflow and Environments. For a reproducible simulation through a separately managed API, use the SimGrid example.