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FAQ

Why isn't my task getting scheduled?

There are very many reasons why your task might not be getting scheduled. Here are some of the common causes:

  • Does your script "compile", can the Airflow engine parse it and find your DAG object. To test this, you can run airflow list_dags and confirm that your DAG shows up in the list. You can also run airflow list_tasks foo_dag_id --tree and confirm that your task shows up in the list as expected. If you use the CeleryExecutor, you may way to confirm that this works both where the scheduler runs as well as where the worker runs.
  • Is your start_date set properly? The Airflow scheduler triggers the task soon after the start_date + scheduler_interval is passed.
  • Is your schedule_interval set properly? The default schedule_interval is one day (datetime.timedelta(1)). You must specify a different schedule_interval directly to the DAG object you instantiate, not as a default_param, as task instances do not override their parent DAG's schedule_interval.
  • Is your start_date beyond where you can see it in the UI? If you set your it to some time say 3 months ago, you won't be able to see it in the main view in the UI, but you should be able to see it in the Menu -> Browse ->Task Instances.
  • Are the dependencies for the task met. The task instances directly upstream from the task need to be in a success state. Also, if you have set depends_on_past=True, the previous task instance needs to have succeeded (except if it is the first run for that task). Also, if wait_for_downstream=True, make sure you understand what it means. You can view how these properties are set from the Task Instance Details page for your task.
  • Are the DagRuns you need created and active? A DagRun represents a specific execution of an entire DAG and has a state (running, success, failed, ...). The scheduler creates new DagRun as it moves forward, but never goes back in time to create new ones. The scheduler only evaluates running DagRuns to see what task instances it can trigger. Note that clearing tasks instances (from the UI or CLI) does set the state of a DagRun back to running. You can bulk view the list of DagRuns and alter states by clicking on the schedule tag for a DAG.
  • Is the concurrency parameter of your DAG reached? concurency defines how many running task instances a DAG is allowed to have, beyond which point things get queued.
  • Is the max_active_runs parameter of your DAG reached? max_active_runs defines how many running concurrent instances of a DAG there are allowed to be.

You may also want to read the Scheduler section of the docs and make sure you fully understand how it proceeds.

How do I trigger tasks based on another task's failure?

Check out the Trigger Rule section in the Concepts section of the documentation

Why are connection passwords still not encrypted in the metadata db after I installed airflow[crypto]?

  • Verify that the fernet_key defined in $AIRFLOW_HOME/airflow.cfg is a valid Fernet key. It must be a base64-encoded 32-byte key. You need to restart the webserver after you update the key
  • For existing connections (the ones that you had defined before installing airflow[crypto] and creating a Fernet key), you need to open each connection in the connection admin UI, re-type the password, and save it

What's the deal with start_date?

start_date is partly legacy from the pre-DagRun era, but it is still relevant in many ways. When creating a new DAG, you probably want to set a global start_date for your tasks using default_args. The first DagRun to be created will be based on the min(start_date) for all your task. From that point on, the scheduler creates new DagRuns based on your schedule_interval and the corresponding task instances run as your dependencies are met. When introducing new tasks to your DAG, you need to pay special attention to start_date, and may want to reactivate inactive DagRuns to get the new task to get onboarded properly.

We recommend against using dynamic values as start_date, especially datetime.now() as it can be quite confusing. The task is triggered once the period closes, and in theory an @hourly DAG would never get to an hour after now as now() moves along.

Previously we also recommended using rounded start_date in relation to your schedule_interval. This meant an @hourly would be at 00:00 minutes:seconds, a @daily job at midnight, a @monthly job on the first of the month. This is no longer required. Airflow will now auto align the start_date and the schedule_interval, by using the start_date as the moment to start looking.

You can use any sensor or a TimeDeltaSensor to delay the execution of tasks within the schedule interval. While schedule_interval does allow specifying a datetime.timedelta object, we recommend using the macros or cron expressions instead, as it enforces this idea of rounded schedules.

When using depends_on_past=True it's important to pay special attention to start_date as the past dependency is not enforced only on the specific schedule of the start_date specified for the task. It' also important to watch DagRun activity status in time when introducing new depends_on_past=True, unless you are planning on running a backfill for the new task(s).

Also important to note is that the tasks start_date, in the context of a backfill CLI command, get overridden by the backfill's command start_date. This allows for a backfill on tasks that have depends_on_past=True to actually start, if it wasn't the case, the backfill just wouldn't start.

How can I create DAGs dynamically?

Airflow looks in you DAGS_FOLDER for modules that contain DAG objects in their global namespace, and adds the objects it finds in the DagBag. Knowing this all we need is a way to dynamically assign variable in the global namespace, which is easily done in python using the globals() function for the standard library which behaves like a simple dictionary.

for i in range(10):
    dag_id = 'foo_{}'.format(i)
    globals()[dag_id] = DAG(dag_id)
    # or better, call a function that returns a DAG object!

What are all the airflow run commands in my process list?

There are many layers of airflow run commands, meaning it can call itself.

  • Basic airflow run: fires up an executor, and tell it to run an airflow run --local command. if using Celery, this means it puts a command in the queue for it to run remote, on the worker. If using LocalExecutor, that translates into running it in a subprocess pool.
  • Local airflow run --local: starts an airflow run --raw command (described below) as a subprocess and is in charge of emitting heartbeats, listening for external kill signals and ensures some cleanup takes place if the subprocess fails
  • Raw airflow run --raw runs the actual operator's execute method and performs the actual work