Many of you might be struggling like me with the installation and configuration of Workflow Manager in SharePoint 2013. After spending lot of efforts, I could manage to write this blog, might help you.
I will be using abbreviations in my entire post:
Workflow Manager (WFM)
Workflow (WF)
So lets get started with the installation of the Workflow Manager components. There are two ways to install the components:
I will be using abbreviations in my entire post:
Workflow Manager (WFM)
Workflow (WF)
So lets get started with the installation of the Workflow Manager components. There are two ways to install the components:
- Online installation
- Offline installation
Lets take a look at each installation process:
Online installtion is the easiest way to install Workflow Manager components. But, most of the companies policies don’t allow internet on servers.
If you are lucky enough to get an internet connection on the servers then here is how to do it:
Download and install Web Platform Manager -
Start -> Right click on Web Platform Manager -> Run as admin
Sometimes, installer runs successfully and you can search the desired product there but sometimes, it just throws an error like below even though you have internet connection:
In that case, go to below registry location:
And, add below key as string value:
Key name: ProductXmlLocation
Please note that the above value depends on the Web Platform Installer version, if you are running 4.5 then value will be http://www.microsoft.com/web/webpi/4.5/WebProductList.xml
After this registry change no server reboot is required.
Run Web Platform Installation, you should see a blank screen with the search box on top right corner.
Enter workflow keyword there and results should get displayed like below:
For version 4.5
For version 4.6 (Refresh version is already installed in my farm, so it is displaying as installed)
Please note that if you have more than 1 SharePoint server in the farm then you MUST install Workflow Client 1.0 (for version 4.5) or Workflow Client Refresh (for version 4.6) on all the SharePoint servers in the farm.
Once you add all the desired products, click on "Install" button on the bottom:
And, this will start the installation process. Please note that, you also need to download cummulative updates for Workflow Manager as this has fixed quite a few issues.
Service bus is a mandatory component for Workflow Manager, so please install Service bus first and the proceed with the Workflow Manager. You can search and install Service bus same way as above. With 4.6 version, you may see below options:
Please DO NOT install Azure Pack:Service bus 1.1. Install Service Bus 1.0 and cummulative update 1 I(highlighted ones)
Once this is done you are done with your installation process. Final check through Add/Remove programs:
Servers that are part of Workflow Manager farm, must have above highlighted workflow/service bus components installed. And, other servers in the SharePoint farm, must have Workflow Manager Client component installed.
Will talk about offline installation in my next post.
