Stable (2.10.5)2.10.52.10.42.10.32.10.22.10.12.10.02.9.32.9.22.9.12.9.02.8.42.8.32.8.22.8.12.8.02.7.32.7.22.7.12.7.02.6.32.6.22.6.12.6.02.5.32.5.22.5.12.5.02.4.32.4.22.4.12.4.02.3.42.3.32.3.22.3.12.3.02.2.52.2.42.2.32.2.22.2.12.2.02.1.42.1.32.1.22.1.12.1.02.0.32.0.22.0.12.0.01.10.151.10.141.10.131.10.121.10.111.10.101.10.91.10.81.10.71.10.61.10.51.10.41.10.31.10.21.10.1
Stable (2.10.5)2.10.52.10.42.10.32.10.22.10.12.10.02.9.32.9.22.9.12.9.02.8.42.8.32.8.22.8.12.8.02.7.32.7.22.7.12.7.02.6.32.6.22.6.12.6.02.5.32.5.22.5.12.5.02.4.32.4.22.4.12.4.02.3.42.3.32.3.22.3.12.3.02.2.52.2.42.2.32.2.22.2.12.2.02.1.42.1.32.1.22.1.12.1.02.0.32.0.22.0.12.0.01.10.151.10.141.10.131.10.121.10.111.10.101.10.91.10.81.10.71.10.61.10.51.10.41.10.31.10.21.10.1

Executor

Executors are the mechanism by which task instances get run. They have a common API and are "pluggable", meaning you can swap executors based on your installation needs.

Airflow can only have one executor configured at a time; this is set by the executor option in the [core] section of the configuration file.

Built-in executors are referred to by name, for example:

[core]
executor = KubernetesExecutor
Copy to clipboard

You can also write your own custom executors, and refer to them by their full path:

[core]
executor = my_company.executors.MyCustomExecutor
Copy to clipboard

Note

For more information on Airflow's configuration, see Setting Configuration Options.

If you want to check which executor is currently set, you can use the airflow config get-value core executor command:

$ airflow config get-value core executor
SequentialExecutor
Copy to clipboard

Executor Types

There are two types of executor - those that run tasks locally (inside the scheduler process), and those that run their tasks remotely (usually via a pool of workers). Airflow comes configured with the SequentialExecutor by default, which is a local executor, and the safest option for execution, but we strongly recommend you change this to LocalExecutor for small, single-machine installations, or one of the remote executors for a multi-machine/cloud installation.

Local Executors

Remote Executors

Note

Something that often confuses new users of Airflow is that they don't need to run a separate executor process. This is because the executor's logic runs inside the scheduler process - if you're running a scheduler, you're running the executor.

Was this entry helpful?