Apache NiFi Configuration Best Practices
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Bootstrap Properties

The bootstrap.conf file in the conf directory allows users to configure settings for how NiFi should be started. This includes parameters, such as the size of the Java Heap, what Java command to run, and Java System Properties.

Here, we will address the different properties that are made available in the file. Any changes to this file will take effect only after NiFi has been stopped and restarted.

Property

Description

java

Specifies the fully qualified java command to run. By default, it is simply java but could be changed to an absolute path or a reference an environment variable, such as $JAVA_HOME/bin/java

run.as

The username to run NiFi as. For instance, if NiFi should be run as the nifi user, setting this value to nifi will cause the NiFi Process to be run as the nifi user. This property is ignored on Windows. For Linux, the specified user may require sudo permissions.

lib.dir

The lib directory to use for NiFi. By default, this is set to ./lib

conf.dir

The conf directory to use for NiFi. By default, this is set to ./conf

graceful.shutdown.seconds

When NiFi is instructed to shutdown, the Bootstrap will wait this number of seconds for the process to shutdown cleanly. At this amount of time, if the service is still running, the Bootstrap will kill the process, or terminate it abruptly.

java.arg.N

Any number of JVM arguments can be passed to the NiFi JVM when the process is started. These arguments are defined by adding properties to bootstrap.conf that begin with java.arg.. The rest of the property name is not relevant, other than to differentiate property names, and will be ignored. The default includes properties for minimum and maximum Java Heap size, the garbage collector to use, etc.

nifi.bootstrap.sensitive.key

The master key in hexadecimal format for encrypted sensitive configuration values. When NiFi is started, the master key is used to decrypt sensitive values from the nifi.properties file into memory for later use.

The Encrypt-Config Tool can be used to specify the master key, encrypt sensitive values in nifi.properties and update bootstrap.conf. See the NiFi Toolkit Guide for an example.

notification.services.file

When NiFi is started, or stopped, or when the Bootstrap detects that NiFi has died, the Bootstrap is able to send notifications of these events to interested parties. This is configured by specifying an XML file that defines which notification services can be used. More about this file can be found in the Notification Services section.

notification.max.attempts

If a notification service is configured but is unable to perform its function, it will try again up to a maximum number of attempts. This property configures what that maximum number of attempts is. The default value is 5.

nifi.start.notification.services

This property is a comma-separated list of Notification Service identifiers that correspond to the Notification Services defined in the notification.services.file property. The services with the specified identifiers will be used to notify their configured recipients whenever NiFi is started.

nifi.stop.notification.services

This property is a comma-separated list of Notification Service identifiers that correspond to the Notification Services defined in the notification.services.file property. The services with the specified identifiers will be used to notify their configured recipients whenever NiFi is stopped.

nifi.died.notification.services

This property is a comma-separated list of Notification Service identifiers that correspond to the Notification Services defined in the notification.services.file property. The services with the specified identifiers will be used to notify their configured recipients if the bootstrap determines that NiFi has unexpectedly died.