Variables are created and configured within the NiFi UI. They can be used in any field that supports Expression Language. Variables cannot be used for sensitive properties. Variables are defined at the Process Group level, as a result, the access policies for viewing and changing variables are derived from the access policies of the Process Group. Variable values cannot reference other variables or make use of Expression Language.
To access the Variables window, right-click on the canvas with nothing selected:
Select "Variables" from the Context Menu:
"Variables" is also available in the right-click Context Menu when a process group is selected:
In the Variables window, click the + button to create a new variable. Add a name:
and a value:
Select "Apply":
Steps to update the variable are performed (Identifying components affected, Stopping affected Processors, etc.). For example, the Referencing Processors section now lists the "PutFile-Root" processor. Selecting the name of the processor in the list will navigate to that processor on the canvas. Looking at the properties of the processor, ${putfile_dir} is referenced by the Directory property:
Variables are scoped by the Process Group they are defined in and are available to any Processor defined at that level and below (i.e. any descendant Processors).
Variables in a descendant group override the value in a parent group. More specifically, if a variable x is declared at the root group and also declared inside a process group, components inside the process group will use the value of x defined in the process group.
For example, in addition to the putfile_dir variable that exists at the root process group, assume another putfile_dir variable was created within Process Group A. If one of the components within Process Group A references putfile_dir, both variables will be listed, but the putfile_dir from the root group will have a strikethrough indicating that is is being overridden:
A variable can only be modified for the process group it was created in, which is listed at the top of the Variables window. To modify a variable defined in a different process group, select the "arrow" icon in that variable's row:
which will navigate to the Variables window for that process group:
Variable permissions are based solely on the privileges configured on the corresponding Process Group.
For example, if a user does not have access to View a process group, the Variables window can not be viewed for that process group:
If a user has access to View a process group but does not have access to Modify the process group, the variables can be viewed but not modified.
For information on how to manage privileges on components, see see the System Administration documentation in our Reference section.
In addition to Referencing Processors, the Variables window also displays Referencing Controller Services:
Selecting the name of the controller service will navigate to that controller service in the Configuration window:
When View or Modify privileges are not given to a component that references a variable, the UUID of the component will be displayed in the Variables window:
In the above example, the variable property1 is referenced by a processor that "user1" is not able to view:
